The 2018/2019 simultaneous elections in West Kalimantan province and its aftermath

As Indonesia’s third largest province by area with an ethnic configuration and historical legacy that had proven to be susceptible to politicisation in times of uncertainty, West Kalimantan has often been overlooked in studies related to elections and political change in the archipelago. This chapter seeks to fill in this gap by presenting a detailed account and analysis of the recent 2018 gubernatorial elections, its aftermath and provincial voting patterns with respect to the presidential elections of 2019 in West Kalimantan. Identity politics and its discontents, especially the confluence of ethnicity and religion and subsequent polarisation among the Dayak and Malay population, has had a strong historical precedent in West Kalimantan. Of greater interest are developments that took place in Jakarta prior – specifically the December 2016 protests (also known as 212 Action) – that had a significant bearing on politics in the province. Although Sutarmidji, the ex-mayor of Pontianak, eventually emerged as winner over Karolin (daughter of outgoing governor, Cornelis, and a strong favourite) in the 2018 gubernatorial election, it did not signal the end of ethnic-based politics. As evidenced in the results of both the 2018 gubernatorial election and 2019 legislative/presidential elections at the provincial level, party-affiliation and district-based voting are still saliently divided along ethnic and religious fault lines.