Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Indonesian Muslim voters uncertain of parties' economic policies are more likely to vote for Islamic parties than Pancasila-based nationalist ones, a research says.

Titania Veda – It has been 11 years since the bloody riots of May 1998 led to the resignation of then President Suharto. Ethnic Chinese residents and their shops were the particular targets of a surge of violence and arson that left hundreds dead. Most who died were trapped in burning buildings as roving gangs plundered Chinese shops and houses.

Timika, Papua – Papuan police have increased security measures ahead of the upcoming presidential elections to ensure against any possible disruption to the nationwide vote by armed groups.

Agus Maryono, Kebumen – Around 2,000 farmers from the South Kebumen Farmers Association (FPPKS) staged a demonstration Thursday in the Urut Sewu area in Kebumen regency, Central Java, demanding the Indonesian Army (TNI) return their land which they claim is being used for military exercises.

Dili, East Timor – UN police returned control of a district to East Timorese police Thursday for the first time since bloody clashes threatened to plunge the country into civil war in 2006, the UN said.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The three Islam-based parties that had threatened to quit a Democratic Party-led coalition, after being angered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's vice presidential choice, on Friday said they were back in the fold.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – It seems July's presidential election will be a one-round affair, with incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono looking set for a landslide win no matter who his running mate is, a recent survey has found.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Febriamy Hutapea – Two days before the registration deadline for candidates for the July 8 presidential election, Megawati Sukarnoputri was on Thursday still busy finding a running mate, with one of best prospects remaining to her persisting in his wish to run for the top post himself.

Febriamy Hutapea – Religion and ethnicity appear to be losing their hold as factors in voter preferences over the pairing of candidates to run in the July presidential race, a survey released on Thursday by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) concluded.

Tom Allard Herald, Jakarta – The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has shed his customary political caution and chosen a pro-Western and pro-market central bank governor, Boediono, as his vice-presidential candidate without consulting his coalition partners.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Presidential incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ended months of speculation when news broke early this week that he had picked a running mate for the presidential election in July. But his choice of Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono has started a new round of no less intense speculations: What was he really thinking?

The media have danced to the tune of politicians' music in the past several weeks as we have been treated with news about presidential-pair candidates, as if the world stood still.

Yet, the hectic meetings of the political elite are lacking substance, despite their rhetoric that they are working for the wider interests of the people.

Usman Hamid and Matthew Easton, London, New York – For more than four years, no case has been more central to the security of human rights defenders in Indonesia than the 2004 poisoning of Munir Said Thalib. However, that case is now at risk of collapse following the acquittal of a former senior intelligence official, Muchdi Purwopranjono.

Andi Haswidi, Manado – Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are currently cooperating to repatriate 708 Indonesians, from various backgrounds, currently living in the neighboring country, according to a state official.

In a single evening on Wednesday, lawmakers managed to block almost Rp 1 trillion ($97 million) of the central government's Rp 12 trillion package on vital infrastructure spending, part of the larger Rp 73.3 trillion stimulus package, stoking fears among analysts that delays could cut into he country's already flagging economic growth.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) did little to ease concerns about its status as a conservative Islamic organization on Thursday, maintaining its strong objections to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's apparent vice presidential nominee on religious grounds.

Jakarta – After securing seats at the House of Representatives, the winning legislative candidates for Jakarta said the newly changed electoral system had forced them to put extra effort into securing victories amid tighter competition.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Despite an aggressive push by the Democratic Party to forge a coalition with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the latter is still holding out hope that its chairwoman, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, will be able to stand in the July 8 presidential election.

Heru Andriyanto – Of all the challenges in the country's fight against corruption, the so-called court mafia – where defendants pay law enforcers to get a favorable court verdict – remains the toughest to beat, a noted antigraft campaigner said on Wednesday.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said Wednesday it would follow up a revelation at the Corruption Court that Megawati Soekarnoputri received a portion of the embezzled funds taken from a state-owned company.

Jakarta – The Manado District Court on Wednesday refused to try two environmental activists charged with organizing demonstrations without permit and returned the case to the police, Antara reported.

Jongker Rumteh, Manado – Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) executive director Berry Nahdian Furqon and water and food campaign manager Erwin Usman stood trial Tuesday, following their public protest of the inaugural World Ocean Conference (WOC) and Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit in Manado.

Ni Komang Erviani and Luh De Suryani, Denpasar – Dozens of environmental activists staged a quiet rally in front of the Bali Police headquarters in Denpasar on Tuesday to protest the arrest of two members from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in Manado, North Sulawesi.

Indra Harsaputra and Lutfiana Mahmudah, Surabaya, Jember – East Java Governor Soekarwo has proposed manganese mining activities in Jember regency continue, despite strong opposition from residents.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has fractured the field ahead of registrations this weekend for Indonesian presidential elections in July.

