Jakarta – Exposit Strategy Political Analyst Arif Susanto has warned that the discourse on revisions to the Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Law which have been proposed recently are nothing more than means to improve the government's image.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's statement asking the public to be more active in conveying criticism and input on government performance is not in line with the actual situation.

Jakarta – Civil society organisations in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta which are part of the Yogyakarta People's Alliance for Democracy (ARDY) have sent a subpoena to Yogyakarta (DIY) Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X over a ban on expressing opinions in public.

Irfan Kamil, Jakarta – The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy has released its human rights performance index for the first year of the second term of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, who were inaugurated on October 20, 2019.

Jakarta – Papuan activist and former political prisoner Filep Karma says there are differences in how demonstrations proceed in Papua and Jakarta. He says that in Papua, demonstrations are not as free and easy as in Jakarta.

Jakarta – West Papua province has again been recorded as having the worst democracy index. This year (2019), West Papua’s Democracy Index (IDI) was 57.62, even dropping lower from 2018 when it was 58.29 points.

Adi Ahdiat, Jakarta – Research and international digital rights advocacy institute Freedom House says that internet freedom in Indonesia has worsened compared with last year.

According to their rating, in 2018 Indonesia was rated as 54 out of 100, but in 2019 its position dropped to a ranking of 51.

Jakarta – The 2019 Press Freedom Index in Papua is still in the lowest position out of Indonesia’s 34 provinces. The Press Freedom Index for Papua stands at 66.56 or “slightly free”, or only one level above “almost free”.

Jakarta – The Institute for Public Research and Advocacy (Elsam) says that freedom of expression and opinion in Indonesia has declined since 2014. Citing data from the Freedom House website, Elsam said that for the last five years freedom of expression in Indonesia has been rated as no longer free.

Deti Mega Purnamasari, Jakarta – Democracy in Indonesia has declined for the first time since the beginning of the reformasi era – the political reform process that began in 1998. The cause of the decline in democracy is of high levels of discrimination against minorities.

May the work go well, stay optimistic...!

Writing on weights reads: Fake news, import mafia, intolerance, radicalism, maritime axis, nepotism, collusion, corruption, malnutrition, terrorism, poverty, oligarchy, and so on...

Bandar Lampung – Commemorating International Labour Day or May Day, around 600 workers from various different trade unions took to the streets of Bandar Lampung in South Sumatra on Wednesday May 1.

The workers concentrated at three points in the city: the Adipura Monument, Saburai Enggal Park and the Korpri North Teluk Betung Park.

Kristian Erdianto, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid believes that during the four years of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo leadership the protection of human rights has gone backwards.

Lalu Rahadian – A number of trade unions have chosen not to support President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo or Prabowo Subianto in the 2019 presidential elections.

Lalu Rahadian – Only days are left before simultaneous regional elections begin. The candidates taking part in the competition are using a variety of means to attract public attention in the hope of being chosen at the ballot box.

Jakarta – A people’s conference titled Fighting Criminalisation and Wining Democracy (Lawan Kriminalisasi dan Rebut Demokrasi) was held at the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) offices in Central Jakarta on April 9.

Man: Okay (headline reads 6% Economic Growth)

Government official: That’s okay too (headline reads Corruption Index of 34)

Pribadi Wicaksono, Yogyakarta – The Yogyakarta Workers Alliance (ABY) has slammed the draft law on regional elections (RUU Pilkada) saying it will bring suffering to workers in the future.

Today, May 1, coinciding with the commemoration of International Labour Day, the Greater Jakarta Joint Labour Secretariat (Sekber Buruh) again took to the streets. This was done as a protest and as our responsibility to convince the majority of people that this beloved country is still living in misery.