Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The manufacturing sector may expand faster in the second quarter from a quarter earlier as firms start producing more than in the first quarter, with the economic growth getting back on track.

Jakarta – The country's laborers will likely face another difficult period throughout the next five years as none of the presidential candidates or political parties represent their interests, a discussion concluded in Jakarta on Monday.

Christian Motte & Nurfika Osman – Papua authorities have decided to close down an immigration post at Skouw-Wutung on the country's border with Papua New Guinea, due to the province's deteriorating security situation, an official said on Tuesday.

La'o Hamutuk is a Timorese NGO which undertakes research, monitoring and analysis of development processes in Timor-Leste. In order to improve information and understanding of local conditions we would like to discuss some errors and omissions in the U.S. Department of State 2008 report on Human Rights Practices in Timor-Leste.

Dicky Christanto and Adianto Simamora, Jakarta – Party officials have admitted to placing ideology on the back burner as they move to build the crucial coalitions required to secure power.

Shared concern surrounding the implementation of the national agenda in the future is what really counts, a number of politicians have suggested.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) central board finally came to the decision Monday to join the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a coalition for the upcoming presidential election.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – In just three days, the Golkar Party's provincial branch leaders have forced Chairman Jusuf Kalla to scale down his bid for presidency, re-opening possibilities for another partnership with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Jakarta Post – The steady rise of Indonesia's share price index and the rupiah immediately after the April 9 legislative election suddenly reversed into a decline last Thursday after the breakup of the coalition between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY) Democratic Party and Vice President Jusuf Kalla's Golkar Party.

Depok – In the lead up to the commemoration of International Labour Day or May Day, the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) and the Greater Jakarta Railway Workers Trade Union (SPKAJ) are planning massive actions in Jakarta on May 1.

Jepara, Central Java – Some 1,500 residents of Balong subdistrict, Kembang district, staged a rally over the weekend protesting against a government plan to build a nuclear powered electric generator (PLTN) in their village.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has won praise for his tough stance against corruption, but a newly drafted antigraft bill reveals the opposite, a discussion heard Sunday.

Ika Krismantari, Jakarta – Forty five local firms have been surveyed on this year's business operations amid the continuing global downturn, and the result is hardly a surprise – more than half of them plan a cut in proposed capital spending.

In the lead-up to the elections, Papua was hit by terror. The OPM was accused of involvement, but its leaders behind bars deny it.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Growth in the manufacturing sector may be better in the second quarter this year as companies start producing again after seeing a still-high consumption growth in the first quarter, the Ministry of Finance says.

Two US organizations concerned about human rights in West Papua today urged the US government "to apply meaningful pressure on the Indonesian government and its security forces... to address long-standing Papuan concerns and grievances."

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Papuan Tineke Rumkabu, along with activists and relatives of human rights victims, met Argentinean human rights icons Lidya Taty Almeida and Aurora Morea of Les Madres de la Plaza de Mayo last week.

Like the others, Tineke waited patiently while Lidya and Almeida's speeches were translated from Spanish to English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Jakarta – The chairman of Golkar Party Jusuf Kalla said on Sunday that his meeting with the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chairman Prabowo Subiyanto was an initial step in forming a coalition between the two parties.

Golkar Party chairman and Vice President Jusuf Kalla's attempts to charm former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her possible running mate, Prabowo Subianto, over the weekend appeared to go nowhere.

Five flags of the secessionist South Maluku Republic (RMS) were flown Saturday coinciding with the separatist anniversary in their stronghold Aboru village in Haruku Island district, Central Maluku regency.

"There were five flags hoisted in Aboru today," an Aboru informal leader, John Malawau, said over the phone on Saturday, adding that the sitution was "just fine."

Supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI-P), have demanded her to be cautious not to choose vice president candidates with possible ties to human rights violations.

Jakarta – State Minister of Women's Empowerment Meutia Hatta called on women to actively encourage their neighbors to register with the polling body Friday in an initiative to improve public participation in the upcoming presidential election.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Negotiations began in earnest yesterday after the spectacular split in Indonesia's ruling coalition, as Vice-President Jusuf Kalla held closed-door meetings with potential partners.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Recent bomb attacks linked to the legislative elections in troubled Papua province may have been orchestrated by a single group, police said Friday.

They said a forensic laboratory report showed that explosive materials used in both bombings were the same.

Jakarta – Political analysts have criticized potential coalitions being discussed for the presidential elections as "superficial and fragile".

Such procedural mergers were less relevant under the presidential system and would ultimately not benefit the people, they said Friday.

Teguh Prasetyo & Dian Ariffhami – The European Union has taken a firm step against illegal logging by adopting stricter certification rules on timber sold within the bloc's markets, which could have far-reaching implications for Indonesia's timber industry.

