John Gittings in Jakarta and John Aglionby in Ambon – Indonesians flocked to the polls with enthusiasm yesterday for the country's first free elections in more than 40 years.
More than 90% of those eligible had registered to vote and turnout was high except in the strife-torn areas of Ambon, East Timor and Aceh.
Jakarta – An Indonesian corruption watchdog said Tuesday a break-in had failed to destroy evidence backing claims that the chief investigator probing allegations over Suharto's fortune was himself corrupt.
Mark Dodd, Dili – Eurico Guterres, one of East Timor's most hardline pro-Jakarta militia leaders, today strongly defended a reorganisation of his force into what he said was a legal civil defence unit.
Dili – East Timorese voted in a steady stream Monday in this troubled Indonesian territory, but interest in the elections was low, taking a back seat to a UN-sponsored ballot on self-determination in August.
Jakarta – Intruders ransacked the office of an Indonesian lawyer working for the US weekly magazine Time on Monday, days after former president Suharto filed a defamation suit against the magazine.
Security officers of the Bank Dharmala building in Central Jakarta discovered lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis's office ransacked at 4:30am. Monday morning.
Mark Dodd, Dili – The pro-Jakarta government in East Timor has ordered between 10 and 20 per cent of its budget to be set aside for propaganda and training to promote the integration cause in the ballot on self-determination – a move that breaches United Nations-brokered accords signed by Indonesia.
Jakarta – A prominent member of the House of Representatives from the United Development Party (PPP) on Sunday expressed his opposition to President B.J. Habibie's plan to give a "token of gratitude", worth Rp 150 million (US$18,750), to each of the 500 House members.
Jakarta – Indonesia's military do not vote, but unlike most of the 48 parties contesting Indonesia's elections they are already assured of a solid block of seats in parliament.
Jakarta – Jailed Indonesian People's Democracy Party leader Budiman Sudjatmiko was barred from voting Monday, under rules prohibiting convicts serving more than five years from casting ballots, a prison official said.
Jakarta – Supporters of popular Indonesian opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri are up in arms over a weekend smear campaign painting her as anti-Moslem, newspapers said Monday.
The campaign was waged in the form of leaflets, some anonymous and others by Moslem groups. They urged "good Moslems" to spurn her Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP).
Ida Indawati Khouw, Jakarta – Every day electronic and print media have been running commercials urging women to choose parties "which pay attention to women".
Gin Kurniawan, Surabaya – As night arrives, Kembang Kuning graveyard comes alive. This is the place where many men satisfy their sexual drives. In fact, at night, the graveyard becomes a meat market.
[The following is an opinion piece from Monday's Asian Wall Street Journal. Van Zorge and O'Rourke are editors of the Van Zorge Report, a biweekly publication on Indonesian politics and economics.]
Around 300 students staged a sit-in protest at central Jakarta's prominent Welcome Monument yesterday, accusing political parties of failing to push harder for democratic reforms.
Jakarta – Refugees from the Christian-Moslem clashes in the Indonesian island of Ambon are living in poor conditions lacking proper food and medical care, and prey to illnesses which have claimed 25 lives, reports said Saturday.
Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Jakarta – As speculation runs high of political wooing of military support, Indonesia's Armed Forces Chief Gen Wiranto yesterday did not rule out his nomination as the country's next president or vice president, saying political parties have the right to do so.
Jakarta – Indonesia's Armed Forces will take every step to stop the troubled region of Aceh from seceding from the country, a senior military official was quoted as saying yesterday.
Marianne Kearney, Lhokseumawe – Amid an escalation of violence in the northern Sumatran province of Aceh and increasing demands for a referendum, Acehnese separatist rebels say they are ready for war.
Stockholm – The Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) has already decided not to take part in the June 7 parliamentary elections this year. ASNLF believes that the Indonesian elections is nothing but jus a democratic farce, and that will not bring any good for the people of Aceh.
Lhokseumawe – Aceh provincial government has imposed an overnight curfew in the oil-rich but riot-torn district of North Aceh.
A statement issued Thursday in Lhokseumawe, the capital, bars people from leaving their homes between midnight and 4:30am.
Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have suspended a mining exploration contract awarded to a subsidiary of US miner Freeport McRoran Gold and Copper Inc. in Irian Jaya, citing political and security concerns, an official said Friday.
Vaudine England, Bandung – The leafy avenues of West Java's capital are host to the green, white, yellow and red flags of the forthcoming multiparty elections.
But, as elsewhere, street rallies are dominated by the red and black colours of Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan).
Jakarta – Anti-riot troops fired shots at a crowd ripping up flags of Indonesia's ruling Golkar party in Jakarta Friday, an AFP photographer said. The state Radio Republic Indonesia said five people had been injured, but two hospitals contacted by AFP said they had not received any casualties.
Jakarta – As Indonesians worried about possible fraud and manipulation in Monday's historic election, more than 500 international monitors moved into action Friday to make sure voting takes place fairly.
