Tenggara Backgrounder March 1

Agrarian reform: Perpetual stagnation?

The second presidential debate has brought to the fore one particular issue: agrarian reform. During the debate, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo claimed the massive infrastructure projects under his administration had been free from land disputes. Equally surprising was his revelation that his opponent Prabowo Subianto controlled hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in Aceh and East Kalimantan. The President’s statements summarized the underlying agrarian issues, namely longstanding land conflicts and the preponderance of land ownership among the elites.

Military “un-reformation” likely to get swift passage

The plan to let active military officers occupy key civilian positions in government may be a throwback to the decades of military domination of Indonesian politics, but it is looking like it would get swift passage given the limited opposition from the public and from the House of Representatives, which needs to give its approval. With the nation much too preoccupied with the general elections in April and since the plan has already been endorsed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the military is sure to make a comeback into the political arena, which can have severe repercussions for the nation’s democracy.

Increased DMO for coal may fuel support for Jokowi

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry announced earlier in February that the government is requiring that coal miners increase their allocation of coal for the domestic market to 128 million tons. The government’s decision surprised coal miners because, last year, they managed to supply far from the government’s target of 121 million tons. The decision may only seem logical when seen from the political perspective, as the incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo may be using the increased domestic market obligation (DMO) for coal in part to gain support ahead of the presidential election in April.

Issue update: The battle of steel continues

Local steel producers face simultaneous attacks from two fronts of cheap steel products, one from low-quality local steels produced by the growing presence of induction steel mills relocated from China and the other one from the dumping of imported steel from China. Local steel producers lose out as consumers do not really care about quality or environmental issue and chose cheaper products.