Growing nostalgia for former dictator Suharto aids Indonesian election candidates
Painted on the back of trucks and emblazoned across T-shirts, the smiling face of former Indonesian dictator Suharto has become a common sight across Java 16 years after his downfall.
"How are you bro? Still better in my time, no?!" runs a phrase commonly printed alongside the late army general, toppled following more than three decades in power when the Asian financial crisis tore into Indonesia.
As voters gear up for legislative elections next month and presidential polls in July, disillusionment is running high with the country's chaotic democracy, notorious for money-grubbing politicians and weak decision-making, while Suharto nostalgia grows.
Sympathisers have chosen to brush aside the glaring bad points of his regime, known as the "New Order" and widely regarded as one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century.
I like him because when violence erupted, he just crushed it
Vote-seeking politicians play up their links to Suharto, particularly from his former political vehicle Golkar, crowds flock to his tomb and a memorial has been set up in his birthplace in Kemusuk in Java.
"I like him because when violence erupted, he just crushed it," said Sumarah, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, during a recent visit to the memorial in central Java.