ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the capitalisation of identity-based strategies during the 2018 gubernatorial election and the 2019 presidential election in North Sumatra. In both elections, which were only 10 months apart from each other, identity politics were used flagrantly by candidates and political parties. Unlike other Indonesian provinces where the population is relatively homogeneous, the case of North Sumatra showed greater variation in terms of religion and ethnicity. The province hosts a significantly diverse mix of Muslims and Christians that cluster around the East Coast–West Coast divide. The East Coast has a majority population of Javanese Muslims while the West Coast consists of a majority Batak Christian population. This had resulted in a political polarisation due to identity politics being propagated in the two distinct regions. Moreover, the regional elections in North Sumatra is seen as a political barometer in which strategies adopted for the subsequent presidential election in 2019 is highly reflective of what took place a year before.