September 8, 2015 edition

President Joko Widodo listened intently as the head of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) selection committee Destry Damayanti explained the selection process to him at the State Palace last Monday, describing the number of registered contestants, selection phases, background checks and interviews. The President who was quietly paying attention asked, "What if I want to reject?" Destry, seemingly taken aback by the question, turned to team member Harkristuti Harkrisnowo. Hastily, Harkristuti chimed in. "By law, Bapak has two weeks to study the selection results." Before being interrupted by the President, Destry then went over the overview of the candidates' track records and the reasons why they were chosen. This time, Destry asked the President first, "Are you surprised because there are no big names in the list, Bapak?" to which the President replied, "I'm not surprised. I agree with your picks." All the team members breathed a sigh of relief.
After the closed meeting, President Jokowi, accompanied by the selection team, announced the list: Saut Sitomorang, expert staffer at the State Intelligence Agency, and Surya Tjandra, labor activist, for the prevention category; Alexander Marwata, corruption court judge, and Basaria Panjaitan, lecturer at the national police leadership academy for the law enforcement category; Agus Rahardjo, former head of Government Goods and Services Procurement Policy Institution, and Sujanarko, Director of KPK's Inter-commission and Agency Cooperation Network Development, for the management category; and Johan Budi Sapto Pribowo, acting KPK leader, and Laode Muhammad Syarif, lecturer of Law at Hasanuddin University, for the supervision and monitoring category.

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More National articles in other editions

September 1, 2015 edition

Soleh bin Husein Alaydrus' house was filled with concerned citizens last week. As the evening progressed, more and more people came to the home of the well-known village figure, now 61, located in a basin of the Ciliwung in Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta.

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August 25, 2015 edition

Patrice Rio Capella was enjoying his year-end holiday in Munich, Germany, when he received a call from Jakarta. At the end of line was Andi Widjajantothen the cabinet secretarywho wanted Patrice to recommend three politicians from the National Democrat (NasDem) Party for ambassadorships abroad. The NasDem Secretary-General wanted to know which countries were available. "That will be determined by the President." Patrice quoted Andi as saying.
Soon afterward, Patrice contacted NasDem chief Surya Paloh, who was vacationing in London. Surya gave Patrice permission to identify suitable candidates. Patrice ended up submitting two names, after which he was not consulted again.

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August 17, 2015 edition

PRAMONO Anung Wibowo brimmed with emotion when he saw Megawati Soekarnoputri last Wednesday at the State Palace. After shaking hands with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and his wife, Pramono turned to the chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and, as captured on a television broadcast of the inauguration ceremony, reverently kissed Megawati's hand. She broke into a smile, tapped Pramono on the arm, and walked on.

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August 11, 2015 edition

After receiving a phone call on Monday morning last week, Effendi Budi Wirawan, chairman of the Pacitan, East Java, branch of Golkar Party proceeded on his new mission.
During a meeting of the Joint Pacitan Coalition, a group convened to decide on candidates for the upcoming East Java regional head elections, he suddenly nominated himself in place of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Suyatno, shocking those present.

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August 4, 2015 edition

Some 500 people filed into the mosque at the Tebuireng Pondok Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Jombang, East Java, on Thursday last week, two days ahead of Nahdlatul Ulama's (NU) 33rd General Assembly. Slated to open Saturday night at the Tebuireng, Tambakberas, Denanyar and Rejoso pesantrens, the congress, attended by NU executives from the regional, municipal and provincial level, will last until Wednesday.

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July 28, 2015 edition

WHEN the sun rose on Idul Fitri, Golkar Party's Team of Ten had only completed half of its task. Over the previous three days, the team had labored to agree on candidates to run for 269 posts in the elections of regional heads (pilkada) set for December this year. "The two sides have agreed on 131 of the candidates," Lamhot Sinaga, a Team of Ten member and Golkar Deputy Secretary-General in the Agung Laksono camp, told Tempo two weeks ago.
Debate continues to fly over the remaining candidates, and neither side looks likely to budge from their favored politicians. Meanwhile, the July 26-28 deadline for registering candidates at the Regional General Election Commissions is right around the corner.

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