A cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, triggered by the arrest of two ministers for graft allegations and prolonged criticism over several ministers' poor performance has brought six new faces to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration has suffered yet another blow to its once clean image after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara a suspect in a graft case involving the distribution of Covid-19 social aid (Bansos).

An apparently casual photo of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan reading a book on Sunday morning has sparked debate among social media users with some claiming the photo is a subtle jab at President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration.

According to the State Research Institute a total of 124 candidate pairs affiliated with political dynasties will be running in the simultaneous election of regional heads on December 9.

The highly contentious and unpopular Omnibus Law on Job Creation was passed into law on October 5. In response tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Indonesia in a series of angry and sometimes violent protests.

The government’s determination to push ahead with the 2020 simultaneous regional elections on December 9 in the face of widespread public opposition and advice from health experts that it risks a new wave of Covid-19 cases is already starting to take its toll.

The number of sole candidates running in Indonesia’s regional elections has steadily increased in the past five years, election data has shown, leading to growing concerns that the upcoming polls might ruin the electoral system.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) have warned about potential vote buying in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections, which the government insists on holding on December 9 despite the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic.

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.

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.

A recent survey by the Kompas daily’s research and development department conducted by phone interviews on July 27-29 has found that many Indonesians are fed up with Indonesia’s thriving political dynasties.

While online learning has become the new norm during the pandemic, many students have not been able to participate because of the country’s digital divide or because they do not even have electricity.

According to two recent surveys, most Indonesians disagree with the government’s decision to hold the 2020 simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada) on December 9 as uncertainty remains over when the Covid-19 pandemic will end.

Prosecutors demanded Friday that two police officers – Chief Brigadier Ronny Bugis and Brigadier Rahmat Kadir – be given one-year prison terms for their involvement in a 2017 attack on senior Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan.

Prosecutors demanded Friday that two police officers – Chief Brigadier Ronny Bugis and Brigadier Rahmat Kadir – be given one-year prison terms for their involvement in a 2017 attack on senior Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan.

A recent case in Gowa, South Sulawesi, has highlighted numerous instances of illegal logging uncovered since COVID-19 began to spread across the country. The Environment and Forestry Ministry investigated at least five other similar cases in April alone and many more over the last three months.

Social media users have deploying the hashtag #IndonesiaTerserah (#WhateverIndonesia) to express their frustration over the public’s apparent disregard for physical distancing measures and the government’s inconsistent COVID-19 policies.

The Indonesian Ombudsman says complaints about the government’s social aid (bansos) programs dominated hundreds of inquiries to its new Covid-19 online complaint center.

“As of May 12, we’ve received 387 complaints, 72 percent of which, or 278, were complaints about the social aid”, Ombudsman Chairperson Amzulian Rifai said in an online press conference on Wednesday.

In the midst of the corona virus pandemic which is sweeping across Indonesia, the House of Representatives (DPR) has been slammed by civil rights activists and trade unions for restarting deliberations on controversial draft legislation including the widely unpopular Omnibus Law on Job Creation and the Draft Criminal Code (RKUHP).

The government claims that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s so called Omnibus Law on Job Creation will simply some 1,244 articles covering 79 laws making it easier to attract foreign investment, and thereby create more job.