The Race to Control Golkar (3)
The rivalry between the Chairman of Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto and his strongest contender Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet), who is also the speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) is turning ugly. Yorrys Raweyai, who is a big supporter of Bamsoet, said that Airlangga’s leadership as the worst in the Party’s history. Earlier, Bamsoet’s supporters from Golkar’s youth wing organization AMPG staged a rally in front of the Party’s headquarters protesting Airlangga.
KPK Leadership Selection Near the Finish Line
The selection committee tasked to select the new five leaders of the 2019-2023 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has just announced the top 20 candidates that passed the profile assessment test. Who will make it into the final top ten from the said remaining candidates?
Police’s Latest Job Rotation & KPK Leadership Selection
The Chief of the National Police (POLRI) General Tito Karnavian recently made another round of job rotation. This latest one affected some police generals, including the Deputy Chief of the West Kalimantan Police Brig. Gen. Sri Handayani. Sri, who is now participating in the selection of the new leaders of the 2019-2023 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), has been moved to administrative position. This triggers the speculation that she’s the one candidate the Police Corps favors.
The New DPR
The Constitutional Court (MK) has finished presiding over all of the 2019 legislative election disputes. Based on their decisions, there would not be any significant change in the composition of seats of political parties in the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2019-2024 period. We can safely say that the composition of DPR leadership will consist of PDIP, Golkar, Gerindra, Nasdem, and PKB—the Big Five of political parties.
Kalla’s Business & Politics Post-2019
In two months, Vice President Jusuf Kalla will end his term on Oct. 20. But knowing Kalla, it’s difficult to imagine him fully retiring from politics. After all, his business group Bukaka has benefited from government-related infrastructure projects. So, what he will do next?
The Fights for MPR Leadership
The ruling party PDIP has reiterated its position: it does not support the amendment of the MD3 Law for the sake of accommodating the creation of more seats in the leadership of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). PDIP added that the ruling coalition had not yet agreed on the composition of the MPR leadership.
Fantasy Cabinet (2)
Instead of becoming attorney general (AG), rumor has it that the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) Mohammad Mahfud MD might be the new minister of religious affairs. The religious affairs ministry is the ministry with the third largest budget yet it is one of the most corrupt ones.
The Ruling Coalition, the Loyalist & the Brokenhearted
The national media captured the stark contrast in expression between the Chairman of Nasdem Party Surya Paloh and the Chairman of Gerindra Party Prabowo Subianto when the Chairwoman of PDIP Megawati Soekarnoputri gave her speech in the PDIP party congress two weeks ago. What’s going on?
Nation of Conflict
Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country with 17,508 islands and a total population of nearly 270 million. Over 1,340 ethnic groups exist in Indonesia with over 1,211 native languages. Indonesia recognizes six of the largest religions and other ethnic religions practiced in the country. Diversity is what makes Indonesia unique, but there are seeds of conflict. A slight misunderstanding, miscommunication, and misinformation can be used to trigger conflict and to create instability, much like the riots that broke in Papua and West Papua.
Female Attorney General?
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gave the assurance that the next attorney general (AG) would be someone from outside of a political party. Yenti Ganarsih has been mentioned as a potential candidate. She is now leading the selection team tasked by Jokowi to select new leaders of the 2019-2023 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).