Power Struggle in TVRI
The state television broadcaster TVRI has been goin through a power struggle. Recently, the committee tasked with selecting a new TVRI president director announced that 8 out of 16 candidates had passed the paper test round. Among the said candidates are those...
Those by Jokowi’s Side (5)
The House of Representatives (DPR) passed the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2020—known as Perppu COVID-19—into a new law after eight out of nine factions of political parties accepted the Perppu. It is a political victory for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. With the passage of the Perppu, the President will win the legal battle in the Constitutional Court (MK), as the Court would have no choice but to reject the judicial review against the said Perppu. Pressure groups, however, intend to submit a new judicial review petition to challenge the new law.
Jokowi’s Dilemma
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo intends to relax the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in order to reopen the economy. Nevertheless, some oppose the President’s plan in favor of maintaining the restrictions. The problem is that the restrictions are costly because of the high degree of uncertainty it creates. Uncertainties hurt the economy.
The Politics of Ambassadorial Nominations
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo nominated 31 Indonesian ambassador candidates to the House of Representatives (DPR). Among them are politicians from the President’s ruling coalition and his supporters in the 2019 presidential election. Some might be cynical in seeing...
Jokowi, Luhut & Trump’s Business Circle
The Coordinating Minister for Maritime & Investment General (ret) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan revealed that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the President of the United States (POTUS) Donald Trump had discussed investment opportunities. According to Luhut, Trump told Jokowi that the US thought of relocating its industry from China to Indonesia following tension between the US and China.
Former Military Commander Passes Away
Former Commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) General (ret) Djoko Santoso passed away on Sunday (May 10) at the age of 67 due to illness. In the 2019 presidential race, Djoko was the campaign manager of Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, who is now serving as minister of defense.
Walk the Talk!
The Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati revealed how irresponsible the Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan has been in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Sri Mulyani, the Governor broke the commitment made with the Central Government to cover the social assistance (Bansos) program for 1.1 million families affected by the pandemic in the Capital City. He passed the responsibility to the Central Government. In the meantime, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) continues to urge Anies to return the commitment fee that the city administration paid for the Formula E race, and to reallocate the money for mitigating the pandemic.
The New PPATK Chief
On Wednesday (May 6) President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took the oath of Dian Ediana Rae as the new chief of the anti-money laundering agency PPATK. Dian replaces Kiagus Ahmad Badaruddin, who passed away on March 14, 2020. He will lead the PPATK for a year until 2021,...
Those by Jokowi’s Side (4)
The Budget Body (Banggar) of the House of Representatives (DPR) accepted the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 1/2020 to be passed into a new law. It is good news for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Should the DPR plenary accept Banggar’s decision, the legal battle in the Constitutional Court (MK) over the Perppu would end. But even if the new law is passed, pressure groups currently opposing Perppu 1/2020 would submit a new judicial review to the MK to challenge the said new law.
PAN & Its Unrealistic Ambition
The National Mandate Party (PAN) has set the target of becoming one of the Big Three political parties in the 2024 legislative election. It’s not just a very ambitious target, but also unrealistic. The Party has already been declining from one legislative election to another legislative election. Furthermore, the Party is facing an internal conflict right now.