Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – The East Timorese Government has admitted that corrupt officials are "well established" in areas such as tax, customs and procurement as a row deepens over highly paid foreign advisers.

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced late Saturday the final results of the April 9 legislative elections, with around 40 percent of the more than 171 million registered voters abstaining or casting invalid ballots.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has come under fire for "interfering" with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) by challenging the validity of the decisions it will make after the arrest of its chairman Antasari Azhar on murder charges.

Jakarta – The clock is ticking for current members of the House of Representatives, many of whom will loose their seat in four months, but there is still no sign they will be able to pass a backlog of crucial bills into law by the deadline.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri has no other choice but to pick Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) head Prabowo Subianto as her running mate for the upcoming presidential election.

Camelia Pasandaran – Though the number of women elected to the House of Representatives looks set to increase, the quality of the candidates remains suspect, election observers said on Thursday.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Former South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Wiliardi Wizar has admitted to receiving an order to provide "hitmen", allegedly used to kill businessman Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, a lawyer revealed Thursday.

Upon observing coalition agreements made by the leaders of political parties, the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for July 8, will very likely be a three-horse race. But are the three presidential candidates and their running mates really who the Indonesian public want to see contesting?

West Papua advocates have been urging the United States to apply meaningful pressure on Indonesia for internationally-facilitated dialogue between Jakarta and Papuan leaders.

A member of the West Papua Advocacy Team spoke before a US Congressional panel about threats to human rights and the environment in Indonesia's Papua region.

Anton H. Gunawan and Reza Y. Siregar are two Indonesian economists, who have recently written the Survey of Recent Developments in the latest Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies (BIES), April 2009, published by the Australian National Univesity (ANU) in Canberra.

Jakarta – Among the workers who voiced their demands for improved labor conditions during May Day rallies across the country, those employed by outsourcing companies were screaming the loudest.

With increasing numbers of workers being hired through outsourcing companies, concerns for the mistreatment and vulnerability of the labor market is growing.

Ismira Lutfia – A decade has passed since the Indonesian press achieved freedom, yet it is still faced with incomprehensible press laws, the increasing criminalization of the press, a market-driven media and the rise of infotainment in broadcast news reports, panelists said on Tuesday.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – After much wheeling and dealing, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Thursday appeared to have finally put an end to the hopes of a Suharto former son-in-law to run for the presidency on the party's ticket.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) has dashed hopes of a deal with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), joining forces instead with the Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – The impact of the current dry season and deforestation in Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) is believed to be forcing wild tigers to hunt cattle in nearby villages, an official said Wednesday.

Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta/Medan – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's youngest son Edhie Baskoro and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri's daughter Puan Maharani look set to join the House of Representatives after winning legislative seats in their respective provinces, keeping the political legacy of their families alive.

Jakarta – Agus Ohee, a resident of Harapan village, Jayapura regency, Papua, who was shot by local police during an attempted arrest, died in Sentani hospital on Wednesday morning.

Agus was reportedly shot at around 5 a.m. local time (3 a.m Jakarta time) on Wednesday and was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around 6 a.m..

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – The arrest of Indonesia's anti-corruption tsar over a murder will have little impact on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election campaign, analysts say.

This is despite crime fighter Antasari Azhar having been a poster boy for the President.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – The Independent Journalists' Alliance (AJI) has recorded 44 incidents of violence against journalists across the country in the past year, calling it the main hindrance to press freedom in Indonesia.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – A group of students staged a mass rally near the Indonesian Democracy Party of Struggle (PDIP)' Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri's residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday, pressuring her against choosing a vice presidential running mate with a military background in the upcoming presidential election.

The brother of an Australian woman accused of conspiring to assassinate East Timor's president and prime minister says he cannot believe the case is actually going to trial.

Angelita Pires, a dual Australian-East Timorese citizen, was the first person to be arrested over the February 2008 attacks.

Ardian Wibisono – Indonesia's economic blues may be one step closer to fading, at least if consumer sentiment is anything to go by.

Angela Macdonald-Smith – The East Timor government said it doesn't intend to approve plans that Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, has said it will put forward to develop the Sunrise field in the Timor Sea.

Farouk Arnaz & Nivell Rayda – Antasari Azhar, chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was detained by Jakarta Police on Monday after being declared the suspected mastermind in a complex murder case that has both shocked and captivated the nation.

Jakarta – Regional branches of the Golkar Party are refusing to acknowledge the pairing of chairman Jusuf Kalla with head of the People's Consience Party (Hanura) Wiranto as candidates for July's presidential election.

Jakarta – Learning from the voter list fiasco that marred the legislative elections, the government says it has taken necessary measures to prevent the problem from recurring in July's presidential election.

