Jakarta – Almost all of the 24 political parties contesting this year's elections had committed 100 violations as of Monday, according to the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu).

Jakarta – Two family members of former dictator Suharto have launched separate campaigns for the coming Indonesian elections.

His eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana, clearly aware of the popular longing for a return to the rapid economic development of the Suharto era, has promised to bring the people back to the good old days.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Islamic-leaning political parties contesting this year's general elections have selected more non-Muslim candidates, a move to pluralism that has been welcomed by political commentators.

A pro-independence group in Indonesia's Aceh province has accused police and troops of intimidation and violence in the run-up to the general election on April 5.

Jakarta – A coalition of Indonesian groups has released a list of names of 61 candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election who it alleges are "crooked politicians", the Jakarta Post reported yesterday.

Jakarta – Government troops have shot dead a separatist leader in Indonesia's eastern most province of Papua, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

Former Indonesian security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who quit after a row with Presidenti Megawati Surkanoputri, has confirmed that he will stand in July's presidential elections.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Fabiola Desy Unandjaja, Gianyar/Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri and her presidential challengers strived to make the most of their "comparative advantages" in their election campaign debuts on Friday.

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – The situation in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, remained tense on Friday following a bloody attack on a predominantly Christian village in the regency a day before.

Robert Go, Jakarta – With just 23 days to go, Indonesia faces critical hurdles that could impede a smooth parliamentary election next month, officials and observers said.

Any last-minute rush to complete poll preparations, they warned, could increase the possibility of honest errors occurring, or even the chances for manipulation of results.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – In a land where the school system is rotting and health care is worse, where millions drink from dying rivers while the rich pay cash for Mercedes, it seems only natural that Indonesians have such a deep interest in their looming elections.

Jakarta – Although the 22-day election campaign period just commenced on Thursday, minor political parties scheduled for Friday's first round of campaigns across the country had already begun showing signs that their funding was running out.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A group of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGO) lashed out on Friday at the government for permitting 13 mining companies to resume activities in protected forests through the issuance of a regulation in lieu of law, or perpu.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The man behind the first efforts to privatize Indonesia's state-owned enterprises, and a staunch critic of the slow pace of the program, has been brought back into the fold to bring state-owned PT Telkom, the country's largest company, back into line after chronic audit problems and market uncertainty.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – An alliance of 23 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) joined force on Friday to call on the National Commission of Human Rights to carry out an independent and thorough investigation into the Manggarai shooting that left five dead and 28 others wounded.

Jakarta – Following mass rioting at the Manggarai district police station in Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, which resulted in the death of four farmers last Wednesday, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has been asked to immediately go to the location to gather facts.

Derwin Pereiradevi Asmarani – Indonesian security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono quit his Cabinet post yesterday after falling out with the President.

His resignation – the first by a minister in the current administration – is the clearest signal yet that he is gunning for the presidency, a move that could pit him against incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri in the July polls.

As long-term readers of this column will have realised, Pierpont is unfashionable. He is white, Anglo-Saxon, Anglican, heterosexual, married and monarchist.

Kupang – East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province can no longer claim any assets in East Timor, as Thursday was the deadline for the refugees to do so back in the country of their birth.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Thursday blasted the double standards applied by the United States and Australia in criticizing a supreme court decision earlier this week to reduce the jail sentence of militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and a similar court decision in Germany.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan said on Wednesday that the police were focusing their investigations into the discovery of five live bombs in a Medan mall on two distinct groups.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – A joint monitoring team will begin immediately to inspect humanitarian projects carried out by the martial law administrator and Aceh provincial government since the implementation of martial law in the troubled province.

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Thursday he has resigned following a rift with President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

"I have submitted a resignation letter [to Megawati]," he told a press conference.

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri will not sack her top Security Minister despite an increasingly public rift between the two, a senior official yesterday.

Washington – US legislators have urged Australia to negotiate its maritime boundary with East Timor to give the tiny nation a fair share of Timor Sea resources.

The fate of substantial oil and natural gas deposits between Australia and newly independent East Timor depends on a boundary agreement to be hammered out between the two countries.

