National Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo has firmly opposed proposals to place the force under the supervision of a ministry, warning he would rather step down than see the police no longer report directly to the President.

Civil groups have slammed a suggestion by the deputy rights minister to do away with foreign intervention by having NGOs get state funding, amid the government’s plan to codify anti-foreign propaganda drives.

As President Prabowo Subianto’s police reform commission reviews changes to the force, discussions on placing the National Police under a ministry have reemerged, reviving fresh debate on how best to improve accountability and prevent the politicization of law enforcement.

The government is preparing a legal framework to allow police officers to serve in certain civilian ministries and state agencies, a move that analysts say runs counter to Constitutional Court rulings barring such appointments unless they are directly related to policing and stipulated by law.

Two newly declared political parties have entered Indonesia’s electoral landscape with ambitious presidential alignments but face a long road to the 2029 elections, as voter fragmentation continues to constrain the prospects of new players in the country’s party system.

The House of Representatives has shelved plans to revise the Regional Elections Law this year amid mounting public pushback against a renewed proposal by President Prabowo Subianto’s ruling coalition to end direct elections for regional heads.

Sudewo, the regent of Pati in Central Java whose name made headlines last August after he became the target of local tax protests, has been named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in an alleged corruption case pertaining to the appointment of village officials.

Indonesia's unprecedented crackdown, which has seen military-led teams take over palm plantations and mines, has unnerved the industry, pushing up global palm oil prices over concerns it will hit output, and more recently, powering rallies in the prices of metals like tin. 

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is investigating the possible involvement of two executives of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in an alleged corruption case centered on the misallocation of the 2024 haj quota and has implicated former religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

At least 89 cases of violence against journalists were recorded by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in 2025, with police and military personnel identified among the top three perpetrators of such cases.

The draft bill, which the government asserts is still in the planning stage, focuses on governing platforms and mitigating organized actors such as ‘influencers’, rather than targeting individuals, while carrying administrative and criminal punishments for any violators.

The draft bill recognizes two types of asset forfeiture, namely conviction-based that depends on a court ruling in a criminal case and non conviction-based that permits asset confiscation without any ruling, but under limited circumstances.

Indonesia has entered 2026 with a clearer vision of its foreign policy following Foreign Minister Sugiono’s annual address, analysts say, but questions remain over how Jakarta plans to turn its stated ambitions for resilience into concrete policy.

The South Jakarta District Court’s decision to convict Laras Faizati Khairunnisa, 26, of incitement while placing her under a year of probation has drawn strong criticism from rights groups, who denounced the ruling as a form of “prison without bars” that undermines freedom of expression.

With vague rules on what counts as ‘chaos,’ Indonesia’s new penal code has the public questioning their right to protest.

Judges found the defendant guilty of inciting public anger against the government and state officials through her Instagram Story telling people to burn down the National Police headquarters that was ‘deliberately’ posted when ‘the public was angry’.

People must be given as much space as possible to elect their governors, mayors or regents, says interfaith and pro-democracy group Gerakan Nurani Bangsa (GNB).

President Prabowo Subianto made his first visit to the country’s future capital city Nusantara in East Kalimantan, in what analysts deemed as an attempt to dispel doubts over his commitment to completing his predecessor's project.

Diplomacy and defense are ‘inseparable’, says Foreign Minister Sugiono in his annual address, highlighting the government’s foreign policy priority in expanding defense cooperation with key partners.

President Prabowo Subianto has turned his private Hambalang estate on the outskirts of capital Jakarta into the center of power, hosting everything from horse rides with world leaders to high-level talks and cabinet retreats.

X has reassured the government that its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, will not be able to be used for pornographic purposes and enforce accounts found of misusing the platform for illicit purposes, according to Communications and Digital Ministry.

Questions about the fate of the Nusantara capital city project have lingered since Prabowo took office in October 2024.

Google has denied any involvement in the corruption case that centered on a laptop procurement policy at the education ministry between 2019 and 2022, saying it never made use of its ties with former minister Nadiem Makarim to win any government contracts.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has become the only party to formally oppose scrapping direct regional elections in the House of Representatives, pushing back against the ruling coalition’s plan while acknowledging the need to curb soaring election costs by other effective means.

Public support has grown for comedian Pandji Pragiwaksono, who was reported to the police for incitement and blasphemy, sparking a debate on whether Indonesia is prepared for political satire.

Article 85 of the new Criminal Code stipulates that community sentences only apply for offenses with a maximum sentence of five years in prison, if the judges sentence the defendant to no more than six months in prison.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators have questioned former religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas three times since kicking off in June 2025 an investigation into alleged graft pertaining to the 2024 haj quota allocation.

Indonesia’s assumption of the presidency of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is unlikely to significantly boost its influence over global human rights issues, analysts say, even as the government hails the role as a diplomatic achievement despite mounting criticism of Jakarta’s own human rights record

Six of 10 Indonesians surveyed by the Indonesian Survey Circle disapprove of a proposal to scrap direct regional elections, with rejections consistent across regions, income levels and age groups.

A draft Presidential Regulation (Perpres) lays out the military’s responsibilities in combating terrorism, including three roles for the Indonesian Military (TNI), which activists argue should be mainly carried out by civilian institutions such as the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).