Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Jakarta's secretive criminal gang structure, with links right up to national politics and next week's elections, has taken a serious blow with the sudden death of a key leader.

Rallies, posters, commercials and smiling politicians have abounded over the past weeks and months. But what do the parties really stand for? This week we analyze those parties with a realistic expectation of a significant vote share and ask what their visions are. We look at two parties each day in list order. Today: PKS and PAN

Prosperous Justice Party

Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta – There is a rising risk that Indonesia's next elected government will face an immediate legitimacy crisis if mounting complaints about manipulation of official voters' lists are challenged by losing parties and candidates.

A decade on, East Timor is still linked to Indonesia

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Legislative candidates known to have practiced polygamy may suffer a setback in their quest for seats in legislatures, after voters said they would take the aspirants' marital status into account when voting on April 9.

Environmental group Greenpeace on Wednesday called on Indonesia to drop plans to tackle global climate change with credits for preserving forests, saying the measure could destroy carbon markets.

Luh De Suriyani, Denpasar – Female legislative candidates from various political parties have vowed to fill 10 percent of Bali provincial and regional legislative seats at the next election.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – The Sidoarjo hot mudflow, now mixed with oil, poses a greater threat of environmental damage because it flows through residential areas and the Porong River before getting to the sea, an official said.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government ignored repeated warnings about a catastrophic flash flood at Situ Gintung and instead built a jogging track around its dam wall from funds earmarked for its inspection and repair.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Strengthening his stance against corruption ahead of the upcoming elections, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has unveiled a plan to issue a government regulation-in-lieu-of-law (Perppu) should lawmakers fail to pass a corruption court bill by the end of this year.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Despite pledges by leaders of political parties to engage in peaceful campaigns, election preparations in Aceh Province continue to be overshadowed by acts of terror and intimidation, as well as kidnapping.

Denpasar – The ongoing global financial crisis may see some 20 percent of 4.41 million people working in the Indonesian tourism industry lose their jobs.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesian leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to start publicly testing the water within days as to who his running mate should be for July presidential polls.

Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – Voters have been granted the right to know who the winner of the upcoming legislative elections is within a few hours of the ballots closing, a court has ruled.

Jakarta – In a show of confidence, some 100,000 Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) supporters thronged Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Monday in a rally billed as the largest held since the campaign season kicked off two weeks ago.

Katherine Demopoulos, Jakarta – Career soldier Prabowo Subianto is still a dark-horse candidate among the 38 different political parties jockeying for position ahead of next month's legislative elections and a looming presidential race set for July.

Jakarta – Any potential drought in Indonesia this year would most likely occur due to environmental damage rather than a prolonged or extreme dry season, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said Sunday.

Alfian and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election bid has gained support from beyond his Democratic Party, but analysts say neither of the recent political groupings in favor of or against him have substance in terms of true coalitions.

Jakarta – State companies have failed to settle at least Rp 15 trillion (about US$1.3 billion) in matured overseas debts, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says.

The KPK said that if not addressed immediately, the debt could cause losses to the state coffers.

Agus Maryono, Cilacap – Lack of skills and a low level of education have been blamed for the poor quality of Indonesian migrant workers going abroad.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said that of the estimated 6 million Indonesians working abroad, some 75 percent were employed as domestic helpers.

Robert, Samarinda – Scores for students from the Mulawarman University in East Kalimantan provincial city of Samarinda demonstrated on March 30 against the 2009 general elections. During the action they destroyed or set fire to posters, banners and other promotional material belonging to legislative candidates.

Palu – On March 30, activists from the Palu City branch of the Union for the Politics of the Poor (PPRM) in Central Sulawesi encouraged local residents to reject next month's legislative elections.

Jakarta – Aceh's local parties are showing a definite edge in the competition with major national parties for legislative council seats, but are still jockeying to align themselves with their competitors to obtain a presence in the House of Representatives.

Jakarta – A granade that had failed to detonate was reportedly thrown at the residence of Aceh Sabulussalam Party chairman Alimuddin Jabat early Monday morning.

Aceh Sabululssalam Party deputy chairman Nurdin Ramli told tempointeraktif.com that the incident had left the house slightly damaged. "The rooftop and several lamps were damaged in the attack," he said by phone.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – Activists have urged the government to provide greater protection to millions of informal laborers, especially those working in home industries, because of their significant contribution to the economy during the global crisis.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Nurdin Hasan – Dian, 19, a communications student at a private college in Jakarta, was enthusiastic when asked if she would vote in the April 9 elections.

"I will cast my vote, for sure. I don't want to waste my right to vote," she said recently.

