Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) is gathering public support in its ambitious goal of winning 65 percent of the vote in the 2009 legislative elections.
"We must be optimistic about winning 65 percent of the vote in the legislative elections," PKB leader Muhaimin Iskandar told a seminar jointly organized by the Constitutional Court on Friday.
[The full text of this report is available at http://www.usindo.org/publications/briefs/2008/Rembering_Suharto_03-07-2008.pdf.]
A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Indonesian women still face substantial challenges in regard to access to education, protection from domestic violence and increasing fundamentalism in society, which has lead to laws restricting women, observers and activists say.
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Prevention is the key to combating Indonesia's widespread corruption, as eradication efforts rely too heavily on repressive measures, law experts say.
Fery Firmansyah, Jakarta – In the lead up to the extended long-weekend holiday, Jakarta will be rocked by nine protest actions on Thursday March 6. Road users are advised to be careful or better still to avoid stretches of road being used for actions it they don't wish to be caught in traffic.
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Compared to the executive and legislative branches of power, the judiciary is less cooperative when it comes to reporting wealth, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says.
Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The "only" courageous move taken by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his 3.5 years in office was his recent policy to broadly accommodate corporate greed, camouflaging itself as a policy of protection for the country's forests.
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – In a bid to prevent open-pit mining in protected forests, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) is fund-raising to "rent" forests so that major mining companies cannot.
Suherdjoko, Semarang – Central Java Governor Ali Mufiz has urged the central government to postpone a plan for the construction of a nuclear power plant near Mount Muria at Balong village in Kembang district, Jepara regency.
Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – Labor unions have agreed to support the final draft of a new severance pay regulation, in the hope that employers will stop evading the termination-of-work payment altogether.
Jakarta – A coalition of human rights groups will highlight the threat to freedom of religion in Indonesia during the ongoing United Nations Human Rights Council plenary meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
Bob Howarth – The independent daily Timor Post newspaper has had two formal apologies from senior government officials over violence against one of its editors during Dili's emergency curfew.
The curfew was imposed after assassination attempts against President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Horta is recovering from bullet wounds in a Darwin hospital.
Erick P. Hardi, Bandung – Scores of students and workers from the National Student Front (FMN) demonstrated in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung today to commemorate International Women's Day which falls on Saturday March 8.
Biak – After having meetings with the DPRP, the MRP and the Papuan provisional government, a team from Komnas HAM visited Biak Numfor to seek opinions from local people about views for and against the satellite launch project.
Following the attack on East Timor president Jose Ramos Hortes, Carole Reckinger and Sara Gonzalez Devant report on the complexities surrounding the current crisis.
Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – Eight protest actions will rock Jakarta today, Wednesday March 5. So be on the lookout for traffic jams near points such as Jl. Gatot Subroto.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Three years after the Aceh peace agreement, many former rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are still serving their jail sentences in prisons in Sumatra and Java. Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and GAM in Helsinki on Aug.
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The media should not highlight Muslim hardliners who take the law into their hands in the name of religion, academics said Tuesday during a discussion organized by the German Embassy called Islam, Democracy and Media Freedom.
Jayapura – Two Papuan students detained after a pro-Papuan independence demonstration were released after paying bail to the local police.
Zakaria Horota, chairman of the National Front of Papuan Students (FNMPP), said here Tuesday that Marthen Manggaprow and Frangky Inekep were released with a letter of summons.
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The government will issue an emergency government regulation within the next two months to justify the formation of West Papua province, which has been a source of tension between Jakarta and Papua for the last five years.
Jakarta – Major political parties emerged the winner in the tug-of-war that preceded the House of Representatives' endorsement Monday of the election bill.
The bill secured major parties' interests after lawmakers voted to settle the dispute over the allocation of residual seats in the 2009 elections.
Jayapura, Papua – Papuan members of the West Papua National Authority gathered Monday to demand the government hold a referendum, claiming that special autonomy has failed to raise the welfare of local people.
The group said a referendum is needed because any dialogue between the Papuan people and the government always ended in deadlock.
Ramdhan Muhaimin, Jakarta – Four protest actions will enliven activities in the capital today, Tuesday March 4. Based on information from the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Center, demonstrations will be taking place at four different points in the city at almost the same time.
Jakarta – Former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief A. M. Hendropriyono missed his first questioning session by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) over his alleged involvement in human rights violations in Talangsari, Lampung.
Debnath Guharoy, Consultant – If knowledge is power, then Indonesia has a long way to go. This is not to cast aspersions on the country, but to highlight an opportunity for investors. When all the facts are considered, it makes a lot more sense to invest in a school than in another shopping mall.
Purwokerto, Central Java – Teachers from hundreds of junior high schools in Banyumas protested on Monday to the regency's alms charity agency over the "compulsory" collection of alms from school students.
