Sarah Garcia VZ WGO/7 January 20, 2014 Indonesia: Twins with U.S.A. or Total Opposites?

What type of government does Indonesia have? Indonesia has a republic government that holds elections, has political parties, and in this government everyone is equal and everyone has specific rights that are not to be taken away. Indonesia has a government that holds elections every five year to nominate legislative and presidential positions. These elections are proper democratic elections because the people of Indonesia get to choose who they want to be in control (Wikipedia Constitution of Indonesia, 2013). According to an election article from December 2013, Former Minister/State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Wednesday that 2014s presidential election violates article 6 of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that presidential and vice presidential candidates must be nominated before a legislative election (Jakarta, 2013). In Indonesia there are political parties that citizens can choose from. The nine political parties are: Democratic Party, Party of the Functional Groups, Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle, National Awakening Party, United Development Party, Prosperous Justice Party, National Mandate Party, People's Conscience Party, Great Indonesia Movement Party (Wikipedia List of Political Parties in Indonesia, 2013). These political parties are the main parties in the Indonesian government. People in Indonesia participate in society in many ways, people vote, run for elections and join political parties. As mentioned in the paragraph above there are political parties and any one can join them as long as that individual is non-partisan (Wikipedia Politics of Indonesia, 2013). Protests are not allowed due to one of the human rights that enable the right of children to grow up free of violence and discrimination (Wikipedia Constitution of Indonesia, 2013). Even though protests are not allowed sometimes they do happen because people tend to get out of hand from time to time for example when the Australian flag was burned in protest

(Bachelard, 2013). The political parties pick people from their own party those people run against each other until someone gains the presidential and legislative position. The people of Indonesia have rights bestowed upon them that no one can take away. According to the constitution, people have the right of children to grow up free of violence and discrimination, the right of all to legal certainty, the right to religious freedom, the right to choose education, work and citizenship as well as the right to choose where to live, the right of assembly, association and expression of opinion, the right to be free from torture (Wikipedia Constitution of Indonesia, 2013). These rights previously mentioned are meant to be respected and lived out. The Constitution of Indonesia says Finally, every person is obliged to respect the rights of others which implies that everyone is obligated to respect others and their rights whether that person is different religion wise or race wise (Wikipedia Constitution of Indonesia, 2013. In the constitution, in Indonesia, everyone is equal and is respected. The country Indonesia and the United States of America are very much alike government wise. Both countries have similar rights that are entitled to their citizens like freedom or religion, speech, and assembly. These two countries are more alike than different. There are only small differences between the US and Indonesia, for example the president serve for five years in Indonesia while in the US the president only serves for four years and congress varies between levels. Another small difference are the rights that are included in each constitution the rights vary. As an American writing this essay, the United States is the better of the two but that is just because of culture and bias. There is really no way to tell which is better unless someone has experienced living in both countries and had experienced what other citizens of the two countries has gone through in their lives.

Bibliography The Constitution of Indonesia. Published December 20, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Indonesia#Chapter_V:_Ministers_of_state Politics in Indonesia. Published August 9, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Indonesia#Political_parties_and_elections List of Political Parties in Indonesia. Published December 24, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Indonesia Indonesian 2014 presidential election violates constitution. Jakarta. December 4, 2013. http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/91702/indonesian-2014-presidential-election-violatesconstitution Spying scandal: Australian flags burnt as protests heat up in Indonesia. Bachelard, Michael. November 21, 2013. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/spying-scandalaustralian-flags-burnt-as-protests-heat-up-in-indonesia-20131121-2xx9k.html