Despite its scheduled dissolution in 2025, new revelations have emerged regarding the massive graft case at state-owned insurer PT Jiwasraya. The case, which led to state losses of Rp 16.8 trillion (US$1.06 billion), is among the largest financial scandals in Indonesia’s history. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) recently named Isa Rachmatarwata, the Finance Ministry’s budget director general, as a suspect in the case. According to the AGO, Isa allegedly played a key role in approving Jiwasraya’s ill-fated JS Saving Plan in 2009 despite knowing that the company was already financially insolvent at the time. 

While the plan to restrict social media among minors is largely welcomed by the public, particularly parents, authorities should implement the upcoming policy with extra caution.

Modi's visit to Washington has revealed the similarities between him and his US counterpart, while his decade-long model of prioritizing propaganda over governance hints at the kind of tactics to expect from a second Trump term, and the blinders his administration might voluntarily wear to avoid seeing the socioeconomic realities.

The flurry of Trump's aggressive policies on trade and technology via tariffs is testing the bounds of mainstream monetary and fiscal theory, leading to the emergence of a new energy-powered model to replace the old Bretton Woods development model.

Priotizing valuations over building real value pumps up hype while undercutting innovation, research and development as well as sustainable solutions, benefiting VC firms as founders, employees and communities lose out.

Countries that were once able to benefit from both China’s foreign direct investment and US trade and aid programs now face threats to both of these relationships.

 This is a groundbreaking yet daunting development for the country’s fiscal framework.

Regardless of the justification used, this policy potentially contradicts the fundamental principles of Law No. 62/2024 concerning the state budget for the 2025 Fiscal Year.

Another government drive for financial efficiency has been shot down following a public outcry against restrictions on the sales of subsidized household gas introduced on Feb. 1. The new policy quickly gathered heat, with long lines of angry people around the country trying to buy 3-kilogram canisters of LPG and amid harsh criticism going viral on social media.

President Prabowo Subianto’s recent budget cut to save over Rp 306 trillion (US$18.9 billion) to fund his administration’s priority programs is incomprehensible.

Urban spatial planning must be regulated and developed by shifting its orientation to a transit-based approach, prioritizing the development of settlements around public transport hubs.

Indonesia believes that this act of cultural justice is not just about returning the objects themselves but also about restoring the dignity of Indonesia’s identity, traditions and collective memory. 

As the world becomes increasingly dominated by technology, we as a society need to develop, maintain and provide free access to more open spaces to provide a balance between digital and interpersonal engagement for the well-being of youths today and generations to come.

Refugees should not be pushed back and they should be granted temporary asylum without being locked up in immigration detention. 

Coercing weaker nations rather than engaging in diplomatic solutions reflects the fundamental flaw of Trump’s unilateralism.

Just one month after its launch on Jan. 1, the government’s Rp 1.3 trillion (US$79.58 million) Core Tax Administration System (Coretax) is already under fire. Designed to modernize and streamline the country’s tax administration, Coretax has faced criticism for technical malfunctions, complexity and allegations of corruption.

The Foreign Ministry says there are 157 Indonesians in foreign prisons whose legal processes remain ongoing as they face the death penalty; 111 for drug trafficking and 46 for murder.

The age of empires seemed to be a thing of the past. But now there are signs that some world leaders hanker after imperial power and glory.

Efforts to end plastic pollution through bans and treaties aren’t getting anywhere, but the advent of bioplastics offers hope.

Indonesia’s IP framework was designed for a linear economy, where goods are produced, sold, and disposed of, rather than a circular economy.

Today’s extreme inequality is eroding democracy in unprecedented ways.

Trump's preference for a bilateral over multilateral agreements undermines ASEAN’s bargaining position to negotiate as a unite bloc.

President Prabowo Subianto, a former Army general, has relied heavily on the Indonesian Military (TNI) to accelerate the implementation of his flagship programs. However, he has maintained some distance from the National Police. Despite this, both the TNI and the police wield significant influence in Prabowo’s administration, with several figures from military and police backgrounds securing key cabinet positions and playing crucial roles in power transitions.

Prabowo and Gerindra have taken for granted the overwhelming legislative and executive powers that the people have lent them.

Disruptive technological innovations cannot necessarily be adopted for Indonesia's very diverse and complex agricultural conditions.

Japan will provide much more than just food procurement and provision for students.

The Commission has decided to advance its deregulatory agenda by using a controversial and opaque legislative mechanism: the omnibus bill.