Anies Rhetorics (4)
Anies Baswedan questioned Prabowo Subianto about ethics, cronyism, and huge concessions in the latest debate held on Sunday (Jan. 7). Prabowo could have raised similar questions on Anies and mentioned some examples, but unfortunately he didn’t, which pointed to the...
Prabowo’s Inner Circle (3)
Pretty much as predicted, Prabowo Subianto was asked about the involvement of those within his inner circle in the procurement of the military’s primary weapons system (alutsista) and in the food estate project. Let’s talk about these people. The Defense Ministry,...
Prabowo’s race to lose
It is increasingly become a race to lose for Prabowo Subianto. He leads in many surveys against Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo by a substantial margin, whilst not enough to seal the race in one round. Somehow, president Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, whose son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, feels insecure about Prabowo’s chance because the last presidential debate could be a banana skin.
Luhut v Watchdog Groups: The Verdict
Haris Azhar, the executive director of Lokataru & former coordinator of KontraS, and Fatia Maulidiyanti, the current coordinator of KontraS, are scheduled today (Jan. 8) to hear the verdict from the judges at the East Jakarta Sub District Court (PN) in a defamation case against General (ret) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, a powerful member of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration. The verdict trial today is truly worth highlighting given the public attention to this case and the implications that may come from the verdict on the 2024 race.
Jokowi-Prabowo Meeting
The presidential debate last night is over. However, the dinner meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, who is a presidential candidate from a coalition led by Gerindra Party, before the debate got more attention than the debate itself. After the meeting with Prabowo, the President also met with Airlangga Hartarto and Zulkifli Hasan, the two key leaders in Prabowo’s coalition.
Prabowo Delays Second-Hand Mirage’s Acquisition
Prabowo Subianto, in his capacity as the minister of defense, has decided to delay the acquisition of secondhand Mirage 2000-5 fighters from Qatar. The decision is worth highlighting because it is taken only a few days before the presidential debate, in which Prabowo will engage with his two contenders, Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan.
Jokowi on UN & Party Chairman Rumors
Recently, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo addressed rumors about him becoming the secretary general of the United Nations (UN) or a chairman of a political party once his term ends this year in October 2024. Let’s talk a bit about it.
The new capital city Nusantara
By the end of Jokowi’s term in late October 2024, the government might have spent Rp72.8 trillion or US$4.7 billion for the new capital city Nusantara with funds from State Budget 2022, 2023, and 2024. The same amount would be enough to build major public universities or hospitals in the capital city of 34 provinces.
Electability Trend & House Speaker Race
Apart from pointing to Prabowo Subianto’s lead in the 2024 presidential race by a big margin, the major pollsters also found a possibility that Prabowo’s party, Gerindra, might beat the ruling party PDIP in the 2024 legislative election. If Gerindra wins the...
2024 Election: A Runoff?
A month before the election day, no one among the three presidential pairs is reaching more than 50 percent of electability. The latest electability surveys from various pollsters showed that the electability of Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the strongest pair in the race, was around 43-46 percent as per the end of December 2023. Will there be a runoff election?