Kurniawan Hari and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) will launch on Monday a nationwide information campaign on politicians running for office.
Religious figures, politicians and non-governmental groups (NGOs) are expected to support the campaign, which aims to rid the country of unscrupulous politicians.
Doubts that the upcoming general election next year can bring significant changes for the better to this country's political landscape are growing as the General Elections Committee (KPU) is giving political parties a final chance to list their legislative candidates today.
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) is expecting an extra-heavy workload on Monday, as all 24 political parties contesting the 2004 elections will rush to beat the deadline for registration of legislative candidates.
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Prominent Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid is pursuing his presidential bid next year by launching a book on nation-building titled Indonesia Kita [Our Indonesia].
The 157-page book was launched on Saturday, containing a 10-point political platform to rebuild Indonesia should he be elected president in 2004.
Barus – Starvation has begun to threaten some 140 traditional fishermen in Pasar Tarandam village, Barus subdistrict, Tapteng district, North Sumatra, because of the presence of Thai trawlers in their district's sea.
Jepara – Vice President Hamzah Haz has called on the people not to be carried away by the notion that the New Order era was a much better time because, he said, the regime's mistakes in development had plunged the country into the present prolonged crisis.
East Timorese freedom campaigners are mourning the death of a leading Australian human rights activist, Dr Andrew McNaughtan.
The 50-year-old was found dead in his Mosman home in Sydney's north on Christmas Eve after friends and neighbours noticed he had not been seen for some days.
Jakarta – The total number of foreign intelligence agents in Indonesia is far greater than the estimation given by the army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu who said that there are 60,000 people.
Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The power crisis, which started several years ago, became worse this year and the problem is likely to continue haunting the nation in upcoming years.
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – After much debate and public criticism since November over a 30 percent tap water rate hike proposed by the city administration, councillors have decided that Jakartans will kick off the new year with an increased water bill.
Evi Mariani, Jakarta – More than 2,500 families will be evicted from their houses along Jl. Tanah Merah, Rawa Badak subdistrict, North Jakarta, and Pinang Ranti subdistrict, East Jakarta, in January.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed on Friday two decrees, one on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and another on the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), allowing the new institutions to commence their work.
Jakarta – There is concern that the organisation of the general elections in Aceh will face a number of serious complications because there are a number of contradictory legal stipulations which cannot be resolved in terms of laws which regulate a military emergency and those which regulate elections.
Jakarta – At least 1732 state civil servants from a number of departments are still members or heads of political parties. This violates Government Regulation Number 13/1999 on State Civil Servants which is an enhancement of Government Regulation Number 5/1999.
Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – Growers have blamed the high cost of locally-produced sugar on the old and inefficient manufacturing facilities of producers, and accused them of deliberately organizing damaging and misleading campaigns designed to put the blame on growers in order to obtain profitable import licenses.
After withdrawing as a presidential contender for Golkar Party, Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid seems to have run out of room to move in his efforts to seek a strong political party as a vehicle.
Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – A local reporter working for SCTV private television station, Muhammad Nasier, filed a complaint on Friday with the Aceh Military Operation Command in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, after a soldier slapped him across the face the previous day.
Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) has escalated its security crackdown on rebels of the Free Aceh Movement with the dispatch on Christmas of three battalions of the newly-formed elite Raiders Unit to the troubled province.
Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – It has been six years since the banking sector started its restructuring efforts. Still, while improvement in its financial health is undeniable, certain flaws remain – indicating that the recovery process is still a long way off.
Jakarta – A warning by the Indonesian army's chief of staff that troops would be deployed if next year's general election turned into bloody chaos shows that the military wants to make a political comeback, says a human rights organisation.
Kompas – A reexamination, evaluation and refinement of People's Representative Assembly (MPR) Decree Number VI/MPR/1999 and MPR Decree Number VII/MPR/1999 is being carried out by the department of defense and members of the People's Representative Assembly (DPR).
Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Indonesian Human Rights Watch director, Munir, has said that the statement by army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu that 60,000 foreign agents have entered Indonesia in order to weaken the military represents an endeavour to create new tensions. This could also damage foreign diplomatic relations.
Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) has so far handed over Rp 26.1 trillion (about US$3.1 billion) to the state coffers from its assets sale programs this year, slightly exceeding the target of Rp 26 trillion.
Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The government expects investment in oil and gas, as well as power sectors, to improve next year on the back of attractive oil and gas resources and the liberalization programs in the power sector.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government expects to sign 15 new oil and gas contracts next year.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Despite their pledge to fight for the aspirations of the public at large, legislators in the House of Representatives continue to display a willingness to betray their constituents in order to further their own interests.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – How tragic and terrible has been the violence against a great number of Indonesian women employed overseas this year! Not only were they harassed, physically abused or even raped but were also sent home without proper payment or traded from one employer to another.
