Thousands of hardline Muslims gathered at Jakarta's Istiqlal mosque on Saturday (11/02) to protest against Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (popularly known as Ahok). Protesters accuse Ahok - a Christian of Chinese descent - of blasphemy (insulting Islam) based on a manipulated video in which he expressed inappropriate language that surfaced on social media in October 2016. The protest, locally called "Aksi 112" (Action of 11 February) is the fourth anti-Ahok protest over the past five months and has strong political motives.

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The tax amnesty program of Indonesia is yet to have an impact on Indonesia's property sector. Earlier, analysts and stakeholders expected part of the asset repatriations into Indonesia (under the government's tax amnesty program) to flow to property, either property ownership or property development projects. Although tax declarations and additional government revenue under the amnesty program were a success, the repatriation of assets that were stashed overseas has been weak. However, some stakeholders are optimistic that repatriated funds will flow to Indonesia's residential property in Q2-2017.

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After CEO Dwi Soetjipto and Deputy CEO Ahmad Bambang were removed from their posts at Indonesia's state-owned energy company Pertamina there was some confusion what the real reasons behind this move were. In some local media it was even speculated that the removal of both men was related to a corruption case (something that would not be unimaginable in the case of Indonesia, especially when it involves the government and natural resources). However, the real reason for the removal of Soetjipto and Bambang is, seemingly, simply because they couldn't get along with each other and their poor relationship started to impact on Pertamina's operations.

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It is not a coincidence that ethnic, religious and social tensions have risen in Indonesia ahead of Jakarta's gubernatorial election on 15 February 2017. Indonesian Police is currently making over hours as various people, including political and religious leaders, have been reported to police for blasphemy or hate speech. One of the people that is being trialed is incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki Purnama Tjahja (Ahok), who is one of the three men who compete to become the capital's next governor.

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