February 23, 2016 edition
A one-on-one meeting between Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil and businessman Sandiaga Salahudin Uno took place on January 31 under the media's radar. Oddly enough, no one was aware of the mayor's agenda that day. The two met at the mayor's official weekend residence. During the meeting that lasted an hour-and-a-half, the two men talked about the plan to modernize 37 traditional markets in Bandung.
Just before the call to prayer at sunset, however, Sandiaga brought up the topic of the election for the next Jakarta governor. As the meeting was coming to an end, he asked Ridwan abouthis readiness to be a candidate. Ridwan said he would think about it. "In that case, I'll start (campaign) activities before you in Jakarta," Sandiaga said. Last Thursday, Ridwan dismissed the news that their meeting had been specifically to discuss the election. "It's only about investing in the markets," he said.
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February 16, 2016 edition
ATTORNEY General Muhammad Prasetyo met with five leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in his office two Mondays ago. During the meeting, he was flanked by several assistant attorneys general.
KPK Chairman Agus Rahardjo, according to a senior prosecutor, promptly explained why he and his colleagues had come. Agus asked Prasetyo whether the news was true that the case involving KPK investigator Novel Baswedan had been transferred to the Bengkulu District Court. "The attorney general confirmed it and the trial would begin soon," said the senior prosecutor last Tuesday.
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February 9, 2016 edition
For much of the latter half of the 20th century, Indonesia's family planning program was the toast of the developing world.
The nation's list of achievements, which included halving the number of births per woman (TFR) and doubling the number of contraceptive users between 1972 and 2002, meant by the close of the century, some 75 million births had been averted, helping to create the fiscal room needed to lift millions out of poverty.
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February 2, 2016 edition
THE video recording showed a group of men gathered in the main room of a house. They were paying close attention to an instructor expounding on a subject. Armchairs, sofas and tables had been shifted against the room's walls, billowing with white and green curtains. There were at least 30 men in the room. As the lecture went on, the instructor as well as the trainees could be seen holding folio-sized sheets of white paper.
One of the trainees said the recording showed people engaging in tadrib. In hardline Islamic circles, the Arabic term means warfare training. The trainee pointed out that the instructor had referred to his urban warfare training as a method in amaliyah, or charity. For them, terror attacks are holy war tactics against unbelievers.
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January 26, 2016 edition
FOR a week now, Budi Supriyanto has disappeared from his office on the 13th floor of Gedung Nusantara I in the parliament complex at Senayan, Jakarta. As Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators searched his office on Friday two weeks ago, the Golkar Party politician was nowhere to be found. "After the raid, he never came to the office," said Zaki, a member of his staff, last Wednesday.
Rambe Kamarul Zaman, a colleague in the Golkar faction of the House of Representatives (DPR), also claimed to not having seen Budi since in the office. "He's probably feeling troubled. We should give him time to calm down," said the member of the DPR governance commission.
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January 19, 2016 edition
Hendra Irawan Rahim, Golkar's West Sumatra regional chairman, remembered very clearly how the party's convention in Bali on Monday two weeks ago did not even discuss the possibility of a national consultative meeting. He said those present were never asked to set down the points they had agreed upon. At the end, Deputy Chair Nurdin Halid only read out decisions made during the proceedings and asked all attendees to concur without further discussion.
Hendra was later surprised to hear Nurdin telling the media that another national convention was unlikely before 2019. He said that the idea of holding such a meeting had never been presented to attendees, including Golkar's provincial-level chairs. Although taken aback by the news, he said he had not yet decided on a firm position. "I will probably state this at the upcoming meeting of the party's national leadership," he said recently. In contrast, Nurdin told the press that all the decisions had the agreement of those present.
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January 12, 2016 edition