Jakarta – The issue of transportation should be one of the themes covered during a debate between candidates ahead of the Jakarta gubernatorial election, a transportation experts association has urged.

Jakarta – The Constitution grants the president the prerogative to replace cabinet members at any time, especially if they fail to perform or to follow the head of government's policies and directives.

Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – Indonesia calls for an effective, inclusive and balanced process to push for peace following its decision to not back a joint communique seeking to resolve the war in Ukraine adopted during a high-level world peace summit over the weekend.

Jakarta – Labour rights organisations in Indonesia are urging the House of Representatives to commence deliberations on a bill protecting the rights of domestic workers in the country, before a leadership shakeup in October.

This comes on the back of a spate of alleged recent violence and abuse against domestic workers which spread outrage across the country.

Yustinus Patris Paat, Jakarta – In a reconciliatory gesture, the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) announced on Thursday that it has invited both President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his successor Prabowo Subianto to separately attend its upcoming congress and deliver the opening and closing remarks.

Algi M Gifari, Bandung – Efforts to clean up the Citarum River in the BBS area of Bandung Barat Regency seemed promising after a week of intensive cleaning, and years of restoration. However, rain brought a resurgence of garbage flooding the river on Thursday.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia is aiming to increase its gross national income (GNI) per capita beyond $5,500 in 2025 as the country wants to escape the middle-income trap, according to the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).

Hendro Dahlan Situmorang, Jakarta – Chief Cultural Affairs Minister Muhadjir Effendy addressed the issue of several pilgrims having to sleep outside tents due to overcapacity in Hajj accommodations and inadequate toilet facilities.

Celvin Moniaga Sipahutar, Jakarta – An analyst recently said that the public should not interpret clashing opinions among ministers as disharmony within President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's cabinet.

Windarto, Herman, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has uncovered several issues and fraudulent activities within the ailing state-owned pharmaceutical company Indofarma (INAF) and its subsidiary, Indofarma Global Medika (IGM).

Advist Khoirunikmah, Jakarta – The leader of the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement or TPNPB-OPM Egianus Kogoya plans to release the Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens without political demands, a Tempo source said. The time for the release, however, remain unknown.

Tempo.Co, Jakarta – The No-Trash Triangle Initiative (NTTI) launched the 'No-Trash River' project this week which aims to install 20 barriers throughout Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, to reduce the amount of plastic waste entering the Bunaken Marine National Park.

Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo or Jokowi gathered cabinet ministers at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, June 20 to discuss Kratom plants. Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said three issues would be highlighted: governance, trade, and classification of the plants, which are suspected of containing narcotics.

Daniel A. Fajri, Jakarta – Indonesia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology (Kominfo), Budi Arie Setiadi, confirmed that the government will block Telegram if the messaging application from Russia does not comply with the third warning regarding cooperation to eradicate online gambling that the ministry sent this week.

Sarjan Lahay, Pohuwato, Indonesia – Moji Tiok has spent more than a decade casting off into the Gulf of Tomini, where he spends hours hunting with traditional fishing gear among a diminishing pool of octopus south of Indonesia's Gorontalo province.

Ihsanuddin, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was not present at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) which is hearing a lawsuit against the honorary four-star general rank Widodo gave to Defense Minister and president elect Prabowo Subianto in February.

Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Hadi Tjahjanto, who leads the newly established anti-online gambling task force, said on Wednesday that his team was investigating how fraudulent bank accounts and payment services at mini-marts allegedly had been used for online gambling.

Agnes Theodora, Iqbal Basyari, Jakarta – The high level of public satisfaction with the performance of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin's administration, which even reached its highest level during Widodo's second term in office, is believed to due to the government consistency working for the public.

Ihsanuddin, Jakarta – A Kompas Research and Development (Litbang Kompas) survey shows that many lower-class people are satisfied with the performance of the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin.

Jauhari Mahardhika, Jakarta – The shares of tech conglomerate GoTo Gojek Tokopedia (GOTO) plummeted to an all-time low of Rp 50 on Thursday. Although the stock briefly touched Rp 51, it quickly fell back to Rp 50, which is less than 1 cent.

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – Bank Indonesia announced Thursday that they would keep the benchmark interest rate, also known as the BI Rate, at 6.25 percent.

The central bank also sets the deposit facility rate at 5.5 percent, while the lending facility rate stands at 7 percent. The freshly announced BI rate also aligns with analysts' projections.

Chandra Adi Nurwidya, Yogyakarta – The Foreign Affairs Ministry revealed on Thursday that 165 Indonesian nationals are currently facing death sentences on various criminal charges.

Of that figure, 155 are being prosecuted in Malaysian courts, said Judha Nugraha, the ministry's director of Indonesian citizen protection.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Sarjan Lahay, Jakarta – The Indonesian government plans to establish 2 million hectares, or nearly 5 million acres, of sugarcane plantations in the eastern region of Papua, home to the last great expanse of rainforest in Southeast Asia.

All parties, including Papuan rebels who took Phillip Mehrtens hostage, want the New Zealand pilot released but freeing him is "complicated".

In February 2023 Mehrtens, a husband and father from Christchurch, was working for Indonesian airline, Susi Air, when he landed his small Pilatus plane on a remote airstrip in Nduga Regency in the Papua highlands.

Simon Butt – In late May 2024, Indonesia's Anti-corruption Commission (KPK) began prosecuting former Supreme Court Judge Gazalba Saleh in the Central Jakarta District Court. It indicted him for taking a bribe of around Rp 650 million to overturn a businessperson's conviction and one-year prison sentence (for failing to properly manage hazardous waste his company produced).

