Man: Still going ahead with it huh Mr?

Writing on beds reads: Candidate regional head, election organiser, election observer

Box reads: Empty ballot box

The number of sole candidates running in regional elections has steadily grown over the past five years leading to growing concerns that the upcoming polls may undermine the electoral system.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) have warned about potential vote buying in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections, which the government insists on holding on December 9 despite the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic.

From an oped piece titled Watch out, the sabotage of ‘political legislation’ in the era of the pandemic

Illustration by Kompas/Heryunanto.

Kalimantan Islamic University (Uniska) political observer Muhammad Uhaib As’ad says that the democratic process in Indonesia post reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998 – is still being held hostage by the power of money.

Writing on picture reads “Regional head”

Man: Before it was the father, now the mother, what next, the kids?

Kid: When do I get a go Dad?

Teacher: Today we are going to learn about all kinds of basic foods!

While online learning has become the new norm during the pandemic, many students have not been able to participate because of the country’s digital divide or because they do not even have electricity.

Man in boat: Can they still hear our voices?

According to two recent surveys, most Indonesians disagree with the government’s decision to hold the 2020 simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada) on December 9 as uncertainty remains over when the Covid-19 pandemic will end.

Judge: We sentence you to 12 years in prison and a fine.

Defendant: But I didn’t mean to do it.

Judge: Yeah okay then, one year in prison.

Prosecutors demanded Friday that two police officers – Chief Brigadier Ronny Bugis and Brigadier Rahmat Kadir – be given one-year prison terms for their involvement in a 2017 attack on senior Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan.