Buying a Cat in a Sack

Kid: Once again, we'll be buying a cat in a sack (lit: to buy something without knowing what it is) right Dad?

Headlines read: Independents vs political parties, regional elections, tripping someone up, political acrobatics, political bride price.

More than 23,000 people have signed an online petition rejecting a proposal by lawmakers to tighten requirements on independent candidates running for office which many see as a ruse by the parties to maintain control over local elections and specifically to block the reelection of Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.

Kompas - March 19, 2016

Medical Checkup

Document in pocket reads 'crystal methamphetamine', chair on head reads 'regional head', documents in hand read 'manipulation' and 'medical checkup'.

Amid the government's so called 'war on drugs', the arrest of several senior regional government officials for drug possession and reports of rampant drug use among civil servants have led to call for pre-election medical checkups for candidates running for regional elections.

Kompas - March 16, 2016

Cabinet Reshuffle

Public bickering and poor coordination between members of President Widodo's so-call 'working cabinet' (Kabinet Kerja), which many are blaming on the president's weak leadership over his ministers, the majority of which are appointees from the political parties that backed his election campaign who are pursuing their own personal and political interests, is undermining public confidence in the government and leading to calls for a yet another cabinet reshuffle.

Kompas - March 5, 2016

Poverty levels rising

President Widodo has said that poverty levels are rising on account of slow economic growth and food-price increases resulting in the gini coefficient, which reflects the gap between rich and the poor, rising to 0.41 in September 2015. This however ignores the fact that robust economic growth of above 6% in previous years also saw the rich taking an larger share of wealth at the expense of the poor with the top 10% now controlling around 80% of the country's wealth.

Kompas - March 2, 2016