Ambon – Unlike in previous years, the anniversary of separatist movement Republic of South Maluku (RMS), which falls today, is not marred with violence or deployment of massive security measures by the police.

Denpasar – 23 percent of voters abstained from voting in the April 9 legislative election, or 621,443 voters out of 2,667,065 registered voters did not cast their vote.

The results, revealed at a plenary meeting of the Bali General Elections Commission (KPU) on Friday, showed an 8 percent increase in vote abstention since the 2004 election.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesia's ruling coalition has disintegrated after the Golkar party decided yesterday to run its own presidential candidate against the immensely popular incumbent, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesia's Golkar party has opened up the national election race by declaring Vice-President Jusuf Kalla will stand against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

It is likely to be a poisoned chalice for Mr Kalla, and is the result of bloodletting within the party that came to a head at a meeting of national leaders in Jakarta yesterday.

High tempers were hard to miss on Wednesday as the Golkar Party made a clear move to cut ties after less than five years in its coalition with the Democrat Party.

Norimitsu Onishi, Jakarta – From Pakistan to Gaza and Lebanon, militant Islamic movements have gained ground rapidly in recent years, fanning Western fears of a consolidation of radical Muslim governments. But here in the world's most populous Muslim nation just the opposite is happening, with Islamic parties suffering a steep drop in popular support.

Syahrul Hidayat, Spring Exeter, UK – In the recent election the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) failed to keep up its momentum gained from the 2004 election when it saw a 600 percent increase in votes, to 7.

Jakarta – Indonesia boasts the highest consumer confidence index in the world, a survey by the Nielsen Company shows, effectively brushing off any threat to economic activities here from the global economic crisis.

Adianto P. Simamora and Dicky Kristanto, Jakarta – The breakdown of ties between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his deputy Jusuf Kalla will undoubtedly impact on the remaining six months of their administration, political observers said Thursday.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The political uncertainty following Golkar Party's decision to abandon a nearly five years coalition with the Democratic Party will not affect the government's economic policies, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani says.

The Indonesia office of the International Committee of the Red Cross says the request by Jakarta for it to leave the Papua region is not linked to visits by its officials to separatists in jail.

The foreign ministry in Jakarta says the government is offended both by the ICRC's practice of visiting separatists in prison.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Families of activists missing since 1997 have called on candidates hoping to run in the July presidential election to avoid cooperating with parties led by individuals linked to past human rights violations.

Ari Saputra, Jakarta – Around 40 workers from the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) held a demonstration on April 24 calling on the political elite – who are in middle of fighting over the presidency and vice presidency – to pay more attention to the people.

Yoga Rusmana – Exports of natural rubber from Indonesia, the second-biggest grower, plunged 32 percent by volume in the first quarter in a bigger reduction than targeted by the country's industry association.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Muhamad Al Azhari, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Camelia Pasandaran – In a day of hectic political maneuvering, Golkar executives announced on Wednesday that the party would cease coalition talks with the Democratic Party, a move the Democrats called unilateral and other Golkar leaders said was far from final.

Mustaqim Adamrah and Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Indonesia's economic recovery will depend heavily on how reforms in the US and Europe manage to lift them out of the worst downturn in decades, a minister says.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Golkar party officially declared its chairman Jusuf Kalla as presidential candidate to compete in coming election.

The decision was made at the leaders meeting on Thursday attended by 33 head of provincial chapters.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – A number of small parties have demanded that an Elections Law stipulation on the legislative threshold be postponed, saying it bars them from having their own candidates in the House of Representatives.

Achmad Faisal, Surabaya – Witnesses from 20 small political parties walked out of a plenary session with the provincial elections commission (KPUD) on Wednesday, during the counting of votes from regencies in East Java.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Police dismissed Wednesday a report citing alleged manipulations in the final voter lists used for the April 9 legislative elections.

In a response to American Samoa's congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signalled her support for greater autonomy for the Indonesian region of West Papua.

Sunanda Creagh, Jakarta – Indonesia has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to leave the politically sensitive Papua region after its officials visited separatists in jail, the foreign ministry said.

Lawyers for West Papuan activist Buchtar Tabuni claim he has been assaulted by Indonesian police and three public prosecutors.

Buchtar Tabuni was allegedly beaten and kicked as he refused to wait in a holding cell shortly before a scheduled testimony hearing for his trial on subversion charges in the Jayapura District Court.

Jakarta – Women's Empowerment Minister Meutia Hatta says Kartini was a heroine and rejects criticism that she did little to fight for her own rights.

Meutia paid tribute to Kartini for fighting so that no woman in her country would be a victim like she was.

Jakarta – As the global financial crisis continues to hit domestic and international industries, the number of layoffs across the country hit a new level, with the manpower ministry announcing Wednesday that some 44,000 people lost their jobs between November and March.