Dare We Hope That Indonesia Will Become a Democratic Republic?

This chapter concludes the narrative on democracy and the rule of law with an assessment of the first ten months of Prabowo Subianto’s administration. As Subianto has consolidated his power and reaffirmed authoritarian constitutionalism both in politics and the economic sphere, the trajectory of Indonesian democracy is descending into a darker place. Nevertheless, there is still a reasonable hope that Indonesia can be a democratic republic through political engineering that can equip most of the citizens intellectually, politically, socially, and religiously to sustain democracy. Various tools can help shape the citizens’ character, such as political education and moral persuasion. One way to help the political engineering process is through rebuilding local communities, which enable citizens to self-organize and govern themselves. Moreover, there is also a glimpse of hope for a new generation of intellectual elite who can contribute to the reconstruction of a new state. A new state must be founded on an entirely new constitution, which prioritizes the rule of law as the telos of the nation.