Month: March 2024

Last week, the Constitutional Court once again made a decision that attracted public attention. After several months of examination of the application for Judicial Review submitted by the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), the court decided that the parliamentary threshold provision of 4 percent which had been used as a condition for the political party to enter the House of Representatives must be revised. That said, before the 2029 election, the Constitutional Court asked lawmakers to recalculate and set the correct threshold number. Through several considerations, this decision can be understood, but on the other hand, many questions arise. The provisions regarding the parliamentary threshold have been repeatedly changed, but this is not the case with the presidential threshold provisions. Of over thirty Judicial Review applications submitted to the Constitutional Court regarding changes to the presidential threshold, all were rejected. Why is that?

In at least the last six months, various information regarding the scarcity and shortage of rice commodities in the retail market, which of course is accompanied by a surge in rice prices, has caused anxiety to the people. This situation is made worse by allegations that the shortage and surge of prices are caused by the political games of the authorities, considering that this coincides with the 2024 election process. Last week, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) finally stepped in and conducted a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with various stakeholders and formed a team that will carry out further investigations.