Arcandra’s ‘honourable discharge’ brings to an end the shabby story of half-truths and cover-ups surrounding his misguided appointment. It also indirectly highlights the point made by the author of this post when he asks how you compensate somebody wrongfully executed in an ‘unfair legal system’.
Rather than the unfair legal system, it is the incompetence of the various parts of the Indonesian government involved that the Arcandra case reveals. Instead of being wrongfully executed, Arcandra was wrongfully appointed to cabinet. He leaves with his Padang face and his life both intact, even if his reputation may be in tatters. One assumes that he is not going to be charged for the offences he has allegedly committed.
Some drug traffickers find themselves with a one-way ticket to Nusakambangan as a result of the incompetence and corruption of the legal system, yet face a far worse outcome than Arcandra’s.
It is small comfort to recall that Jokowi has tasked Wiranto, of all people, with reforming the legal system.
Excellent analysis! Much more convincing than the so-called experts who have been interviewed from Chulalongkorn University and other Thai institutions who have clear biases. I was in Hua Hin at the time and the details of the situation just don’t fit with a politically-motivated campaign. This certainly appears to be an expansion of the Southern conflict to those who are interested in examining the facts rather than bloviating.
Right, Mr. England, they just steal the people’s money (Najib Razak), rape a whole nation (Mahathir bin Mohamad) and completely stifle dissent (Suharto). I suppose, then, Hun Sen is a breath of fresh air. One of your mainstream parties (the French Gaullists) had a man by name of Giscard D’Estaing. You may recall he accepted a 68 carat diamond from “Emperor” Bokassa, yes the man in Central Africa who killed 1 million people, some of whom he ate. So much for decorum among “mainstream” European parties.
“Not the way people whose modus operandi is winning elections behave”. R.N. England – you’ve won THIS century’s Somtam Award for most naive comment posted not only about Thai elections (often marred by assassinations and other violence ), but many others in South-east Asia (eg. Philippines). And since your name is R.N. ENGLAND – what about Hitler and Mussolini ? Enjoy a very, very spicey som tam !!
Anyone who thinks Thaksin’s crowd would get mixed up with an alien culture that involves itself in the completely indiscriminate killing of Thais is crazy, or as I have said in the case of the Thai Government, a lying scoundrel. It’s about as sensible as saying one of the mainstream parties in Europe would involve itself such thing. It’s just not the way people whose modus operandi is winning elections behave.
The New York Times has just published an article by its Indonesia correspondent, Joe Cochrane, that nicely complements this post. The article mentions the case of a Nigerian who was among the four people executed in July. Drugs had been found in this person’s restaurant. This constituted rather inadequate grounds for shooting the man one stormy night on Nusakambangan.
It is very odd that the Attorney-General won’t explain why the executions of the rest of the ‘third round’ were not carried out. Cochrane quotes some Prasetyo spokesman as saying that there were both judicial and non-judicial reasons for this.
The appointment of Prasetyo has been one of Jokowi’s worst ones. It was no doubt a reward for Surya Paloh’s support for the Jokowi campaign. But it was also one of the early signs of Jokowi’s terrible ignorance of the capacities of some of his choices for ministerial appointment, or perhaps of the moral qualities of some of them.
Another example could be Arcandra Tahar, Sudirman Said’s successor in the energy and mineral resources portfolio. Accused of having taken out US citizenship, Arcandra has defended himself by pointing out to journalists that he has a ‘Padang face’. He then repeated this facile response on his ministry’s website. This implies that the US doesn’t offer citizenship to people with foreign faces. Once again, the evidence for this argument seems inadequate. Arcandra has so far not found it within his capacity to say that he has not/not been a US citizen.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Jokowi will lose not Padang, but Javanese, face if he keeps this character in his cabinet.
Jokowi’s brutal fondness for the death penalty will probably brighten the halo above SBY’s head. As the author of this post reminds us, Jokowi is killing off death row inmates at a much faster rate than SBY did.
The author suggests that populism prompted Jokowi to launch his shooting spree. I don’t think this is right. It is too rational an explanation. There was no mass demand for executions to resume before Jokowi gave his Gajah Mada speech in December 2014. In that address, he revealed his zeal for executing drug traffickers. Did demonstrators ever turn up in front of Prasetyo’s ministry calling for firing squads to be formed? I doubt that Jokowi could have known that the public would share his enthusiasm for killing drug traffickers.
