Max Lane – Former Suharto-era general Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono and former Golkar official Yusuf Kalla have been elected as president and vice-president in the second round of Indonesia's first direct presidential election. Yudhoyono won 61% of the vote against outgoing President Megawati Sukarnoputri's 39%.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Dozens of expatriates were shocked by the recent visit of officials of the Jakarta administration to their apartments at Taman Rasuna in Kuningan, South Jakarta. The officials carried forms that they were required to be filled out.

Jakarta – A number of worker, student, urban poor and political movement organisations have come together under the banner of the People's United Action to urge the government and the people's representatives to honour their promises to implement reform.

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta – Indonesia's success in promoting democracy and peace both at home and internationally has bolstered its confidence in pursuing a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

A direct appeal to Indonesian President Megawati has been made by the US Ambassador to Indonesia over the jailing of four employees of the Newmont mining company. The four executives were detained without charge five days ago over allegations of pollution causing serious health problems around the company's mine operations in Sulawesi.

Jakarta – The next government has been told to revise the Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy and Law No. 25/1999 on the fiscal balance between regional and central administrations to arrest the widening gap between rich and poor across the country.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed on Monday a decree that set the maximum price of a residence for former VVIPs at Rp 20 billion (US$2.22 million).

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Often you hear the news that the state owned electricity company PT PLN is loosing money. After investigation, it turns out that many people use electricity without paying, that is stealing it. After further study, the highest level of electricity leakage is at military complexes.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – Jakartans had just commemorated the 1st anniversary of the JW Marriott Hotel blast in Kuningan business and residential area in South Jakarta last month, when the capital was shaken by another similarly motivated bomb blast near the site of the former on September 9.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – More than 1,500 workers, who were dismissed by shoe firm PT Kasogi Internasional tbk last July, descended again on the East Java legislative council building in Surabaya on Monday, pressing ahead with their demand for severance pay.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The House of Representatives and the government have made substantial changes to the much-criticized bill on national social security, which was due to be endorsed on Wednesday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A leading rights watchdog has called on the next Indonesian president to reopen cases of alleged abuse and torture against Acehnese prisoners, saying the military and police were using violence to extract baseless confessions from those accused of having links to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group.

With extraordinary swiftness the National Police are pursuing the alleged pollution case in Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi.

Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – "Change" has been Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's campaign mantra, which brought him into the top position using the tiny and little-known Democratic Party as his springboard.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is ready to punish soldiers found to have tortured detained members of the Aceh separatist movement to extract information, its spokesman, Lt Col Ahmad Yani Basuki, said here on Tuesday.

It is a bitter irony that the first direct presidential election to be held in Indonesia has resulted in another general taking power.

Although the official results will not be made public until 5 October, it is already clear that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won comprehensively against Megawati Sukarnoputri. The reasons are not difficult to fathom.

Although slashing fuel subsidies should be at the top of president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's economic agenda during the first 100 days of his administration, raising fuel prices in November as recommended by the outgoing House of Representatives (DPR) could be political suicide for the new government.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – The government expects this year's non-tax revenue to increase by more than 60 percent from the original allocation in the 2004 state budget, due mostly to the soaring oil prices.

Dean Yates, Bogor – From across Java island they have travelled. Farmers, widows of soldiers, mothers with babies, some seeking a favour from Indonesia's next president or telling him which of the country's problems he should tackle first. Others just want to shake his hand.

Ellen Nakashima, Jakarta – Indonesian security forces have used torture and inhumane treatment to force confessions from suspected separatists and their sympathizers in the province of Aceh, where the government and rebels have fought a long-running conflict, a human rights group alleges in a report to be released Monday.

Jakarta – Political parties that supported Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Sept 20 run-off poll are accusing him of breaching a pre-election agreement.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – A week after his apparent landslide victory, the policies of presumptive president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono remain unclear. People still don't know what the former general and cabinet minister known as SBY will do with his mandate to succeed President Megawati Sukarnoputri, but it's becoming clearer how he'll do it.

Umar Juoro, Jakarta – The early results of last Monday's presidential election clearly show that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will win the presidency convincingly with about 60 percent of the vote. We see again the overwhelming expression of the voters for change.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Reports of misuse and alleged corruption of state funds by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) last week were perhaps the clearest indication that the die-hard practice of graft could now be called a die-hard institution.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – With only four days to go before the House of Representatives ends its five-year term at the end of this month, it appears most likely that it will be unable to finish deliberating the controversial Indonesian Military (TNI) bill.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta – Jakarta stock prices are expected to further consolidate this week as the bullish sentiment stemming from last week's smooth presidential election has already been discounted by the market, according to stock analysts.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Cyclists cruised their way past joggers and pedestrians strolling leisurely along the quiet Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin in the fresh morning air. Here and there, groups of children played soccer, while their parents got in a bit of exercise.

