At 78 years old, Biden would be the oldest person to be inaugurated as US president in a first term, while Trump would be the oldest politician to be sworn in for a second term (Trump would beat Ronald Reagan as the oldest person to win office in a second term in January 1985).

The Nice attack came less than two weeks after a Chechen refugee beheaded teacher Samuel Paty in the northern Paris suburb of Éragny for showing cartoons published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo depicting the Prophet Muhammad to his students in his class. For Muslims, visualization of the Prophet is highly offensive.

The maximum penalty for graft convicts like businessmen Benny Tjokrosaputro and Heru Hidayat, former Jiwasraya president director Hendrisman Rahim, former financial director Harry Prasetyo, former finance and investment division head Syahwirma and Joko Hartono Tirto, a director of asset management company PT Maxima Integra, is what the public has demanded. The life sentences are expected strengthen the deterrence that the country badly needs in its fight against corruption.

Domestic consumption generated by long holidays not only helped local economies regain ground, they also helped the nation’s economy grow. Now, as the pandemic has put almost all business to a halt, a long holiday is an opportunity that tourism-related industries are not going to miss.

A game of high-paced chess appears to be afoot in Southeast Asia, as the United States and its allies compete with China in shoring support among ASEAN states for the geopolitical rivalry, in the midst of a heated COVID-19 vaccine race that has consumed the region and the wider global community.

It is no exaggeration to call the recent suicide of a senior high school student in the South Sulawesi regency of Gowa a tragedy. The death of the teenager, who killed himself on Oct. 17 allegedly as a result of unbearable mental distress caused by his inability to cope with the demands of online learning, should be a wake-up call for all the country’s education stakeholders.

To avoid the stigma, many have resisted testing and tracing, refused hospitalization and seized the dead bodies of loved ones from the hospital to prevent them from being buried under COVID-19 protocols.

If anything, the pandemic drying out funding for later-stage start-ups presents a learning opportunity for start-ups in Indonesia, if not the world.

Jokowi is acting on what he promised in his inauguration speech one year ago to clear all barriers to his agenda. Not only does he have nothing to lose in his final term, he has also grown stronger given that his coalition enjoys a majority in the House of Representatives that rivals Soeharto’s control of the legislative body.

For newly minted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, choosing Indonesia — and Vietnam — for his first overseas trip since being inaugurated in September appears to be a logical step.

Although the government claims that public health is a top priority, the course of its COVID-19 response shows it is the economy that counts, probably because of stagnation in growth even before the outbreak struck.

Three years of governorship have seen disharmony between Anies and the central government on many fronts, which is not supposed to happen, for better or worse. 

More importantly, what needs to be improved upon right now is an inward-looking diplomacy of sorts – that is, to persuade the general public to participate in the fight against COVID-19 by complying with health protocols, at a minimum.

While we may prefer a short-cut, as in the case of our national soccer team, which is banking on naturalized players, Nadal and other sports greats have taught us that athletes need fortitude to step on every ladder right from the bottom before reaching their glory.

As some governors have said, the lack of transparency has perhaps triggered the demonstrations against the law. 

Whatever armaments deal Prabowo may sign during his visit, it must involve local defense companies as stipulated in the Defense Industry Law, such as transfers-of-technology or offset schemes.

Indonesia has maintained the death penalty it inherited from its former colonial master, at a time when more countries have abolished the cruel form of punishment. By the end of 2019, no less than 106 countries have completely eliminated capital punishment.

Statistics show that although the absolute number of people testing positive increased from Sept. 14, when the PSBB was reinstated, to Oct. 7, the daily number of infection cases actually dropped on 10 occasions, significantly on certain days. The record-high daily decline of 885 cases came on Sept. 20, and the second highest was on Sept. 28 with 533.

Stricter rules will hardly keep the candidates from infringing on the protocols. There is no incentive for them to comply with the rules either. Only rescheduling the elections will stop the mess. 

In view of the wide opposition by various groups of people against the omnibus law, it is most urgent and imperative for the government to accelerate the formulation of all the regulations needed to implement the legislation, especially for the controversial provisions regarding labor rights and the environment.

With so many questions left unanswered and so many aspirations unaccommodated, the noble idea of creating jobs may instead render misfortune for many.

Since the rise of fintech, Indonesia’s financial inclusion rate has dramatically increased to levels unseen in history, reaching 76.1 percent in 2019, according to an OJK survey, from less than 50 percent in 2017.

At the grass roots, corruption literacy remains a challenge, with people perceiving gratuities and bribery as routine perks.

With the COVID-19-induced recession and the changing media landscape, thanks to the arrival of news aggregator sites and social media platforms, it is not always easy for us to continue doing good journalism. Yet it is difficult to imagine Indonesia without The Jakarta Post.

Experts say the journey to a successful vaccine trial still has a long way to go and the process to secure a license will take time. 

The indictment against prosecutor Pinangki Sirna Malasari that was read out last Wednesday at the Jakarta Corruption Court evinced the failure of many private and state banks as well as money changers in fully implementing Bank Indonesia’s Know Your Customer (KYC) principle as a preventive measure to mitigate money laundering.

To build Papua anew, Jakarta needs to listen to voices that have so far been left unheard.

Improvements to health care and the social safety net must be the top priority — not just in words, but in practice.

It is ironic, however, when government officials who lead the charge against COVID-19 have to take a tumble. Whether they fail to practice what they preach, public officials have sparked controversy after they were seen failing to uphold physical distancing rules and wear masks. It was reported that Edhy took off his mask when delivering a speech during his outings before he contracted the virus.

The irony in Indonesia’s situation is that the intensified attacks on democratic norms and institutions took place especially in the past five years, during the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was once hailed as the new face of Indonesian democracy. Jokowi is by no means responsible for the decline of Indonesian democracy, but he did very little to arrest the regression, while some of his policies have certainly helped members of the elite that helped catapult him into the presidency.