President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended the Muktamar (chairmanship congress) of the Pemuda Muhammadiyah, in which he gave an opening speech. The President was accompanied by, among others, the Chairperson of the ruling party PDIP Megawati Soekarnoputri. In a different location, the President’s volunteer groups conducted another convention in Southeast Sulawesi province. The volunteer groups are expected to deliver their recommendation on the potential presidential candidate to Jokowi in May 2023, which is a month before Megawati announces her decision on who will get the nomination from PDIP. The biggest question is whether Jokowi and Megawati have the same name in their mind.

Media mogul Surya Paloh, who is the chairman of Nasdem Party, met with the Chairman of Democratic Party Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), who is also the eldest son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). Nasdem and Democratic Party are endorsing Anies Baswedan for the 2024 presidential race along with PKS. The question now is: Who will become Anies’ running mate?

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reportedly renominated Perry Warjiyo as the Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) for a second term. Other than Perry Warjiyo’s nomination, the President also made some interesting statements after he inspected the progress of the normalization project of Ciliwung river in Jakarta on Tuesday (Feb 21). The normalization of Ciliwung river is one of strategic projects to solve floods problem in Jakarta, one of stressing issues in the city.

The research and development department (Litbang) of Kompas, the largest newspaper in the country, has just released the results of its latest electability survey in which they found that Ganjar Pranowo remained to be the frontrunner for the 2024 presidential race. While Puan Maharani, the daughter of PDIP Chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, was nowhere in the poll.

Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla is under the spotlight following the recent accident that happened to the Police Chief of Jambi, Insp. Gen. Rusdi Hartono. As widely reported by media outlets, the Super Bell chopper that brought Insp. Gen. Rusdi Hartono and his entourage went down in the middle of the forest in Kerinci, Jambi. Rusdi and his entourage were supposed to fly to Batang Merangin, Kerinci to attend the inauguration of the new hydro power plant in the regency developed by a subsidiary of PT Bukaka Teknik Utama Tbk (BUKK), a company controlled by the family of Jusuf Kalla.

Erick Thohir, the new chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) brought with him the new management lineup of PSSI to meet with President Joko “Jokowi” at the State Palace Jakarta on Monday (Feb 20). What’s worth highlighting from the meeting is the possibility that the Minister of Youth & Sports Zainuddin Amali, who is now a deputy chairman of PSSI, will resign from the cabinet in order to focus on his new duty at PSSI. Some speculate that the President will soon announce cabinet reshuffle, including the replacement for Zainuddin Amali.

The United States (US) Ambassador for Indonesia, Sung Yong Kim, recently visited the headquarters of PKS, an Islamic and opposition party. Many speculate that the visit was a sign of support from the US for Anies Baswedan’s 2024 presidential bid. Let’s talk a bit about the matter.