OPINION

A polemic on comparing administrations of different eras in the history of Indonesia has surfaced after the chairman of the All - Indonesian Student Executive Board Alliance (BEM SI) blundered by comparing the aspects of freedom and welfare between the New Order Era and the Reform Era. The issue of freedom, in particular, has caught the public’s attention. The Chairman remarked that freedom did in fact exist in the New Order Era. Then the public went wild.

Formidable challenges from the oligarchs are laying in wait for Prabowo Subianto in his journey toward the 2024 presidential election. A full-scale attack is expected to be launched, because Prabowo is a figure who will not yield to the oligarchs. He is despised by the oligarchy and has been perpetually deterred by them.

Last week the headline of this paper was an excellent analysis about our government debt, entitled “The Perils of Mounting Gov’t Debt” written by Gede Sandra. I had mentioned the matter several times in columns in this paper, regarding a closely-related issue: the low tax ratio we have and maybe part of the explanation as to why so, stating about the problem of tax avoidance that must be rampant. The subtitle of last week’s headline is also very important, which was expressed as “How the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer”. 

The pursuit of its vital interests has led the Republic of Indonesia down curious trails, as a new nation, and one surrounded by aggressive, powerful neighbors. 

The yearly Eid home pilgrimage, better known as “Mudik,” is an annual social phenomenon. Mudik, the return by people to their home town, is considered an obligatory Indonesian holiday. The expedition commences towards the Eid holiday, Christmas and New Year. 

As the Russo-Ukrainian war enters its second month of hostilities, there is little hope for peace in the immediate future. It is certain there will be many more Russian and Ukranian casualties as the West pours more military aid into the hands of the Ukranian armed forces and imposes increasingly stiffer economic sanctions on Russia. Indiscriminate shellings and aerial bombings of both military and civilian infrastructure will persist, as well, and as Russia starts its push into eastern Ukraine with as much force it can muster, cratered landscapes littered with corpses will continue to define a war that has sadly shattered the long peace in Europe following the second world war. 

On April 14, 2022, President Jokowi twitted, “For 40 years, Indonesia has only been able to build 780 km of toll roads. Starting in 2014, the government has completed Trans-Java, Trans-Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi toll road construction. How long is the constructed toll road network we have built within the last seven years? 1,900km.” 

It was recently in the news that President Putin just made the decision to change the commander of Russian Army in Ukraine, appointing General Alexander Dvornikov. Many of us immediately remember this general as the Russian commander in the 2016 Syrian war, reputed to be involved in the death of some 440 civilians, including 90 children. 

The Government has once more indicated it intends to provide financial incentives to workers in the form of wage subsidies (BSU). The Minister of Manpower (Menaker) states that subsidizing workers is intended to protect and maintain their economic capacity, which will in turn increase people’s purchasing power and revive national economic growth. 

Crude palm oil (CPO) prices have skyrocketed, and this is mirrored in soaring edible cooking oil prices in the marketplace. The maximum retail price (MRP) for simple packaging cooking oil had previously been set at Rp. 11,000 per liter. However, the price determinedly climbed, nudging Rp 20,000 per liter by mid-January 2022. 

Remarkable. After only two terms in power, he is already contemplating ways to extend his tenure. Various excuses have surfaced, ranging from postponing the election to extending his term of office. These are manifestly illegal and unconstitutional. What we see in the making is a “Constitutional Coup”.