Some of the Indonesian public believe that people guilty of corruption should also be terminated, as sometimes happens in China. There is no sign, however, that Jokowi is going to adopt this means of combatting corruption, however populist it might be. He would probably lose a lot of his elite supporters, in one way or another, if he did.
Good point. I meet regularly with Indonesian students when they are here in US. All enter by virtue of their advanced degrees the middle class. A good cross section of them supported Prabowo.
I like the tone of this piece: the rhetoric attempts to sweep the cobwebs away from the norm. Too many missions yield too few deals and the reasons are not often clearly articulated.
What I like from this piece is the argument when the author defines Indonesian middle class who suffer from a kind of ideological schizophrenia as a symptom of a new democracy. Nonetheless 3 points have been missing in this article from international and political economic perspectives . (1) Jokowi’s strategy in appointing the new cabinet members shows him as a powerful personal politician such as Gus Dur which is full of surprises particularly to western word in the case of Masala Gas field that has disappointed many international investors and consultants. As a result for example, the resigning Indonesia Freeport president following the appointment of Rizal Rami who demanded Freeport to pay mining royalties (very below the gold royalty in western Australia for example) and mine sustainably in line with the “international standards”; (2) the appointment of Sri Mulyani to please the market and act economically sound in the budget management of the national and (3) Jokowi’s well understanding and his ability to utilise the rising of China without necessary compromise a traditional strategic ties with the west in controlling China in Natural Sea…
I may also like to throw these few other facts to prove my point:
1) New America Foundation’s report released on 20th July, 2016 says tough Chinese religious restrictions have driven more than 100 Uighurs to join Daesh or ISIL;
2) The method of the 2015 Erawan shrine attack, which used a bomb left a
backpack and was detonated by a mobile phone, was similar to that of a
recent bombing which saw the bombs left in plants lining the main
street; Also, Thai Police has recently accepted that 15 of these Erawan blast perpetrators still remain free.
3) In February 2016, US agencies warned Thailand of an impendingISIL attack; ISIL’s Caliphate (map) includes Thailand’s Southern Provinces;
4) Recently, ex-Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyadh had claimed that a
hitherto unheard of ISIL-affiliated group “Black Swan” has established a
cell in Southern Thailand;
5) Meanwhile, Thai embrace of China is growing. In recent Shangri La Dialogue, Thai PM rooted for a larger Chinese role in the region. Chinese-Thai security and military cooperation is growing by leaps and bounds; And Thailand still continues to persecute the Uighurs at behest of Chinese. There are more than 70 Uighurs refugees in several detention centere across Thailand, whose ‘ crime was that they were trying to flee severe Han-Chinese representation in Xinjiang. While the poor Uighurs only want to use Thailand as a transit point to escape Chinese torture, they are being indicted and handed over to China by Thai Junta. In May-June this year, 19 such Uighurs prisioners in Thai jails began hunger strike to draw attention of world towards their inhuman treatment;
Need we have anymore theories.
It is clear that Uighur Muslims from China are behind these attacks
The perpetrators should be caught and punished. Also, the motive behind these attacks be know.
Lot of theories are doing round. From Red shirt militants to southern separatist…
In my view, this could have be done by muslims from China and particularly Uighur Muslims. Timing of attacks leads to this fact. The blasts have been done exactly after an year of boombings in Erwana shrine, which killed around 20 people. Further, the balsts were more send a message than to kill people.
Also, the fact that Uighur muslims are being deported back to China, have lead to resentment in Uighur muslims. They dont have nowhere to go now. They dont want to go to China due to the inhumane treatment is meted out to them by Chinese Government. They are being treated as slaves in China. China doesnt let their voices of outcry be heard to the world. These blasts are their way of telling the world of their annihilation at the hands of Chinese govt. Uighur muslims from China are highlighting this fact by way of blasts.
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Emergencies and executions under Jokowi
It is NO (Nada, nil, zippo) comfort to recall that Jokowi has tasked Wiranto, of all people, with reforming the legal system.
Emergencies and executions under Jokowi
Arcandra’s ‘honourable discharge’ brings to an end the shabby story of half-truths and cover-ups surrounding his misguided appointment. It also indirectly highlights the point made by the author of this post when he asks how you compensate somebody wrongfully executed in an ‘unfair legal system’.
Rather than the unfair legal system, it is the incompetence of the various parts of the Indonesian government involved that the Arcandra case reveals. Instead of being wrongfully executed, Arcandra was wrongfully appointed to cabinet. He leaves with his Padang face and his life both intact, even if his reputation may be in tatters. One assumes that he is not going to be charged for the offences he has allegedly committed.