Banda Aceh – The Indonesian military on Friday accused separatist rebels in Aceh province of kidnapping eight civilians, including three village chiefs.
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members seized the three chiefs at Pante Bidari in East Aceh on Thursday, said provincial military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki.
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A middle-aged lady carrying a stack of papers rushes into the National Police Headquarters' detective building, mumbling almost hysterically as bystanders try to understand.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Down but not out, is perhaps the idiom that fits the Indonesian Military (TNI) the most after the reform movement in 1998 put an end to three decades of undemocratic rule, placing much on security for the sake of economic growth.
Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's Religious Affairs Minister Said Agil Al Munawar is under fire after the government admitted errors and cancelled bookings for 30,000 Muslims who had registered to undertake the haj next month.
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has slammed the Army chief's statement that he would deploy troops if the 2004 elections turn into bloody chaos, saying such a remark was politically unethical and could pose a serious threat to the nation's newly born democracy.
Kanis Dursin, Jakarta – Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda unleashed the first-ever scathing criticism by any Indonesian official on the invasion and occupation of Iraq in early December, almost nine months after allied forces, led by the world's lone superpower, the United States, dropped their first bombs at selected targets across Iraq in March.
Andrew Hewett – Governments from around the world gathered in East Timor recently to hear news of a looming economic crisis facing the world's newest nation.
This crisis is triggered by declining foreign aid and uncertainty about future revenue flows to East Timor from the oil and gas fields of the Timor Sea.
Jakarta – Christmas celebrations across the country proceeded peacefully on Wednesday and Thursday amid the heightened presence of police.
Jakarta/Lhokseumawe/Medan – Indonesian media have failed to help resolve the Aceh conflict, as their coverage of the impact of martial law in the war-torn province has been inconsistent, a watchdog says.
The Information Flow Study Institute (ISAI) said the media here has no clear agenda on the Aceh issue, let alone helping to find a settlement to the war.
M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Army chief Ryamizard Ryacudu has again said that at least 60,000 foreign agents have entered Indonesia. According to Ryacudu, these foreign agents are linked with a modern war plan to weaken the role of the TNI (armed forces) and to play people off against each other.
The candidacy of three daughters of founding President Sukarno in the upcoming 2004 general elections has opened up new potential for a test of the loyalty of nationalist voters and possible scenarios concerning the ability of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to retain power.
Jakarta – In Jakarta on Thursday December 25, army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu, explained that army intelligence has obtained indications that the 2004 elections will be tainted by disturbances. He gave the example of the 60,000 foreign agents from large foreign countries which are in Indonesia at the moment.
Samarinda – The orangutans (Pongo pygmaues) in East Kalimantan province are now on the brink of extinction, because rampant and expanding illegal logging in the province.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – High-profile minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a dark horse likely to steal the spotlight from incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri as she strives for re-election next year.
Jakarta – The Indonesian authorities said yesterday that the FBI had cleared the army of being involved in the killing of two Americans in Papua last year. However, the American Embassy declined to confirm the claim by military police chief A.B. Sulaiman.
Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has questioned the motives behind the assumptions which have been made about the organisation of the 2004 general elections which claim they will be susceptible to turmoil and disturbances.
Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesian soldiers will be mobilised to take control of the situation should next year's elections "turn bloody", the army's top officer has warned.
The remarks by the Army Chief of Staff, General Ryamizard Ryacudu, has rekindled talk about the military seeking to reassert itself in domestic politics.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Government critics, students, and non-governmental organization activists on Tuesday launched a nationwide drive aimed at urging the people not to elect "dirty rotten politicians" in the 2004 elections.
Jakarta – Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU) Chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin expressed hope that people in the provinces of Maluku, North Sulawesi and Papua would not boycott the 2004 general elections.
"We hope the elections would run well and people in Maluku, North Sulawesi and Papua could accept the reality," he said on Wednesday.
Thousands of Indonesian police went on alert as Christians in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation prepared to celebrate Christmas under the shadow of a continuing terror threat.
Almost 166,000 officers, or two-thirds of the entire force, will be deployed nationwide to safeguard the Christmas and New Year festivities – more than 22,000 of them in the capital alone.
Samarinda – Dozens of disabled persons in East Kalimantan staged a protest on Tuesday, demanding the government to end discrimination against them in the work place.
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Coalition Against Forests for Mining and representatives of about 5,000 Kao and Malifut tribespeople of Halmahera island in North Maluku are demanding Australian company PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals (NHM) to immediately stop its open-pit mining in the protected forest of Toguraci.
Jakarta – Indonesia's economic growth rate in 2004 will increase to between 4.2 and 4.4 per cent despite the possibility of heightened tensions at home during the general and presidential elections, an economic research organization said.
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The commitment of political parties that will contest next year's elections to transparency is in doubt as they remain reluctant to disclose the source of their initial campaign funds to the General Elections Commission (KPU), a week after the deadline.