This article attempts to shed light on the recent deterioration of democratic quality in Indonesia through the lens of democratic backsliding. It delves into the political landscape during Jokowi’s presidency (2014-2024) using the three key indicators of democratic backsliding, that is, executive aggrandizement, opposition embarrassment, and strategic election manipulation, as proposed by Nancy Bermeo (2016). Findings indicate that signs of democratic backsliding emerged early in Jokowi’s first term as the government implemented a series of developmental policies and maneuverings to overcome hurdles created by polarization and disadvantages from the minority coalition government. During Jokowi’s second term, the trend of backsliding became more evident when the president actively engaged in not only repressing opposition forces in party politics and civil society but in intentionally mobilizing electoral support for his de facto designated successors, Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The article concludes by indicating that Indonesian democratic backsliding is likely to continue at least in the first phase of Prabowo’s presidency