POLITICS
National Government |
The President of Indonesia is chief of state, head of the government, and commander of the armed forces. Joko Widodo -known more as Jokowi- is the current President of Indonesia since 2014. The president appoints a Cabinet to assist in running the government. The Indonesian government is based on a set of beliefs known as Pancasila. Pancasila consists of five principles: (1) Belief in one God, (2) Humanity, (3) Unity, (4) Democracy, and (5) Social Justice. Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, set forth the principles of Pancasila in 1945 and made Pancasila as the foundation of the nation's ideology. Indonesian law requires all religious, professional, and cultural organizations to adopt Pancasila. Indonesia is now characterized by popular sovereignty manifested in parliamentary and presidential elections. The president is elected by the people to a five-year term and is limited to two terms.
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" After Jokowi had been inaugurated on 20 October 2014, his cabinet -consisting of 34 ministries- was sworn in on 27 October 2014. This cabinet, which is expected to govern until 2019, is called the Kabinet Kerja or Working Cabinet. "
Local government. Indonesia has 33 provinces. The provinces are divided into districts and municipalities. These units are further divided into sub-districts and villages. In most provinces, the legislature elects a governor, who is approved by Indonesia's president. Some provinces directly elect their governor. Local assemblies elects the heads of similar administrative units. Rural villages elect their own village officials.
Courts. Indonesia has district courts, high courts, military courts, and special religious courts that handle personal matters among Muslims, such as divorces and inheritance. Indonesia also has a Constitutional Court that determines whether laws passed by the House of Representatives are constitutional. The highest court is the Supreme Court. It reviews cases appealed from the high courts and settles disputes between courts in different regions or between the religious courts and other courts. A Judicial Commission nominates candidates to serve as judges of the Supreme Court. Indonesia's president may then appoint candidates to the Supreme Court if the House of Representatives has approved them. There are no juries in Indonesia. International organizations. Indonesia is a member to the United Nations and is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Indonesia is also a member of the World Bank which provides loans to poorer nations for economic development and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which works to improve payment arrangements and other financial dealings between countries. Indonesia also belongs to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Islamic Development Bank, and the International Finance Corporation. In 2015, the ASEAN Community 2015 was initiated. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 is a major milestone in the regional economic integration agenda in ASEAN, offering opportunities in the form of a huge market of US$2.6 trillion and over 622 million people. In 2014, AEC was collectively the third largest economy in Asia and the seventh largest in the world. |
Sources: World Book, Indonesia Investments (2016)