The fourth amendment to the 2003 Constitutional Court Law is about to be added to the growing list of bills that, despite much public backlash, are to be passed into law under the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The proposed amendments will likely chip away at the judiciary’s independence and thus leave it vulnerable to political influences.

The House of Representatives plans to accelerate the law-making process of several controversial bills during the lame-duck period before its term ends on Oct. 1. The politicians are intent on revising specifically the Broadcasting Law, the Constitutional Court Law, State Ministries Law and Indonesian Military (TNI) Law that would help them consolidate their power, unfortunately at the expense of democracy, before the Oct. 20 succession of administration.

President Joko “Jokowi’’ Widodo’s ambition to relocate the national capital to Nusantara in East Kalimantan as his signature legacy will hinge on his success in holding a ceremony to mark Indonesia’s independence anniversary on Aug. 17 in the new city. The major hurdle to the plan is moving thousands of civil servants to Nusantara in a relatively short time.

President-elect Prabowo Subianto is pushing for a big government for when he takes over the helm in October, but it is not so much because he has ambitious big programs to run, but more because he needs to parcel out cabinet posts to political parties, individuals and institutions that helped him win the February election. As if that is not enough, Prabowo is inviting some of the political parties that had supported rival candidates in the race to join his ruling coalition, so he has even more strategic government jobs to give out.

While deindustrialization in Indonesia remains a matter of debate, the recent closure of shoe manufacturer PT Sepatu Bata’s only factory in the country has sparked new concerns. The government has assured that Indonesia’s manufacturing industry is still healthy.

The initiative to form a presidential club may be dead on arrival, not only because at least one of the two former living presidents will likely oppose the plan but more importantly, because none of the three candidates for membership has the statesmanship qualities deserving of being on a council of supposedly wise men/women.

The Indonesian government is in the process of passing a regulation to establish the Indonesia Tourism Fund (ITF). The fund will be used to support various major tourism events that can create multiplier effects, such as music concerts. One of the methods being considered to collect money for the fund is from airfare by charging a tourism fee, which will likely increase flight ticket prices. The plan sparked objections from business players in the Indonesian tourism sector, including the country’s airline industry, as well as advocates of consumer rights.

The National Awakening Party (PKB) and the NasDem Party, two parties that nominated Anies Baswedan in the Feb. 14 presidential election, have decided to join the winning side of Prabowo Subianto. The entry of the two ex-rivals will allow Prabowo to enlarge his coalition and secure majority parliamentary support, but on the flip side it may cause complexities in allocating ministerial posts as rewards in his incoming cabinet.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recently welcomed Apple CEO Tim Cook to the State Palace, as the United States tech giant and the Indonesian government look to expand collaboration with one another. The two discussed multiple matters, including Jokowi’s desire for Apple to build a manufacturing facility in the country and invest in the future capital city, Nusantara (IKN).

Unsurprisingly, the Constitutional Court put an end to all election result disputes by rejecting the legal challenges put forward by losing presidential candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo. In two separate five-to-three majority rulings on Monday, the justices upheld the landslide victory of president-elect Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

The Indonesian government has refuted Israeli reports that it is actively seeking to normalize diplomatic ties with the State of Israel. Said reports suggested that Indonesia's alleged pursuit of such a normalization is tied to the Southeast Asian country’s ongoing efforts to join the multilateral Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of which Israel is already a member. Indonesia sees entry to the economic forum of developed nations as a pivotal phase in its journey to become a developed country.

Politicians capitalized on Idul Fitri holiday last week to embark on silaturahmi (kinship) visits in the name of coalition building. This year, Prabowo Subianto paid visits to key allies while talks of an imminent meeting between the president-elect and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri have spread.

The government recently approved 14 new national strategic projects (PSN), including Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) 2 and Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) in Banten, both of which are developments by publicly listed property companies. However, with these projects set to be funded by private investors, questions have been raised regarding the reasoning behind their inclusion as PSNs.

Both losing presidential candidates, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, are demanding nothing less than a revote in their appeal to the Constitutional Court, claiming that the Feb. 14 election should be invalidated and the results annulled because of problems with the nomination of the running mate of the winning candidate.

The financially troubled Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI), known as Indonesia Eximbank, has suffered from another round of bad debts, resulting from fraud. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati recently submitted a report of fraud at the bank involving four borrowers, amounting to Rp 2.5 trillion, to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). More problems are expected to be revealed as more borrowers also fall under the AGO’s investigation.