Patrick Walters, Jakarta – The Megawati bandwagon took over central Jakarta yesterday as an estimated million-strong crowd joined in the biggest political rally yet seen during Indonesia's 17-day election campaign.
Jakarta – Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib, a three-star military general, got an unpleasant gift for his 53rd birthday on Thursday from the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW).
Lisbon – Reported reprisals against East Timorese for an attack by resistance fighters on Indonesian troops threaten upcoming talks on the future of the territory, resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta said Tuesday.
[The following is a report posted by Joyo Indonesia News by a noted political analyst, who prefers to remain anonymous.]
Jakarta – Gunmen killed two soldiers in Indonesia's Aceh province in the latest violence to hit the troubled region where more than 50 people have been killed in the past month, the military said Thursday.
Jakarta – Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto told a plenary Cabinet meeting on Wednesday he would send more troops to Aceh because of increased rebel attacks against security officers and civilians, a minister said.
Andrew Kilvert, Jayapura – A group of Indonesian settlers held hostage by self-proclaimed Irian Jaya rebels were returned home yesterday after a 27-day ordeal in the remote Bewani valley across the Papua New Guinea border.
The 11 hostages, seven women and four men, were released by PNG army and police units on Sunday, after a three-day operation.
Is Jakarta serious about probing Suharto's alleged billions? No, says BBC correspondent in Jakarta Jonathan Head, in the radio station's East Asia Today programme. Here are excerpts from the programme:
Q: Jonathan, how serious is President Habibie about getting to the bottom of former President Suharto's wealth?
Jakarta – Time magazine insisted Thursday it was standing by its story that former president Suharto and his family amassed a 15-billion dollar fortune during his three decades in power.
Whole villages no longer have to back the dominant party, writes Sander Thoenes Across the heartland of Java, home to more than half of Indonesia's 210m people, villagers almost unanimously admit they have no clue about the policies of the 48 parties competing for parliament in the June 7 vote.
Jakarta – Indonesia votes on Monday in its first democratic election since 1955 to elect a new parliament. A few months later a new president will be elected. The following are details of the voting system under which the election will be held.
Voting system: Proportional representation, on a provincial basis
Total number of voters: 127.6 million
Luciano Alvarez, Dili – For 3 days, Publico accompanied a UN mission on a journey that took them over 500 kms of the disputed territory's terrain: Dili, Baucau, Lospalos, Viqueque and back to Dili."
Dili – The United Nations officially raised its flag in East Timor on Thursday, provoking loud cheers from a crowd of independence supporters and raising hopes of peace in the troubled territory.
"We have waited 24 years for this moment. This is a historic day, and some people say it is the beginning of peace in East Timor," said student Francisco Dionosio Fernandes.
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Fresh allegations of killings and kidnappings by pro-Jakarta militia in East Timor emerged yesterday as a diplomatic war of words broke out between Indonesia and the United Nations.
Hugh Bronstein, New York – Wall Street wants a clear victory for the opposition in Indonesia's general elections on Monday, though a messy government coalition is the more likely outcome, New York-based financial analysts said.
Jeremy Wagstaff, Jakarta – Indonesia's election commission, formed to break the national tradition of stage-managed votes, has been riven by infighting, indecision and allegations of corruption. It has resulted in an election system that, while much better than the old one, is a patchwork structure that falls short of the hoped-for overhaul.
Too many vested interests mean the chances of East Timor separating peacefully from Indonesia are slim, Asia Editor David Jenkins writes.
On a recent Saturday afternoon, President B.J. Habibie sat in his office and talked about East Timor.
Jakarta – Peace held out Tuesday during rallies in the Maluku and East Timor, where hundreds died in recent conflicts, during a round of barnstorming by Megawati Soekarnoputri, but violence marred campaigning in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.
[The following is a report and commentary on the election campaign posted by Joyo Indonesian News by a highly regarded political analyst who prefers to remain anonymous.]
Golkar
Jakarta – Forensic ballistic experts in Canada have revealed that two bullets taken from the bodies of two students and another found outside a Trisakti University building were fired from SS-1 and Steyr AUG-P rifles.
The bullets were recovered not long after the May 12, 1998 fatal shooting in which four students were killed.
Jakarta – The Indonesian military, in a major reform move, announced Tuesday that it had told thousands of officers holding positions in the civil service and legislatures either to leave the armed forces or leave their civilian posts.
[The following is a posting by Tapol described as a reliable eye-witness report of an incident apparently set up by the military to discredit GAM separatists.]
Following the ouster of Indonesia's President Suharto last year, the new government agreed to give the people of East Timor – which was illegally seized by Indonesia a quarter-century ago – the chance to vote for independence.
John Zubrzycki, Dili – Pro-Indonesian militia were planning a military-style sweep on Dili tonight conducting house-to-house searches to check whether voters had registered for the June 7 general election, church sources revealed yesterday.
Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Indonesian troops were deployed Sunday searching for rebels who allegedly killed nine police officers and soldiers in an ambush, the military said.
Jakarta – At least 4,000 people have fled their villages in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh fearing violence following a deadly rebel ambush which left four dead, officials and police said Saturday.