President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has insisted on proceeding with the Jakarta-Surabaya high-speed railway (HSR) project by extending the Jakarta-Bandung HSR to Surabaya in East Java, likely with the same Chinese investors, despite the financial challenge of completing the Jakarta-Bandung project, which has been bogged down with delays and massive cost overruns.

Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is facing a dilemma in selecting the party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election. The ideal choice would be a candidate who would go on to win the election, take the party to new heights and sustain the reign of the Sukarno dynasty in Indonesian politics.

Long dumped and shunned by investors, publicly listed coal miner PT Bumi Resources Tbk (BUMI), one of the largest mining companies associated with politically connected the Bakrie Group, is once again becoming a target of investors in the stock market following the entrance of the country’s premier conglomerate the Salim Group.

Political parties have been racing to announce who they will be backing in the 2024 presidential election. Most recently, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) declared its support for Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo in the election, saying he is the most suitable to carry on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s legacy.

The Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway (HSR) test run with Chinese President Xi Jinping is only a month away, yet the project’s cost overrun has yet to be settled.

Since the NasDem Party recently declared outgoing Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan its presidential candidate, the Golkar Party might be buckling under the pressure to finalize its choice candidate too. Though the party previously maintained it would back chairman Airlangga Hartarto’s presidential ambitions, a final decision has yet to be made.

The House of Representatives concluded a plenary meeting on Sept. 20 establishing   the omnibus bill on financial sector reform as a parliament-proposed bill. The bill introduces considerable changes from the initial draft proposed by the government in collaboration with the parliament in 2020, some of which are highly contentious.

Young people aged between 17 and 39, who will make up 54 percent of voters in 2024, want a president who can make significant changes and they don’t think 70-year Prabowo Subianto, despite his huge popularity, is their man. In scenarios of two- and three-horse races involving Prabowo, they would instead vote for either Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo or Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, both 53, shows a survey by the Jakarta-based think tank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). 

State-owned electricity company PT PLN recently formed four sub-holding companies, two that consolidate all its power generation assets, one that integrates primary energy management and one that develops services beyond electricity. The two power generation companies will share two new business entities in renewable energy, which are likely to be privatized.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reportedly moved to select the new Indonesian Military (TNI) chief as the current commander, Gen. Andika Perkasa, will reach his retirement age of 58 on Dec. 21 and Jokowi does not seem to consider an extension of Andika’s military service.

Presidential regulation (Perpres) No. 112/2022 on renewable energy, which had been teased since last year, is finally out. However, the reaction to the regulation has been bleak.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s supporters have figured out another way to extend his political career beyond 2024, namely by having him run as vice president.

Trouble is brewing at the United Development Party (PPP), the country’s oldest Islamist party and among the seven parties in the coalition government, after chairman Suharso Monoarfa was toppled by what appears to be a slip of the tongue that offended kiai, the elderly heads of Islamic boarding schools.

September has been marked by massive waves of street rallies, protesting against the government’s decision to increase subsidized fuel prices

The global wheat supply chain disruption induced by the Russia-Ukraine conflict has highlighted Indonesia’s dependence on wheat imports.

Die-hard supporters of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held a congress in Bandung on Aug. 28 to keep their hopes alive for him to continue to serve the nation beyond 2024 when his current term in office ends, in defiance of the constitutional two-term limit.

House Speaker Puan Maharani is making high-profile public appearances and increasingly playing the woman card in a bid to boost her electability, which has remained stubbornly low in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has set up a team to resolve past serious human rights violations without going through courts of law, prompting some civil society organizations to accuse the government of trying to absolve the perpetrators of any guilt.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has urged state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) to enter the huge but stalled Masela gas block in Maluku to jumpstart the US$20 billion project. Many, however, have questioned the motive behind the move.

Prabowo Subianto officially confirmed his bid to run for president in 2024 at the Gerindra Party’s national leadership meeting (Rapimnas) last weekend.

Coal-supply crisis looms over the state-owned electricity company (PLN) again as businesses prefer to export their coal than to meet their domestic market obligation (DMO) amid skyrocketing commodity prices.

This year’s joint military exercise between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the United States armed forces are called “Super Garuda Shield”, indicating that the war games have been expanded to involve a total of 14 countries as well as the naval and air forces, instead of just the army.

Nearly two months after the first foot and mouth disease (FMD) case was reported, the government finally started the cattle vaccination program for 60.6 vaccine shots in 2022-2023.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo officially enacted three laws establishing new Papuan provinces – South Papua, Central Papua and the Papua Highlands – on July 25.

Violence in Papua has taken a new twist after chilling video footage showing members of a Papuan armed group beheading a man in Bintang Mountains regency circulated on July 19.

A large gas deposit was discovered recently near the coast of Aceh. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry described the discovery as potentially one of the largest in the world.

The government is scratching its head over whether to increase subsidized fuel prices. The surging global prices of crude oil has forced the government to provide more energy subsidies this year.

The death of a junior police officer has caught the nation’s attention this past week, with the media and the public increasingly skeptical of the National Police’s claim he had been killed in a gunfight with another lower-ranking officer after he tried to sexually assault the wife of Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo, the chief of internal affairs.

The reversal of crude palm oil (CPO) prices to below US$900 per ton and its repercussions in the domestic market have forced the government to take yet another drastic measure to help the commodity by advancing the B35 biodiesel mandatory program later this month.

Opinion polls on the 2024 presidential election show that Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan is among the most popular public figures, but his nomination remains clouded by uncertainty.