1 ISSUE: 2019 No. 10 ISSN 2335-6677 RESEARCHERS AT ISEAS – YUSOF ISHAK INSTITUTE ANALYSE CURRENT EVENTS Singapore | 28 February 2019 Perceptions of Inequality in Indonesia: A Matter of Partisan Politics? Burhanuddin Muhtadi, Eve Warburton and Aninda Dewayanti* EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  Socioeconomic inequality is a contentious issue in Indonesia, one that gets mobilised in election campaigns. Yet we know very little about how Indonesians actually feel about income and wealth distribution.  This paper draws upon data from an original, nationally representative survey to understand Indonesians’ perceptions of income inequality.  We find that Indonesians generally feel better about inequality now than they did five years ago at the end of President Yudhoyono’s decade in office.  However, we also find that people’s perceptions of inequality are closely associated with their political preferences and are divided along partisan lines. * Guest writer Burhanuddin Muhtadi is Executive Director of Indikator Politik Indonesia, Eve Warburton is Visiting Fellow and Aninda Dewayanti is Research Officer in the Indonesian Studies Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.