Recent weeks have seen questions raised about the “millennial” special staffers in President Joko Widodo’s inner circle. Ibnu Nadzir writes that these controversies are more than simply matters of poor governance.

Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly has tried at least five times to grant greater leniency to corruption convicts. Leopold Sudaryono writes that this time, while energies are focused on the coronavirus pandemic, corruptors and their allies may get their way.

2019 was a big year for Talking Indonesia. Here we present the 10 episodes that were most popular with podcast subscribers over the past year.

Indonesia at Melbourne will again be taking a break over the Christmas and New Year period. Here we list the most popular articles, plus a few of our favourites, from 2019. We look forward to seeing you again when we return in mid-January.

How did Jokowi go from being a strong supporter of the KPK to playing a major role in limiting its independence? Dr Dave McRae chats to KPK Commissioner Dr Laode Muhammad Syarif in the latest episode of Talking Indonesia.

As former arch-rivals Jokowi and Prabowo team up, Airlangga Pribadi Kusman asks how different their positions were to begin with.

President Joko Widodo was supported by many activists because of promises to strengthen the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). But as Rafiqa Qurrata A’yun and Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir write, in the end he played a significant role in contributing to its demise.

National legislators have finally made good on their threats to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Professor Simon Butt examines the key provisions in the revised KPK Law.

Despite an ongoing battle for reform, corruption runs rampant in Indonesia’s civil service, writes Akhmad Misbakhul Hasan.

Join Dr Dave McRae, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Charlotte Setijadi and Dr Dirk Tomsa as they celebrate the Talking Indonesia podcast’s 100th episode. The co-hosts revisit some of the major themes of the first 99 episodes, and look at how these issues will affect the 2019 elections.

Jokowi’s government has spent big on infrastructure over the past five years. Akhmad Misbakhul Hasan takes a look at where the money has come from, and where some – but not all – of it has gone.

Is Indonesia’s democracy for sale? In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Jemma Purdey chats to Dr Ward Berenschot about local election campaigns and behind the scenes machinations, and the informal networks based on patronage and identity politics that play a major role in local politics.