Jakarta – The majority of votes made at a polling station near the residence of presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla in Central Jakarta have been won by his rival, incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
SBY won 219 votes at polling station 19 in Surapati park in Menteng, where the incumbent Vice President Kalla voted earlier this morning.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Early unofficial results in Indonesia's presidential election have Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being returned to office for a second five-year term.
With the biggest question leading into today's vote being by how much the incumbent would beat his two challengers, Dr Yudhoyono appears to have easily won a clear majority.
Muhamad Al Azhari & Ardian Wibisono – The business community welcomed quick-count poll figures suggesting that incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had easily won a second term without a runoff. But those interviewed also said they would expect the president to honor his campaign promises and act faster on a number of economic issues.
Dian Ariffahmi – Indonesia tops a lot of global lists: It is the world's largest archipelago; it has the world's largest Muslim population; and, unknown to many, it is also one of the largest importers of alcoholic beverages.
Jakarta – Total investment of US$7.3 billion (inward and domestic) in the first semester indicated brighter prospects, although lower than figures for last year, the Investment Coordination Board (BKPM) says.
Markus Makur, Timika, Papua – A group in Mimika, Papua, blockaded the entrance to the local General Elections Comission (KPUD) office on Monday as the organization has still not announced the results of April's legislative elections.
The group felled two large trees and placed the trunks on the road outside the entrance to the building at about 5 a.m.
Papuan independence activists are calling for a mass boycott of tomorrow's Indonesian presidential election.
The vice-president of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, Dr Otto Ondawame, says a sign of opposition, Papuans are advised to hold sit-ins and to pray.
Olivia Rondonuwu and Sunanda Creagh, Jakarta – Complaints of voter list irregularities by the two challengers for Indonesia's presidency soured the mood on the eve of elections on Tuesday, with one camp alleging that there were problems with up to 20 million names.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Febriamy Hutapea & Ferry Irwanto – The Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that eligible voters not on the final voters list for Wednesday's presidential election can still cast ballots if they produce valid identification.
Novi Christiastuti Adiputri, Jakarta – Scores of people from the Indonesian Youth Front for Struggle (FPPI) demonstrated at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Tuesday July 7 calling for a boycott of the presidential elections. On account of not having a permit, the demonstration was forcibly disbanded by police.
The presidential election campaign has drawn criticism for being bereft of debate on specific social, economic and political policies. To help you get a sense of some key polices of each of the three candidate pairs, the Jakarta Globe gave their campaign headquarters a list of questions.
Eben Kirksey – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said improving relations with Indonesia will be a priority of the Obama administration.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The presidential and vice presidential debates, particularly on the peace-maker issue, have considerably influenced the Acehnese and led them to rethink their preferred candidates.
In a letter to the Australian Prime Minister, Australian-West Papuan support groups have called on the Prime Minister to cease all ties between the Australian military and the Indonesian special forces.
Judi Prasetyo, Jombang – Workers from the Independent Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI-Independen) have agreed to boycott the coming July 8 presidential elections by not using their right to vote or to golput.
Jakarta – Indonesia will launch a new system of independent certification for all timber exports to combat widespread illegal logging, the forestry minister said Monday.
From September all timber leaving the country must be certified by an independent body of business and NGO representatives, Malam Sambat Kaban told reporters.
Dili – Police in East Timor have arrested 10 members of an alleged human trafficking ring who brought women into the tiny country as sex workers, the United Nations mission and police said Monday.
Febriamy Hutapea, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Presidential candidates, politicians and analysts broadly welcomed Monday's Constitutional Court ruling aimed at ensuring millions of additional people will be able to exercise their right to vote on Wednesday.
Jakarta – A survey released Saturday has revealed presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla and his running mate Wiranto benefited the most from the series of televised debates ran for the first time in Indonesia in the lead up to next week's election.
Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – The fast-deteriorating Transjakarta busway system has forced Jakarta resident Ratih Puspitasari back to using taxis to commute.
The long wait and queues, the jam-packed buses and the gaping holes in pedestrian ramps were enough for her to call it quits.
Tom Benedetti – Legislative election results in April indicate that incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will likely win Wednesday's presidential vote in Indonesia. Unless Yudhoyono plans some dramatic changes for his second term, Jakarta's duplicitous laws and reliance on militarized commerce in West Papua will continue to devastate its largest province.
[The following article is compiled from an article by Dominggus Oktavianus and reports by Ulfa Ilyas and Rudi Hartono. It has been translated by Data Brainanta.]
Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – Just over a decade ago, mobs torched buildings across Indonesia's capital in an uprising that toppled a 32-year military dictatorship.
