A proposal to have President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo lead the coalition backing president-elect Prabowo Subianto has failed to gain traction among the political parties involved, posing a challenge to the outgoing leader’s efforts to maintain his political influence after he leaves office later this year.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling that scrapped the criminal penalties for spreading hoaxes is applauded by experts and activists as a good foundation for freedom of speech, although much work remains to uphold civil liberties in the country.

The Constitutional Court has ruled the Criminal Code’s Article 310 Clause 1, or the defamation clause, to be conditionally unconstitutional.

The award-winning comedian, actor and TV presenter swept the DPD election with over 5.3 million votes to clinch the West Java seat against more prominent politicians, seemingly indicating a shift in voter preferences.

The Constitutional Court had received more than 250 election result disputes by the registration deadline on March 23, including one from Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD's legal team seeking a revote and a disqualification of the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka candidate pair.

The legal team of the other losing candidate, Anies Baswedan, also filed a case, calling on Thursday for the court to order an election re-run that excludes Gibran, alleging his last-minute inclusion unfairly swayed the vote.

Prabowo won last month’s race by a double-digit margin, having ridden on the coattails of President Jokowi, who has led the country on a fierce development drive that has won accolades among predominantly young voters.

Prabowo Subianto's camp has said that they are communicating with other parties outside its electoral alliance, including the NasDem Party, which was the president-elect's first stop on his political tour after the official KPU announcement.

With the final vote tally confirming a decisive win for Prabowo, his rivals’ legal teams are scrambling for a revote and an opportunity to set the record straight.

From outgoing ministers to popular singers and comedians, familiar faces are making their way to the House of Representatives after last month's legislative election.

In a speech delivered after the KPU announced the election final tally Surya, whose NasDem Party nominated opposition candidate Anies Baswedan in the presidential race, added that he would support any legal efforts to litigate the election results.

Speaking to reporters in Pontianak, West Sumatra, President Jokowi who was on a working visit to the province said that he would continue focusing on his primary job of leading the country as president.

The president's son Gibran Rakabuming Raka was running with the winning ticket of Prabowo Subianto and the team of Anies maintains he was unfairly allowed to join the race due to the court's last-minute change of eligibility rules. 

Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan declined to concede after the results were released on Wednesday and his team has alleged the current administration had unfairly sought to influence the contest, which authorities have rejected.

He thanked the outgoing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, whose tacit backing helped Prabowo win at his third attempt.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has won the popular vote in the 2024 legislative election, according to the final General Elections Commission (KPU) vote tally, with the Golkar Party following in a close second.

Prabowo secured 96.2 million votes, 58.6 percent of the total cast, according to the final tally.

Hugely popular but without a political party of his own Jokowi is seeking to install a key ally as chairman of Golkar, said the four senior politicians, who include three senior Golkar officials and who have direct knowledge of the matter.

On the eve of the General Elections Commission’s (KPU) Wednesday deadline for the announcement of the 2024 presidential election results, the poll body had finished assessing returns from 36 of the country’s 38 provinces, with Papua and the Papua Highlands the only two remaining.

Presumptive presidential election winner Prabowo Subianto will need to maintain a “cordial relationship” with outgoing leader President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo if he is to fulfill many of his ambitious campaign promises, experts have said, as they weigh in on the likely challenges faced by a Prabowo administration.

The government’s attitude toward the country’s human rights issues remains avoidant and contradictory to reality, activists said on Monday, after last week’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) session in Geneva put Indonesia on the defensive.

Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto has gained an early advantage in a key leadership race to be held later this year as he fights off potential contenders with internal support predicated on a strong showing in the 2024 legislative election.

Human rights groups ELSAM and Imparsial both warned of the possible impacts of the proposed government regulation that allows military and police personnel to take civil posts.

The presumptive vice president-elect has denied that his father President Jokowi had a hand in determining potential appointees to the cabinet of Prabowo Subianto, who is expected to be declared president-elect by the KPU in just two days.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) is racing to finish its tiered vote tabulation of last month’s general election after sluggish progress in several provinces, including West Java, has cast doubt over the poll body’s ability to meet its March 20 deadline.

The KPK has named 15 out of 78 detention center employees as suspects of orchestrating the extortion scheme, which netted the group around Rp 6.3 billion in illicit fees from inmates between 2019 and 2023.

Lawmakers and government representatives have agreed that a sitting president appoint the chair of the propose Jakarta Agglomeration Council, after critics pointed out that the initial bill putting the vice president at its helm seemed accommodative of Jokowi's perceived dynastic interests.

The Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority retracted an eviction letter sent to local residents earlier this month, affirming the authority's respect for indigenous rights in the new capital area. 

Both engineers have been ordered not to leave South Korea, with the Indonesian government saying it is too early to allege data theft in the case. 

Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution, who is also President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s son-in-law, has said he will join the North Sumatra gubernatorial election in November.