When 1.5 Billion People Go to the Polls

In 2014 Asia's two biggest democracies, India and Indonesia, go to the polls to elect new governments.

Both countries look destined for major political change, with potentially far-reaching consequences for domestic and international politics. In India, the leader of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, has emerged as a front runner in the polls, but the nature of the coalition he would need to form to take power is impossible to predict. In Indonesia, Jakarta governor Joko Widodo is the most popular politician, but his party is yet to endorse him as a presidential candidate and it is possible that the controversial former special forces general Prabowo Subianto could become president.

Speakers are Dr Dirk Tomsa (Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University) and Dr Ian Woolford (coordinator of La Trobe University’s Hindi language program). Introduced by Professor Nick Bisley as a seminar for La Trobe Asia.

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