THE COURT DECIDES, THE DOOM FOLLOWS?
As predicted in Pearls & Irritations earlier this month, an appeal by the two losing candidates in the 14 February Indonesian presidential election has been trounced by the Constitutional Court in Jakarta.
The challenges to the result came from former Jakarta Governor and one-time University rector Dr Anies Baswedan (25 per cent), and former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, (16 per cent).
The judges voted five to three to toss out allegations the state had interfered to back the hands-down winner of the three-way contest, disgraced former general Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto. He snared 58 per cent of the vote.
During the hearings, not attended by Jokowi, his ministers said claims were nonsense. Tucker boxes and other welfare aid handed out just ahead of the vote were to help the poor and not designed to sway voters.
It's not called pork barreling in Indonesia where the meat is taboo for most, but the intent is the same.
The Court's decision means the right-wing Prabowo and his vice-presidential running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka will have their hands on the wheel of the world's third-largest democracy in October. By then Prabowo will be 73.
There are no further appeal provisions and so far no street riots, as happened after the 2019 election when Prabowo lost.
Another argument used in the bid to overturn the election result was plagiarism.
Gibran, 36, is the eldest son of the current president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. Indonesian law prevents anyone under 40 from standing for high office, but the Constitutional Court, then headed by his uncle, decided to let the young man be a candidate.
Anies' and Ganjar's legal team told the court democracy would suffer if Prabowo's win was upheld - and they could be right as the dogs are already snarling for the spoils.
In the Indonesian system, all parties form coalitions to boost their chances, and even those who backed the losers are now saying life will be better with the winner who can share bits of the bones, maybe even some offal for the disgruntled donors
Prabowo heads the Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) Party he created in 2008. It drew six smaller parties before the election while Anies had three and Ganjar four.
Once enthroned in October, Prabowo and Gibran have five years in office. This will leave the losers with little to do but snap and snarl while dashing down the roadside fence as the triumphant swans pass.
The Westminster system doesn't operate so there's no cohort of shadow ministers supposedly full-bottle on the government's departments and duties, ready to take over temporarily should the elected government collapse.
The vindictive sniping and vile slurs that make up much of Australian parliamentary behaviours are rarely heard. Indonesian politicians can be as nasty as their Down Under colleagues, but they tend to keep the hate under control in public statements.
Sounding off and being beyond defamation lawyers if speaking on the floor and during a parliamentary sitting isn’t a privilege for Indonesian MPs. A few are now favouring the courts to correct the slurs they encounter - a trend making NGOs careful of their language.
Opposition in most democracies is a miserable job, but if the minors can creep into the shade of the big tent they’ll likely get rewards for moving, such as a soft ministry where salaries are higher and corruption chances better - such as Religious Affairs.
What happens next? The victors will give out the goodies and long-serving ministers under Jokowi, like Foreign Affairs Minister Reno Marsudi, 60, will probably be replaced by a more Prabowo-minded candidate.
She or he doesn't have to be an elected member. Experts and mates from outside politics can be appointed as a minister without having to join a party.
Retno, who was ambassador to the Netherlands before promotion and studied European law pre-career. She’s been in the job for ten years serving a president more interested in domestic affairs where he has done well building toll roads and new railways along with a universal health scheme.
Like Medicare, its well-being is under threat by doctors used to the private system so seeking more government money for their skills. Public hospitals are also discovering a need for the latest diagnostic equipment and bigger staff carparks. Fixing these inherited hassles is going to test the talents of the new administration.
An off-the-cuff promise made by Prabowo while campaigning is also going to cause headaches and a lot of unbudgeted money - $47 billion for free meals at primary schools.
The intent is good; early childhood stunting and wasting caused by malnutrition and non-nutritious meals is a serious issue affecting more than 20 per cent of youngsters.
Bringing that figure down to Australian levels, reportedly among the world’s lowest, is going cost a ransom and probably involve overseas help - shaming the new government that prefers to be known for its more obvious triumphs.
Top of the list is Jokowi’s legacy show, the new capital of Nusantara in Kalimantan on Borneo Island, and a voracious money guzzler.
Much of last year was spent by Jokowi trying - and failing - to get foreign investors to support his idea that the best way to take the weight off sinking, polluted and overcrowded Jakarta, was to start afresh 1,000 km north.
It's widely believed that Gibran was steered by Dad into the VP job to ensure Prabowo keeps his predecessor's so-called green city mega-project with its ostentatious palace arising from felled forests.
