Sri Mulyani’s Future
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, who has been rumored as among ministers that might leave the cabinet following Mahfud MD, met with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace Jakarta on Monday (Feb. 5). Prior to that, Sri reportedly met with the fifth President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of the ruling party PDIP.
DKPP’s Decision on Gibran: Implications?
The Ethics Council of the Election Organizer (DKPP) concluded that the chairman of the General Election Commission (KPU) and six other KPU commissioners have committed ethics violation in processing the registration of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as the running mate of Prabowo Subianto for 2024 presidential election. DKPP, therefore, imposes a sanction to the KPU chairman and the other six commissioners.
Thohir, Widjaja, and The Nepo Babies
Boy Thohir in his capacity as chairman of Indonesia-China Committee of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN Indonesia) organized an event at PIK-2, a township developed by Aguan (Agung Sedayu Group) and Anthony Salim (Salim Group), last weekend to shore up support for Prabowo-Gibran.
Political Breakup Continues
The wave of resignation continues since Mahfud MD, who is running in 2024 presidential election as the running mate of Ganjar Pranowo, decided to leave the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The most recent one is the resignation of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama a.k.a Ahok, who was known as Jokowi’s political ally, from the state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina (Persero). Who else will follow Mahfud and Ahok? Will their resignation affect the outcome of the election?
The Final Presidential Debate (2): Full of rhetorics, lack of substance
The final presidential debate last night was full of rhetorics from three candidates. None of them, unfortunately, came up with bold initiatives to address two main issues debated: education and healthcare. These are key sectors to prepare Indonesians avoiding the middle income trap.
Against Jokowi: Snowballing effect?
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’s Impatience
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.
Mahfud’s Resignation: Implications?
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.
Jokowi should learn from Duterte-Marcos breakup
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 Final Presidential Debate
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.