The Jakarta Post Editorials: Board Perspectives

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Police officers and protesters face each other on Aug. 27 during a demonstration urging lawmakers to immediately pass an asset forfeiture law for corrupt officials outside the Senayan Legislative complex in Jakarta.

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The state's new muscle

When the state embraces street thugs as political muscle, the violence that follows isn't an accident - it is government policy.

7 hours ago

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To build NU anew

As state power and political patronage close in on Nahdlatul Ulama, the world’s largest Muslim organization faces a pivotal internal battle: preserve its independent moral voice, or become a rubber stamp for the ruling elite. ...

1 day ago

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Cost of recentralization

It seems to have become a pattern under the government of President Prabowo Subianto. When problems erupt, the state must “be present”, as the President often puts it, which translates into asserting itself more forcefully. ...

2 days ago

The Latest

Well-wishers: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (second right) and First Lady Iriana (right) receive Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his son Didit Hediprasetyo (left) on Idul Fitri at the State Palace in Yogyakarta on Monday.

Prabowo’s Idul Fitri safari

As part of the administration, Prabowo can claim all the government’s achievements, as well as Jokowi’s relatively high approval rating.

4 years ago

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo (right) speaks as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida watches during a joint press conference on April 29, 2022 at Bogor Palace.

Jokowi’s hopes for Japan

While Indonesia and Japan continues to maintain mutually beneficial ties, they should not expect everything to remain smooth sailing amid the global currents.

4 years ago

Vehicles are stuck in a traffic jam on the toll road heading out of Jakarta, in West Karawang on April 28, as people head to their hometowns for the upcoming Idul Fitri festivities, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Happy ‘mudik’, at last!

As we enter the third year of the pandemic, we have reasons to believe that we are now better protected than ever.

4 years ago

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron celebrate after his victory in France's presidential election, at the Champ de Mars in Paris, on April 24, 2022.

Jokowi’s French connection

Macron’s victory over far-right Euroskeptic, anti-Islam and antimigrant Marine Le Pen represents the triumph of common sense.

4 years ago

Commodity boom: A plantation company worker loads a truck with newly harvested oil palm fruit bunches in Berkat village in Central Mamuju regency, West Sulawesi, on March 10. Indonesia scored its highest exports last month, thanks in part to crude palm oil.

The windfall and the burden

If this huge additional subsidy is allowed, the fiscal deficit could exceed the 4.85 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) target this year, whereas the government is required by law to keep the deficit below 3 percent of GDP in 2023.

4 years ago

The Jakarta Post turns 39 on April 25, 2022.

39 years and counting

After 39 years of mostly highs and a few lows, especially in the past two years, The Jakarta Post is again standing on the cusp of change – and is grabbing it by the horns.

4 years ago

Cooking oil price hike cartoon

Overcooked oil business

We understand how angry the President is with the uncooperative attitude of the 10 largest integrated palm oil industrial groups.

4 years ago

Popular: Rich Brian (center) is undeniably Indonesia's latest biggest-ever pop-culture export.

Rising high

The return of the pop-oriented music festival not only serves as a sign of the return to normalcy, a much-needed celebration of life less restricted by health protocols, but it is also a saving grace for music fans who have missed out on live music performances for at least the past two summers.

4 years ago

Israeli security forces scuffle with a Palestinian man as he tries to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque compound to attend the Friday prayers, on April 15. More than 100 people were wounded in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police at East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, with new violence, as Jewish and Christian festivals overlap with Ramadan.

Tragedy at Al-Aqsa

Indonesia joined many other countries in condemning Israel’s armed violence against Palestinian people inside the Al Aqsa complex.

4 years ago

Papuan students protest against the government's plan to develop new administrative regions in the country's easternmost territory, in Malang, East Java, on March 21, 2022.

Divide and rule Papua

The intention to split Papua into smaller pieces only maintains the decades-old asymmetric relationship between Jakarta and the easternmost territory.

4 years ago

Kevin Aluwi (left), Patrick Cao (second left), Andre Soelistyo (second right) and William Tanuwijaya at GoTo’s Listing Day Ceremony at the Indonesia Stock Exchange on April 11 in Jakarta.

Time to make profit

The real battle for GoTo has just begun. Amid turbulent global markets and the cooling hype on Southeast Asia’s tech sector, GoTo is expected to have different strategies and show greater resilience in the bourse.

4 years ago

Internally displaced people arrive at a centre for the displaced persons in Zaporizhzhia, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northwest of Mariupol on April 6, 2022. NATO chief said that, after withdrawing most of its troops from northern Ukraine, Russia aims to capture the

Peaceful message of Easter

Whether or not his call falls on deaf ears, the pope is representing the world’s hopes and optimism that peace will prevail.

4 years ago

The main meeting room for the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Jakarta on Feb. 16.

Come, recover together

The proposition of inviting Ukraine to the G20 Summit looks to be the best compromise Indonesia can offer to appease the West.

