Today (06/08), the first session of defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto’s legal challenge started. Based on data from the General Elections Commission (KPU), Indonesia’s July 2014 presidential election was won by Joko Widodo (Jokowi) with 53.15 percent to 46.85 percent of the votes. However, Subianto claims that the KPU’s outcome was influenced by fraud and other violations, leading to 50 million troubled votes in more than 200,000 Indonesian polling stations, and therefore challenges the result at the Constitutional Court.

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The structure of tax revenue in Indonesia has not changed in the past decade resulting in the country’s still low tax-to-GDP ratio of between 12 and 13 percent. Emerging countries such as Indonesia typically have a low tax-to-GDP ratio as the government’s financial management is inadequate (and plagued by corruption). However, it is important for Indonesia to raise this ratio in order to have more funds available to finance the budget deficit, infrastructure development, healthcare, education and other social programs to combat poverty.

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The performance of the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate and stocks has been impacted by defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto’s withdrawal from the General Elections Commission’s electoral process on Tuesday (22/07). Although the Commission (KPU) has not publicly announced the outcome of the 2014 presidential election yet, Subianto’s response is a clear sign that rival Joko Widodo - as expected - has won the election. Subianto claims that the KPU is corrupt and will challenge the outcome in the Constitutional Court.

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On 20 July 2014, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve political and economic topics such as the presidential election, the influence of the Malaysia Airlines crash, two high profile corruption cases, coal mining, an update on July inflation, and more.

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Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will end his second and final five-year term in October 2014, announced to meet both presidential candidates (Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo) in the country’s State Palace on Sunday (20/07). In this meeting, president Yudhoyono will emphasize the importance of a peaceful and orderly transition to the next government. Currently, it remains unknown who of the two candidates won the presidential election (held on 9 July 2014). Due to the tight race, chances of social unrest increase.

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Two days after the sentencing of central banker Budi Mulya, the next high profile verdict has been delivered in Indonesia. Andi Mallarangeng, the country’s former Youth and Sport Affairs minister, was sentenced to four years imprisonment and a fine of IDR 200 million on Friday (18/07) by the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court for his role in the construction of the Hambalang sports complex in Bogor (West Java). This sentence is much lighter than the prosecutors' demand for ten years imprisonment.

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Although investors in Indonesian stocks received positive news from the USA after Federal Reserve Head Janet Yellen stated on Tuesday (15/07) that the US economic recovery remains incomplete therefore justifying the continuation of a loose monetary policy for the foreseeable future as well as solid economic expansion of 7.5 percent (yoy) in China during the second quarter of 2014, the domestic political context in Southeast Asia’s largest economy remains a concern. What are the latest political developments in Indonesia?

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After a trading week that was characterized by high gains in the stock and financial markets on optimism that Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will become the next president of Indonesia, both the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate and benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell today (11/07). This seems an obvious sign that the euphoria about a Jokowi win has waned and investors are looking again to the true economic fundamentals of Southeast Asia’s largest economy. By 13:00 pm local Jakarta time, the Jakarta Composite Index had fallen 1.66 percent.

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On 06 July 2014, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve political and economic topics such as the presidential election, a rupiah and stock market update, an analysis of inflation and the trade balance, corruption, poverty, GDP growth, prospects of the copper price, and more.

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Late on Monday evening (30/06), Indonesia’s Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court sentenced former Chief Justice of the country's Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) Akil Mochtar to life imprisonment as he was found guilty of corruption as well as money laundering. Mochtar was arrested in October 2013 by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) after investigators had been tapping his telephone. This corruption case is another blow for the reputation of Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

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The latest survey of Berlin-based Transparency International confirms that Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) is perceived - among Indonesians - as the most corrupt institution in the country. This outcome is no surprise because the DPR, the elected national legislative assembly that draws up and passes laws and budgets as well as monitors the performance of the government, has for long been perceived by the Indonesian people as the most corrupt institution within the country.

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After Emirsyah Satar, Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has also named Soetikno Soedardjo a suspect in the same multinational bribery case. On Thursday (19/01) it became breaking headline news in Indonesia when the KPK announced that former Garuda Indonesia Chief Executive (2005-2014) Emirsyah Satar was named suspect of received a bribe in the procurement (by Garuda Indonesia) of aircraft and aircraft engines from Airbus and Rolls-Royce. Satar currently servers as Chairman of Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group's e-commerce platform MatahariMall.com.

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Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (abbreviated KPK) is satisfied with the decision of the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) to sentence Ariesman Widjaja, former General Director of Agung Podomoro Land, to three years in prison and IDR 200 million (approx. USD $15,300) in fines (or three additional months inmprisonment). Although prosecutors demanded a four year prison sentence and IDR 250 million in fines, the decision of the court is acceptable according to Indonesia's anti-corruption watchdog.

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One of Indonesia's largest listed property developers - Agung Podomoro Land - saw its shares plunge 10 percent on Monday (04/04) after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the country's anti-graft agency, named the company's President Director Ariesman Widjaja a suspect in a bribery case that also involves a Jakarta legislator. Allegedly, Muhammad Sanusi, legislator of the Jakarta provincial assembly and member of Prabowo Subianto's Great Indonesia Party (Gerindra), accepted money in exchange for support related to the Pluit City project.

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West Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan are the three Indonesian provinces that scored the worst in the Local Government Performance Index (in Indonesian: Indeks Kinerja Pemerintah Daerah, or IKPD). This index, compiled by Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), measures the degree of coordination and supervision within Indonesian provinces regarding policies and actions related to the prevention of corruption in the mining and energy sectors. The provinces that have the highest scores are Central Sulawesi and the Riau Islands.

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Jero Wacik, Indonesia's former Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (2011-2014) and Minister of Culture and Tourism (2004-2011), could face nine years in prison, a fine of IDR 350 million and may have to pay compensation up to IDR 18.8 billion to the government. These are the demands expressed by prosecutor Dody Sukmono at the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) on Thursday (21/01). Wacik is being accused of mishandling ministerial funds and extortion by the country’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

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Former Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali (who was also Chairman of the Islamic political party PPP) was sentenced to six years in jail and a fine of IDR 300 million (or three additional months in prison) by the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) on Monday (11/01). Suryadharma was found guilty of self-enrichment by deliberately mishandling state funds that were allocated to the hajj pilgrimage program covering the financial years 2010-2013.

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Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK), the central government's agency that regulates and supervises Indonesia's financial services sector, needs to hire hundreds of new staff in order to safeguard monitoring of the nation's banking sector and to enhance its early warning system in order to detect possible corruption cases. As up to 350 OJK workers are expected to return to the central bank per 1 January 2017, good monitoring of the banking sector is in jeopardy.

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With the forest fires still raging on parts of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, damaging the tropical environment, while the toxic haze still spreads to other parts of Southeast Asia, having caused an estimated 500,000 cases of respiratory tract infection as well as 19 casualties, the ongoing disaster has been labelled a crime against humanity. A new and interesting research report, released by Dr. Herry Purnomo (scientist at the Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research), points to a link between local elections and spikes in Indonesian forest fires.

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Berlin-based Transparency International released the 2014 edition of its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) earlier this week. In the new edition Indonesia was ranked 107th (out a total of 175 countries), up from 114th in the previous edition. As such, Indonesia continues to improve gradually through the ranks of the index. However, with a score of 34 (out of a possible - and perfect - score of 100) the country still lags behind its regional peers such as Singapore (84), Malaysia (52) and the Philippines (38).

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