The limits of local power: business, political conflict, and coastal reclamation projects in Makassar, Indonesia

Abstract

Since the fall of Indonesia's Suharto regime in 1998, politics in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, has been characterised by a competitive form of elite domination. Major political families, most with roots in the ruling elite of the Suharto period, have captured power and used it to further their economic interests while engaging in bitter intra-elite feuds. Through studies of three large-scale coastal reclamation projects, the study reveals patterns of interaction between political elites and business groups in the province. Successive mayors and governors have sponsored rival reclamation projects, directing tenders toward favoured business partners and sidelining allies of rivals. Yet these projects also reveal the limits of power of local politicians: while they support favoured local partners, none has been able to sideline large national conglomerates involved in these projects. Instead, big investors are more or less immune to local political change.