A survey conducted by Lembaga Survei Indonesia (Indonesian Survey Institute, abbreviated LSI) shows that about 51.5 percent of respondents believe that current presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto was involved in the kidnapping and disappearance of political activists in May 1998. Subianto - commander in chief of the Kostrad (the Indonesian Army's Strategic Reserve Command) in the period March to May 1998 - has since long been linked to human rights violations in Jakarta’s May 1998 riots as well as in East Timor in the 1980s.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate had depreciated 0.20 percent to IDR 11,819 per US dollar by 15:30pm local Jakarta time based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index. This performance is in line with the performance of other emerging currencies in Asia, which all tend to weaken against today’s strengthening US dollar. One of the factors that pressures on the rupiah is the geopolitical tensions in Iraq which have resulted in a rising oil price (last week the oil price rose by 4.5 percent).

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The Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is optimistic that investments (both foreign and domestic direct investments) in Indonesia can reach IDR 450 trillion (USD $38.1 billion) in 2014. This would be a 15 percentage point increase from investment realization in 2013. Head of BKPM Mahendra Siregar said that there is no evidence yet which indicates that investors are hesitant to invest due to the presidential election (scheduled for 9 July 2014). In the first quarter of 2014, investment realization in Indonesia had set a new record.

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A survey of the Deutsche Bank, one of the world's leading financial service providers, showed that the foreign business community will not be content if Prabowo Subianto takes over the presidential seat from incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to this survey, 56 percent of respondents are planning to sell Indonesian assets if the electorate chooses Subianto as next president in the election that is scheduled for 9 July 2014. About 13 percent answered to buy Indonesian assets in the same scenario.

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A survey conducted by Pusat Data Bersatu (PDB) shows that the Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo-Jusuf Kalla pair enjoys more popularity than the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa pair. Both teams compete to be elected as Indonesia’s new president and vice president by the people (on 9 July 2014). The result of the survey, which was conducted in seven cities, indicates that, if the election would be held today, Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla can rely on 32.2 percent of the vote, whereas the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa team received 26.5 percent of the vote.

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On Monday evening (09/06), the first debate between Indonesia’s two presidential candidates (joined by their running mates) was held and broadcast live on national television by various Indonesian television stations. This debate is the first in a series of five debates in which both teams - Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and Jusuf Kalla vs Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa - are able to share their vision and mission to the Indonesian electorate. The debate immediately became a trending topic on social media.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate has appreciated 0.50 percent to IDR 11,779 per US dollar by 16:00pm local Jakarta time on Monday (09/06). This performance is in line with the general trend in Asia where emerging market currencies strengthened against the greenback on today’s trading day. The rupiah is among today’s best-performing emerging currencies as it was boosted by the higher trade surplus of China (one of Indonesia’s most important trading partners) and economic growth in Japan.

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With the presidential election of Indonesia (scheduled for 9 July) becoming a battle between Governor of Jakarta Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, and former army general and Suharto crony Prabowo Subianto, it is worth taking a closer look into the ideas and policies that both candidates would like to implement if elected as the next Indonesian president, as well as their stance on specific economic issues. The viewpoints that are mentioned below are based on the documents that both parties provided to the General Election Commission.

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One day after the official announcement that two pairs will compete in the presidential election (9 July 2014), the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) and the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate are still in a state of decline. Although yesterday (19/05) the rupiah and IHSG strengthened considerably prior and shortly after Joko "Jokowi" Widodo declared that Jusuf Kalla would be his running mate (the vice-presidential candidate) in the election, markets have been selling Indonesian assets since Monday afternoon.

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After Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Jusuf Kalla announced earlier today (19/05) to form a pair in the upcoming Indonesian presidential election (scheduled for 9 July 2014), supported by a coalition consisting of the PDI-P, NasDem, PKB and Hanura, the other pair also presented itself. Prabowo Subianto officially announced that Hatta Rajasa will be his running mate in the election. This pair is backed by Gerindra, PAN, PPP, PKS and Golkar. At the last moment Golkar, second-largest party in the April legislative election, decided to join this coalition.

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We plan to give an update on Indonesia’s 2024 legislative and presidential elections each quarter because these elections are quite important for the future of Indonesia. As is widely known, incumbent President Joko Widodo cannot join this 2024 race because of the two-term limit, and so – after one decade in office – Indonesia will have a new president in 2024.

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What marked the year 2019 for Indonesia was national politics. Although in these present times each year feels like a ‘political year’ for Indonesia – as the country’s local elections are spread out across years (and in 2020 it will be the turn of voters in various parts of the Archipelago to elect nine governors, 224 regents and 37 mayors) – the year 2019 was in fact a particularly ‘huge political year’ for Indonesia because of the (general) presidential and legislative elections that were held on 17 April 2019.

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Although the signs were there in the past couple of weeks, it still came as a surprise to us that defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto made the last-minute decision to throw his support behind Indonesian President Joko Widodo. It effectively means that his Great Indonesia Movement party (or Gerindra) – previously the biggest opposition party – has now joined Widodo’s coalition, and thereby handing Widodo a massive majority in national parliament.

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Indonesia Investments carefully followed developments surrounding Indonesia’s presidential and legislative elections (which were held on Wednesday 17 April 2019). Although the official results will only be announced in late May (as the General Elections Commission, or KPU, will be busy counting all votes up to 22 May 2019) we can already draw several conclusions from these events.

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On Thursday 17 January 2019 the first debate between the two presidential pairs - (1) Joko Widodo & Ma'ruf Amin and (2) Prabowo Subianto & Sandiaga Uno - took place at Hotel Bidakara in Pancoran (South Jakarta). It is the first one of a total of five planned debates between the presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the months ahead of the legislative and presidential elections that are scheduled for 17 April 2019 (although the date of the 5th debate is yet to be determined).

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We have entered 2019, which means we have entered a huge political year with the legislative and presidential elections scheduled for 17 April 2019. Indonesia is a young democracy that is maturing – hence experiences growing pains – and where various sides are engaged in a battle to get a hold of the highest political power in Indonesia.

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On 23 September 2018 the campaign period officially started for Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election. This period runs up to 13 April 2019 (while the election is scheduled for 17 April 2019). Despite the start of the campaign period it has remained rather calm between the two opposing sides: (1) incumbent President Joko Widodo with Islamic clerk Ma’ruf Amin versus (2) Gerindra Chairman Prabowo Subianto with businessman Sandiaga Uno.

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It is finally clear which pairs will compete in Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election. On Saturday August 10th, 2018 (only hours before the deadline ended), political parties officially registered their presidential and vice-presidential candidates at the General Elections Commission (in Indonesian: Komisi Pemilihan Umum, or KPU). As was widely assumed, only two pairs will compete in the 2019 presidential election. Thus, there are also two coalitions of political parties.

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It was a very exciting afternoon and evening on Friday (09 August 2018), especially for those who follow contemporary Indonesian politics as well as those who love sinetron (Indonesian soap operas) since there occurred plenty of drama. At the end of the day it became clear that two pairs (consisting of a presidential and vice-presidential candidate) will compete in the 2019 presidential election: (1) Joko Widodo and Ma'ruf Amin versus (2) Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno.

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Indonesia's 2019 presidential election is likely to become another battle between incumbent President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Gerindra party Chairman Prabowo Subianto. Both men had already been engaged in a fierce contest in 2014, one that was only narrowly won by Jokowi. On Wednesday evening (11/04) Subianto formally accepted the mandate of the Gerindra party to compete as presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential election (scheduled for 17 April 2019).

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