Political parties in the House of Representatives (DPR) are divided on the revision of the Election Law (UU Pemilu) No. 7/2017 and the unification of the said Election Law with the Regional Election Law (UU Pilkada) No. 10/2016. At the heart of this political battle is whether to hold the regional elections, including the Jakarta gubernatorial election, simultaneously in 2024, or to push it forward to 2022 and 2023. 

The House of Representatives (DPR) Commission III mentioned four potential chief of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Division (Kabareskrim POLRI) candidates. The Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) also mentioned the same names. 

Among the five companies that signed a supplier contract with the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Jan. 27, are PT Jala Berikat Nusantara and PT Delvi Primatama. 

On Wednesday (Jan. 27), the Indonesian Military (TNI) signed a contract for the procurement of goods and services with five private companies. A signing ceremony was held at the TNI’s headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta on Wednesday. Present were the Military Inspector General (Irjen TNI) Marine Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.) Bambang Suswantono, representing the Military Commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto. In a written speech read by Bambang Suswantono, Commander Hadi framed the contract signing as a follow-up on the Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 1/2015.

The Commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto instituted another round of military job rotation. This time, at least 50 high-ranking officers from the three branches of the military are affected. One worth highlighting is the appointment of Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.) Ganip Warsito as the new military general chief of staff (Kasum TNI), a position that was left vacant by Lt. Gen. Muhammad Herindra—the new Vice Minister of Defense. Commander Hadi, however, didn’t fill in other strategic positions.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime & Investment Affairs General (ret) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan stated that the appointment of the CEO of the newly established Indonesian Investment Authority (LPI) or the Indonesia Sovereign Wealth Fund Agency (SWF) had undergone a tight process of selection and interview. But anyone can see the lack of transparency in the selection of SWF’s key persons. The Government did not publish the list of 30 potential candidates for SWF CEO to get inputs and feedback from the public. Some of the names in the list may have conflict of interests if appointed.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has not yet announced the name of the CEO of the newly established Indonesian Investment Authority (LPI) or the Indonesia Sovereign Wealth Fund Agency (SWF). But national media outlets have reported on the Government collecting 30 names of candidates to lead the SWF. One of them is Pandu Patria Sjahrir, the nephew of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime & Investment General (ret) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

This morning (Jan. 27), President Joko “Jokowi” will take the oath of Police General Listyo Sigit Prabowo as the new Police Chief (Kapolri). Listyo will replace General Idham Azis, who will soon enter his mandatory retirement. Sigit’s first major challenge is to consolidate the National Police (POLRI). Consolidation of power aside, one of his programs triggered mixed reactions. Listyo plans to reinstate the so-called Pam Swakarsa (private security guards).

The opposition party PKS demands that the simultaneous regional elections, including the Jakarta gubernatorial election, be held in 2022, not 2024. PKS expressed its position in a discussion on the revision on the Election Law (UU Pemilu) No. 7/2017. PKS is a big supporter of the Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.

The election watchdog group Perludem believes that the parliamentary threshold has failed to simplify the number of political parties. The threshold, Perludem said, has wasted the people’s votes. Perludem opposes the idea of increasing the threshold and suggests maintaining the current four percent threshold.