September 23, 2014 edition
THE speculation was answered on Monday evening last week. In front of the press, President-elect Joko Widodo and Vice President-elect Jusuf Kalla announced how many ministries will exist after they take office on October 20. "Thirty-four," said Joko in front of the office of his Transition Team in Central Jakarta.
Joko also revealed the number of politicians and professionals his cabinet would include, which had been the subject of endless speculation: "There will be 18 experts and 16 'professional' representatives from political parties." Transition Team Chief of Staff Rini Soemarno and her deputies-Andi Widjajanto, Anies Baswedan, Hasto Kristiyanto, and Akbar Faizal-were also present at the announcement.
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September 16, 2014 edition
THE final debate on the Halal Product Guarantee Bill worried leaders of the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI). They feared their authority to issue halalany object or action which is permissible under Islamic lawlabels for food, beverages and medicinal products could be done away with. Therefore, on Thursday last week, the council's general chairman, Din Syamsuddin, sent a letter to the House of Representatives (DPR) working committee discussing the bill.
In the letter, Din argued that the MUI, an organization of Islamic experts, did not deserve to lose the authority it had held for 25 years and that it would struggle financially without the source of income from dispensing halal designations. "We will fight for it until the last minute," Akhmad Baidun, chair of the MUI's Food, Drug and Cosmetic Studies Agency, declared last week.
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September 9, 2014 edition
After being cleared of allegations that he had ordered his subordinates to bribe lawmakers to approve his ministry's budget, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik now finds himself in the middle of a new corruption scandal. Last Wednesday, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally charged Jero, who has authored introductions to high school science textbooks, with extortion.
KPK Deputy Chief Bambang Widjojanto said Jero's methods were something new. The minister was suspected of tampering with the ministry's budget by raising money from sponsors for unimportant events. "This practice constitutes abuse of power leading to extortion," Bambang said last week.
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August 26, 2014 edition
The meeting at the Golkar Party's office at the House of Representatives (DPR), held after lunch on Wednesday last week, was opened by Aziz Syamsuddin, deputy chairman of the Golkar Law Commission. In attendance were politicians from the six parties who supported Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Hatta Rajasa, in the recent race for president. The meeting was to discuss the draft standing order of the DPR. Invitations were sent out from the cellphone of Setya Novanto, the chairman of Golkar's faction in the DPR, two days in advance.
After two hours, the meeting closed with an agreement that the draft standing order was to be taken to the DPR Consultative Board. "It's slated to be ratified in a plenary session on Tuesday next week," Hasrul Azwar, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) Faction, told Tempo on Thursday last week. The standing order is derived from the Laws on MPR, DPR, DPD and DPRD (MD3), one of which regulates the election of the DPR speaker.
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August 19, 2014 edition
The establishment of the Islamic State (IS)also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)is inseparable from the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003. Following the downfall of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the country's Shia, who account for 60 percent of Iraqis, took power. A Sunni rebellion subsequently arose across the country.
Originally, IS consisted of a variety of Sunni insurgent groups and included among its sponsors the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. Back then it was called the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), and its original purpose was to fight Iraq's Shia authorities and the US military. Iraq divided the country into two camps: the Shias in the south and the Sunnis in the north. The conflict goes all the way back to the 6th century dispute about who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad. The recent violence erupted after US troops left Iraq in 2011.
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August 12, 2014 edition
In challenging Joko Widodo's victory in the presidential election, Prabowo Subianto has spoken much about a stain remover called Bayclin. The chemical, Prabowo contends, was used in East and Central Java to remove the indelible ink that stains one's fingers after voting. The charge is that many people voted more than once. "The ink disappears within seconds," Habiburokhman, one of Prabowo's lawyers, said last week.
Prabowo believes the additional special voter list was inflated to enable ballot stuffing at several polling stations. He alleged that East Java saw 200,000 fake votes. Joko got 1.44 million more votes than Prabowo in that province.
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August 5, 2014 edition