Jakarta – Recent moves by police to aggressively arrest preman (street thugs, petty criminals) in various cities around the country will not be able to resolve the age old problem of premanism (thuggery) and violence in Indonesia.

IndonesiaLeaks – Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chairperson Firli Bahuri used the pretext of the 'Taliban' and the nationalism test (TWK) to remove 75 KPK employees from their routine duties of fighting corruption.

Rakhmat Nur Hakim, Jakarta – The government's decision not to repeal the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law is not in accordance with the spirit touted by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo when he initially responded to the polemic over the catchall or ambiguous articles in the law.

Jakarta – The government has banned mudik, the annual exodus during the Idul Fitri holidays at the end of the Ramadan fasting month. The prohibition was issued after considering the risk of increasing the spread of Covid-19, which is still high.

Jakarta – Hundreds of regions across the country in 2022-2024 will be led by acting regional heads appointed by the central government. Experts say that this system will benefit people close to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and certain political parties in the lead up to the 2024 elections.

Rizky Suryarandika and Nawir Arsyad Akbar, Jakarta – The executive director of Voxpol Center Research and Consulting, Pangi Syarwi Chaniago, suspects that there is a hidden agenda behind attempts to take over the Democrat Party leadership.

Jakarta – Natural disasters have hit several parts of Indonesia at the start of 2021. The series of distressing calamities began on Saturday January 9 when landslide claimed 32 lives in Sumedang, West Java.

Irwan Syambudi & Mohammad Bernie – There were 68 independent or individual candidates who contested the December 9 election of regional heads (Pilkada), but according to the General Elections Commission (KPU) only six won.

Haris Prabowo – The total number of people who used their right to vote in the December 9 election of regional heads was low in several parts of the country. In the context of Indonesian politics, those who do not vote – regardless of the motivation and reasons – can be classified as golongan putih or golput.

Jakarta – The deliberation of the Draft Law on the Eradication of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) is still the subject of a polemic. Some parties, including for example the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) believe the law will be able to push down the level of sexual violence and protect victims.

Sania Mashabi, Jakarta – The Institute of Research, Education and Information of Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES) says that democracy in Indonesia is experiencing a retreat, which had already been predicted by the LP3ES in its democratic outlook report in late 2019.

Achmad Zulfikar Fazli, Jakarta – The Jakarta Islamic State University Social and Islamic Studies Centre (PPIM UIN) has released the results of the latest research on religious trends on social media.

Dipo Negoro and Leon Kastayudha – The Draft Omnibus Law on Job Creation was finally enacted into law by the House of Representatives (DPR) on October 5.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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).

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.

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.