First published in Pearls & Irritations 6 April: THE COURT DECIDES, THE DOOM FOLLOWS Duncan Graham
As predicted in Pearls & Irritations earlier this month, an appeal by the two losing candidates in the 14 February Indonesian presidential election has been trounced by the Constitutional Court in Jakarta.
The challenges to the result came from former Jakarta Governor and one-time University rector Dr Anies Baswedan (25 per cent), and former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, (16 per cent).
The judges voted five to three to toss out allegations the state had interfered to back the hands-down winner of the three-way contest, disgraced former general Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto. He snared 58 per cent of the vote.
During the hearings, not attended by Jokowi, his ministers said claims were nonsense. Tucker boxes and other welfare aid handed out just ahead of the vote were to help the poor and not designed to sway voters.
It's not called pork barreling in Indonesia where the meat is taboo for most, but the intent is the same.
The Court's decision means the right-wing Prabowo and his vice-presidential running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka will have their hands on the wheel of the world's third-largest democracy in October. By then Prabowo will be 73.
There are no further appeal provisions and so far no street riots, as happened after the 2019 election when Prabowo lost.
Another argument used in the bid to overturn the election result was plagiarism.
Gibran, 36, is the eldest son of the current president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. Indonesian law prevents anyone under 40 from standing for high office, but the Constitutional Court, then headed by his uncle, decided to let the young man be a candidate.
Anies' and Ganjar's legal team told the court democracy would suffer if Prabowo's win was upheld - and they could be right as the dogs are already snarling for the spoils.
In the Indonesian system, all parties form coalitions to boost their chances, and even those who backed the losers are now saying life will be better with the winner who can share bits of the bones, maybe even some offal for the disgruntled donors
Prabowo heads the Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) Party he created in 2008. It drew six smaller parties before the election while Anies had three and Ganjar four.
Once enthroned in October, Prabowo and Gibran have five years in office. This will leave the losers with little to do but snap and snarl while dashing down the roadside fence as the triumphant swans pass.
The Westminster system doesn't operate so there's no cohort of shadow ministers supposedly full-bottle on the government's departments and duties, ready to take over temporarily should the elected government collapse.
The vindictive sniping and vile slurs that make up much of Australian parliamentary behaviours are rarely heard. Indonesian politicians can be as nasty as their Down Under colleagues, but they tend to keep the hate under control in public statements.
Sounding off and being beyond defamation lawyers if speaking on the floor and during a parliamentary sitting isn’t a privilege for Indonesian MPs. A few are now favouring the courts to correct the slurs they encounter - a trend making NGOs careful of their language.
Opposition in most democracies is a miserable job, but if the minors can creep into the shade of the big tent they’ll likely get rewards for moving, such as a soft ministry where salaries are higher and corruption chances better - such as Religious Affairs.
What happens next? The victors will give out the goodies and long-serving ministers under Jokowi, like Foreign Affairs Minister Reno Marsudi, 60, will probably be replaced by a more Prabowo-minded candidate.
She or he doesn't have to be an elected member. Experts and mates from outside politics can be appointed as a minister without having to join a party.
Retno, who was ambassador to the Netherlands before promotion and studied European law pre-career. She’s been in the job for ten years serving a president more interested in domestic affairs where he has done well building toll roads and new railways along with a universal health scheme.
Like Medicare, its well-being is under threat by doctors used to the private system so seeking more government money for their skills. Public hospitals are also discovering a need for the latest diagnostic equipment and bigger staff carparks. Fixing these inherited hassles is going to test the talents of the new administration.
An off-the-cuff promise made by Prabowo while campaigning is also going to cause headaches and a lot of unbudgeted money - $47 billion for free meals at primary schools.
The intent is good; early childhood stunting and wasting caused by malnutrition and non-nutritious meals is a serious issue affecting more than 20 per cent of youngsters.
Bringing that figure down to Australian levels, reportedly among the world’s lowest, is going cost a ransom and probably involve overseas help - shaming the new government that prefers to be known for its more obvious triumphs.
Top of the list is Jokowi’s legacy show, the new capital of Nusantara in Kalimantan on Borneo Island, and a voracious money guzzler.
Much of last year was spent by Jokowi trying - and failing - to get foreign investors to support his idea that the best way to take the weight off sinking, polluted and overcrowded Jakarta, was to start afresh 1,000 km north.
It's widely believed that Gibran was steered by Dad into the VP job to ensure Prabowo keeps his predecessor's so-called green city mega-project with its ostentatious palace arising from felled forests.