It is by far the least powerful job among the country's highest state political institutions, but for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the position of House speaker may be a consolation prize after emerging as the party with the most votes in the February general elections. But even this is not automatic, depending upon the dictates of other parties.

Defense minister and presumptive president-elect Prabowo Subianto attended the Mandiri Investment Forum 2024 as keynote speaker last week, a role that would normally be performed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The keynote speech that ran for over an hour, discussed a litany of topics, ranging from the messiness of democracy in Indonesia to the country’s extremely low tax ratio and the low contribution of government spending to GDP.

Most political parties automatically extend the term of their chairman if they have performed well in a general election. Yet, this rule does not seem to apply to Golkar, which, under chairman Airlangga Hartarto, saw its tally of votes increase in last month’s legislative election to come second. Although his term is good until December, the race for the chairmanship is already heating up, including calls for an earlier extraordinary congress to settle the issue.

The school operational assistance (BOS) fund has been put forth as a possible financing source for Prabowo Subianto's free school lunch program, the presumptive winner's key campaign promise. However, the proposal has met with stiff opposition, particularly from teachers' associations that believe using the fund will hinder further improvements to teachers' welfare and the quality of Indonesia's education.

President Joko ''Jokowi'' Widodo is entering the final months of his second and final term, with presumptive winner Prabowo Subianto set to be inaugurated in October this year. Although he is constitutionally required to leave office after spending the last 10 years at the helm, Jokowi’s influence in the country’s political landscape looks to remain intact for the foreseeable future.

The longstanding trend of granting key roles in state corporations to supporters of presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls has resurfaced. This time, members of the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka national campaign team (TKN) have been appointed as independent commissioners in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), drawing criticism for alleged political favoritism over merit-based qualifications.

The row between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party or Struggle (PDI-P), could move into a new round, this time with much bigger political stakes, if the House of Representatives goes ahead with its plan to launch an inquiry to look into allegations of impropriety in last month’s general elections.

As the electoral dust settles and Prabowo Subianto looks certain to win the presidency, the focus has now shifted to the intricate process of coalition-building. The public is anticipating Prabowo’s next move to consolidate power before he takes over from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in October.

With less than eight months left in office, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo changed his cabinet team once again to welcome Democratic Party leader Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono on board as agrarian and spatial planning minister, replacing Hadi Tjahjanto, a long-time Jokowi ally who was promoted to the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister post.

As President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ramped up the rice social assistance program for 22 million poor households in January ahead of the general election, premium rice disappeared from modern retailers. Responding to the scarcity, the President ordered the National Food Agency (Bapanas) and the State Logistic Agency (Bulog) to flood the market with rice from state reserves.

We have entered a new era. Until recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has largely been operating in the background - quietly automating processes and improving performance. Yet the unprecedented adoption curve of generative AI represents an explosive change in how humans interface with technology, through natural language and conversation. This is not just a seismic wave, but a tectonic shift that will alter how we live, and work, forever.

Quick counts conducted by a number of survey institutes just after the voting on Feb. 14 found presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka garnered the majority of the votes to avoid a runoff. The superiority of the former army general in the quick counts went hand in hand with his persistent dominance in the opinion surveys in the run-up to the elections, despite several controversies, particularly surrounding Gibran’s candidacy.

The impact of the 2023 social assistance (bansos) program on the national economy has been reflected in Statistic Indonesia's (BPS) most recent national economic growth report. Whereas government expenditure experienced rather extreme fluctuations between Q3 and Q4 of 2023, which is during a period of aggressive social assistance (bansos) programs, household consumption remained steady, raising concerns over the effectiveness of bansos in boosting the people's purchasing power.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is literally struggling to retain its top position in next week's general election, with surveys putting it just ahead of the Gerindra Party. The surveys also show that parties campaigning on an Islamist agenda are further losing ground, but then all elections in the past have always been dominated by secular-nationalist parties.

Rumors that Finance Minister Sri Mulyani will resign from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's cabinet have emerged just weeks before the 2024 general election. Despite denials from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and several ministers, speculation about Sri Mulyani's departure has weakened the rupiah and led to significant divestment by foreign investors from Indonesian government securities.