Politics

The kick-off of the free-meal program was timed to coincide with the start of a new term at most schools nationwide. On Monday, January 6, 2025, 190 Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) spread throughout 26 provinces in Indonesia were ready to prepare free meal for schoolchildren, toddlers, pregnant women and nursing mothers. This program targets around 3 million beneficiaries in its initial phase of the launch (January-March 2025), and is expected to reach 15 million by the end of the year.

The postponed meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim has drawn a lot of attention due to the contradictory statements from two parties involved. People wondered what actually happened behind closed doors and even started to question the credibility of the President’s communication team.

It is reported that Papua, one of the richest islands in the country, accounts for 9 out of 21 gubernatorial election dispute applications submitted to the Constitutional Court (MK), seven of which are from provinces resulted from the territory split. They are South Papua (3), Papua (2), Highland Papua (2), Southwest Papua (1), and Central Papua (1), leaving West Papua to be the only province with no gubernatorial election dispute. Interestingly, most of the candidates endorsed by PDIP came out as winners in their respective election. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

It seems that political battle in the House of Representatives (DPR) next year will be heating up with Gerindra, a political party led by President Prabowo Subianto, wanting the DPR to discuss the idea of reinstating an indirect election of regional heads through the local legislative council (DPRD). The idea itself is not something new as Prabowo’s coalition once made a similar attempt back in 2014.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and its annual “Person of the Year” award have recently been the talk of the town. The award itself is meant to single out the ones who, as quoted from OCCRP’s website, do the most to wreak havoc through organized crime and corruption, therefore winning it is definitely not an achievement to be proud of. What drew the attention of many Indonesian citizens, however, is the fact that our former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is listed as one of the finalists.

We entered 2024 with further democratic backsliding through nomination of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, son of then presiding president Jokowi, as running mate of Prabowo Subianto, once widely accused of human rights abuses. The pair won the February election landslide, confirming vast majority of Indonesians do not care about the issue.

The General Elections Commission of Indonesia pointed out that there is a decline in the level of public participation in this year’s simultaneous regional elections, with an average of 68% nationwide. In some places like Jakarta, only around half of the permanent voters (DPT) casted their vote. This phenomenon is also apparent in Bekasi, where the level of public participation is 55.05%, making it significantly lower than the previous election in 2018 that managed to reach 73%. But why does it matter?

The Constitutional Court has on Thursday (January 2) issued a surprise ruling, which revokes the presidential threshold for the next election. The ruling is considered a big New Year gift for pro-democracy movement in the country.

Four members of Prabowo’s cabinet have just joined the National Mandate Party (PAN), reducing number of the so-called ‘professionals’. They are not expected to achieve PAN’s target to become fourth largest party after the 2029 legislative election. What a shame. These guys have just worked for two months in Prabowo’s cabinet, but already set their sights on the next election.

West Kalimantan is home to major bauxite-to-alumina investments in the country. A joint venture between Harita Group and China Hongqiao operates 2 million tons per annum smelter grade alumina (SGA) in the province, while state mining company Aneka Tambang (ANTM) will soon operate phase I of the SGA, making West Kalimantan a production center for alumina.