In the final days of campaigning, Prabowo has benefited from joint appearances with the popular president, but prospects for a one-round win are nonetheless questionable.  The professional public-opinion research analyst Seth Soderberg joins the pod to delve into the dynamics and assess probabilities.  Also: Jeff and Kevin examine cabinet resignation rumors and review the final presidential candidate debate.

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

As the presidential campaign enters the home stretch, President Widodo may weigh whether to overtly endorse Prabowo, which would indelibly tie him to Prabowo's fortunes.  Joint public appearances have been sustaining Prabowo's momentum, but prospects for a first-round majority are not yet fully assured.  Also: Jeff and Kevin discuss the politics of rice and food aid as the Widodo administration fends off a spike in the price of the key commodity just days ahead of the balloting.

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

NetGrit founder Hadar Gumay explains the mechanics of the 14 February election process - from the voter list to the official count, and all the balloting procedures and monitoring systems in between.  Given his experience, this is tantamount to having the workings of a car engine explained by Henry Ford.  He cites the complexities, including Papua's communal noken voting, but notes the remarkable organizational successes of past elections.  Nonetheless, the upcoming process is not without cause for concern.  Also: Jeff and Kevin discuss Gibran Rakabuming's latest debate (a bit odd), a Foreign Corrupt Practices (FCPA) case, whether PDI-P is re-unifying and prospects for cabinet departures -- perhaps including the iconic finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

To download Netgrit's Jaga Suara App on Google Playstore, click here: Jaga Suara 2024

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

As we gear up for an election year we are turning to our donors but this time we are giving back! As a token of our gratitude for your US$20 donation we are making available exclusive content, starting with a special podcast episode recapping the fourth presidential debate. Kevin and Jeff offer up analysis of who had a good night and who fell short. Donors will get insight into whether Indonesia’s fifth presidential election will go to a runoff in June. And if it does which candidate will make the cut. We also discuss how has the Indonesian electorate changed since 2019 and how the candidates must pivot to reflect young voters who who don’t remember life before the country’s transition to democracy and yet crave a cleaner environment and better jobs and higher quality of life. To donate and download your exclusive content, follow the links in the show notes. And thank-you.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/e/209222

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

Should Gerindra Chair Prabowo Subianto be thankful that President Widodo has provided vital backing?  Or should the president be grateful that Prabowo has provided a lifeline?  How these two regard one another may shape Indonesia's political outlook for some time.  For 'Perth-spective,' we turn to Murdoch University's Indo-Pacific Research Center and its senior fellow Ian Wilson, who is actually currently at Singapore's ISEAS.  Prof Wilson recounts Prabowo's past campaigning and Widodo's own political forays in recent years to assess the logicality of campaign ads about 'continuity'.  Also: Jeff and Kevin touch on poll data and the effects of debates on the campaign.

Get our special episode on the 4th Presidential Debate on:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/extras

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

Four friends of the pod chime in on how they see 2024 unfolding: human rights analyst Andreas Harsono, renewables expert Fabby Tumiwa, environmental scientist Katherine Hassan and Eurasia Group Southeast Asia Director Peter Mumford.  At the start of the new year, they outline the opportunities and stakes in their respective fields, touch on elections, the economy, energy and sustainability. Jeff and Kevin add their own musings and recap poll findings and developments ahead of the 14 February first-round presidential contest.

Get our special episode on the 4th Presidential Debate on:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/extras

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

How resilient are the independent democratic institutions in Indonesia's current election process?  A chief monitor of electoral agencies, Khoirunissa of the pro-democracy NGO Perludem, examines campaign finance issues, enforcement of rules on gender equality and preparations for conducting candidate debates.  She also takes note of changing roles for key institutions that civil-society organizations (CSOs) had in the past supported as champions -- and points out that CSOs must now remain "alert."  Also in this episode: Jeff and Kevin discuss latest poll data and Ganjar's prolonged struggle to delineate an electoral position.

Get our special episode on the 4th Presidential Debate on:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/extras

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

Human rights and the rule-of-law received rare scrutiny in a well-conducted first debate.  Awkward moments occurred for Prabowo Subianto, but new polling shows him very well cushioned.  Also discussed: a bill to end Jakarta governor elections, with bewilderingly broad support; and ministers narrowly avert (for now) a broad-backed effort to boost Anwar Usman and perhaps restore him as Constitutional Court chief justice.  And in memoriam: the passing of Southeast Asia's longest-serving foreign correspondent, John McBeth, dearly departed at age 79.

Get our special episode on the 4th Presidential Debate on:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/extras

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

Gibran Rakabuming's VP nomination triggered a poll swing.  Author and Chatham House Asia-Pacific Director Ben Bland joins the pod to lend perspective.  Also: Ganjar's remarks on reformasi and President Widodo's  fireside chat with Joe Biden.

Get our special episode on the 4th Presidential Debate on:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/extras

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

After a verdict favoring the president's son, the president's brother-in-law lost his post as Constitutional Court chief justice for having egregiously violated ethics.  To examine the details of the Ethics Panel ruling, Reformasi Dispatch consulted Bivitri Susanti, a prominent constitutional law expert with Jentera University.  The ruling cites Anwar Usman for failing to recuse, mishandling administration and, most brazenly, miscategorizing two of the court's nine opinions -- thereby converting a 6-3 ruling against into a 5-4 ruling in favor. Bivitri discusses what might now ensue through a new case, #141, and the implications for the General Election Commission (KPU) and the presidential ticket of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming.

Get our special episode on the 4th Presidential Debate on:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reformasi/extras

It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.

You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!