This panel will present our studies on the development and dynamic of important aspects of today's politics in Indonesia. We look more specifically at four areas: the impact of political leadership on democratisation, electoral competition and strategies, ecological conservation issues and democratic innovations. By exploring this nexus, we can understand the multitude of democratic regression problems in the country, which mainly happened during the decade of President Joko Widodo's administration. In addition, it is worthwhile to think of what approaches are feasible to cope with the consequences of declining democracy and governance and rebuild Indonesian democracy under the new government of Prabowo Subianto. Our panel is as follows.