Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – The Jakarta Elections Commission on Saturday announced there were 5.7 million registered voters for August's gubernatorial election, or about 75 percent of the city's total population.

"Literary history must be won back. Culture as a priority for the people must be won back.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – It's no longer acceptable for the country's leaders to cry or talk their way out of the nation's many problems, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri has said.

A study by Indonesia's National Narcotics Agency has sparked a squabble in the world's largest Muslim nation, after it suggested the drug might be useful in the alternative fuel or agriculture industries, and the government should consider legalising its use.

Indonesia's vice president Jusuf Kalla has also suggested it is acceptable to use cannabis for cooking.

Jakarta – Police should remain neutral at all times in disputes between employers and workers, a coalition of workers' associations has demanded.

"We feel the police often take the side of employers in disputes between employers and their workers," coordinator of the coalition, Anwar Sastro, told reporters during a rally last week.

Nancy-Amelia Collins, Dili – East Timor is suffering from food shortages caused by floods and plagues of locusts that cut the harvest of the country's most important crop, corn, by 30 percent this year.

Rice, cassava, and other cereal crops have also been hard hit. Aid officials fear the situation will worsen as heavy rains continue to cause floods in parts of the country.

Karen Michelmore and Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Almost 30 years on, Zulira and Adelino Coelho are still waiting desperately for news on their son.

Like thousands of East Timorese, whose family members were killed or disappeared during the nation's turbulent past, they are also still waiting for justice.

Submitted by:

• Office for Justice and Peace of Jayapura
• Imparsial - Jakarta
• Progressio - Timor Leste
• The Synod of the Christian Evangelical Church in Papua
• Franciscans International

With an annex on the situation of human rights in Timor Leste

List of Contents

[In the final of our series on East Timor politics, Fabio Scarpello speaks to Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva.]

As East Timorese vote for a new parliament and pundits predict a close race between the country's historic leaders, the outspoken Bishop of Dili slams the old guard and calls for a generational change at the top of the political echelon.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Labor activists have harshly criticized Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno, alleging he deceived the public on Indonesia's acceptance of an international convention on fisheries.

With just over one month to go until the historic direct election for Jakarta governor, voter registration remains a major cause for concern – and conflict.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government gave its assurance on Friday that the deliberation of the new package of political bills would be wrapped up by the end of this year, allowing more time for preparation for the upcoming general election.

Mark Forbes Herald, Jakarta – Indonesia's Government is on a collision course with political and religious leaders who are taking multiple wives in the name of Islam.

Jakarta – The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Institute (YLBHI) told the government Friday to issue a decree for the immediate compensation of Sidoarjo mudflow victims from state coffers, with the funds to be repaid by PT Lapindo Brantas.

Jakarta – Urban groups and non-governmental organizations are calling on gubernatorial candidates to accommodate the diverse needs of the city's inhabitants and uphold human rights in developing and managing the city.

Jakarta – An alliance of trade unions held a rally Thursday in front of the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta to demand police stay neutral in disputes between workers and employers.

"We feel that the police often side with employers in the middle of heated discussions between employers and their workers," the alliance's coordinator Anwar Sastro said.

Jakarta – Opposition is growing to Indonesia and Singapore's defense cooperation agreement (DCA), with a senior lawmaker and retired servicemen coming out against the pact.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government has announced it will increase the subsidy for higher education as of next year but admitted the funds will not reach poor parents wishing to send their children to university.

Max Lane, Sydney – On June 19 I attended a public forum in Jakarta with the theme "Is it time for the young leaders to come to power?" About 300 people attended the forum, cramming in to a rather smallish room in the Sahid Jaya Hotel.

Paris – The number of billionaires jumped drastically by 8.3 percent in 2006. According to the survey carried out by the financial firm, Capgemini SA and the United States investment bank, Merrill Lynch & Co., Indonesia is at the position of top four countries with the most newly wealthy.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Policies involving the national weather forecast agency and farmers must be enacted to enable Indonesia to adapt to the grave effects of global warming and evade disruptions in food provision, a climate change seminar has been told.

Jakarta – Legal activists suggested Thursday that court verdicts be made accessible to the public in a bid to curb the "court mafia" they say exists in the country's judicial system.

Jakarta – Two human rights violators – one convicted over the deadly 1999 East Timor riots and a former Indonesian Military major convicted for abducting activists – have made calls for equal treatment of all human rights violation cases.

