After a tug-of-war in coal supply price negotiations for a coal-to-dimethyl ether (DME) conversion project with Indonesian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) Bukit Asam (PTBA) and Pertamina.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has been coming under attack with allegations of massive corruption or fraud, not by her but by staffers in her ministry. These charges are not only hurting her personal reputation, but they also undermine the credibility and the public trust of the Finance Ministry, which oversees the Taxation Directorate General.

Another year, and it’s another blaze for PT Pertamina: on Feb. 3, a fire broke out at the state-owned energy holding company’s Plumpang depot in North Jakarta, killing 20 people living in a residential area in the depot’s vicinity. The incident has raised several questions, including how a residential area came to be developed so close to the fuel depot, who is to blame for the disaster, and whether the depot or nearby residents should be relocated to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents.

The campaign to keep President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in power beyond his term, which ends in October 2024, continues, this time going through the court, making it harder for anyone to stop it without being accused of tampering with the country’s legal system.

The government opened up buffalo meat imports to provide a substitute for beef, the price of which has been rising, but the effort seems to have been undermined as the buffalo meat price has followed suit and risen as well. Alleged collusion between the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and several distributors is said to be the reason behind the high buffalo meat price.

Mario Dandy Satrio, the son of a South Jakarta Tax Office official, has made a name for himself, albeit for the wrong reasons, after the South Jakarta Police arrested him and declared him a suspect in an assault case against the son of an executive of Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) youth wing, GP Ansor.

PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi or Mitratel (MTEL) further cements its position as the biggest tower solutions provider in Indonesia as it finalizes a deal with Indosat Ooredoo Hutshison (ISAT) to purchase 997 of their towers to add to the 34,800 towers they owned as per September 2022. Prior to this deal, most of their towers were acquired from Telkomsel, a sister company to Mitratel and competitor to ISAT.

Here is what the court has established in the murder case of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat: Second Agency Richard Eliezer fired five times at point blank and Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo, at the time the internal affairs chief of the National Police, finished the job by firing two more shots. Ferdy got the death sentence and Richard 18 months in jail as the South Jakarta District Court wrapped up the high profile murder trials last week.

Deputy State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Kartika Wirjoatmodjo announced an agreement had been reached between Indonesia and China regarding the amount of Jakarta-Bandung High Spseed Rail (HSR) project cost overrun, but the figure seems to be classified. The agreement resolved the dispute between both countries about the HSR project’s cost overrun, which had hampered its development progress.

When President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo exits the political stage in October 2024, Indonesia will likely be a more corrupt nation than when he moved into the presidential palace a decade earlier, unless he can turn things around. This is hardly a legacy that Jokowi wants to be remembered by.

The government has decided to increase the portion of domestic market obligation (DMO) of crude palm oil (CPO), the raw material of cooking oil, and slow down CPO exports to reign in the recent hike of government-sponsored, simple-packaged cooking oil Minyakita. The antimarket policy has irked industry players as it will again punish them more.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has begun what it claims is the selection process to determine its presidential candidate, with talk of the party’s roster being narrowed to five currently unnamed party members. However, reflecting on PDI-P chair Megawati Soekarnoputri’s much talked about speech during the party’s 50th anniversary, the PDI-P’s presidential candidate selection process may well turn out to be little more than a formality.

The Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority has claimed huge investment interest from the private sector to invest in the capital city within the next two years, but businesses said they were actually taking a gamble by grabbing land in the capital city and would not really invest until a new government was formed after next year’s elections. Until then, investment will come mainly from the government – and state-owned enterprises.

Kaesang Pangarep, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s youngest son, is planning to embark on a political career, following in the footsteps of his father, older brother Gibran Rakabuming Raka and brother-in-law Bobby Nasution. With the revelation of Kaesang’s political ambitions, allegations into Jokowi’s attempt to build a political dynasty is once again in the spotlight.

