Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa was removed as finance minister after just over a year in office, marking the second time President Prabowo Subianto has replaced the country’s finance minister in less than two years. Prabowo appointed former deputy finance minister Suahasil Nazara to replace him, making Suahasil the third person to hold the position since Prabowo took office. The abrupt change followed months of contentious reforms, fiscal policies and plans that increasingly brought Purbaya into conflict with officials within the Finance Ministry and with other institutions.

Indonesia faces an unfortunate fiscal paradox: Just as the government has cut disaster-mitigation funding to the bone, disasters have struck with unforgiving regularity. President Prabowo Subianto himself has acknowledged that disasters are part and parcel of life in the archipelago. Yet his administration has slashed the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) budget to just Rp 491 billion (US$28 million) this year, raising a fundamental question: How much can Indonesia afford to save on preparing for disasters?

At the 11th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, President Prabowo Subianto announced plans by Russian aluminum producer Rusal to invest in an Indonesian processing plant, part of broader efforts to deepen bilateral economic ties. Yet the planned investment comes amid intensifying geoeconomic rivalry among major powers, raising questions over whether Indonesia can deepen ties with Russia without compromising its strategic flexibility. The test is whether Indonesia can remain both bebas (free) and aktif (active).

Indonesia’s recurring wildfires have once again spiraled into a crisis that reaches far beyond its forests and peatlands. As dense haze shuts down schools, endangers public health, and chokes local economies at home, smoke from fires across Sumatra and Kalimantan has drifted across national borders, blanketing parts of Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. What has long been treated as an unfortunate, seasonal environmental headache is morphing into a thorny test of governance, and an escalating diplomatic liability for Jakarta.

The corruption investigation into the Banjarmasin Medium Tax Office (KPP Madya) has taken an unexpected turn, with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) examining senior tax officials linked to Adaro, one of Indonesia’s largest business groups. The development has brought renewed attention to Adaro’s long and complicated ownership history, including a past dispute involving businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the younger brother of President Prabowo Subianto.

The death of Bambang Setiawan, a 60-year-old mirror seller from Pejompongan in Central Jakarta, should have been a straightforward homicide case. He left his house at 10 p.m. to switch off the lights in his shop 500 meters away, during unrest following the Aug. 27 demonstrations near the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta. He was found unconscious, removed by police and pronounced dead at Mintohardjo Hospital. Ten days later, the case has become a mirror for everything wrong with how Indonesia polices protest.

The government’s latest changes to the import regime have expanded the range of food and agricultural products subject to tighter import controls, creating bottlenecks that are raising input costs and constraining supply. At the same time, weaker-than-expected demand from the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme has left producers facing pressure from both sides: higher production costs and limited demand for their output.