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38 Asia The EconomistOctober 26th 2019

I

t vieswithSydneyOperaHouseasthe

mostfamoussymbolofAustralia.Yet

totheoriginalinhabitantsofthesur-

roundingareait isnotjustbeautiful,but

sacred,thesceneofholyrituals.Signs

erectedbytheAnangupeopleatthebase

ofUlurudeclare,“Underourtraditional

law,climbingisnotpermitted.”Yet

climbingAyersRock,asmostother

Australiansknewthevastredmonolith

untilrecently,haslongbeena favoured

pastimeoftourists.Somelitter,defecate

orstripwhiletheyscrambleup.Fully 37

peoplehavediedtryingtoreachthe

summitinswelteringheat.TheAnangu

havehadenough:theyownthesiteand

fromOctober26thwillbanvisitorsfrom

ascending.It is“nota themeparklike

Disneyland”,reasonedSammyWilson,

oneofitstraditionalowners,whenthe

changewasannounced.

SomeAustralianscomplaintheyare

beingrobbedofa birthright.Pauline

Hanson,leaderofthepopulistOneNa-

tionparty,haslikenedthebantoa shut-

downofBondi,Sydney’smostfamous

beach.Sherecentlymadea pilgrimageto

climbtherock,butquicklybecamestuck

andwasforcedtoslidebackdownonher

backside.Shelateradmittedshecould

“seethesenseinbanning”theclimb“due

tosafetyreasons”.ThosewhoviewUluru

asa spiritualplacesmiled.“You’vegotto

askwhyit wasthatshecouldn’tgetup

there,”saysTomCalma,theco-chairof

ReconciliationAustralia,a charity.

Other,moresure-footedAustralians

havebeenflockingtoUluruinrecord

numberstoclimbit whiletheycan.Some

assertthattherockisa nationalicon

whichbelongstoeveryone.Onecam-

paignerappealedtotheHumanRights

Commission,anofficialbodythatin-

vestigatesracismandotherabuses,

arguingthattherulediscriminated

against“millions”ofAustralians.It

dismissedthecomplaint.

TosomeAboriginals,therushto

climbsayssomethingaboutthedifficul-

tiestheirpeopleface.It is“emblematic”

ofthe“wilfuldisregardofthewishesof

traditionalowners”,arguesMickGooda,

a formermemberoftheHumanRights

Commission.It is“baffling”,“disre-

spectful”and“posesa questionabout

whatthepeoplemakingthisclimbthink

aboutAboriginalculture,”saysLinda

Burney,theshadowministerforindige-

nousAustralians.“We’dbeupinarms”if

touristsstartedscalinga cathedral,notes

AndrewPeters,anindigenousacademic

atSwinburneUniversity.

Butsomeareinclinedtoseethe

changeasanoccasionforhope.The

Ananguresolvedtobantheascentonly

aftertheshareoftouristschoosingto

makeit despitethediscouragingsigns

hadfallenbelow20%,fromover75%in

the1990s.Yearsofeducatingvisitors

aboutAboriginalculturearebearing

fruit,MrCalmaargues.“Whitefella

governmenthasbeenactingina waythat

breachesourlaws,”MrWilsonsays.It isa

signofchange,MrCalmasays,thatone

suchbreachiscomingtoanend.

Theseeing-redcentre

Aboriginalrights

SYDNEY

Australiansbridleata banonclimbingtheircountry’smostfamousrock

Thequeuetooffend

F

or six yearsthey have been bitter ri-

vals. Joko Widodo, a former business-

man and mayor popularly known as Jo-

kowi, first defeated Prabowo Subianto, a

former general, in a fiercely contested

presidential election in 2014. Six months

ago, in April, the incumbent Jokowi redou-

bled the humiliation, besting Mr Prabowo

in a re-match election. Just as in 2014, the

vanquished general refused to concede de-

feat, claiming Jokowi had cheated. His en-

raged supporters rioted in Jakarta in May.

Nine people died. But over the ensuing

months Mr Prabowo and Jokowi publicly

reconciled with each other, in several care-

fully orchestrated meetings involving sel-

fies. On October 23rd it became clear why

Mr Prabowo, at least, was smiling. Jokowi,

who had been sworn in for his second term

days before, appointed his former foe min-

ister of defence in his new cabinet.

The reasons for Jokowi’s Cheshire-cat

grins were less obvious. Mr Prabowo’s ap-

pointment is “part of a long tradition in In-

donesian politics and society to integrate

rather than marginalise one’s opponents,”

says Stephen Sherlock of the University of

New South Wales in Australia. When Jo-

kowi’s predecessors assembled their “rain-

bow cabinets”, they included representa-

tives from as many different political

parties as they could manage. Any qualms

political opponents may have about puta-

tive ideological differences are firmly

quashed by the potential for patronage or

self-enrichment a seat in the cabinet af-

fords. Presidents, meanwhile, hope that by

welcoming their erstwhile foes into the

fold they will secure the loyalty of their par-

ties in the legislature. “Jokowi is aiming to

neutralise Mr Prabowo’s party, Gerindra,

and prevent it from being a centre of oppo-

sition in the parliament and possibly on

the streets,” says Mr Sherlock. Another

member of Gerindra has been made minis-

ter of fisheries and marine affairs.

Will Jokowi’s keep-your-friends-close-

and-your-enemies-closer strategy work?

Aaron Connelly, a research fellow at the In-

ternational Institute for Strategic Studies

in Singapore, is not convinced: “A moun-

tain cannot have two tigers.” Jokowi doubt-

less hopes that Mr Prabowo will be reluc-

tant to criticise a government of which he

is a member, and will come to seem of no

greater stature than the other cabinet min-

isters. Mr Connelly doubts he will take

fright: “Mr Prabowo is a singular figure in

Indonesian politics.” Anyway, ministers

often publicly contradict the president.

Even so, some politicians have ex-

pressed concern about the health of the op-

position without Gerindra. The only big

party left outside the government will be

an Islamist outfit, the Prosperous Justice

Party, with less than a tenth of the seats in

parliament. When Mr Prabowo had first

announced that he was in talks with Jo-

kowi, Johnny Plate, secretary-general of

NasDem, a party allied with Jokowi, an-

nounced his intention to switch sides for

the sake of democracy: “If there’s no one

criticising the government’s decisions,

what will become of this country?” The

next day, in an “unexpected turn of events”,

according to the Jakarta Post, four cabinet

posts were given to four NasDem politi-

cians, among them Mr Plate. 7

Why Jokowi has given his arch-rival a

seat in the cabinet

Indonesian politics

Governing

unopposed