In the wake of several shocking terrorist attacks in East Java and Riau this month, the government is proposing a series of long-delayed revisions to the Anti-Terrorism Law (RUU Anti-Terror) which will allow police to hold suspects for up to 221 days before being charged, pave the way for the involvement of the military and broaden the definitio
Drunken Republic Cartoons
May 2018
April 2018
Political observers say that if President Widodo (left) and his likely contender in the 2019 presidential election, former general Prabowo Subianto (right), try to use the same old strategies they did in 2014, it will only alienate votes.
Sign reads ‘Out of Sight brand Adulterated Liquor’
In what is believed to be the worst-ever mass fatality caused by alcohol poisoning in a country where drinkers regularly die from consuming bootleg alcohol, 82 people have died and 100 are in a critical condition in hospital after drinking moonshine.
Jacket reads ‘Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Prisoner’
Mother: Hey kid, eat the dead worms, lots of protein... so they’re safe...
The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) says that at least 27 brands of canned fish being sold on the market have been found to be contaminated with threadworms.
March 2018
From an op-ed piece titled Corruption Haunts Regional Elections.
Vote-buying – the practice of handing out cash or goods in an effort to influence votes – remains pervasive and largely acceptable in Indonesia.
From an op-ed piece titled Political Parties and Corruption in the Regions.
Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) says that the regional elections face an ‘emergency of integrity’ with as many as eight candidates caught red-handed accepting bribes in just the last two months.
Former army general and likely presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has been widely ridiculed following a campaign speech posted on his Gerindra Party official Facebook page on March 18 in which he made the claim that ‘...in other countries they have made studies where the Republic of Indonesia has been declared no more in 2030’.
February 2018
Man (right): No Sir, not food imports... what’s important is our candidates are local
Arm bands read ‘Success Team (election campaign team)’, list reads ‘Presidential election candidate formulation’.
Man: I’m sorry I didn’t end up coming home
Woman: What you did to me was cruel...
Hardliners from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) have staged an angry protest at the Jakarta office of Tempo Magazine this week over this cartoon which they say insulted the honor of fugitive FPI leader Rizieq Shihab.
Papers read: ‘Party list ranking: 15’, ‘Soya Sauce Party Political Pledge’.
Tentacles read: Transactional politics, black campaigns, sectarian conflicts, money politics, corruption, fake news
Jakarta is facing an ecological crisis with the capital sinking at a rate of 4-6cm a year, faster than any other big city in the world, so fast that rivers sometimes flow upstream, ordinary rains regularly swamp neighborhoods and buildings slowly disappear underground, swallowed by the earth.
January 2018
Small weight reads ‘Budget Management’, large weight reads ‘Achievements’
With Indonesia hosting the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang this year, sports fans are no doubt hoping that the home field advantage will boost the country’s medal tally.
Pancasila – the philosophical and ideological basis of the Indonesian state – comprises five principles which are represented on the country’s coat of arms: Belief in the one and only God symbolised by a black shield and gold star; A just and civilized humanity symbolised by a chain of square and round links; The unity of Indonesia represented b
The people’s (Rakyat) so-called representatives (Wakil) – the notoriously lazy and corrupt House of Representatives (MPR) – are proposing a series of controversial revisions to the 2014 Legislative Institutions Law (RUU MD3) which critics say will give legal impunity to lawmakers and threatens to erode freedom of speech and expression.
Texts read: 248K followers, 3.8K comments, candidate name still sealed, vote for me, do not drop, import quality candidate, sole candidate, super quality candidate.
Indonesia will be hosting the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang this year amid concerns over a lack of preparations and worries about how traffic congestion in Jakarta and the annual haze from forest fires in Palembang will affect the games.
November 2017
Suharto’s former ruling party Golkar, which for years has stood by Setya Novanto in the face of a string of corruption scandals, is moving quickly to distance itself from the House speaker and party chair who they now see as an electoral liability following his arrest by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last week.
Having skillfully used his political power and influence to dodged the law a in series of corruption scandals dating back to 1999, House speaker and Golkar Party chair Setya Novanto – dubbed by the media as ‘Mr Teflon’ – may finally face justice after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) again named him a suspect a month after a controver