Jambi – The fires that burned between 1,000 and 2,000 hectares of the Berbak National Park in Jambi in the past month posed a real threat to many bird species in the area.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Women activists have criticized the state for intervening in people's personal affairs using religion as a justification, which they say has led to discrimination against woman in countries where the majority of people are Muslims.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Indonesia's powerful military will bow out of politics for good after losing its reserved seats in the country's top legislative body, armed forces chief General Endriartono Sutarto said yesterday.

Heather Draper, Denver – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) isn't concerned about its operations in Indonesia, despite the arrest there last week of executives from rival Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) on pollution allegations.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The likely president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must uphold legal certainty and security, and phase out the high-cost economy to encourage investment and create jobs, investors and employers say.

They said the next government must work to restore security and guarantee legal certainty if it wishes to attract foreign investment.

Devi Asmarani – As the early vote counts began to pour in last Monday, President Megawati Sukarnoputri slipped away from guests at her private residence in the South Jakarta suburb of Kebagusan. Saying she was unwell, she retired to her room – presumably to watch in private the rising fortunes of rival Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Businessman Ian Melrose today launched a new TV commercial to promote a fair deal for East Timor in negotiations over oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea. The talks began in Canberra this week and will continue in Darwin next week.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that it had decided to form two teams to probe disappearances during the New Order era.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will likely be sworn in on October 20, was encouraged on Friday by local businesspeople to crack the whip against thieving government bureaucrats so companies could produce their goods at lower prices for the domestic and international markets.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – As many observers had predicted, presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla would win a landslide victory in the city, collecting 69.21 percent of the votes.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri is now trying to reconcile with her party's veteran members who had been sidelined as she is apparently coming to grips with her imminent ouster by the people.

Sari P. Setiogi and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The United States Embassy has criticized the Indonesian police for detaining without charge several executives of P.T. Newmont Minahasa Raya, a mining company with its headquarters in Denver, in the US.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – More women's groups demanded on Friday that the House of Representatives delay the endorsement of the migrant workers' protection bill as it did not include protection of undocumented workers, who make up the bulk of Indonesians employed overseas.

Eugene Low, Washington – Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may be the preferred choice of officials in Washington to be the next Indonesian president, but Indonesia watchers in the US do not expect an immediate improvement in bilateral relations.

If politics were reality TV, democracy would mean electing the most-popular idols on TV shows through a cellular phone short message service (SMS).

For those who love watching reality shows there is nothing wrong with sending SMS messages to vote for their idols – indeed in this country's it's a burgeoning craze.

Satish Mishra, Jakarta – As Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono starts on his final preparation to take over the reins of – ower, it is worth remembering what most observers and pundits were saying about the implications of the presidential elections on Indonesia's daily life and development prospect less few days ago.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri has not only been beaten by her rival in the September 20 election in terms of votes. Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also beat her in terms of campaign funds with Rp 50 billion at his disposal compared to Megawati's Rp 17 billion.

Jakarta – Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is almost certain to emerge the winner of the country's first direct presidential polls, has begun to unveil plans for his first 100 days in power. His focus: hot spots across the archipelago and dialogues with the common people.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – In her first public statement since her loss in Monday's election became apparent, President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday apologised to the country's highest legislative body for her administration's shortcomings.

Some analysts are describing the election as the end of the transition period from the overthrow of Suharto to a normalised process of politics. But, if the election is a victory for the Reformasi movement, how to explain the central role of politicians from the Suharto era? This issue was debated at the annual Indonesia Update at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Jakarta – As Megawati Soekarnoputri and running mate Hasyim Muzadi head toward a crushing defeat, signs of cracks in the so-termed Nationhood Coalition are becoming more and more apparent.

Banda Aceh – The continuing armed conflict in Aceh has cost the lives of husbands of 14,000 women in the province over the past 15 years, according to one agency.

The people of Indonesia this week voted for change ... as retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono maintained a clear lead in the country's first direct presidential election. The people's choice faces one of the most challenging jobs in Asia – to help Indonesia realise something near its potential.