When President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo demanded that the House of Representatives complete deliberations on the domestic worker protection bill earlier this month, there were few takers. Political parties, which are gearing up for next year’s general election, are not interested. There was little enthusiasm from the public either. Only one labor union has openly come out in support of the president’s demand that the House expedite the legislation.

The Golkar Party is looking to receive a boost of power ahead of the 2024 elections with the arrival of West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil as a new member. Chairman Airlangga Hartarto announced Ridwan’s entry to the Golkar fold on Jan. 18, saying the move had allowed the party to look toward the elections with guarded optimism amid the increasingly fierce competition. Airlangga added that the party now stood a great of winning the most votes in West Java for the first time since 2004.

Indonesia’s discussion with electric automaker Tesla made headline again last week as Bloomberg reported that the two are closing in on a deal. However, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk was quick to respond via his recently-acquired Twitter cautioning against citing “unnamed sources” as they are frequently false.

The government has finally admitted that 12 incidents or tragedies that happened in the past amounted to gross violations of human rights, but short of offering an apology, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo last week expressed regret and promised restitutions for the victims. This is a startling development for a nation that has been in denial about the many horrible things that have happened in the past. But we can forget about the prosecution of the perpetrators. It is not on the cards.

Rice prices continue to increase in the beginning of the year despite controversial late importation of rice and market intervention by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). Learning from the persistent price increase of rice, the National Food Agency (NFA) has tasked Bulog to conduct year-long market intervention to keep prices of this politically sensitive commodity in check.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) may have come out at the top in the last two general elections, but whether it can score a hat-trick in 2024 depends on whether it is fielding a strong presidential candidate who can help it win the votes.

Troubled-ridden flag carrier Garuda Indonesia completed its massive debt restructuring, allowing the company to turn around to profit last year, after massive losses in the past few years, and its stock resumes trading in the Indonesian Stock Exchange beginning this week after being suspended for the past six months.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo presented a new year gift in the form of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on job creation. Signed on Dec. 30, 2022, Perppu No. 2/2022 replaced the Job Creation Law that in late 2021 was declared conditionally unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court (MK) and therefore had to be revised within two years in a process that must include meaningful public participation. 

Two Chinese workers died in an accident in the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway on Sunday, raising concerns about the project’s safety, timeline and costs. Since it began, the project has suffered multiple accidents, delays and ballooning cost overruns.

Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan will win in West Java, Banten and Jakarta; Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo will win in Central and East Java; and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto will come second or third in all these five provinces on the island of Java. That is the prediction from the latest public-opinion survey by Polltracking of the likely outcome in the 2024 presidential race if it comes to a three-horse race.

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR) service is expected to see lower demand than initially projected. At its inception, the Jakarta-Bandung HSR was estimated to transport 60,000 passengers per day, but a new study conducted after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has cut the estimate by half. This means that the new railway services needs around 80 years to break even and start making a profit.

Recent allegations of data manipulation during the factual verification of political parties aspiring to contest the 2024 legislative elections have clouded hopes of a free and fair practice of democracy. A number of civil society organizations found that cheating took place in several regions, including South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), East Java, Bali, Central Kalimantan and Aceh.

Ever since Bank Indonesia (BI) announced their intent to to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in July, everyone voiced concern regarding the risk of the monetary authority becoming a competitor to digital wallet services. Last week, the central bank finally published their white paper on how they will be implementing the new digital rupiah, as well as addressing concerns from businesses and consumers.

Speaking on Nov. 26 at the gathering at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jokowi said these were traits of a leader who had spent their time thinking about the wellbeing of the country.

Rice prices have been increasing lately as traders and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) reported depleting rice stocks. The Trade Ministry approved the importation of 500,000 tonnes of rice to replenish Bulog’s stocks, however the Agriculture Ministry disagreed and argued there were enough rice stocks in the country, but that these were in the hands of farmers and traders.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has proposed Navy chief of staff Admiral Yudo Margono as the new commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI). The House will conduct the formality of the fit-and-proper test next week and will almost surely endorse Yudo’s nomination. The president will then install Yudo as the successor to Army Gen. Andika Perkasa.