Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), is facing another severe rift among its leadership after chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf was dismissed by the organization's supreme council, the Syuriah. Although his close associations with pro-Israel figures have been publicly cited as the cause, the underlying motive behind the firing appears to stem from intense political rivalry among NU elites.

Indonesia's nickel smelter boom, long promoted as the centerpiece of its downstream industrialization agenda, is entering a new phase. Through Government Regulation No. 28/2025, the government has moved to restrict new smelter permits, prompting questions over whether this signals a response to overcapacity, a recalibration of its downstream strategy or the start of a more measured and deliberate industrial policy.

Indonesia and Australia are moving toward clinching a new, stronger defense treaty that could potentially affect the Indo-Pacific security landscape, particularly in the South China Sea, where tension has been building in recent years due to overlapping territorial claims between China and several Southeast Asian countries.

The contribution of natural resource export receipt (DHE) to Indonesia's foreign reserves remains limited, intensifying calls to revise Government Regulation (PP) No. 8/2025 on DHE. While the policy temporarily keeps export proceeds onshore, much of the forex (forex) ultimately flows back overseas to service external debt. As a result, the regulation has fallen short of its stated goal of strengthening reserves, an issue that has become more urgent as the rupiah faces renewed depreciation pressures.

After nationwide protests swept the country in late August, the demand for institutional police reform rose to the top of the national agenda following an incident where an armored police vehicle struck and killed a civilian during the demonstrations. Just two months later, President Prabowo Subianto responded by establishing the National Police Reform Acceleration Commission.

The Indonesian government has issued a new regulation to accelerate the construction of facilities under the Red and White Cooperatives (KMP) program, one of President Prabowo Subianto 's flagship initiatives. Progress has lagged expectations, with only a fraction of the buildings required to reach the target of 80,000 cooperatives (co-ops) completed so far. State-owned enterprise (SOE) PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, formerly the engineering consultancy Yodya Karya, has been appointed to lead the construction. However, the funding mechanism has sparked controversy, as the village fund is being allocated for loan repayments channeled through the Association of State-Owned Banks (Himbara). This reduces the budget available for other essential village functions, such as stunting prevention.

The House of Representatives has enacted the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) bill in a significant move by the government to overhaul the colonial-era framework on Indonesia's criminal procedures, despite widespread objections.