Backgrounder

TNI Law revision feared to revive military dual role

The Indonesian Military (TNI) has caught the nation’s attention for its move to revise the 2004 TNI Law that many are afraid would reinstate dwifungsi (dual role) in the military, which characterized the authoritarian New Order regime of Indonesia in the past.

BSI at risk of lawsuit after its data breach by hackers

Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), a subsidiary of banking state-owned enterprise (SOE) Bank Mandiri, was a victim of extortion, by criminal hacker group LockBit, of data that allegedly belonged to the sharia banking SOE, including employee data, records of about 15 million of its customers and 1.5 terabytes (TB) of internal data. The data breach created by the hacker group after BSI did not cede to LockBit’s demanded ransom over said data could make the bank liable for lawsuits.

Edition

May 12, 2023

Prabowo: The one to beat in 2024, for now

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is shaping up as the candidate to beat in the presidential race on Feb. 14, 2024, and is no longer the dark horse of earlier surveys.

HS Codes Manipulation in 189 trillion Gold Import Case

The Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering Task Force (TPPU) suspects the existence of a modus operandi of falsifying the Harmonized System (HS) codes in the case of import duty and tax evasion related to gold import and export, which caused a loss to the state of more than Rp 189 trillion. It was done in a way that resulted in discrepancies between the data in the declaration notes of the commodity's country of origin and that of the importing country.

Edition

May 5, 2023

Ganjar’s nomination sets off flurry of political negotiations

With the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) settling on Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo as its presidential candidate, the other parties are readjusting their positions with regard to their own nominations ahead of the 2024 elections. Parties that in the past formed alliances to field common candidates are revisiting their positions, and some are contemplating joining the PDI-P in supporting Ganjar’s candidacy.

BSI to expand into the Middle East by attracting UAE investors into the SOE

The recent establishment of a state-owned Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) representative office in Dubai is part of the government’s plan to attract investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to join the sharia bank following last February’s announcement of divestment by two major shareholders, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

Edition

April 14, 2023

Prabowo, the comeback kid of the 2024 elections

Up until last week, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto had faced pressures, from within and outside his Gerindra party, to quit the 2024 presidential race because all surveys overwhelmingly showed he could not beat any of the other two likely contenders, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.

BPKP audit forces retrofitting of KCI’s retired train cars despite obstacles

The Development Finance Comptroller’s (BPKP) recent audit over PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia’s (KCI) capacity shows that the KCI is surprisingly not overcapacity – starkly different from public perception and the KCI’s own audit. This result solved the recent disagreement over KCI’s plan to imported used trains from Japan and prompted the government to tell KCI to send its retired train cars to INKA for retrofitting, despite the latter’s unfamiliarity with Japanese-made cars.