Elections in Indonesia and Afghanistan

Ethnicity and religion have been major components in the Indonesian presidential election between candidates Prabowo Subianto and Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. The election shapes up to be the closest since the country embraced democracy in 1998. There has been violence and intimidation in Christian towns and Islamist groups have raised “anti-Shia” alliances. We’ll talk about the background and implications with Jeffrey Winters, professor of Comparative Politics & Political Economy at Northwestern University, who’s currently in Jakarta and with Journalist, Ted Fishman, author of the best-selling book, China, Inc.
Then, Abdullah Abdullah, a presidential candidate in Afghanistan, is accusing his main political rival, Ashraf Ghani, of cheating and conducting an election “coup.” Preliminary results give Ghani over 56 percent of the vote. Observers fear the impasse could lead to civil war. We’ll talk about the simmering tensions with Anand Gopal, fellow at the New America Foundation and author of the book No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes.

(photo: Indonesian presidential candidate Joko Widodo, center, greets his supporters during a campaign rally at a stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, July 5, 2014. Indonesia will hold its presidential poll on July 9. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim))