Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers wait for orders ahead of protests at Merdeka Square in Central Jakarta on Sept. 1, 2025.

Rising militarism

In the wake of looting and rioting in late August, President Prabowo Subianto deployed more than 75,000 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers to secure areas in and around Jakarta.

44 minutes ago

Editorial

OIC’s same old song

While the OIC condemned "aggression" against Qatar, the Gaza Strip and other regional states, its statement lacked any concrete plans for action. ...

1 day ago

Editorial

Let consumers choose

But if overregulation pushes Shell, BP and Vivo to scale back, or worse, pack up and leave, motorists will be left with fewer choices and Pertamina’s grip on the market will only tighten. ...

2 days ago

The Latest

Foreign Minister Sugiono smiles before his inauguration at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 21, 2024.

Editorial

Sugiono's direction

We call on the minister to clarify a few controversial decisions and incidents involving the President.

8 months ago

Every vote counts: A woman casts her ballot for the presidential and legislative elections at a polling station in Banda Aceh, on Feb. 14, 2024.

Editorial

Trashing the threshold

The promise of better governance and democratic consolidation expected from implementing the presidential threshold has barely been fulfilled.

8 months ago

The venue of a canceled art exhibition of painter Yos Suprapto is seen empty on Dec. 20, 2024, at the National Galley in Jakarta. The exhibition was canceled by the National Gallery on its opening day on Dec. 19, 2024.

Editorial

Authoritarian alarm

The cancellation of the exhibition of the work of Yogyakarta-based artist Yos Suprapto marked another setback for freedom of expression in the country.

8 months ago

Firefighters and recovery team members work at the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Dec. 30, 2024.

Editorial

High-flying reflections

Airlines must adopt a proactive approach centered on transparency, accountability and continuous improvement.

8 months ago

Riot police stand guard as students protest against the government's decision to increase the value-added tax (VAT) from 11 percent to 12 percent, effective from the beginning of 2025, in Jakarta on Dec. 26, 2024.

Editorial

Talk of possible vote-rigging, election meddling and electioneering in the lead-up to the February presidential and legislative elections raised the stakes and sparked real fears that things could go sideways after the votes were tallied.

8 months ago

An employee inspects on Aug. 7 a machine at a lithium-ion battery and nano-carbon materials plant owned by PT BTR New Energy Material in the Kendal Special Economic Zone in Central Java.

Editorial

Just getting started

We cannot afford to let more time slip through our fingers, for the sake of the nation and the promise it holds.

8 months ago

Hard-won democracy: President Prabowo Subianto shows ballot papers while voting in the simultaneous regional election in Bogor, West Java, on Nov. 27.

Editorial

Betrayal of ‘Reformasi’

Sadly, we note that the spirit of Reformasi is waning not only in our political body, but also in the judiciary.

8 months ago

Secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Hasto Kristiyanto (left) holds a meeting with then Surakarta mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka (right) in Jakarta on May 22, 2023.

Editorial

Ghost of past administration

As a new president who was still working to consolidate his power, Prabowo certainly did not want to alienate the PDI-P, currently the biggest political party in the House of Representatives.

8 months ago

A man decorates a Christmas tree with flip-flops at the Santa Perawan Maria Bunda Christ Catholic Church ahead of the Christmas festival celebrations in Java, Central Java, on Dec. 20, 2024.

Editorial

Christmas good news

The picture is not always gloomy, although we may need to make extra efforts to see the encouraging developments.

8 months ago

High-ranking officials brief the press about the new economic stimulus package intended to cushion the impact of an impending value-added tax (VAT) hike to 12 percent at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister in Jakarta on Dec. 16, 2024.

Editorial

VAT hike with cashback

There is no shame in VAT hike, yet our government appears to be embarrassed by its own decision.

8 months ago

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol bows on Dec. 14, 2024, during a public address from his official residence in Seoul in this handout photo issued by the South Korean Presidential Office via Yonhap.

Editorial

Lessons from Korea

Our political culture often permits leaders to evade accountability.

8 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto arrives at the government palace to meet with Peru's President Dina Boluarte, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Lima on Nov. 14.

Editorial

Merciful Prabowo

Barely two months into office, President Prabowo has surprised the nation with his plan to give pardon to 44,000 inmates across the nation.

8 months ago

Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (center) and ASEAN leaders take part in the 44th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Oct. 9, 2024.

Editorial

Are we abandoning ASEAN?

This is the second time since Prabowo’s inauguration that Indonesia has sent a concerning message to its regional neighbors.

