More universities issued petition about democratic backsliding choreographed by President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and his cronies, including some major business groups. As of Saturday (Feb 4), more than 40 universities, including majors like UGM, UI, IPB, Unpad, and Unhas, have issued petition.

Prabowo Subianto, presidential candidate from a big coalition led by his own Gerindra Party, recently gave a speech in a conference called ‘Political Outlook 2024’ on Wednesday (Jan 31), which was organized by Garibaldi ‘Boy’ Thohir’s Trimegah Securities. In his speech, Prabowo stated that he is excited and he wants the election day to come soon because he wants to work as soon as possible. Let’s talk a bit about this statement.

After a week of drama, Mahfud MD has officially resigned from the cabinet on Thursday (Feb. 1). He delivered his resignation letter to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during a meeting with the President at the State Palace Jakarta. Let’s talk about some implications that may come from Mahfud’s resignation.

International media reported the end of a relatively short period of honeymoon between the Philippines president Marcos Jr and his predecessor Duterte, who choreographed Marcos’ victory in 2022 election where his daughter Sara Duterte was elected vice president. Prabowo Subianto copied Marcos Jr’s strategy by taking President Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as vice president candidate in this year’s election.

The three presidential candidates competing in the 2024 race will engage one more time in the last presidential debate that will be held this weekend on Feb. 4 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC). One wonders whether Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo will once again work together in criticizing the outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and attacking Prabowo Subianto, who is endorsed by the President, in the upcoming debate. We are also curious to see whether Prabowo can keep his calm or not.

A number of professors, lecturers, student activists, and alumni of the Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University (UGM) read out the so-called Bulaksumur Petition. With this petition, they share their concerns and also warn President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo about the abuse of power and the democratic backsliding during his second term, including what happened at the Constitutional Court (MK) and the President’s latest statement that indicates his partisanship in the 2024 elections. The petition was read at the Balairung of UGM, which is the alma mater of President Jokowi, on Wednesday (Jan. 31).

Trimegah Securities, one of brokerage firms in Indonesia owned by tycoon Garibaldi ‘Boy’ Thohir, organized a conference called ‘Political Outlook 2024’ on Wednesday (Jan 31). The conference is more like a campaign arena for Prabowo Subianto, the only president candidate giving speech. It was also attended by Boy’s younger brother Erick Thohir, who is minister of state-owned enterprises.

The most recent survey result from LSI Denny JA (if we can trust) shows that the electability of Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka has reached above 50 percent for the first time. The pollster also found Ganjar Pranowo and his running mate Mahfud MD at the bottom with an electability slightly below Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar. Looks like that this is part of an effort to seal the race in one round, avoiding a runoff that might turn against Prabowo-Gibran instead.

Transparency International has just released its 2023 corruption perception index (CPI), where Indonesia ranked 115 in the world, significantly worse than 2014 when Jokowi entered the office (107). Indonesia’s score for 2023 was 34, similar to 2014. So, when it comes to eradicating corruption, Jokowi is considered worse than his predecessors.