Indonesia shelves plan to revise election law as protests rage
Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters Indonesia’s parliament shelved planned changes to electoral laws on Thursday after protesters in the capital set fires and faced down tear gas and water cannon over legislation they say would weaken opponents of the outgoing president and his successor. The legislature, dominated by supporters of outgoing President Joko Widodo and his successor, […]
Indonesia President hails economic, infrastructure successes in final state of nation
Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters Indonesian President Joko Widodo highlighted his economic, infrastructure and development successes in his final state of nation address on Friday, delivered months before he steps down after a decade as head of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, called attention to his success building roads, bridges and […]
Losing Indonesian presidential candidate Ganjar calls for new election
Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters The legal team of losing Indonesia presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo filed a complaint at the country’s constitutional court on Saturday, calling for a fresh election and disqualification of the winning team of defence minister Prabowo Subianto. Ganjar, a former Central Java governor supported by the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), […]
Essay: Prabowo Subianto is poised to succeed in lifelong quest to become Indonesia’s president. This is why it’s so worrying
In an article first published on The Conversation, TIM LINDSEY, director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, looks at Subianto’s road to become president and what kind of leader he will be…
How Indonesian village aid funds weapons for Papua’s rebellion
Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters Separatists in the Indonesian region of Papua where a New Zealand pilot was taken hostage in February have been siphoning off government aid money to buy black market guns for a deadly guerrilla war, officials say. The “Dana Desa” village fund introduced by President Joko Widodo in 2015 and valued at $US4.7 […]
Faster land reform on the cards with Indonesian President’s re-election
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation With his election win confirmed on Tuesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo is set to push ahead with his promise to register all land in the country by 2025, redistribute land to Indigenous people and resolve disputes over claims, land experts said. Widodo – popularly known as Jokowi – was re-elected last […]
Indonesian president invokes ‘Pancasila’ to counter rising Islamism
RNS Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, a moderate Muslim who enjoys widespread support from the country’s minority religious communities, is resurrecting the country’s founding secular ideology, known as “Pancasila,” as he aims to counter the growing forces of Islamism in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. Pancasila, a term from old Javanese that roughly translates […]
INDONESIA: ANTI-TERROR LAW PASSES IN WAKE OF SUICIDE ATTACKS ON CHURCHES
NITHIN COCA, of Religion News Service, reports from Indonesia…