Putri Prameshwari – At least six of the 193 dams located in the Greater Jakarta area are in similar condition to the now-collapsed Situ Gintung dam, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi, said on Sunday.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The United Development Party, or PPP, has resorted to calling on the government to dissolve the controversial Islamic sect Ahmadiyah in an effort to appeal to conservative Muslim voters ahead of the April 9 legislative elections.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Indonesian feminists have called on the public not to vote for legislative candidates or political leaders known to be polygamous, saying they would have a skewed bias on issues concerning women and children.

Tom Allard, Indonesia – At least 50 Indonesians are believed to have perished and hundreds of homes destroyed after a dam broke south of Jakarta, sending huge volumes of water rushing through a shantytown while its residents slept.

The disaster happened about 4am, according to witnesses, and followed days of torrential rain in Tangerang, on Jakarta's southern outskirts.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The central bank has cut its forecast for Indonesia's economic growth this year, as the impacts of the global economic turmoil look likely to hit the country's investments and exports harder than earlier predicted.

Tom Allard, Kupang, West Timor – Eurico Guterres – the militia leader found guilty and then acquitted of crimes against humanity during East Timor's violence-soaked birth as a nation – is hoping to catapult himself into Indonesia's national parliament, raising concerns any victory would greatly enhance his finances and influence.

Jakarta – The government has arrested more than 150 people for raising flags symbolizing regional independence over the past two years, according to a report from Amnesty International.

Nearly 100 people are currently in detention in Papua and Maluku on charges related to flag-raising activities, Amnesty said Friday.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The ongoing election campaign period has seen political parties and candidates pledging to fight corruption, but they are really offering the public nothing more than empty promises, antigraft groups said Friday.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Dozens have been confirmed dead and many more are still missing after a reservoir wall collapsed in the Indonesian capital, creating a "tsunami" that wiped out an entire suburban area.

The disaster, in South Jakarta only a few kilometres from the city centre, occurred at about 2am yesterday (6am AEST) after hours of heavy monsoonal rain.

Jakarta – The Aceh Party, the leading local party in Aceh whose members mostly include former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) combatants, has denied it was still seeking Aceh's secession from Indonesia.

Jakarta – Two men suspected in several grenade explosion terrors in Aceh province was arrested in Langsa regency on Thursday and was immediately taken to the National Police headquarters in Jakarta, tempointeraktif.com news portal has reported.

Andra Wisnu and Ruslan Sangadji, Jakarta/Palu – Use of state facilities and the exploitation of children at campaign rallies remains rampant among major parties, the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) announced in its latest report Thursday.

Khairul Saleh and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung, Jambi, Palembang – Election rallies have provided their attendees with various opportunities, for some a chance to voice their concerns directly to top campaigners, and for others an occasion to entertain themselves.

Ridwan Max Sijabat – Being number one on the list of contesting parties means little in the grand scheme of the elections, and that is something that the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party is well aware of heading into the upcoming legislative elections. fill.

Jakarta – A lack of coordination between government institutions, as well as inconsistent and overlapping laws, have been preventing the government from taking the necessary measures to protect the environment, experts say.

Camelia Pasandaran & Febriamy Hutapea – A controversial measure aimed at bringing stability to Indonesia's notoriously chaotic multiparty system will likely succeed at limiting the number of parties that make it into the next House of Representatives.

Febriamy Hutapea – With leaders of other major parties talking of grand coalitions, a confident President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has turned in recent days to some of the smaller parties in his current coalition in an effort that may hold clues about the president's strategy ahead of July's presidential election.

The Indonesian government has arrested at least 152 people for activities related to the raising of flags symbolizing regional independence over the past two years as part of a crackdown in areas with a history of separatist movements, Amnesty International revealed in a report released today.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Opinion surveys will not greatly influence the decision of voters in the April 9 legislative election, a discussion in Jakarta heard Tuesday.

Attendants of the event held by Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) agreed that the surveys only spark a bandwagon effect and barely impact a voters' preference.

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Best case, there will be plenty of lawsuits and demands for a revote nationwide. Worst case, there may be violence as people reject the results of next month's election.

Alfian, Jakarta – Major parties promised to treat foreign investors equally, although their representatives did not elaborate on whether they would maintain or revise business regulations.

These include the list of sectors open to foreign investment and the limit of capital ownership, which is still being revised.

Jakarta – The Constitutional Court partially scrapped Tuesday two articles in the 2008 legislative election law, effectively allowing former convicts jailed for serious crimes to contest the legislative elections.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Seemingly jaded with the parade of legislators standing trial for graft, Corruption Court judges have queried whether bribery is simply the norm in parliament.

Ronald May – Recent reports from Indonesia's West Papua of a raid on a military post by separatist fighters, and the news that a former West Papuan leader, Nicolaas Jouwe, has returned to Indonesia calling for a new dialogue on West Papua's political status, again draw attention to the long-running grievances of the Melanesian population.