On 27 June 2018, Indonesia held elections for mayors and governors in 154 districts and 17 provinces - referred to as pilkada - the third and final such round of regional elections in this five year electoral cycle. This year's round of elections was particularly significant, though, for several reasons. It included gubernatorial elections in five big provinces that between them account for more than half of Indonesia's population: West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi. It was our first chance to observe how the divisive dynamics of the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial elections might affect other future elections. And with the national legislative and presidential elections now less than a year away in April 2019, these local elections have been closely watched for any clues as to how next year's political contests might play out.

In this week's Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae discusses this round of local elections, their results and their broader implications with a panel of leading political observers: Dr Charlotte Setijadi (ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute), Dr Philips Vermonte (Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies) and Dr Eve Warburton (ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute).

Photo credit: Darwin Fatir for Antara Foto

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.