Go-Jek to launch in India? | Dutch Queen visits Jakarta | Jokowi tightens ties with military | Campaigning kicks off in local elections | Indonesia Intelligencer (Feb. 10-16)
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Politics
Although the international media is now fully tuned into the possibility that Indonesia may soon make gay sex (and most forms of adultery) illegal through a repressive Revision to the Criminal Code (RKUHP) currently under discussion in the House of Representatives (DPR), domestically the media’s focus this week shifted from RKUHP (which legislators chose to extend the discussion period on given ongoing debates about certain articles in the hotly contested bill) to another bill that was passed on Monday called UU MD3, which contains a number of new laws pertaining to every level of legislative body in the government, some of which are quite controversial.
Several of UU MD3’s articles have been deemed dangerously undemocratic by alarmed analysts, especially one section that would allow the DPR to legally punish anybody who “desecrates the honor” of the legislative body or its members. Other articles give representatives the power to use police to forcibly call on individuals and limit the ability of investigators to question DPR members without the consent of other authorities. A Constitutional Court challenge to the law seems likely.
On the foreign policy front, President Joko Widodo’s administration continues to make moves to shift the country’s brand from developing country to regional power, with Jokowi this week announcing that it was time Indonesia stopped receiving aid and instead lend a hand to help others by setting up an agency to manage its international aid programs, beginning with a budget of Rp 1 trillion (US$73.8 million). The government is also campaigning for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2019.
The diplomatic highlight of the week had to be Queen Maxima of the Netherlands visit to the capital, though her offers to work with Indonesia on increasing financial inclusion (especially in terms of getting people and small businesses in rural areas into the formal banking system) might have been overshadowed by her cute photo-ops with Go-Jek drivers.
Read also:
Jokowi Boosts Ties With Indonesia Military in Power Shift (Bloomberg): Detailing the president’s attempts to counterbalance shifting political headwinds with stronger military backing.
"Surrounding himself with more generals is part of the president’s shift to a more conservative stance and image as he tries to widen his support base ahead of regional and local elections this year and the presidential vote in 2019.”
Campaigning kicks off in Indonesia's crucial local elections (Nikkei Asian Review)
The polls will also be a chance for parties to map out a strategy and consider coalition partners for the national elections, according to Djayadi Hanan, executive director of pollster Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting.
As a result, June's local elections are likely to see the kind of full-scale campaigns that would be run at national level.
Indonesia’s minority report (New Mandala)
According to the EIU’s democracy ranking system, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country dropped from 48th place in 2016 to 68th in 2017. Having peaked at a score of 7.03 out of 10 in 2015, Indonesia subsequently dropped to a 6.97 in 2016 and a 6.39 in 2017, making it a “flawed democracy”.
The report identifies “Indonesia’s minority crisis” as the cause of this colossal drop in form, as revealed by last year’s conviction of former Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy, and the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election campaign.
But as bad as 2017 was, 2018 might be even worse. Indeed, if racial and religious minorities were the notable casualties of 2017, the most notable of casualties for 2018 may be Indonesia’s LGBT community.
Business
As economists expected, Bank Indonesia did not did not change the benchmark interest rate due to concerns about currency volatility following the recent rout in global markets that has put renewed pressure on the rupiah.
Topping the award she got last year for Best Finance Minister in Asia, Indonesia’s Sri Mulyani was awarded Best Minister in the World at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Sunday. Explaining why they picked the former World Bank managing director, the awarding committee wrote: “Under her mandate Indonesia achieved tangible results in reducing poverty, improving the standard of living, reducing public debt and boosting the transparency of public transactions.”
Each of the last few weeks has seen news of investments into Indonesia’s ride-hailing unicorn Go-Jek. On Monday, conglomerate Astra International said it would be investing $150 million into the homegrown tech company, joining Google in the rocketing ride-hailing app’s latest round of fundraising. There are numerous reports that the company will be launching in India later this year.
Read also:
New project outfits Indonesia’s street vendors with free Wi-Fi and smart tech (Tech Crunch)
Warung Pintar — ‘smart kiosk store’ — helps street vendors revamp their store with a bright and colorful design, and a range of tech that includes a digital POS, free Wi-Fi, an LCD screen, power bank chargers and more. The venture was born out of East Ventures, an early-stage investor that has backed unicorns like Tokopedia, Traveloka, Mercari, and today it announced a $4 million seed round.
That’s pretty impressive for a project that was conceived less than six months ago.
Other News & Notable Features
A man wielding a sword attacked the congregation of a Catholic church in Yogyakarta on Sunday morning and managed to injure four people before being shot and apprehended. The shocking attack, as well as an incident involving a community in Tangerang that tried to expel a Buddhist monk, were the cause for much moral hand wringing, both incidents being seen as symptomatic of the country’s increasing religious intolerance. Investigators said the church assailant was a radical Islamist who had wanted to fight with the Islamic State in Syria. Viral photos of Muslims helping with the church cleanup efforts helped allay at least a few of the worries about the slow death Indonesian pluralism.
The tragic death of an Indonesian domestic worker in Penang, who perished after her employers allegedly forced her to 'sleep outside with the dog’, once again cast an ugly spotlight on the horrible abuse many migrant workers face abroad. The foreign ministry is working to see that the two siblings allegedly behind the abuse are punished to the full extent of the law.
Read also
Education on the fringe in Indonesia (New Mandala) A snapshot of the problems of Indonesia's education system from highland Papua
Everything Mall Is New Again (Los Angeles Review of Books) The citizen in a mall-city assumes submission as a constant pose: there is nowhere else.” Krithika Varagur on the malls of Jakarta.
‘I’m possessed by ancient Chinese spirits’: The Indonesian model turned medium (Straits Times) Fashion model by day, spirit medium by night, Arifin walks a tightrope between modernity and tradition. His father is Buddhist, his mother Muslim, his sister Catholic. Together, they reflect Indonesia’s motto: Unity in Diversity
How Indonesia Can Use Urban Planning to Tackle Inequality (The Conversation via The Wire)
Indonesia has two potentially inclusionary planning instruments for new private residential developments. The first is the “1.2.3 Ratio” scheme and is included in national regulation. It says that for each house built for high-income residents, private developers should also build two houses for middle-income families and three for low-income families.
The second instrument is called “socialisation”, included as a stage of the Environmental Impact Assessment. The assessment is required when seeking planning permission for a new housing project. The “socialisation stage” requires developers that plan to build a project in an already urbanised area to obtain permission from existing residents for the project to go ahead.Both instruments represent attempts by the government to reduce inequalities in the cities and to enforce some sort of “planning gain”. These could be seen as a positive step towards redistribution, with incredible potential to create positive change in Indonesian cities.
Top Coconuts Jakarta Stories from this week
After living together for 21 years, Indonesian family tearily says goodbye to 200 kg ‘fat crocodile’
After LGBT and hijab controversies, few want to sign up for Aceh international marathon: governor
Shaman convinces victims to have sex with him to get rid of evil spirits, gets arrested
Wife sees husband in another car, with another woman, chases him down and rams his car into tree
Governor Anies says infamous Alexis Hotel admitted to prostitution, Alexis says: uh, no, we didn’t