With polls looming, Jakarta is expected to go into holding pattern with reforms

Jakarta

REFORMS enacted by Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, may have won praise from investors and analysts, but as the world's third largest democracy lurches toward regional and presidential elections, that pace of change will slow to a crawl.

Since sweeping to power in 2014, in part on promises to weed out corruption and to cut red tape Mr Widodo has helped push South-east Asia's biggest economy up some of the most widely watched league tables. This week, the World Bank put Indonesia 19 places higher on its annual Ease-of-Doing Business Index.

Now, as regional elections in some of …