Rivals pushing for a snap election to oust Yahya Cholil Staquf from the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairmanship have continued their efforts ahead of the anniversary of the country’s largest Muslim organization.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has said investigators are wrapping up the investigation into former trade minister Thomas Lembong in regard to sugar imports he authorized nearly a decade ago.

Former Surabaya District Court head Rudi Suparmono allegedly accepted at least S$60,000 for his roles in the acquittal of a murder charge against defendant Gregorius Ronald Tannur in a high-profile murder case in the East Java capital city.

The complainants argue in their report to the Bangka Belitung Police that the expert, forestry professor Bambang Hero Saharjo of the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), lacks the competency to estimate state losses from a corruption case.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will play the role of “strategic partner” to the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and will work in support of its programs, party politicians have said, dashing hopes for a strong opposition.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Andika Perkasa, who lost in a two-way race for governor in the party’s home turf of Central Java two months ago, has filed a request with the Constitutional Court to retract his petition challenging the results of the election.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) interrogated Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto on Monday for the first time since he was named a bribery suspect, as the party prepares to go on the offensive in a pretrial hearing later this month.

Amid mounting pressure on the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), party matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri seems to have softened her stance toward President Prabowo Subianto, saying her relations with the Gerindra Party chairman remain fine.

Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that the planned retreat would be a forum for President Prabowo to brief the local heads on his agenda and how to implement it at the local level.

Meutya on Monday inaugurated Raline for the new position in a ceremony which also saw the induction of former television anchor Fifi Aleyda Yahya as the ministry's director general for public information and communications.

In keeping with the ongoing narrative of turncoats attempting to undermine her leadership and reelection bid at the upcoming national congress, the PDI-P matriarch has called on any disillusioned members to simply leave the party.

The first hearing of the motion, in which the PDI-P secretary-general is challenging the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) naming him as a suspect, is scheduled for Jan. 21.

He claimed the incident, which occurred at a Tangerang rest stop, was a “kill or be killed” situation.

The regional offices of the General Elections Commission (KPU) formally announced the winners of the 2024 simultaneous regional elections in 21 provinces.

The House of Representatives will decide whether to press ahead with a plan to overhaul the electoral system altogether using a sweeping omnibus legislative method later this month, following a court order to introduce a new way to regulate how political parties nominate presidential candidates.

Rini said the current priority for the government was to renew its database on civil servants, especially following the decision by President Prabowo Subianto to spin off ministries under his administration, as well as the formation of new ministries and government agencies.

Policymakers plan to start drafting a General Elections Law revision to comply with last week's court order that scrapped the presidential threshold, though it remains unknown when this might happen and whether the revision would be part of a broader process of combining all prevailing legislation on elections into a sweeping omnibus law.

The bribery case also involves convicted former General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Wahyu Setiawan and fugitive Harun Masiku.

Despite being the centrepiece of an election campaign that catapulted Prabowo to power last year, the scheme was rolled out with little fanfare on Monday, with no official launch and just 190 kitchens involved in preparing the first meals to school children and pregnant women in more than 20 provinces. 

PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto excused himelf from his first questioning as a graft suspect on Monday, apparently due to a prior engagement, while the KPK continued with its interrogation of other witnesses in the 2019 bribery case surrounding fugitive ex-PDI-P member Harun Masiku.

Pressure is mounting on the House of Representatives to fall in line with the recent surprise ruling by the Constitutional Court that removed the steep nomination threshold from future presidential elections.

The loyalty and allegiance of the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) to President Prabowo Subianto are being put to the test following a recent court decision revoking the presidential nomination threshold, which offers every political party a chance to field a challenger in the 2029 election.

The Foreign Ministry said that it was seriously following up on the sexual harassment allegations made against the Indonesian ambassador to Nigeria, Usra Hendra Harahap, asserting that it would “not tolerate any violations of the principles of diplomatic ethics”. 

In a press conference jointly held with Attorney General ST Burhanuddin on Thursday, Budi Gunawan said that there was simply not enough room for prosecutors to display the evidence and that the cash was instead stored in a safe controlled by the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

The Constitutional Court's ruling that annuls the presidential nomination threshold has become a breath of fresh air for the country's democracy and electoral system, according to smaller political parties with and without seats in the national legislature.

The senior law minister has said the government will comply with the Constitutional Court's decision to eliminate the presidential nomination threshold for all future elections.

The nationalist party's call for graft busters to investigate the former president is part of a political skirmish between the PDI-P and Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, according to observers.

The Constitutional Court annulled on Thursday the threshold for political parties in nominating presidential candidates, restoring hopes for more competitive polls in the future after more than a dozen attempts to open up the race.

The court has declared the presidential nomination threshold as unconstitutional in a ruling issued during its first hearing of the year, which comes after last year's decision to annul the electoral threshold for regional head elections.

Public anger has ensued after a court sentenced businessman Harvey Moeis to what many described was a lenient punishment in a case that has cost the state Rp 300 trillion (US$18.5 billion), one of Indonesia’s largest corruption cases.