First published in Pearls & Irritations. 26 April 2024: THE COURT DECIDES, THE DOOM FOLLOWS Duncan Graham
As predicted in Pearls & Irritations earlier this month, an appeal by the two losing candidates in the 14 February Indonesian presidential election has been trounced by the Constitutional Court in Jakarta.
The challenges to the result came from former Jakarta Governor and one-time University rector Dr Anies Baswedan (25 per cent), and former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, (16 per cent).
The judges voted five to three to toss out allegations the state had interfered to back the hands-down winner of the three-way contest, disgraced former general Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto. He snared 58 per cent of the vote.
During the hearings, not attended by Jokowi, his ministers said claims were nonsense. Tucker boxes and other welfare aid handed out just ahead of the vote were to help the poor and not designed to sway voters.
It's not called pork barreling in Indonesia where the meat is taboo for most, but the intent is the same.
The Court's decision means the right-wing Prabowo and his vice-presidential running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka will have their hands on the wheel of the world's third-largest democracy in October. By then Prabowo will be 73.
There are no further appeal provisions and so far no street riots, as happened after the 2019 election when Prabowo lost.
Another argument used in the bid to overturn the election result was plagiarism.
Gibran, 36, is the eldest son of the current president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. Indonesian law prevents anyone under 40 from standing for high office, but the Constitutional Court, then headed by his uncle, decided to let the young man be a candidate.
Anies' and Ganjar's legal team told the court democracy would suffer if Prabowo's win was upheld - and they could be right as the dogs are already snarling for the spoils.
In the Indonesian system, all parties form coalitions to boost their chances, and even those who backed the losers are now saying life will be better with the winner who can share bits of the bones, maybe even some offal for the disgruntled donors
Prabowo heads the Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) Party he created in 2008. It drew six smaller parties before the election while Anies had three and Ganjar four.
Once enthroned in October, Prabowo and Gibran have five years in office. This will leave the losers with little to do but snap and snarl while dashing down the roadside fence as the triumphant swans pass.
The Westminster system doesn't operate so there's no cohort of shadow ministers supposedly full-bottle on the government's departments and duties, ready to take over temporarily should the elected government collapse.
The vindictive sniping and vile slurs that make up much of Australian parliamentary behaviours are rarely heard. Indonesian politicians can be as nasty as their Down Under colleagues, but they tend to keep the hate under control in public statements.
Sounding off and being beyond defamation lawyers if speaking on the floor and during a parliamentary sitting isn’t a privilege for Indonesian MPs. A few are now favouring the courts to correct the slurs they encounter - a trend making NGOs careful of their language.
Opposition in most democracies is a miserable job, but if the minors can creep into the shade of the big tent they’ll likely get rewards for moving, such as a soft ministry where salaries are higher and corruption chances better - such as Religious Affairs.
What happens next? The victors will give out the goodies and long-serving ministers under Jokowi, like Foreign Affairs Minister Reno Marsudi, 60, will probably be replaced by a more Prabowo-minded candidate.
She or he doesn't have to be an elected member. Experts and mates from outside politics can be appointed as a minister without having to join a party.
Retno, who was ambassador to the Netherlands before promotion and studied European law pre-career. She’s been in the job for ten years serving a president more interested in domestic affairs where he has done well building toll roads and new railways along with a universal health scheme.
Like Medicare, its well-being is under threat by doctors used to the private system so seeking more government money for their skills. Public hospitals are also discovering a need for the latest diagnostic equipment and bigger staff carparks. Fixing these inherited hassles is going to test the talents of the new administration.
An off-the-cuff promise made by Prabowo while campaigning is also going to cause headaches and a lot of unbudgeted money - $47 billion for free meals at primary schools.
The intent is good; early childhood stunting and wasting caused by malnutrition and non-nutritious meals is a serious issue affecting more than 20 per cent of youngsters.
Bringing that figure down to Australian levels, reportedly among the world’s lowest, is going to cost a ransom and probably involve overseas help - shaming the new government that prefers to be known for its more obvious triumphs.
Top of the list is Jokowi’s legacy show, the new capital of Nusantara in Kalimantan on Borneo Island, and a voracious money guzzler.
Much of last year was spent by Jokowi trying - and failing - to get foreign investors to support his idea that the best way to take the weight off sinking, polluted and overcrowded Jakarta, was to start afresh 1,000 km north.
It's widely believed that Gibran was steered by Dad into the VP job to ensure Prabowo keeps his predecessor's so-called green city mega-project with its ostentatious palace arising from felled forests.
First published in Pearls & Irritations, 26 April 2024: https://johnmenadue.com/the-court-decides-doom-to-follow/
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