8 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (front, third left) attends a warm-up session during a retreat with members of his Red and White Cabinet at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, on Oct. 25, 2024. (-/Prabowo’s Media Team/Handout via Reuters)

Editorial

Prevention is better than cure

It’s better to prevent a public trust crisis than to patch one up afterward.

9 months ago

An aerial view of a subsidized housing complex in Puuwatu district in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Aug. 1, 2024.

Editorial

Broken housing policy

The government should understand it has never been about the number and simply tripling the annual new housing target is not going to cut it.

9 months ago

A stock illustration of prescribed injected ketamine.

Editorial

Solutions to ketamine problem

If the government decides to categorize it as a psychotropic, it should prioritize tightening the distribution rather than punishing users.

9 months ago

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia waves before the Twilight Parade at Pancasila Field, Military Academy, Magelang, Central Java, on Oct. 25, 2024.

Editorial

Serious about nuclear

Nuclear may be worth pursuing at this point, not as a panacea, but to support our energy transition as a baseload power source.

9 months ago

Syrians living in Turkey celebrate after Syrian rebels announced that they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 8, 2024.

Editorial

Mission to Syria

Democracy is Indonesia’s most substantial offer.

9 months ago

Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Pramono Anung (left) talks to his running mate Rano Karno during a press briefing in Cipete, South Jakarta, on Nov. 28, 2024.

Regional Elections

Narrow margin

Dragging the election through to January would certainly look like a misguided political strategy.

9 months ago

Tax assistance: An official (left) explains to a taxpayer the use of her citizenship identity number as the taxpayer identification number at Palangkaraya tax office in Central Kalimantan, on March 3.

Editorial

Focus on revenue reform

We fail to understand how a new revenue agency or ministry would do anything better.

9 months ago

Democracy in action: Protesters take part in a candlelight rally calling for the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on the steps of the National Assembly in Seoul, on Dec. 5.

Editorial

K-drama worth watching

Democracy survived because the Korean people willed it and fought for it.

9 months ago

Women’s rights activists hold a banner reading “Eradicate sexual violence? There must be a way!” during a protest outside the Education and Culture Ministry in Jakarta on Feb. 10, 2020, against sexual harassment and violence against women on campuses.

Editorial

Women’s protection crisis

Often, when victims of gender-based violence seek help from the police, they are faced with resistance, convoluted procedures or, even worse, accusations that they brought the crimes upon themselves because of the way they dressed or behaved.

9 months ago

Foreign Minister Sugiono smiles on Oct. 21, 2024, before his inauguration at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.

Editorial

Give the new FM time

The public should allow Sugiono to prove that the President made the right decision in appointing him despite his lack of experience in foreign affairs.

9 months ago

Protesters demonstrate in front of the Central Java Police headquarters in Semarang on Nov. 28, 2024.

Editorial

Policing the police

Recent acts of brutality have hardened disturbing doubts about the accountability of the police and their ability to resolve their own problems, including their excessive use of lethal force.

9 months ago

A customer examines clothes on April 2, 2024, at a shop in Medan central market in North Sumatra.

Editorial

VAT, the equitable tax

The brouhaha is overblown.

9 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto arrives at the Modern Art Museum (MAM) on Nov. 18, 2024, to attend the first session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Editorial

The $300b climate joke

Rich countries, with a few individual exceptions, never intended to make good on their past promises.

9 months ago

A farmer tills a plot of land using a hand-held tractor in Lumajang, East Java, on Nov. 6, 2024.

Editorial

Make farming profitable again

The Indonesian agriculture sector will need massive reforms to make President Prabowo Subianto’s dream of food self-sufficiency a reality.

9 months ago

Global collaboration: (Left to right, first row) President Prabowo Subianto, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum attend the opening session of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 18.

Editorial

Prabowo's deliverables

President Prabowo Subianto's recent 16-day overseas trip has convincingly marked his presidency as an active global player in a bid to boost global collaboration amid increasingly complex geopolitical dynamics.

9 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) shows his ballot to journalists on Nov. 27, 2024, after voting in the 2024 simultaneous regional elections at a polling station in Bojong Koneng village, Bogor regency, West Java. The country is holding regional head elections in 37 provinces and more than 500 cities and regencies.

Editorial

Big win

And for those who closely watched the state of the race, there was nothing from the quick count results on Wednesday afternoon that came as a surprise.

9 months ago

United States president-elect
Donald Trump gestures as he holds hands with his wife Melania during
a rally in Florida, the US, on Nov. 6, 2024.

Editorial

Global trade à la Trump

United States president-elect Donald Trump played the fear card on the economy and won his second term. Now it is apparent that he intends to do the same for the world.

9 months ago

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