Aloysius Unditu – East Timor, the world's newest democracy, may invest about 10 percent of a $4.6 billion petroleum fund in regional equities seeking to diversify from US Treasuries, the government's economic adviser said.

Indonesia's anti-graft chief was arrested yesterday for allegedly masterminding the murder of a company executive in a case that has rattled the country's efforts to fight corruption.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – It is just "a matter of time" before Indonesia becomes a state signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a Foreign Ministry official said on Monday.

But an analyst alleged that fear of possible intervention by the court was causing the government to drag its feet in ratifying the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding charter.

Serang – Three students were rushed to the nearest public health clinic in Serang after a Monday rally they staged to demand the arrest of Pandeglang Regent Dimyati Natakusumah at the Banten Prosecutor's Office turned violent.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – About 1,500 students from various state and private universities rallied Monday at the gubernatorial office in Makassar, South Sulawesi, to protest against the newly-endorsed Legal Education Entity Law (BHP).

Niken Prathivi, Denpasar – Various NGOs gathered Saturday to discuss the fallout from funding water access with international loans, as the 42nd annual board of governors' meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) kicked off in Nusa Dua.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – Hundreds of cooperatives in Malang city are threatened by insolvency as an increasing number of them go out of business, said a local expert recently.

An expert in economics and financial affairs at the Malang city administration, Abdul Malik said of the 638 registered cooperatives, only 374 remain active to date.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Autonomy in Aceh has allowed local political elites to trump Jakarta's authority.

After local figures beat national candidates in the gubernatorial election in 2007, a local party founded by former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) combatants has assured itself of a controlling share in the provincial legislature.

Denpasar – Students of Denpasar's Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) commemorated National Education Day by holding traditional art performances in front of the Bali Provincial Legislative Council office on Saturday.

The art performances included a Balinese comical performance called bondres, the barong dance, puppet shows, poetry and painting on canvas.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The entry of Vice President and Golkar chairman Jusuf Kalla in the presidential election is expected to turn it into a three-horse race, and could force President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to a runoff.

Jakarta – The country has encountered a setback in the recent legislative elections, but this should not discourage efforts to continuously preserve and improve its hard-won democracy, a discussion heard Saturday.

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will definitely suspend Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief Antasari Azhar, a suspect in a sex-driven murder scandal, a presidential advisor said Saturday, amid growing pressure to save the integrity of the anti-graft body.

Dicky Christanto and Slamet Susanto, Jakarta – Jusuf Kalla's decision to run for president and pick retired general Wiranto as running mate lacks solid support from with in Golkar, which could threaten both his presidential candidacy and position as party chairman.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Observing International Labor Day, or May Day, two prominent labor observers urged Indonesia's mushrooming labor unions to merge into several major sector-based confederations to improve workers' bargaining power amid the global economic downturn.

Jakarta – Analysts have called recent moves by parties trying to form coalitions based on power sharing as "absurd", saying Indonesia needs political partnerships that strengthen the constitution and will meet people's needs and demands.

Triwik Kurniasari, Jakarta – Labor unions got together to mark the International Labor Day on Friday, urging private companies across the city not to take advantage of the current global financial downturn to sack workers.

Dessy Sagita & Ismira Lutfia – Doctors on Friday urged the public and the government not to panic over the swine flu issue, and not to ignore more urgent health issues such as dengue fever, which kills thousands of Indonesians every year.

Jakarta – Indonesia's high-profile anti-corruption czar has been named a suspect over the murder of a state company executive, officials said.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) head Antasari Azhar was formally declared a suspect in the drive-by shooting murder of company executive Nasrudin Zulkarnaen late Friday, the Attorney General's Office said.

Jakarta – The country loses Rp 38,4 trillion every year from the mining sector, particularly in gas and oil sectors, according to Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW).

"There are indications that revenues are under-reported every year," said ICW's data center division chief Firdaus Ilyas to tempointeraktif.com.

Depok – Following the Depok municipality's decision to annul the building permit (IMB) for a Protestant Batak Christian (HKBP) church in Cinere, the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace said Thursday it would protest against the decision.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The Golkar Party and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) unveiled Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto as their presidential and vice presidential candidates Friday, becoming the first partnership to declare their bid for the July 8 poll.

Four major political parties on Friday signed a coalition agreement aimed at strengthening their positions in the legislature, party officials said.

Tom Allard Herald, Jakarta – Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is being driven into the arms of the country's Islamic parties, posing questions about the direction of his administration if, as expected, he is re-elected.

Camelia Pasandaran & Nivell Rayda – Civil society organizations on Friday called for the Corruption Eradication Commission to investigate election commission higher-ups over procurements for the legislative polls.