Some drug traffickers find themselves with a one-way ticket to Nusakambangan as a result of the incompetence and corruption of the legal system, yet face a far worse outcome than Arcandra’s.
It is small comfort to recall that Jokowi has tasked Wiranto, of all people, with reforming the legal system.
Thai blasts a wake-up call for peace?
Excellent analysis! Much more convincing than the so-called experts who have been interviewed from Chulalongkorn University and other Thai institutions who have clear biases. I was in Hua Hin at the time and the details of the situation just don’t fit with a politically-motivated campaign. This certainly appears to be an expansion of the Southern conflict to those who are interested in examining the facts rather than bloviating.
Two suspects in Thailand’s blasts
Right, Mr. England, they just steal the people’s money (Najib Razak), rape a whole nation (Mahathir bin Mohamad) and completely stifle dissent (Suharto). I suppose, then, Hun Sen is a breath of fresh air. One of your mainstream parties (the French Gaullists) had a man by name of Giscard D’Estaing. You may recall he accepted a 68 carat diamond from “Emperor” Bokassa, yes the man in Central Africa who killed 1 million people, some of whom he ate. So much for decorum among “mainstream” European parties.
Decades of dominance and a junta’s demise
If this is the real owner the author is referring too, why would it be a shock to Thailand?
Two suspects in Thailand’s blasts
“Not the way people whose modus operandi is winning elections behave”. R.N. England – you’ve won THIS century’s Somtam Award for most naive comment posted not only about Thai elections (often marred by assassinations and other violence ), but many others in South-east Asia (eg. Philippines). And since your name is R.N. ENGLAND – what about Hitler and Mussolini ? Enjoy a very, very spicey som tam !!
Poor Filipinos’ lives don’t seem to matter
Duterte’s reaction was similar to yours: if this is what we get from insulting the Americans then maybe we should it some more.
Two suspects in Thailand’s blasts
Anyone who thinks Thaksin’s crowd would get mixed up with an alien culture that involves itself in the completely indiscriminate killing of Thais is crazy, or as I have said in the case of the Thai Government, a lying scoundrel. It’s about as sensible as saying one of the mainstream parties in Europe would involve itself such thing. It’s just not the way people whose modus operandi is winning elections behave.
Two suspects in Thailand’s blasts
General Pallop Pinmanee!
Two suspects in Thailand’s blasts
Very good article. It’s also worth noting that elements from both groups could have been working together.
Emergencies and executions under Jokowi
It is now being rumoured in Jakarta that Arcandra has resigned, though this has still to be reported by the press.
Emergencies and executions under Jokowi
The New York Times has just published an article by its Indonesia correspondent, Joe Cochrane, that nicely complements this post. The article mentions the case of a Nigerian who was among the four people executed in July. Drugs had been found in this person’s restaurant. This constituted rather inadequate grounds for shooting the man one stormy night on Nusakambangan.
It is very odd that the Attorney-General won’t explain why the executions of the rest of the ‘third round’ were not carried out. Cochrane quotes some Prasetyo spokesman as saying that there were both judicial and non-judicial reasons for this.
The appointment of Prasetyo has been one of Jokowi’s worst ones. It was no doubt a reward for Surya Paloh’s support for the Jokowi campaign. But it was also one of the early signs of Jokowi’s terrible ignorance of the capacities of some of his choices for ministerial appointment, or perhaps of the moral qualities of some of them.
Another example could be Arcandra Tahar, Sudirman Said’s successor in the energy and mineral resources portfolio. Accused of having taken out US citizenship, Arcandra has defended himself by pointing out to journalists that he has a ‘Padang face’. He then repeated this facile response on his ministry’s website. This implies that the US doesn’t offer citizenship to people with foreign faces. Once again, the evidence for this argument seems inadequate. Arcandra has so far not found it within his capacity to say that he has not/not been a US citizen.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Jokowi will lose not Padang, but Javanese, face if he keeps this character in his cabinet.
Jokowi’s brutal fondness for the death penalty will probably brighten the halo above SBY’s head. As the author of this post reminds us, Jokowi is killing off death row inmates at a much faster rate than SBY did.
The author suggests that populism prompted Jokowi to launch his shooting spree. I don’t think this is right. It is too rational an explanation. There was no mass demand for executions to resume before Jokowi gave his Gajah Mada speech in December 2014. In that address, he revealed his zeal for executing drug traffickers. Did demonstrators ever turn up in front of Prasetyo’s ministry calling for firing squads to be formed? I doubt that Jokowi could have known that the public would share his enthusiasm for killing drug traffickers.
