Scrolling down some Jakarta streets this morning, we found some posters from lawmaker candidates and political parties with far-fetched promises. One lawmaker candidate from new party Gelora, member of Prabowo-Gibran’s campaign, for example, pledges ‘Gelora wins = free meat and eggs for pregnant women’. 

It looks like Ganjar Pranowo, a presidential candidate from the ruling party PDIP, changed his strategy from being offensive toward President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to becoming more cooperative. Recently, on Thursday (Dec. 7), Ganjar visited the new capital city (IKN) Nusantara in East Kalimantan, where he ensured his commitment to continue the development of the new capital city, which is the legacy of President Jokowi.

Amien Rais and other figures, who associate themselves in the so-called Petisi 100 or the Petition 100, urge the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People Consultative Assembly (MPR) to impeach President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. This Group has been petitioning for Jokowi’s impeachment since July 2023, and now they find a momentum to launch a new attempt after what happened at the Constitutional Court (MK). Jokowi himself has survived from so many impeachment attempts since 2014. Will the President survive again this time?

Some advocates, who associate themselves with the so-called Tim Pembela Demokrasi Indonesia (TPDI) or the Indonesian Democracy Defense Team and the so-called Perekat Nusantara, sent a subpoena to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. These advocates, especially those from TPDI, are not nobody. Historically speaking, TPDI is strongly affiliated to Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of the ruling party PDIP.

The national campaign team of Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar is hoping that Ignasius Jonan will join the team following Anies’ invitation to involve Jonan in developing rail way in Kalimantan. Thus far, however, there is still no response from Jonan—at least in public.

Prabowo Subianto, a presidential candidate from a big coalition led by Gerindra Party, on Tuesday (Dec. 5) met with AM Hendropriyono, former chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). The meeting between these two retired army generals is truly worth highlighting in relation to 2024 elections.

Anies Baswedan, a presidential candidate from a coalition of change, has been busy making promises here and there, including to develop public transportation, when campaigning in the regions. Let’s talk a bit about his rhetoric.