Failure to address the need for better welfare and democratic policymaking may cause people to have lower trust in the government, therefore threatening political stability in the country, according to Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) researchers.

President Prabowo Subianto has said that he welcomes criticism as a necessary part of governance. But the newly effective Criminal Code (KUHP) that makes insulting a sitting president and the government a crime has raised concern over restrictions on criticism. 

The task force, led by Home Minister Tito Karnavian, aims to strengthen coordination between the central government and local administrations in northern Sumatra that were affected by floods and landslides in late November.

Alfarisi, a 21-year-old protester who was arrested following nationwide protests against economic hardship in August 2025, died at a detention center reportedly after suffering from a seizure.

The pro-government Democratic Party has thrown its weight behind President Prabowo Subianto’s suggestion to abolish direct elections for regional heads, potentially overturning a legacy of democracy that came about under its founding figure, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

At least 10 judicial review petitions against the new Criminal Code (KUHP) and Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) have been filed with the Constitutional Court within four days after the new laws came into force.

The corruption trial of former education minister Nadiem Makarim opened on Monday after weeks of delays that allowed him to recover from surgery.

Authorities are looking the other way amid increasing intimidation targeting activists and social media influencers who criticized the government and how it handles the devastating floods in northern Sumatra.

Political party leaders of the ruling coalition have begun solidifying support for President Prabowo Subianto’s proposal to scrap direct elections for regional heads, a major change that analysts and critics say could help the President centralize power in a way that risks reversing hard-won democratic reforms.

Several articles of the new Criminal Code (KUHP) and Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) may erode civil liberties and freedom of expression, especially rights to criticize government policies, according to pro-democracy activists and scholars.

President Prabowo Subianto spent the final day of 2025 with hundreds of displaced people in South Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra, among the hundreds of thousands who welcomed the New Year at emergency shelters following the floods and landslides that devastated the island’s northern region.

"It's our own legal system [...] different from other countries," said Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas.

Analysts argue President Prabowo Subianto and his administration have been using the Indonesian Military (TNI) as a tool to push for not only political consolidation and flagship programs, but long-term political and electoral interests.

As 2025 draws to a close, Indonesia faces the outcomes of President Prabowo Subianto’s first year in office, marked by rapid political consolidation that delivered stability for the elites but exposed weaknesses in the government’s coordination and policy execution.

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chair Yahya Cholil Staquf asserted there are no changes to the organizational structure, while asserting that the group’s upcoming congress (Muktamar) in 2026 will become a forum to settle all differences between the conflicting parties.

Since its launch in January, more than 11,000 children nationwide have been affected by food poisoning, according to data from the agency overseeing the free nutritious meals program.

In one of the country’s most internationally visible stretches in years, Indonesia’s exposure more than doubled, with President Prabowo making 35 overseas visits to 29 countries in 12 months, nearly triple the average annual pace of the previous decade.

Persisting cases of police brutality stem from weak oversight by the executive, legislative and judicial branches, as well as the police's external oversight body, the National Police Commission (Kompolnas), rights activists have said. 

The KRI Prabu Siliwangi-321 frigate is the second vessel of the Brawijaya-class Multipurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) made by Italian shipyard Fincantieri.

Of those receiving remissions, 174 inmates were released immediately, while 15,904 others saw their sentences shortened, including high-profile corruption convicts businessman Harvey Moeis and former communications and information minister Johnny G. Plate.

Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Islamic organization, has taken a key step toward ending a weeks-long leadership dispute, with rival factions agreeing to convene an early congress next year.

Jakarta Archbishop Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo urges reflection on human responsibility in the devastating flood and landslides that hit three Sumatra provinces.

An estimated $55.5 billion in music and audiovisual royalties go uncollected worldwide each year, according to UNESCO and the World Bank.

In their sentence demand, prosecutors demanded that Laras Faizati Khairunnisa, who worked at an organization affiliated with the ASEAN secretariat, be found guilty of inciting hate and mass violence against the National Police related to the nationwide protests and unrest in late August through her Instagram Story posts.  

The Foreign Ministry has urged calm over an action by a recently deported British porn star at the Indonesian Embassy in London that was deemed to have desecrated the national flag.

The former vice president's early resignation from leadership roles at the MUI and the PKB comes amid an internal leadership rift at NU, though any connection between these events is unknown.

Asia-Pacific member states' nomination of Indonesia as the 2026 HRC president showed “strong support” for the country's capacity to lead in advancing global human rights, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.