Some of the Indonesian public believe that people guilty of corruption should also be terminated, as sometimes happens in China. There is no sign, however, that Jokowi is going to adopt this means of combatting corruption, however populist it might be. He would probably lose a lot of his elite supporters, in one way or another, if he did.
The middle class president
Good point. I meet regularly with Indonesian students when they are here in US. All enter by virtue of their advanced degrees the middle class. A good cross section of them supported Prabowo.
When trade worlds collide
I like the tone of this piece: the rhetoric attempts to sweep the cobwebs away from the norm. Too many missions yield too few deals and the reasons are not often clearly articulated.
The middle class president
What I like from this piece is the argument when the author defines Indonesian middle class who suffer from a kind of ideological schizophrenia as a symptom of a new democracy. Nonetheless 3 points have been missing in this article from international and political economic perspectives . (1) Jokowi’s strategy in appointing the new cabinet members shows him as a powerful personal politician such as Gus Dur which is full of surprises particularly to western word in the case of Masala Gas field that has disappointed many international investors and consultants. As a result for example, the resigning Indonesia Freeport president following the appointment of Rizal Rami who demanded Freeport to pay mining royalties (very below the gold royalty in western Australia for example) and mine sustainably in line with the “international standards”; (2) the appointment of Sri Mulyani to please the market and act economically sound in the budget management of the national and (3) Jokowi’s well understanding and his ability to utilise the rising of China without necessary compromise a traditional strategic ties with the west in controlling China in Natural Sea…
Thai blasts a wake-up call for peace?
by the military staged to suppress Pheu Thai
Bombs, facts, and myths in southern Thailand
I thought illegal burmese migrants (may be Rohingya) were the culprits.
Bombs, facts, and myths in southern Thailand
I may also like to throw these few other facts to prove my point:
1) New America Foundation’s report released on 20th July, 2016 says tough Chinese religious restrictions have driven more than 100 Uighurs to join Daesh or ISIL;
2) The method of the 2015 Erawan shrine attack, which used a bomb left a
backpack and was detonated by a mobile phone, was similar to that of a
recent bombing which saw the bombs left in plants lining the main
street; Also, Thai Police has recently accepted that 15 of these Erawan blast perpetrators still remain free.
3) In February 2016, US agencies warned Thailand of an impendingISIL attack; ISIL’s Caliphate (map) includes Thailand’s Southern Provinces;
4) Recently, ex-Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyadh had claimed that a
hitherto unheard of ISIL-affiliated group “Black Swan” has established a
cell in Southern Thailand;
5) Meanwhile, Thai embrace of China is growing. In recent Shangri La Dialogue, Thai PM rooted for a larger Chinese role in the region. Chinese-Thai security and military cooperation is growing by leaps and bounds; And Thailand still continues to persecute the Uighurs at behest of Chinese. There are more than 70 Uighurs refugees in several detention centere across Thailand, whose ‘ crime was that they were trying to flee severe Han-Chinese representation in Xinjiang. While the poor Uighurs only want to use Thailand as a transit point to escape Chinese torture, they are being indicted and handed over to China by Thai Junta. In May-June this year, 19 such Uighurs prisioners in Thai jails began hunger strike to draw attention of world towards their inhuman treatment;
Need we have anymore theories.
It is clear that Uighur Muslims from China are behind these attacks
Bombs, facts, and myths in southern Thailand
The perpetrators should be caught and punished. Also, the motive behind these attacks be know.
Lot of theories are doing round. From Red shirt militants to southern separatist…
In my view, this could have be done by muslims from China and particularly Uighur Muslims. Timing of attacks leads to this fact. The blasts have been done exactly after an year of boombings in Erwana shrine, which killed around 20 people. Further, the balsts were more send a message than to kill people.
Also, the fact that Uighur muslims are being deported back to China, have lead to resentment in Uighur muslims. They dont have nowhere to go now. They dont want to go to China due to the inhumane treatment is meted out to them by Chinese Government. They are being treated as slaves in China. China doesnt let their voices of outcry be heard to the world. These blasts are their way of telling the world of their annihilation at the hands of Chinese govt. Uighur muslims from China are highlighting this fact by way of blasts.
Thai blasts a wake-up call for peace?
Social engineering combined some political reforms for fast development may hold the key to peace .