Return of the dynasties

Her campaign posters bear the image of her father, former president Suharto, in the hopes that voters looking for strong leadership and stability would cast a vote for his daughter, Ms Siti Hediati Suharto, and her Golkar party.

Ms Siti Hediati, popularly known as Titiek, is running for a parliamentary seat in Yogyakarta. At rallies over the past three weeks, she has pushed hard on the message that Indonesia needs the sort of clear direction and firm leadership that her father provided during his years in power, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s. "If you want to return to the past, choose a member of the Suharto family" is a constant refrain at her appearances.

The candidacy of the 54-year-old Ms Siti Hediati, who also happens to be the ex-wife of Gerindra Party presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, marks a political comeback of sorts for the Suharto clan.

Suharto fell from power in 1998, and for a long while, his family lay low as memories of the nepotism and corruption during his later years in power remained fresh among voters.

But decades on, with a slackening of economic growth and popular frustration over some of the elected politicians who came after him, the Suharto family has decided that nostalgia for the good parts of his strongman rule could allow its re-entry into the political arena.

For now it is only Titiek, out of the six Suharto children, who is standing. Her elder sister, Ms Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, or Tutut, lends her support on the campaign trail.

While many acknowledge that Indonesia is a flourishing democracy, the idea of inherited power has not gone away either.

The image of first president Sukarno appears alongside that of his daughter, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle (PDI-P).

Though she is not running for a seat, her daughter, Puan Maharani, 40, is an incumbent MP fighting to be re-elected in a Central Java district. Ms Megawati's younger brother, Mr Guruh Sukarnoputra, 61, is standing for re-election in East Java, while her niece, Ms Puti Guntur Soekarno, 43, is standing in West Java.

Over in the Democratic camp, several relatives of outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are contesting this election. They include his youngest son, Mr Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, and his brother-in-law, Mr Hartanto Edhie Wibowo, 44.

Ironically, the rise of so-called "political dynasties" was made possible as a result of reforms allowing direct local polls in the wake of Suharto's downfall. The reforms allowed district and provincial leaders to be directly elected, opening up greater opportunities for new players.

Another political family heavily engaged in this election is that of South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

Three of his siblings, two in-laws, his daughter and two nephews are all contesting the April 9 polls for seats at the national, provincial and district levels.

This article was published on April 6 in The Straits Times.

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