Criminal charges should be laid over alleged corruption within a government ministry, East Timor's new independent watchdog said, on the eve of parliamentary elections.

The Office of the Provedor for Human Rights and Justice (PDHJ) said it had recommended that the Prosecutor General lay criminal charges over alleged corruption within the Ministry of State Administration.

Geoff Thompson

Mark Colvin: It's been a long year for East Timor. The crisis which erupted violently 12 months ago culminates tomorrow in a poll electing a new parliament and eventually a new Prime Minister.

Seth Mydans, Dili – During the past week, convoys of vans and trucks have wound through the streets of this tiny seaside capital loaded with chanting, cheering men and women. When people threw rocks at them, they ducked.

In East Timor, half a million people will cast their votes on Saturday to elect their second government since gaining independence just five years ago. If no single party emerges as a clear winner, it could take weeks to negotiate the coalitions needed to form government.

The only Indonesian jailed over the violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 vote for independence has launched a legal challenge against the court that convicted him.

Former militia leader Eurico Guterres has asked Indonesia's Constitutional Court to review the legality of the Indonesia Human Rights Tribunal which found him guilty of the violence.

[In the first of a series on the issues surrounding East Timor's upcoming elections, Fabio Scarpello reports from Dili, examining the differing proposals on how to spend the nation's rich oil revenue.]

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has made several recommendations to stop the criminalization of the press, which include the issuance of a Supreme Court circular requiring that decisions in press cases follow jurisprudence.

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo – Mudflow victims greeted with reservation President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's latest instructions for the company at the center of disaster to pay up, saying they doubted Lapindo would really follow orders.

Erwin/Gunanto/Tomi, Jakarta – Akil Mochtar, a Golkar Party politician, has said that internal competition inside his party is heating up after the meeting between Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (DPI-P) leaders and cadres in Medan, North Sumatra, last week.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Slamet Susanto, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) said it will remain cautious when considering alliances with other parties over the deliberation of four political bills after the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) announced they had forged a coalition.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – Despite few residents turning up, the first day of extended voter registration caused headaches and mixed responses at the offices of the Jakarta Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta).

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – A decision made by Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. to send journalists on an overseas tour has been slammed by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and a coalition of non-governmental organizations.

Slobodan Lekic, Brussels – All Indonesian airlines and several from Russia, Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the European Union due to safety concerns, the European Commission said Thursday.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Wanting to prove the human rights situation in Papua province has improved, Jakarta is considering allowing US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa, to visit the province.

Step Vaessen, Papua – Culturally distinct Papua is rich in resources but home to some of the country's poorest people.

The governor of the remote Indonesian province of Papua is warning that the region could revive its push for independence. Barnabas Suebu has told Al Jazeera that the central government in Jakarta must act quickly to improve conditions in the province.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – After a one-month break, the deliberation of a bill on military tribunals resumed Wednesday with the government proposing that officers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and military police be allowed to interrogate soldiers for committing civilian crimes.

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – With the public purse strings still tight and most government spending being used to cover day-to-day costs and servicing the country's sovereign debt, Indonesia will have to rely on the private sector to help reduce poverty and unemployment.

Crimes against humanity suspect a threat to Papuans

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Green activists renewed their calls Tuesday for more attention to be paid to environmental preservation and economic compensation for those whose lives have been affected by the exploitation of natural resources.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Tuesday criticized the President's tour of mudflow-affected Sidoarjo, East Java, saying it was a sign of the administration's failure to deal with the disaster.

Jakarta – Victims of a devastating "mud volcano" in Indonesia complained Wednesday that a fresh compensation scheme thrashed out by the president during a visit to the disaster area in East Java was not enough.

Too much media hype has surrounded the gathering of the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians in Medan last week.

Nothing was certain at the meeting, which was heavily covered only because it involved the country's two largest political parties, one of which supports the government and one of which claims to be the opposition.

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has issued a series of instructions to speed up compensation for people displaced by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Further revisions should be made to the political party bill to increase accountability among political parties, anti-corruption activists have said.

Haryanto Kurniawan, Jakarta – Stipulations on the establishment of political parties contained in the draft law on political parties will make things more difficult and conflicts with the principles of freedom of association and assembly.

Jakarta – Marijuana possession should remain a crime in Indonesia, but chefs who use the herb as a traditional way to season curries should not be arrested, the country's vice president told local reporters.

Cooks in parts of Indonesia – a nation that executes drug traffickers – say they use tiny amounts of crushed marijuana leaves or seeds as a spice in certain dishes.