There is no need for Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to be hesitant when discussing the additional contribution for Jakarta's north coast reclamation project. If there is no evidence of ill intent or losses to the state, it will be difficult to accuse him of corruption even if his initiative is seen as controversial.

President Joko Widodo should not be duplicitous in dealing with the phobia of the authorities and some of the public towards communism. He must be firm in putting an end to the ban on discussions and performances and the confiscation of books and pictures with communist themes that have occurred with increasing frequency recently.

The release of 10 hostages taken by the Abu Sayyaf terror group should not make us compliant. Before we can crow in victory, we must not forget that four more of our fellow Indonesian citizens are still being held by the separatist groups in the southern Philippines.

The case of Nurhadi is a sign that dark clouds still hang over our courts. The secretary of the Supreme Court is not someone who has the decisive role in the way the nation's highest court dispenses justice, but the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has revealed another side to the bureaucrat: He has control over how major cases are handled.

The government should not remain silent over the names of civil servants listed in the Panama Papers. It is not enough for President Joko Widodo to summon the officials concerned and listen to their explanations on why they own companies in tax-haven nations, as disclosed in the leaked documents of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

It was truly amusing to see the conduct of Ade Komarudin and Setya Novanto in their responses to the tax amnesty bill submitted by the government. The two Golkar legislators busily lobbied faction leaders at the leadership of the House of Representatives (DPR) to determine who would lead the discussions.