Banda Aceh – Military authorities in Aceh on Thursday banned foreign observers from monitoring next month's general elections in 453 so-called "black areas" in the war-torn province due to security concerns.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Tarnishing their much-vaunted label as educational institutions, schools are widely prone to corruption practices through unclear school budgets and the lack of supervision by parents, a study by Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) says.

Jakarta – As the General Elections Commission (KPU) disclosed on Wednesday that only 20 percent of the 660 million ballot papers needed for the elections had been produced, on the same day, President Megawati Soekarnoputri instructed the Indonesian Military, the National Police and the Ministry of Transportation to assist in the distribution of ballot papers nationwide.

Jakarta – Public support for incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri has dropped significantly during the past few months while those who backed Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono increased, according to a survey on Wednesday.

Indonesia will only go ahead with plans to build a nuclear power plant on Java island if the public accepts the project, Research and Technology Minister Hatta Radjasa said Wednesday.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – "From the beginning I didn't want my husband to become a gurandil, because I know how risky it is digging for gold in Pongkor Mountain. But kang Eman insisted, he said he wanted to get some money for a ceremonial meal to celebrate my seventh month of pregnancy.

Jakarta – Indonesia's dengue fever outbreak has killed more than 400 people this year and the number of cases could keep rising, health officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry said the death toll from dengue since the start of the year was 408 people, with 29,643 cases across the archipelago.

Shinta Shinaga, Jakarta – Although indistinct and only in the background, [former President] Suharto is appearing in a television advertisement by the National Functional Party of Concern (PKPB).

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – The names of six popular presidential candidates have been included in a list of rotten politicians by the University (UI) of Indonesia Student Executive Council (BEM).

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Some 1,000 civil servants, teachers and community leaders staged a protest on Wednesday in front of the teacher's council building in Kampar regency, to demand that the central government endorse the dismissal of Kampar regent Jefri Noer.

Jakarta – Indonesian policemen shot at a mob and killed three people on one of the country's far eastern islands on Wednesday after protesters besieged a police office demanding the release of seven detained farmers.

US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has charged Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is deeply involved in terrorism after Indonesia's top court halved the militant's jail sentence.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Indonesian plywood products may be allowed to enter the British market again after officials met with British buyers to clarify allegations the plywood was made from illegal timber.

Jakarta – Four people were killed and 27 injured when police opened fire Wednesday morning on protesting coffee growers in the island of Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, a doctor said.

The victims were brought to hospital at Ruteng after staging a protest outside a police station in the town, hospital doctor Dupe Nababan told AFP by phone.

At least four people have reportedly been killed and 27 others injured after police allegedly fired on protesting coffee growers in Indonesia's eastern island of Flores.

The AFP newsagency quotes a doctor at a hospital in Ruteng as saying the victims were brought in after staging a protest outside a police station in the town.

Canberra – Australian opposition lawmakers on Wednesday held up legislation to ratify an oil and gas field development deal with East Timor, saying the agreement exploited the impoverished nation.

David Fullbrook, Jakarta – Unnoticed by most, a quiet revolution took place in Indonesia in 1999. Its consequences were plunging air fares and dozens of new airlines. Air travelers are doubling every three years. Indonesia was low-fare, no-frills way before those shimmering phrases grabbed headlines elsewhere in Asia.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The 24 political parties that will contest the Indonesian election on April 5 pledged yesterday to keep tight control of their followers and to conduct peaceful campaigns.

Jakarta – The central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), has predicted that the country's economy will, in the first quarter of the year, grow by 4.2 percent to 4.7 percent on the back of low inflation, the stable rupiah exchange rate and declining bank interest rates.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Banking reform in the country is still far from complete despite the closure of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), according to a new survey.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua governor JP Solossa has expressed his fear of a possible delay of several days in the legislative elections scheduled for April 5 for technical, geographical and logistical reasons.

Yuswardi A. Suud, Banda Aceh – The Aceh emergency military command (PDMD) will prohibit foreign observers from monitoring the elections in locations which are categorised as hot spots (black zones) – areas classified as being a significant security risk. They will only given permission to observers to monitor the elections in a number of pre-determined sub-districts.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights' (Komnas HAM) ad hoc team for Aceh has found indications of gross human rights violations in Aceh, most of which were committed by military members.