Daniel Ten Kate and Arijit Ghosh – Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is projected to win a second five-year term with an enhanced majority after the resources-rich nation of 248 million avoided the worst of the global financial crisis.
Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – A new regulation which lays down a one-stop service for the processing of investment licenses is a step forward in making Indonesia more attractive, but it also has some potential to spark conflicts.
Jakarta – Indonesia's consumer confidence index rose to its highest in 4 years in June, boosted by spending ahead of a presidential election and a resilient economy, a central bank survey showed on Monday.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy holds a presidential election on Wednesday with incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tipped for relection for a second term.
Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's rivals in next week's presidential election claim the incumbent is clutching at straws to retain his presidency, after Yudhoyono's recent statement that his rivals were using black magic against him.
Prodita Sabarini – Writer Christopher J. Koch, in his book about 1965 Jakarta on the brink of political tumult, The Year of Living Dangerously, depicted the three-wheeled pedicabs, or becak, as one of the city's icons.
The story's protagonist was depicted in the book once pedaling the tricycle-rickshaw around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the hotel on Jl. Thamrin.
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – A coalition of activists warned that there would not be substantial changes in policies dealing with budget, education, energy and mining, law enforcement and poverty reduction sectors whoever wins the July 8 presidential election.
Norimitsu Onishi, Jakarta – The five men and one woman vying to become president or vice president in Indonesia's election on Wednesday are familiar faces. All but one made their names during Suharto's 32-year military rule, which ended more than a decade ago. Half of them, tellingly, are retired generals.
Jombang – Thousands of workers have declared their opposition to participating in the July 8 presidential elections. The agreement emerged out of a mass meeting and consolidation by hundreds of trade union representatives held today at the Youth Social Development Building in Jombang, East Java.
Ferry Irwanto – There is an old local saying that bureaucrats will always turn something simple into something complicated. The Indonesian Immigration Office will do the opposite – for a little under-the-table money.
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee has written individually to the 16 Pacific Island Heads of Government to urge them to make West Papua a priority for discussion and action at the August Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns.
Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is still the favorite to win next week's presidential election, says the latest survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).
Angela Flassy, Jayapura – Papuan activist Bucthar Tabuni was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison for "provocation" at a pro-independence demonstration last year.
Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – The police and the general public are not ready to be partners in establishing community policing, with the former still lacking accountability and tending to act above the law, a study from the University of Indonesia (UI) has revealed.
Jayapura – Dozens of employees of the state-run RRI public radio station staged a rally in front of the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) office Friday, protesting a change in leadership at the station.
Jakarta – The Constitutional Court announced Friday the media were allowed to publish any election-related news during the campaign-free period between July 5 and 7, prior to the July 8 presidential election.
Jakarta – ICW's head of public service monitoring division, Ade Irawan, said here Friday that his team had found discrepancies amounting to US$127 million during last year's haj pilgrimage.
"The biggest irregularity was in flight expenses at $102 million."
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Sealing a political contract with a labor association is no guarantee of automatic support from the voters that constitute that group, a discussion heard Friday.
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has played down the importance of an independent Corruption Court, stating it was "not urgent" to protect it with a government regulation in lieu of law.
Agus Maryono and Oyos Saroso H.N., Purwokerto, Bandarlampung – Parents of students enrolling at state-run senior high schools have protested over the school enrollment system, which they say is disorganized and marred by widespread collusion and nepotism.
Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Megawati Sukarnoputri, who has placed well behind Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in recent polls, has blamed the incumbent president's "selective" policy on combating corruption for tarnishing her image ahead of Wednesday's presidential poll.
Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Megawati Sukarnoputri's replacement at the helm of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle may not necessarily come from the Sukarno family line, the matriarch herself said on Friday.
Dicky Christanto and Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – Presidential hopeful Jusuf Kalla criticized his rival Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his frequently aired campaign ads calling for a single-round election to save state funds.
The attack took place during the outset of Thursday's final debate, after candidates were asked to deliver their visions and mission statements.
Muhamad Al Azhari – The government says the national poverty rate has fallen due to steady economic growth, stable prices for staple foods and the impact of the economic stimulus package, rather than the effect of the direct cash assistance scheme for poor families.
Joint statement by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras)
Sukabumi, West Java – National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said police would act firmly against anyone intending or trying to break up the unitary state of Indonesia.
During his visit to a police officers' school here Danuri said he had already ordered the force's rank and file across Indonesia to take firm action against GPK (separatist groups).
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Who should be blamed for the increasing violence against Indonesian migrant workers overseas? Foreign employers and user countries? The government? Labor exporters? Insurance companies? Workers?
Ed Davies & Sunanda Creagh – Presidential candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri on Friday defended her choice of a running mate accused of human rights abuses, saying that he had taken responsibility and there was a need to move on.