A 17 October Constitutional Court ruling exempted non-commercial cultivation by indigenous peoples from a law mandating state authorization for all agricultural activities in Indonesian forests. There were 154 related land conflicts documented between 2020 and 2024, which affected 103,000 families and over 1 million hectares of land. The decision marks a step forward in indigenous peoples’ efforts to acquire the rights to live in and practice subsistence agriculture in customary forests and was welcomed by indigenous rights advocates. However, the immediate impact of the law is likely to be modest, as regulation of indigenous rights and forest management is not well coordinated between various national and regional ministries, and indigenous status is not straightforward to obtain. Advocates say legislation is needed to strengthen indigenous people’s right to use customary forests and traditional lifestyles.

Sources: Jakarta Post, The Star, Monga Bay

The Constitutional Court ruled on 30 October that 30 per cent of members in all bodies of the House of Representatives, including commissions, ethics committees and more, must be women. The case was brought by women’s advocacy and democratic reform groups. The Court held that the principle of equality in representation should not be limited to electoral lists and should instead be respected throughout representative bodies. House leadership will hold talks with the leaders of all represented political parties to determine how best to comply with the ruling. Women have historically been placed on bodies overseeing issues seen as feminine, such as women’s empowerment and child protection. At the time of the ruling, only 18 of 104 leadership positions in legislative committees and bodies are held by women.

Sources: Jakarta Post, Kompas

The Indonesian government has seized and nationalized 3.7 million hectares of palm oil plantations since President Prabowo Subianto took office in October 2024, accounting for about 30 per cent of the land under cultivation. Ownership of seized land is eventually passed to Agrinas Palma Nusantara, a state-owned company with strong ties to the Indonesian military founded in January 2025. Agrinas is also managed by current and former military and security officials. While human rights and environmentalist groups have welcomed efforts to better regulate and oversee the palm oil industry, the process has also been criticized for its opacity, as the seizure is a process handled by the military and Agrinas without judicial oversight. Advocates of small-scale palm oil producers argue many plantations are classified as illegal only because registration processes are complex and difficult to understand. Public criticism from elsewhere in the industry has been limited, as businesses are wary of upsetting the government or Indonesian military.

Sources: Reuters, Asia Sentinel

The Constitutional Court ruled that laws against ministers holding multiple, concurrent positions at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) also apply to deputy ministers. Thirty-one of the 55 deputy ministers in President Prabowo’s government hold a second office in or overseeing an SOE. The ruling was welcomed for strengthening public administration by lessening direct political involvement in SOEs and reducing the opportunities for corruption or abuse of state resources. However, constitutional law experts say new legislation is needed to prevent deputy ministers from holding second jobs of any kind. The Court’s ruling also provided a two-year grace period to replace all deputy ministers serving in SOEs, but legal experts criticized the government for continuing to appoint deputy ministers to positions at SOEs after the ruling was issued as violating it in spirit. The government denied these charges and said it was in the process of restructuring SOEs in line with the court ruling.

Sources: Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta Post (1), Jakarta Post (2)

The Supreme Court on 15 September overturned an appeals court ruling and reinstated the corruption convictions of three palm oil firms, including the Singapore-based multinational firm, Wilmar International. The Court found the companies had engaged in corrupt practices and violated a palm oil export ban in 2022, costing the state IDR 18 trillion (USD 1.07 billion). The Court ordered each company to pay a fine of IDR 1 billion (USD 60,000) and additional restitution to the state between IDR 900 billion to 11 trillion (USD 54 million to 650 million). The three companies in question are also alleged to have bribed the appeals court judges who overturned the initial conviction. Those judges were arrested in April 2025, and their trial is ongoing. Indonesia produces most of the world’s palm oil and the case is a test of the government’s ability to strengthen oversight over and better regulate the sector.

Sources: Jakarta Post, Nikkei Asia, International IDEA, Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia

Indonesian President Prabowo pardoned his political rivals, Thomas Lembong and Hasto Kristiyanto, on 1 August, after both were separately convicted in corruption-related cases. Hasto is the secretary-general of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Thomas a former trade minister. Anticorruption and legal experts said the pardons are evidence of excessive interference in the judiciary, as neither case had exhausted the appeals process. Anticorruption experts separately criticized the pardons as undermining efforts to enforce anti-graft and corruption laws in the country, and that the timing and nature of the pardons suggest that Prabowo may have pardoned Hasto to win support or political concessions from the PDI-P. The president’s office said the pardons were to promote ‘national interests and public unity.’ 

Sources: Jakarta Post, Reuters, University of Melbourne

 At least ten people have been killed and thousands arrested in nationwide protests that began in Jakarta on 25 August. The protests were initially a response to plans to increase parliamentary living stipends by IDR  100 million (USD 6,150), thirty times greater than the median wage, and became violent after a police vehicle struck and killed a motorcyclist. Protests then spread to other cities around the country and public grievances expanded to include more general economic issues and dissatisfaction with a political class seen as self-dealing. The homes of MPs and government offices were ransacked or set on fire, and police responded to protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets. President Prabowo announced on 31 August the revocation of the increased living stipend and promised the military and police would restore public order. 

Sources: The Diplomat (1), The Diplomat (2), Jakarta Post (1), Jakarta Post (2), Jakarta Post (3)

A journalist for the news website Detik retracted an op-ed in May criticizing the appointment of Army general Djaka Budi Utama to a high-level Finance Ministry position after being physically assaulted twice by masked attackers the same day the op-ed was published. The editorial criticized Djaka’s appointment as being outside the scope allowed for active-duty generals as permitted by law, as well as for his conviction in 1999 for overseeing the kidnapping and ‘disappearing’ of pro-democracy activists. After Djaka’s appointment was announced, a government spokesperson clarified that Djaka had resigned earlier in the month. Rights activists called on the government to protect freedom of expression and said the attack was not without recent precedent. In March 2025, unknown individuals sent a disturbing package to the offices of the magazine Tempo, in what was similarly understood to be efforts to intimidate critical reporting. 

Sources: Nikkei Asia, Jakarta Post, Kompas