Opponents and potential allies alike are floundering as they await an announcement on Friday of the affable general's running mate.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' Commission III on Law and Human Rights has pledged to push the government for greater action into addressing alleged human rights violations committed prior to the fall of the New Order regime in May 1998.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Several political parties have threatened to quit a planned coalition with the Democratic Party (PD) and form an entirely separate alliance after SBY named Bank Indonesia governor Boediono as his running mate for the upcoming presidential race.

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) has blamed many of the problems that occurred during April's legislative election, including voter list fraud and the low poll turnout, on voters themselves, claiming the public was generally unaware of the significance of the ballot.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-047-2009

Dear friends,

The killing of Nasruddin Zulkarnaen is unfolding like a soap opera. The media tends to "blow up" the story because audiences are very interested in knowing anything – regardless whether or not it's relevant or accurate – about the murder. This is partly because they are fed up with reports over the behavior of our power-hungry politicians, who are busy trying to form coalitions.

Dili – The World Bank has been forced to defend its consultants in East Timor after the salaries of those hired by the finance ministry were leaked to local media, sparking widespread anger.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Eurico Guterres, the pro-integration militia leader who terrorised East Timor as it voted for independence, has failed to win a seat in Indonesia's parliament.

Jakarta – Corruption could lead Indonesia to bankruptcy with statistics showing that in just four months white-collar crime has cost the country a whopping Rp 2 trillion (US$194 million).

Jakarta - Indonesia will deport 15 Philippine activists on Tuesday after they held a protest with local fisherman near the venue of a global conference on ocean conservation, officials said.

Adam Gartrell – East Timorese children were taken from their families and resettled in Indonesia under policies similar to those that created Australia's stolen generation, a Queensland researcher says.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – The secular party of Indonesia's president tripled its share of the vote in parliamentary elections and support for religious parties nose-dived – a sign of how even devout believers in the world's most populous Muslim nation are delinking faith and politics.

Jakarta – Internal conflict among the elite of the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has greatly reduced its authority and influence as the nation's political moral guardian, experts say.

Nurfika Osman, Heru Andriyanto & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The families of victims of the May 1998 riots have lashed out on the anniversary, expressing anger that the full story has not been told – and that two of the key military figures from that era are now involved in presidential politics.

Jakarta – The mothers of people abducted in the late 1990s joined victims themselves at a moot court in Jakarta on Monday to try those responsible for gross human rights violations committed between 1997-1998, saying they still have hope justice will prevail in the country.

The final official tally of the April 9 parliamentary elections was very much as widely predicted. The Democratic Party (PD) topped, followed by two other centrist parties, Golkar and the PDI-P. Nine political parties in all will take up the 560 seats at the House of Representatives while 29 others were eliminated.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) has criticized the Attorney General's Office (AGO) for failing to implement internal reforms, on its agenda for two years, and for not emphasizing law enforcement.

Jakarta – Alleged disbursement of state company funds to political parties may be linked to the murder case in which Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief Antasari Azhar is said to be implicated.

Jakarta – The National Defence Forces (TNI) Headquarters said security situation in the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea borders has increasingly become conducive after activities at the border checkpoint at Skouw village was resumed on May 5.

Adianto P. Simamora and Jongker Rumteh, Manado – A long history of illegal fishing, the dumping of tailing from mining companies into the sea, and poor support for traditional fishermen are the three main problems in Indonesia's ocean sector. Unfortunately, those issues remain excluded from the agenda at the World Ocean Conference (WOC) that begins Monday.

Heru Andriyanto – The Attorney General's Office confirmed on Monday that it would not pursue a criminal case in the devastating mud volcano disaster in East Java allegedly involving PT Lapindo Brantas, a company owned by the family of senior minister Aburizal Bakrie.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Government spending remained low as of April, at about a fifth of its full-year allocation, depriving the country so far of the positive impact of the state budget and stimulus drivers to counter the global economic crisis.

Jakarta – The flawed state secrecy bill still being deliberated at the House of Representatives could deny the public the right to get important information and alarm the control function of the House and the mass media, a panel of experts warn.

Erwida Maulia and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Having cut loose the Golkar Party, the Democratic Party is now unexpectedly approaching the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to form a mammoth coalition for the upcoming presidential race and for parliament.

The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation says a visit by Indonesia's Ambassador is unlikely to sway Vanuatu's support for West Papuan self-determination.

Primo Alui Joelianto has been in Vanuatu to present his credentials to the Head of State as Indonesia's newly appointed ambassador to Vanuatu, based in Canberra.

Joe Cochrane & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri continued their coalition talks behind the scenes as the General Elections Commission (KPU) opened registration for presidential and vice presidential candidates on Sunday.