Analysis and Opinion

October 2020

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – October 10, 2020

Jakarta – Protests against the Omnibus Law on Job Creation have spread to almost all parts of the country since it was passed into law during a House of Representatives (DPR) plenary session on Monday October 5.

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – October 6, 2020

Jakarta – Opposition by the parties or the political parties outside of the administration against legislation which does not side with the people is seen by many as a joke. The reason being that they have taken an inconsistent position on deliberations at the House of Representatives (DPR) and have not fully mobilised this opposition.

September 2020

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – September 30, 2020

Jakarta – “It’s difficult not to admit that the discourse on the revival of communism surfaces every year in lead up to September 30 or October 1. Because it emerges repeatedly at the same time every year, it’s difficult to deny that the issue is intentionally brought up for political interests”.

Indonesia
Kompas.com – September 3, 2020

Palupi Annisa Auliani (editor) – The threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic has distracted public attention. In the mist of the panic among the public, many strategic decisions on public policies have been taken without public involvement or participation.

August 2020

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – August 6, 2020

Jakarta – The election monitoring group Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) is predicting that there will be 31 regions where there will be sole candidates in the 2020 elections of regional heads (pilkada).

July 2020

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – July 30, 2020

Jakarta – Kalimantan Islamic University (Uniska) political observer Muhammad Uhaib As’ad says that the democratic process in Indonesia post reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998 – is still being held hostage by the power of money.

June 2020

West Papua
Tempo Column – June 10, 2020

Ali Umar – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo must change the government’s approach in resolving the Papua problem. At the start of his first term in office, Widodo managed to offer a new hope in efforts to find a dignified solution in Papua. He granted amnesty to Papuan political prisoners and guaranteed the upholding of human rights there.

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – June 3, 2020

Jakarta – Another hammer-and-sickle flag case has again raised its head after a flag with the communist logo was found in Makassar. Over the years such cases have occurred unintentionally, have related to scholarly studies, hoaxes intended to trigger unrests, criminalisation of activists and the revival of identity politics.

April 2020

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – April 29, 2020

Jakarta – A photograph of Klaten Regent Sri Mulyani printed on a packet of social assistance (bansos) for those impacted upon by the corona virus (Covid-19) epidemic has attracted a polemic. The case has opened the public’s eyes to the politicisation of social assistance in the midst of the corona pandemic.

February 2020

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – February 12, 2020

Jakarta – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo plans to build an underground tunnel connecting the Istiqlal Mosque and the Cathedral Church in Central Jakarta which are located adjacent to each other. The proposed construction will be carried out during renovations to the Istiqlal Mosque which were reviewed by Widodo on Friday February 7.

December 2019

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – December 28, 2019

Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan became the target of subtle insinuations by Jakarta Archbishop Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo after he visited the Cathedral in Central Jakarta for Christmas evening mass on Tuesday December 24.

He insinuated that Baswedan “turned up all of a sudden” in the middle of the Christmas church mass.

Indonesia
Arah Juang – December 22, 2019

Leon Kastayudha – Indonesia celebrates National Mother’s Day on December 22nd. As in other countries, Mother’s Day is a mainstream commemoration filled with gestures of appreciation to mothers, flowers, and or other commercial gifts.

November 2019

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – November 5, 2019

Jakarta – Civil freedoms under the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo are seen as having declined. Based on the results of a Saiful Mujani Research Center (SMRC) survey between May and June 2019, 43 percent of respondents said they were afraid of expressing an opinion in public.

West Papua
Arah Juang – November 2019

Racism by the ruling class through the security forces and reactionary civil militia groups against the Papuan people has triggered a fight back. The siege and attack on the Papuan student dormitory in the Central Java city of Surabaya on August 16 triggered a wave of anti-racist protests in Papua and across Indonesia.

October 2019

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – October 25, 2019

Jakarta – The announcement and inauguration of the new Advance Indonesia Cabinet members by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has attracted a variety of responses. There are some who are happy because they have long awaited such a lineup. There are others however who are disappointed and dissatisfied.

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – October 3, 2019

Jakarta – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stated recently that he would consider calls by civil society to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to annul the recently revised Corruption Eradication Commission Law (UU KPK).

September 2019

Indonesia
Arah Juang – September 15, 2019

Leon Kastayudha – Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie died on September 12 at the age of 83. As the third president of Indonesia, his administration straddled the upheavals of Suharto’s New Order regime and reformasi – the political reform movement that began in 1998.

August 2019

Indonesia
Arah Juang – August 2019

On Friday the 21st of June 2019, the Ministry of Education and Culture resolved to work collaboratively with the Indonesian National Armed Forces in disseminating material to new students during school orientation week.

Indonesia
CNN Indonesia – August 8, 2019

Jakarta – Raids on leftist books discussing communism and the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) have started again.

Indonesia
Buruh.co – August 2, 2019

Ade Tri – The presidential and legislative elections are over and the noise of the strident sound of the “festival of democracy” is no longer to be heard.