Indonesia Faces a Regional Vote With National Consequences

In Indonesia, a country of over 257 million people dispersed over more than 18,000 islands, Jakarta is singular. With a population of nearly 10 million (and 28 million in the greater metropolitan area), the capital is three times larger than Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya. Jakarta is the core of the island of Java, where 56 percent of the country's population lives, and generates nearly 17 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product. The political party that rules the city, moreover, has a major hand in ruling the country. So when Indonesians in 101 localities across the country head to the polls for regional elections Feb. 15, all eyes will be on the gubernatorial race in the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. Second only to the president, the governor of the capital region is the most influential civilian politician in Indonesia. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, in fact, used the post as a steppingstone...