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – Indonesia's trade deficit with China in May 2024 nearly tripled to $1.3 billion, marking a significant increase from the $500 million deficit recorded in April, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Jakarta – Indonesia reported on Wednesday that it had recorded a trade surplus for 49 months in a row since May 2020, as the country booked a $2.93 billion surplus last month.

Yustinus Patris Paat, Jakarta – The Golkar Party on Wednesday confirmed the nomination of Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution for the upcoming North Sumatra gubernatorial election.

The endorsement was announced by Golkar Party Chairman Airlangga Hartarto after he received Bobby at his official residence in Jakarta.

The Centre for Climate Crime and Justice at Queen Mary University of London will host a Permanent Peoples' Tribunal on State and Environmental Violence in West Papua later this month.

Victor Mambor and Pizaro Gozali Idrus, Jayapura and Jakarta – Hundreds of residents in Indonesia's restive Papua region have sought shelter in a church after clashes between security forces and West Papua independence fighters left two insurgents, a soldier and a civilian dead.

Yerica Lai, Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) has reached out to Marzuki Mustamar, a prominent Muslim cleric and former East Java branch head of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), over potentially running in the province's gubernatorial election against its popular former governor, Khofifah Indar Parawansa.

Jakarta – The West Java administration is expanding its cleanup operation of the Citarum River, known as one of the dirtiest rivers in the region.

The local administration last week deployed a team of workers to clean up the Citarum after a post by environmental activist group Pandawara showing a massive stretch of floating trash in the river went viral.

Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, has decided to divert trillions of rupiah funds from state-owned Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), the country's largest sharia bank, to other sharia banks.

Jakarta – It is not exactly good corporate governance but it has been a well-worn practice in Indonesian politics.

It is also a classic patron-client relationship in which a patron grants favors in return for political services, loyalty and allegiance shown by the client.

Nur Janti, Jakarta – A recent Constitutional Court ruling ordering a legislative election revote in Gorontalo may set the precedent for parties to fulfill the 30 percent minimum quota for women's representation in elections.

Celvin Moniaga Sipahutar, Jakarta – Political analyst Arifki Chaniago recently said that the possibility for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to hold a cabinet reshuffle remained large despite his term about to come to an end.

Faisal Maliki Baskoro, Jakarta – Indonesia has advanced to the 27th position in the 2024 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR), a significant improvement from 34th place in 2023. This places Indonesia third in Southeast Asia, following Singapore and Thailand, with Singapore maintaining its global lead.

Arnoldus Kristianus, Jakarta – The weakening rupiah, now significantly deviating from the 2024 state budget assumption, poses risks to Indonesia's trade performance. Bank Indonesia (BI) needs to intervene across short, medium, and long-term strategies.

Celvin Moniaga Sipahutar, Jakarta – As President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's term nears its end, several ministers in his cabinet are aiming to appeal to the next president, Prabowo Subianto.

Han Revanda Putra, Ilona Estherina, Jakarta – Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan or Zulhas has proposed an increase in the highest retail price (HET) of government-subsidized packaged cooking oil, MinyaKita, by Rp1,500 to Rp15,500.

Reuters, Jakarta – Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that hundreds of visitors have died during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca amid scorching heat. At least 550 Hajj pilgrims have died while performing the fifth pillar of Islam.

Desty Luthfiani, Jakarta – Public policy observer from Trisakti University, Trubus Rahadiansah, commented on the latest policy of the Jakarta Provincial Government regarding the urban and rural land and building tax (PBB).

Annisa Febiola, Jakarta – The incoming Prabowo-Gibran administration is expected to face a serious debt burden, assessed Yusuf Wibisono, director of the Institute for Demographic and Poverty Studies (IDEAS). He predicted that the annual principal and interest installments could reach Rp1,300 trillion.

Abdul C, Jakarta – Every year around the world, June 16 is commonly celebrated as International Domestic Workers Day (IDWD).

Not being left behind, the National Network for Domestic Worker Advocacy (Jala PRT) also commemorated the day in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta on Sunday June 16.

Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – The Chairman of the Hajj Oversight Team of the House of Representatives (DPR) Muhaimin Iskandar revealed several reports highlighting various issues in the 2024 Hajj operations. One major problem, according to Muhaimin, is the widespread malfunctioning of air conditioners.

Yustinus Patris Paat, Jakarta – A prominent Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) figure said Tuesday the party would nominate Anies Baswedan for the Jakarta gubernatorial election if he appoints a party executive as his running mate.

Caleb Fotheringham – West Papua pro-independence supporters are calling Indonesia's condemnation of Israel hypocritical considering its occupation in Papua for 61-years.

The Indonesian government, through the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President, has condemned the Israeli government's handling of the conflict in Gaza.

Tria Dianti – Environmentalists are expressing deep concerns about Indonesia's ecological future because of President-elect Prabowo Subianto signaling a strong preference for boosting mining industries and sectors that exploit natural resources.

AWPA condemns the latest Indonesian security force operation in the Bibida District, Paniai Regency which has resulted in more than 5,000 people from 15 villages in Bibida and Paniai fleeing their villages.

Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – After dropping the idea of setting up a transition team, president-elect Prabowo Subianto has come up with a so-called synchronization task force comprising entirely of elites from his Gerindra Party. Its job: To synchronize the moves of the incoming and outgoing governments.