Cloud of Suspicion
There is nothing more fickle than social media. Officer Cadet Candidate Enzo Zens Allie caught the attention of Indonesian netizens after a video of his encounter with the Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto went viral on Monday, Aug. 5. He’s seen standing at attention speaking with Commander Hadi in French. The Press soon consumed that spectacle, and details of Enzo’s linguistics capabilities were put in the spotlight. What could’ve been a run of good news ended with a nightmare. By Wednesday, Aug. 7, Enzo was put under a massive cloud of suspicion.
Option Moeldoko
Retired Army General Moeldoko has been a very outspoken member of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration. When he was made Presidential Chief of Staff many did not think he would do much of anything. But as time goes by, he has proven himself loyal to Jokowi. Beyond that, with his often straight-to-the-point answer to journalists question, he has positioned himself as a no-nonsense politician. Are we seeing the most viable 2024 presidential candidate?
Rini’s Future
People continue to speculate about the future of Rini Soemarno, minister of state-owned enterprises. She survived almost five years of pressures, including from PDI-P, main backer of President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo. Recently, some lawmakers from Golkar Party mounted pressures related to the blackout fiasco, just when Rini was on a Hajj pilgrimage with CEOs of major state companies like Mandiri, BNI, and Pertamina.
Game Over for Ahok?
Ahok has said it twice: his political career is over. The first record of him saying so is a video of him addressing an audience in Kalimantan. He published it on his Youtube channel on July 17, 2019. He then told the audience after receiving the Rooseno Award in Jakarta that he’s a flawed person in the republic. It’s an honest and realistic self-assessment coming from Ahok. But is that right? Does Ahok have no chance in politics anymore?
Enters the President’s Son
Last week, media outlets widely reported on the result of the 2020 Surakarta regional head candidates survey conducted by the Slamet Riyadi University (Unisri) Policy Lab. The reason for that is the inclusion of the President’s sons, Gibran Rakabuming Raka and Kaesang Pangarep, as potential Surakarta head of region candidates. Does this mean anything?
Anies vs Risma?
It all began with the statement of the Jakarta Legislative Council member Bestari Barus (Nasdem). After meeting with the Municipality Government of Surabaya with his DPRD DKI colleagues, Bestari Barus told the press that, unlike Surabaya, Jakarta was unable to fix its waste management problem despite having trillions of rupiah in the budget. Bestari then asked whether things would be different in Jakarta if the Mayor of Surabaya Tri Rismaharini were to govern Jakarta. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan took the bait.
No Regional Election in 2022?
The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) passed the 2016 amendment of the election law (Law 10/2016) with the idea of implementing a massive simultaneous regional and general elections in 2024. They made it clear that the year 2020 would be the last round of regional elections to be held before 2024. As a result, the heads of region who will end their term in 2022, and the heads of the region who will end their term in 2023 will have to wait until 2024 for a chance at a second term. Anies is one of them.
The Race to Control Golkar (2)
The Chairman of Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto and his strongest contender Bambang Soesatyo a.k.a Bamsoet, who is also the speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), compete fiercely to get support from the three oldest organizations in Golkar. Both candidates claim of having secured support from 460 Golkar’s DPD I (the Party’s provincial chapters) and DPD II (the Party’s regency/municipality branches).
Another Challenge for Jokowi
It’s no longer a secret that Prabowo Subianto wants his Gerindra Party to join President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ruling coalition. The Chairwoman of the ruling party PDIP Megawati Soekarnoputri also seems more comfortable with Prabowo and his Gerindra compared to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s (SBY) Democratic Party and PAN should Jokowi expand the coalition. But it won’t be an easy task to run the administration and to keep the coalition united for the next five years with the Big Five (PDIP, Gerindra, Golkar, Nasdem, and PKB) within, especially in light of the 2024 presidential election. This is another challenge for Jokowi.
Prabowo-Megawati Meeting
Prabowo Subianto met Megawati Soekarnoputri at the latter’s private residence in Teuku Umar, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (Jul 24). It is a very important meeting that hopefully continues to ease tensions between supporters in the grassroots level. What exactly they discussed in the said meeting?