[OFF TOPIC] Politics Thread

nenad · February 7, 2024

4 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Tucker Carlson....you know, Tucker Carlson, is going to interview Putin

Surely that's going to be top-level journalism full with critical questions

Well, look, I doubt there will be hard hitting question, but have you really heard some hard hitting questions in Zelensky interviews over the past years.

Christiane Amanpour for example asked him What motivates you to get up in the morning?

lapaj · February 7, 2024

About the sanctions:

https://kyivindependent.com/washington-post-banned-russian-oil-flows-into-pentagon-supply-chain/

https://ieefa.org/resources/eu-turns-blind-eye-21-russian-lng-flowing-through-its-terminals

bestmen · February 9, 2024

The first time,usa is blaming :yikes: they say disaster and everything :yikes:

Biden Blasts Israel's 'Over The Top' Gaza War; U.S. Warns Of 'Disaster' In Rafah

Grassmarket · February 10, 2024

Hey, if Joe Biden wants to demonstrate his mental acuity, surely he should be demanding that the charges be reinstated & that he stands trial?

bestmen · February 10, 2024

Hilary clinton

Griff88 · February 11, 2024

In 3 days, the third largest democracy in the world will hold elections...

surat-suara-paslon-pemilu-2024.jpeg?w=50

For the last two elections (2014 & 2019), we only have two candidates and the polarization is too extreme. Each side fiercely accused the other side of destroying the country and if they win then Indonesia will be saved (obviously), but then we saw a surprise move from the winner Joko Widodo to appoint the losing candidate Prabowo and Sandiaga as ministers. This time we have three candidates:

1. Anies Baswedan (Former governor of Jakarta) / Muhaimin Iskandar (Chairman of PKB)

Bringing the agenda of "Change" and "Justice for All". Muhaimin's selection as the running mate Anies created the unlikely coalition of moderate Islamist party PKB and the more right-wing Islamic parties PKS and Ummat. This selection also caused Democrats (the party with Mercedes-Benz looking logo) to switch allegiance to Prabowo. Anies himself is an independent politician and was a rector of a private university. With his high academic statute, he is generally more liked with those who had a higher education as he speaks with data a lot in debate and allows students to directly express their aspirations to him. However, the 'justice for all' jargon is a bit in question especially since their main supporters are Islamist organizations. Another policy to take note is they plan to discontinue the construction of the new capital of Indonesia.

2. Prabowo Subianto (Minister of Defence) / Gibran Rakabuming Raka (Mayor of Surakarta)
Former army general Prabowo and the incumbent president's son Gibran is the most surprising pair for this election (imagine something like Trump is running with Biden's son). Almost failed to join the election as Gibran isn't old enough according to the rules but an amendment from the Constitutional Court headed by Gibran's uncle finally allows them to do so. With the agenda of "Continuity" and "Golden Indonesia 2045", they seek to continue whatever President Widodo's has envisioned including the new capital. They also mainly campaigned "downstreaming policy" so Indonesia can process its rich resources with less participation of foreign countries. Their coalition is the biggest and included PSI, a party that suddenly appointed Gibran's younger brother, causing critics to label them as nepo babies. Prabowo's critics also pointed out his involvement in East Timor atrocities and activist kidnappings during Suharto's dictatorship, but he dismissed that as he is now not trigger-happy like in the past, proved by heavy AI aided campaign arts portraying him as a cute old man.

3. Ganjar Pranowo (Former governor of Central Java) / Mahfud MD (Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs)

Their main agenda is "Enhancement" of Indonesia's current condition. Ganjar's tenure as a governor is reminiscent of incumbent president Widodo's style of visiting small alleys or wet markets to know the real problems faced by the people. On the other hand, Mahfud MD is a law professor and had served in all branches of the government (parliament member, minister, and chief justice), very popular among the people and seen as incorruptible. The problem is their coalition is mainly carried by PDIP (the party with a bull head - the largest party in the parliament) whose leader Megawati Soekarnoputri (former president 2001-2004) is deeply unpopular but very powerful, leading to concerns that Ganjar will be just a puppet president. Ganjar himself was embroiled in a controversy regarding the construction of a stone quarry by the central government amidst the rejection of the residents in the impacted area which ended with military brutality to some villagers.

Any prediction on who will win? All opinion surveys puts Prabowo/Gibran leading in the race, causing some people mocking these survey institutions as "surepays"

Dragon · February 11, 2024

6 minutes ago, Griff88 said:

In 3 days, the third largest democracy in the world will hold elections...

For the last two elections (2014 & 2019), we only have two candidates and the polarization is too extreme. Each side fiercely accused the other side of destroying the country and if they win then Indonesia will be saved (obviously), but then we saw a surprise move from the winner Joko Widodo to appoint the losing candidate Prabowo and Sandiaga as ministers. This time we have three candidates:

1. Anies Baswedan (Former governor of Jakarta) / Muhaimin Iskandar (Chairman of PKB)

Bringing the agenda of "Change" and "Justice for All". Muhaimin's selection as the running mate Anies created the unlikely coalition of moderate Islamist party PKB and the more right-wing Islamic parties PKS and Ummat. This selection also caused Democrats (the party with Mercedes-Benz looking logo) to switch allegiance to Prabowo. Anies himself is an independent politician and was a rector of a private university. With his high academic statute, he is generally more liked with those who had a higher education as he speaks with data a lot in debate and allows students to directly express their aspirations to him. However, the 'justice for all' jargon is a bit in question especially since their main supporters are Islamist organizations. Another policy to take note is they plan to discontinue the construction of the new capital of Indonesia.

2. Prabowo Subianto (Minister of Defence) / Gibran Rakabuming Raka (Mayor of Surakarta)
Former army general Prabowo and the incumbent president's son Gibran is the most surprising pair for this election (imagine something like Trump is running with Biden's son). Almost failed to join the election as Gibran isn't old enough according to the rules but an amendment from the Constitutional Court headed by Gibran's uncle finally allows them to do so. With the agenda of "Continuity" and "Golden Indonesia 2045", they seek to continue whatever President Widodo's has envisioned including the new capital. They also mainly campaigned "downstreaming policy" so Indonesia can process its rich resources with less participation of foreign countries. Their coalition is the biggest and included PSI, a party that suddenly appointed Gibran's younger brother, causing critics to label them as nepo babies. Prabowo's critics also pointed out his involvement in East Timor atrocities and activist kidnappings during Suharto's dictatorship, but he dismissed that as he is now not trigger-happy like in the past, proved by heavy AI aided campaign arts portraying him as a cute old man.

3. Ganjar Pranowo (Former governor of Central Java) / Mahfud MD (Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs)

Their main agenda is "Enhancement" of Indonesia's current condition. Ganjar's tenure as a governor is reminiscent of incumbent president Widodo's style of visiting small alleys or wet markets to know the real problems faced by the people. On the other hand, Mahfud MD is a law professor and had served in all branches of the government (parliament member, minister, and chief justice), very popular among the people and seen as incorruptible. The problem is their coalition is mainly carried by PDIP (the party with a bull head - the largest party in the parliament) whose leader Megawati Soekarnoputri (former president 2001-2004) is deeply unpopular but very powerful, leading to concerns that Ganjar will be just a puppet president. Ganjar himself was embroiled in a controversy regarding the construction of a stone quarry by the central government amidst the rejection of the residents in the impacted area which ended with military brutality to some villagers.

Any prediction on who will win? All opinion surveys puts Prabowo/Gibran leading in the race, causing some people mocking these survey institutions as "surepays"