As a westerner, I had doubts over the alliance between Jokowi and Subianto. Was it really right, from a point of view where democracy means majority vs minority, that a government represent nearly all the political factions in a country? That was the case when Subianto joined Jokowi in the government.

Shoeb Kagda, the founder of the Indonesian Economic Forum, believes that this is just the normality. Indonesian democracy is not interested in neverending ideological battles, but in delivering results for the people. Indonesian leaders can’t afford to lose time, they need to get things done because the country still needs colossal structural reforms, first of all in the job market.

Southeast Asia shows that the west, entangled in a parliamentary system that can’t decide on anything, does not have a monopoly of what democracy really means.