Reformasi Dispatch

Gecko Project investigators Margareth Aritonang and Tom Johnson join Reformasi Dispatch to detail Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto’s policy to clear forest for cassava plantations in Gunung Mas District, Central Kalimantan.  The team examines the corporate structure, commercial aspects, potential conflicts of interest, and risks posed for Indonesia’s credibility on resource management.  Also: Kevin and Jeff discuss a small step towards a Prabowo Puan ticket and the wealth disclosure form of newly designated Military Chief Gen Andika Perkasa.'Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeAlso, check out Gecko Project's investigation here: https://thegeckoproject.org/politically-connected-firm-seeks-to-profit-as-indonesian-government-cuts-down-orangutan-habitat-ab7b5a398c17Support us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

Former Solo Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo, a confidante of the president, brazenly defied PDI¬-Perjuangan Chair Megawati and openly endorsed Central Java Gov Ganjar Pranowo for president.  Will this finally bring the internal PDI-P impasse to an end and give impetus to nominating maneuvers?  In any event, circumstances confer an advantage on Ganjar.  Plus: the implications of state funding for the Indonesia-China Fast Train (KCIC) linking Jakarta and Bandung and Lt Gen (ret) Agus Widjojo prompts renewed discussion of the military’s proper role in civil life.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

CrossAsean equity analyst Angus Mackintosh rejoins Reformasi Dispatch to review Grab's IPO preparations, machinations among tech giants and digital trends in the Indonesian market (including an e-grocery boom).  Jeff and Kevin have a look at three abrupt developments with positive implications: a continued dwindling of Covid case detections, a swiftly passed tax law, and poll momentum for Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, who achieved a virtual tie with the Defense Minister.Register for Bahasa Indonesia e-learning course with Wisma Bahasa. Use our code "Reformasi" for special promo. Type the promo code in the "How do you know Wisma Bahasa" section.Register here:bit.ly/wismabahasaGet a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

Strategic rivalry finally engulfs ASEAN and Jakarta's policymakers must examine their choices.  Joining the pod is the National University of Singapore scholar Evan Laksmana.  Also: Jeff and Kevin discuss developments in three politically significant corruption cases, prospects for re-opening Bali, and acrimony between the administration and mainstream NGOs.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

Policymakers seem exceedingly slow to embrace the mounting advantages of photo-voltaic technology for Indonesia's pressing energy needs.  The head of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) details the compelling logic for supplanting coal with solar power.  Also: the Aukus pact directly benefits Indonesia by helping ward off one-power hegemony. Plus: prospects for a limited cabinet reshuffle and a landmark verdict on air pollution control.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeHelp us improve your listening experience.Take the survey:https://bit.ly/reformasisurveySupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

The head of Indonesia’s premier institute on infectious disease joins the pod to explain the Merah Putih Vaccine program and discuss prospects for subsequent waves of infections.  Covid related topics include clinical trials, boosters, genome sequencing work, and new variants.  Also:  Amnesty amnesia?  Prone to confusion, new tax compliance initiatives could go awry.  Jeff and Kevin also discuss the KPK’s latest litmus test and two legal system calamities: the penitentiary fire in Tangerang and the abuse of Ahmadiyah in Sintang.  And finally, the Constitutional amendment initiative's denouement.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

HSBC’s regional economist for Asean joins the pod to look at how Indonesia can preserve confidence and restore fiscal prudence despite having extended its extraordinary debt financing through 2022.  Apropos the matter, Jeff and Kevin review developments in parliament’s 2007 General Tax Law revision, which business interests are resisting.  Also discussed: what the acquittal of the coal tycoon Samin Tan reveals about the state of anti-corruption efforts and the unprecedented machete attack on an Army outpost in the Bird’s Head Peninsula, just weeks prior to national games in Jayapura.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

.Also: Prof Noor Ismail on domestic terror networks.  Also discussed: PAN joins Widodo's alliance and the first of a two-part segment on extraordinary debt financing or 'burden sharing'.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

A renewed push to open Pandora’s box of amendments – potentially scuppering direct presidential elections – narrowly failed, for now.  Jeff and Kevin discuss the actors, aims, party stances, and ‘Trojan Horse’ stratagem.  Also:  an interview with  Aim Sinpeng of the University of Sydney regarding methods that online hate speech perpetrators use to evade platform controls.  Finally, a look at PDI-P’s latest posturing regarding the presidential election and a glimpse of prospects for rooftop solar arrays.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

 Jeff and Kevin discuss the new Charta Politika poll showing the Central Java head ahead of both other major potential contenders for president in 2024.  Ganjar Pranowo is the figure with momentum at present – as well as the most upside potential.  Given his gubernatorial record and his earnest approach to reform, the trend bodes well at an early stage of the momentous election process.  Also: the most notorious integrationist militia leader from East Timor receives a meritorious service medal from President Joko Widodo, outraging human rights NGOs.  And domestic perceptions of coal as a mainstay of Indonesia’s energy resilience could shift – if producers continue prioritizing lucrative exports ahead of fixed-price sales to the State Power Company (PLN).  Finally: how events in Afghanistan may affect views of the US in Asia.Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at:https://bit.ly/reformasifreeSupport us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasiIt takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!