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Hello reader,

Who would have thought that KIM Plus would be brazen enough to disregard the Constitutional Court? Not I, and presumably not many Indonesians who are exasperated by the ongoing political saga.

Read up on the latest political development in this free edition of Nusantara Notes. There has been so much to take in, but believe you me that these few weeks will go down in history one way or another.

Until tomorrow!

Cheers,

Andra

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Law/Politics

KIM Plus Strikes Back

Boy, this is getting uglier by the day.

Just one day after the Constitutional Court (MK) brought a new hope for competitive regional elections in November (read all about that here), the House of Representatives (DPR) today rushed to convene and revise the Regional Elections Law — mere days before candidate registration opens on August 27.

With the government’s KIM Plus (the Forward Indonesia Coalition plus new allies) holding around one-third of DPR seats, the Legislation Body (Baleg) wasted no time in revising the law to suit the alliance’s needs. As things stand, only parties with no seats in a region’s Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) may nominate a candidate if they meet a relatively low vote share percentage (7.5% in Jakarta’s case) in the previous legislative election. 

That would essentially block the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the biggest remaining threat to KIM Plus, from nominating their candidate in Jakarta without forging an alliance with other parties. 

PDI-P does not seem to want to comply with the DPR’s rushed revised law. Its chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, is expected to announce 169 regional election candidates tomorrow based on the eligibility criteria set by MK.

In addition, the revised law does not accommodate MK’s interpretation of the minimum age requirement for regional head candidates. The law instead refers to a recent Supreme Court ruling that regional head candidates are eligible if they are at least the minimum age (30 for governors) by the time of their inauguration, not registration as was previously the case. This would open the path for President Joko Widodo’s youngest son, 29-year-old Kaesang Pangarep, to run for Central Java governor as he’ll be 30 by the January 2025 inauguration date.

If there’s anything we’ve learned over the past few days and weeks, it’s that things can change very quickly in the ongoing power struggle up top. Civilians who are resigned watching this all unfold have few avenues to express their exasperation. One such avenue is via social media, where public figures are warning against political apathy while posting this national emergency sign as a symbolic sign of protest.

In Other News

• New Golkar Chairman Bahlil Lahadalia, who replaced the ousted Airlangga Hartarto, today stressed that his party will continue to back President Jokowi’s administration and his successor Prabowo Subianto’s administration. Bahlil, a Jokowi loyalist, warned party members not to fall out of line so as not to incur the wrath of the “King of Java.” No prizes for guessing who that may be.

• Prabowo, as defense minister, visited Australia on Tuesday to finalize and sign a treaty-level defense pact, which is set to enhance military cooperation and joint training between the two nations. Indonesia and Australia have been working towards the pact since February 2024.

• The Jakarta Metro Police has launched an investigation into alleged domestic abuse carried out by a tax official. A CCTV recording that has gone viral shows the culprit kicking his wife’s head and throwing a cup at her right in front of their child.

Business/Economy

• The Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has been instructed by President Jokowi to work with the Health Ministry and the Trade Ministry and figure out ways to lower drug prices in the country, which can be up to four times higher than in neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. According to BPOM, one factor driving up drug prices is the high cost of their marketing.

• Indonesia's household consumption is expected to remain a key driver of the nation's economic growth through the end of the year, according to Bank Indonesia (BI). Despite global uncertainties, domestic demand has been resilient, as has been demand for exports.

• Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan announced that negotiations for the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) will be completed before the end of the current administration’s term in October. Negotiations has been dragging on for eight years and over dozens of rounds, with Indonesia keen to boost its export potential to the EU, improve market access, and encourage sustainable economic growth.

• The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy reports that the country's creative economy has seen a significant increase, contributing IDR 1.4 trillion to the national economy. Minister Sandiaga Uno emphasized the importance of supporting youths and creative industries to enhance their creative outputs.

Everything Else

• Aside from the political drama, Indonesians are glued to a hugely scandalous and messy relationship drama allegedly involving men’s national football team star Pratama Arhan, his influencer wife Nurul Azizah Rosiade, and the partner of influencer Rachel Vennya, among one or two others. The scandal also involves a leaked intimate video featuring Azizah, which may be grounds for a criminal investigation for pornography.