Jakarta – Attorney General Hendarman Supandji came close to breaking down at news one of his prosecutors handling corruption cases was charged by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with allegedly accepting bribes.
Jakarta – Current global economic conditions have raised concerns whether the market will be receptive to the government's 2008 privatization plan.
Surabaya – Coalitions between political parties in the direct election of regional heads in Indonesia are very fluid in character. They tend not to be based on a clear ideological platform, but formed according to narrow pragmatic interests.
Paul Toohey – The East Timorese rebel leader widely suspected of being the man who shot President Jose Ramos Horta has surrendered, handing in his gun as Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao looked on.
Adpara, Jayapura – An association of former Papuan fighters urged greater government efforts to publicize a regulation that prohibits regions from using secessionist flags.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – A rebel commander who was at the home of East Timor's President, Jose Ramos-Horta, the morning he was shot and seriously wounded has surrendered.
Adpara, Jakarta – School expenses in Jakarta could double from last year due to budget cuts for school operational funds, an official said.
Head of the Jakarta Middle and Upper Education Agency, Margani M. Mustar, said Thursday the City Council had slashed Rp 69 billion (US$7.58 million) from the budget and reallocated it toward scholarships for low-income students.
Adpara, Manado – Students of Sam Ratulangi University in Manado, North Sulawesi, recently became involved in a physical clash with security personnel during a protest against the government's decision to hold a repeat election for rector. No casualties were reported in the clash.
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government and private firms both continue to block public access to information about environmental problems and this tends to exacerbates ecological disasters in the country, a study finds.
Afrida, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of people set fire to the offices of former separatist rebels in Central Aceh on Saturday, killing four people and throwing one person down a 35-meter well.
Around 1:30 a.m. the crowd attacked the Aceh Transitional Commission's office in the remote Atu Lintang area, 30 kilometers from the regency's capital, Takengon, a village head said.
Ika Krismantari, Jakarta – Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told hundreds of mining investors on Friday they would soon be able to apply to operate in productive as well as protected forests.
Jaukak Gulton, a farmer activist aged 66, who was actively in the struggle over a land conflict in Mariah Hombang village, Hutabayu sub district, North Sumatra province, was found lifeless on nearby land on February 13. His head and chest was covered with grass.
A series of demonstrations calling for a referendum on Papuan self-determination have been taking place today in several main towns of Indonesia's Papua region.
However at least two of the rallies in Jayapura, Manokwari, Serui and Sarong, have reportedly been restricted by police who have deemed any demonstrations without a permit illegal.
The Papua People's Assembly, the MRP, says it's pursuing dialogue with Jakarta in an effort to stop the proposed formation of a new province in its region.
Presi Mandari, Jakarta – By day Indonesia's scavengers pile rubbish into their carts and by night they creep inside them to sleep on the streets, ever fearful of capture by public order officials whose patrols are escalating.
Beginning last Monday, the National Student League for Democracy (LMND) held two-day demonstrations in Jakarta to rally the campaign for the nationalisation of oil, gas, and mining industries.
On the first day, about 150 students representing several campuses in Java and Sumatra protested against ExxonMobil in front of the commercial building that houses its headquarters.
Henriette Sachse – The recent attacks on East Timor's president and prime minister are a severe setback on the path to democracy. They highlight the country's most urgent problems: poverty, high unemployment and an inadequate system of justice.
[What explains the extraordinary longevity of Indonesia's 'New Order', and what are the legacies of three decades of dictatorship? Benedict Anderson details Suharto's career, from colonial army to crony capitalism, and explores the consequences of his rule – political, social, cultural – for a disorientated, amnesiac present.]
Suherdjoko, Jepara – Up to 3,000 villagers staged a rally in Jepara, Central Java, Thursday to oppose the planned construction of a nuclear power plant on the regency's Mount Moria.
The protesters, mostly residents of Balong village in the Kembang subdistrict, as well as students and activists, carried protest posters and banners.
Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – The government came again under attack Thursday after refusing to scrap sharia-based ordinances, which Islamic scholars said worked against freedom of religion.
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government has begun screening documents of 47 new political parties hoping to contest next year's general elections.
The 47 parties were selected from 112 political groups registered with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry to take part in the 2009 national polls.
The government is risking piling big mistakes on top of huge errors, all at the expense of the basic foundation of the economy, by stubbornly refusing to bring domestic fuel prices closer to international market levels.
Jakarta – A court on Thursday threw out a civil case filed against Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and awarded the son of former president Soeharto Rp 5 billion (US$549,000) in damages in a countersuit he filed for defamation.
Dili – Interim President Fernando La Sama De Araujo of Timor Leste sent congratulations Friday to Raul Castro at his election as president of the Cuban State and Minister councils.
In his letter, La Sama de Araujo also said he wished good health to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro.