Rather than safeguarding justice, Indonesia's legal instruments are increasingly being bent to serve institutional interests. The standoff between the Constitutional Court (MK) and the National Police over the assignment of active officers to civilian posts exposes not merely regulatory inconsistency, but a deeper disregard for constitutional authority.

The administration of Prabowo Subianto is reforming the disbursement of fuel and electricity subsidies to improve state budget efficiency. These subsidies have long been criticized for disproportionately benefiting upper-middle-class households, who consume more energy, rather than the poor and vulnerable groups they are intended to support. As a result, the government now aims to better target subsidy distribution and reduce its long-standing fiscal burden. The urgency to optimize subsidy spending has also grown amid rising expenditures for several major government programs.

Grief has engulfed Sumatra. Flash floods and landslides have devastated the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, leaving behind not only the ruins of homes and infrastructure but also the deepening realities of hunger, displacement and profound uncertainty. Yet the government's decision to slash disaster funding to its lowest level in years is now testing its ability to help the affected rebuild their lives.

After last month's controversial passage of the revised Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) bill, concerns have emerged regarding a significant legal loophole: wiretaps. Activists say that if left unchecked, law enforcement agencies like the National Police will have leeway to wiretap anyone at any time without formal mechanisms and restrictions once the KUHAP comes into force on Jan. 2.

The flash floods and landslides that ravaged Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra should prompt far deeper scrutiny than they have so far received. While Cyclone Senyar intensified the rainfall, the scale of destruction reflects decades of unchecked ecological degradation that have left communities acutely exposed.

The Riau Provincial Government affirmed its commitment to fully support the acceleration of the Dumai-Melaka Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) Line project, which is expected to improve regional connectivity and trade. This commitment was demonstrated by hosting a visit from the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) at the Riau Governor's Office on Nov. 17, 2025. The visit aimed to discuss economic, transportation, and trade cooperation in the Riau region.

The Army is creating 750 new battalions of combat troops in the next four years to ensure presence in every district nationwide, but in the absence of a credible explanation of where the new external threats are coming from, the plan raises speculations about the real motive.