Indonesia has again amended Law No. 1/2003 on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), formally transforming the SOEs Ministry into the SOEs Regulatory Agency (BP BUMN). The amendment marks a significant shift in governance, transferring the ministry’s operational authority to the Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara) Investment Management Agency, while BP BUMN will retain a purely regulatory role. In effect, the change consolidates Danantara’s control over the management of SOEs, as its Chief Operating Officer, Dony Oskaria, has been appointed to concurrently lead BP BUMN, aligning the two institutions’ operational and oversight functions.

When the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chairman, Kaesang Pangarep, announced the party's new leadership lineup for the 2025-2030 period, a mysterious figure designated only as "Mr. J" was listed as the chief patron, with the full name to be revealed soon. PSI secretary general and Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni explained that the name was being kept secret under Kaesang's instruction.

Celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Indonesian Military (TNI) held a massive parade in Jakarta on Oct. 5, but amid growing concerns about the military intruding more and more into the political arena, the display of power may have sent the wrong message to some quarters about Indonesia’s democracy, already in peril.

President Prabowo Subianto has recently implemented another round of changes to his cabinet, significantly expanding the executive branch by bringing in numerous figures, many of whom are affiliated with his Gerindra Party. This political maneuver has resulted in an increasingly swelling government structure, raising serious concerns about the potential for overlapping authority and administrative ineffectiveness.

Indonesia will need to accelerate both revenue collection and government spending in the final months of this year, after realizing just over half of the 2025 outlook by the end of August. The Finance Ministry reported that state revenue reached Rp 1.64 quadrillion (US$98.61 billion) as of Aug. 31, or 57.2 percent of the outlook, and realized state spending of Rp 1.96 quadrillion (55.6 percent). This left the 2025 state budget with a deficit of Rp 321.6 trillion, equal to 1.35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The government’s ambition to secure long-term affordable housing funds through the public housing savings program, Tapera, has hit a major setback. The Constitutional Court recently annulled the 2016 Tapera Law in its entirety, declaring that the legislation must be revised within two years or risk being void altogether. The ruling has thrown the program, which was scheduled to be fully implemented in 2027, into limbo and further complicated the government’s already ambitious goal of building three million houses annually.

Public demand for police reform necessitates the replacement of National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who bears ultimate responsibility for the recent wave of bloody demonstrations. Otherwise, it would be yet another example of institutional failure, with the police under Listyo’s leadership remaining entangled in serious abuses of power, a lack of accountability and persistent public distrust.