4 years ago

Police fire tear gas at students during a rally against moves to extend the presidential mandate in Jakarta on April 11.

Hail to the students

Our history shows students have repeatedly taken to the street to speak up against injustices and the regression of democracy when the prevailing mechanism through the legislatures did not work.

4 years ago

Demanding an end: Adrian Jonathan Pasaribu and his fellow cinephile friends founded sexual violence reporting channel, SGHT ('Sinematic Gak Harus Toxic'/Cinematic Should Not Be Toxic) in 2019. (Facebook/Courtesy of Adrian Jonathan Pasaribu) *CHECK FOR ITALICS FOR PRINT*

Ending sexual violence

Despite its drawbacks of not defining rape and regulating for coerced abortions, at least now we have legislation that specifically deals with sexual violence.

4 years ago

Documentary of war: A serviceman films a destroyed Russian tank and armored vehicles amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Bucha, Kiev, Ukraine, April 2.

Ukraine - humanitarian and human tragedy

Economic sanctions against Russia imposed by the United States and its NATO allies have not forced Moscow rethink its Ukraine policy.

4 years ago

Health matters: Medical workers vaccinate workers of a factory in Cikarang, West Java, against COVID-19 on March 9, 2022. A total of 5,000 booster vaccines were administered that day.

No booster, no ‘mudik’

People’s enthusiasm to get a booster shot, however, may enable more island-to-island travel, which could in turn increase virus transmission.

4 years ago

Travellers queue for self check-in before departure at Changi International Airport in Singapore on April 1, 2022, as Singapore reopened its land and air borders to travellers fully vaccinated against the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Why we must act now to keep humans and the planet healthy

Globally, two-thirds of exposure to outdoor air pollution results from the burning of the same fossil fuels that are driving climate change, which between 2030 and 2050 is expected to cause an additional 250 000 deaths annually.

4 years ago

This Handout photo made available by Greenpeace shows one of their activists holding an anti-war placard as they float in the water in front of the supertanker Pertamina Prime off the coast of Denmark on March 31, 2022, blocking the transshipment of a Russian oil shipment between two ships.

Living with more costly fuel

Most analysts and multilateral-development agencies have suggested that the government expand well-targeted cash-transfer social-assistance programs to protect low-income people.

4 years ago

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (right)

Malay for ASEAN

Article 34 of the ASEAN Charters rules English as the working language for the diverse grouping.

4 years ago

Motorcycles line up for Pertamax fuel oil in this undated photograph.

Living with inflation

Households will have to accept higher prices for as long as the Ukraine war drags on.

4 years ago

Migrant workers sit on board a boat during a rescue operation in the waters off North Sumatra, where two people died and 26 others went missing after a ferry carrying dozens of migrants sank off the coast of Indonesia on March 19.

Protecting our migrants

In a system that favors employers, recruiters and policymakers, Indonesian migrant workers have found themselves highly vulnerable to labor abuses.

4 years ago

Ramadan cartoon

A humble Ramadan

This Ramadan will be one the most expensive fasting months in recent memory.

4 years ago

Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing (right) talks with Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn (left), the ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar, in Naypyidaw on March 21.

Kick out Myanmar’s junta

Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN should be suspended until the military gives back the power it robbed from the country’s democratically elected government last year.

4 years ago

Russian joint venture Vietsovpetro oil rigs are seen at Bạch Hổ oil field in Vietnam.

Russian oil roulette

For Indonesia to turn to Russian oil now risks the wrath of the West.

4 years ago

United States President Joe Biden attends the virtual US-ASEAN Summit on Oct. 26, 2021 from the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC.

A welcome delay

The postponment of a special summit between Biden and ASEAN leaders is actually a blessing in disguise, considering the US' policy stance as regards the current geopolitical climate in Southeast Asia and Europe.

4 years ago

Two miners pan for gold along a stream near Korowai, Papua, on July 7, 2020 . Illegal mining has soared in the region in despite hazards including the risk of arrest and health damage from toxic mercury used at many makeshift mining sites.

No mercy for mercury

Indonesia has a moral obligation to ensure that the Bali Declaration will be able to spur stronger international cooperation in the fight against illegal mercury trade.

4 years ago

Officials inspect the main venue of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central governors meeting during preparations in Jakarta on Feb. 17.

G20 presidency: Firm but calm

Due to the tricky nature of the matter, President Jokowi has to make sure that all official statements and information related to the G20 summit from the host should come from a single agency or ministry.

4 years ago

Hot wheels: Police officers inspect luxury cars seized from online investment scam suspect Doni Salmanan at the premises of the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on March 14, 2022.

Probing the crazy rich

The moral outcry from the crazy rich story is the reason why the police started investigations only recently despite the binary investment trading having run since 2019.

4 years ago

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Anwar Usman reads out the court's decision regarding a dispute over the results of the presidential election on June 27, 2019.

Marriage of convenience

Anwar must be able to prove that he will not be blinded by his marriage, and his integrity will be reflected in his and the court’s decisions.

4 years ago

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