Paulina Quintao – Petroleum and minerals extraction may be seen as an industry dominated by men but Timorese women have shown they too have the capacity to get the job done.

Jakarta – Supreme Court Chief Justice Hatta Ali swore in Zulkifli Hasan of the National Mandate Party (PAN) as the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for the 2014-2019

Kartika Virgianti, Jakarta – One hundred and thirty-two civil society and non-government organisations (NGOs) have expressed their concern over Indonesian democracy which will soon retu

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Five hundred farmers from four subdistricts in Kulon Progo regency, Yogyakarta, staged a rally at the Kepatihan gubernatorial office complex in Yogyakarta

Mohammad Zulfan Tadjoeddin, Sydney – The true level of economic inequality is much higher that its official measurement and something must be done about it.

Wellington (Radio New Zealand International/Pacific Media Watch) – A former prime minister, several high profile members of Parliament and religious leaders have nominated West Papuan l

Randy Fabi, Jakarta – Indonesian opposition lawmakers plan to investigate alleged wrongdoing when President-elect Joko Widodo was governor of the capital, Jakarta, and mayor of the city

Ina Parlina and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta/Denpasar – Eleven of 14 civil society groups invited to join the Bali Civil Society Forum (BCSF), a side event at the annual intergovernmental Ba

Paulina Quintao – The Secretariat of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEPFOPE) has validated more than 22,000 former Indonesian employees to get their pensions.

Venidora Oliveira – Sexual abuse against minors is a major problem in Timor-Leste, according to research by the Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP).

Jakarta – Eleven of 14 pro-democracy organizations have rejected invitations to attend and speak at an upcoming global democracy forum in Bali.

Jakarta – Centre for Strategic and International Studies political expert J Kristiadi said that the United Development Party (PPP) should understand with "political acrobat" played by i

The National Awakening Party's (PKB) central executive board chairman, Abdul Kadir Karding, confirmed on Tuesday that the United Development Party (PPP) had decided to leave the Red-and

Yuliasri Perdani and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Jakarta/Surabaya – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has criticized lavish plans to mark the Indonesian Mil

Bayu Marhaenjati, Robertus Wardhi & Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – Acting Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama says he wants to dissolve the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front after its

Ni Komang Erviani and Bagus Saragih, Denpasar – To ensure the success of the seventh Bali Democracy Forum, police announced on Monday that they would not tolerate demonstrations or prot

Ika Krismantari, Melbourne – Sporadic demonstrations have broken out against the success of the Red-and-White Coalition in passing of the law that abolished the rights of the people to

Hamish Fitzsimmons – Lateline has been told postgraduate students are providing information to Indonesian intelligence about Australian citizens and has obtained photos that are claimed

The press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders and journalists' unions are calling for the release of Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, two French TV reporters who were arrest

Indonesians have seen enough violence inflicted by the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, and witnessed their seeming legal impunity.

The House of Representatives, or DPR, and People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR, are two state institutions through which the people's will is supposedly voiced.

SP/Robert Isidorus, Jayapura, Papua – Nine out of 45 members of the new West Papua legislative council are corruption convicts but nonetheless were inaugurated last week.

There are concerns that the new government will face a period of political instability as soon as president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla take office o

Marsen S. Naga, Banda Aceh – The passing of Qanun Jinayat, an Islamic criminal code bylaw, by the Aceh legislative council has revived discussion on the formalization of sharia.

Bhatara Ibnu Reza, Sydney – Amid recent debates on the controversial Regional Elections Law, the House of Representatives passed the Military Discipline Law to replace the 1997 Discipli

Jakarta – The Red-and-White coalition of Prabowo Subianto is set to gain control of the leadership of the People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR, in a plenary session today after sweepi

Ross Tapsell – The Australian Senate passed a motion last week, with explicit support from the Foreign Minister's office, expressing concern over the imprisonment of two French journali

Jakarta – Gerindra Party official Fajar Siddiq regretted the recent Islam Defenders Front (FPI) rally that turned violent, saying that the violence was unnecessary and would have been a

Amid all the fracas of late, it is hard to believe that things could get any worse in Indonesian politics.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – After successfully securing the leadership of the House of Representatives with the political factions of the Red-and-White Coalition, the Democratic Party is now

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – The Red-and-White Coalition of the defeated presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, is planning to cap foreign investment in the country's banking, mining

Jakarta – Ahead of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) 69th anniversary, which falls on Sunday, activists have assessed that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has failed to re

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – The appointment of the Golkar Party's Setya Novanto as speaker of the House of Representatives elicited disappointment in the general public and concern

Jayapura – After a long standoff, workers at US mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia have agreed to open access to the Grasberg mine in Tembagapura, Mimika, Papua.

Sita W.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government regulations in lieu of law (Perppu), which bring back direct elections of regional heads, will likely face strong

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – As president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is set to announce his Cabinet this month, speculations are rife over who will fill the top jobs at the forestry an

Jakarta – Despite having issued two government regulations in lieu of law (Perppu) to bring back direct elections for regional heads, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono does not deserve

Jakarta – Opponents of President-elect Joko Widodo have successfully gained control of the House of Representatives' leadership and have begun forming plans to install their own members

Jakarta – Hundreds of protesters from Indonesia's most notorious hard-line Islamic group assaulted police with rocks and weapons including a sword on Friday and demanded that Basuki Tja

It all started with a prayer and a bit of jazz.

Jakarta – As investors sell Indonesian stocks and dump the rupiah in response to concerns that the extraordinary power grab in the legislature by losing presidential candidate Prabowo S

Hasyim Widhiarto and Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Overnight, Golkar Party lawmaker and newly inaugurated House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto may have found himself becoming the mo

Margareth S.

Jakarta – Indigenous peoples across Indonesia have high hopes that the new government will award them the management of customary forests.

Jakarta – Gerindra Party deputy chairman Edhy Prabowo has expressed disappointment over criticism by Abraham Samad, the chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), of Setya

Ina Parlina and Margareth S.

In Indonesia, people have always been forced to vote for figures they do not exactly know as their representatives.

Michael Bachelard – Twenty adolescent boys and girls cram in one room of a house in West Java, singing and gesturing in delightfully accented English a song made famous by a giant purpl

Jakarta – Indonesia's central government and the Aceh provincial government should take steps to repeal two new Islamic bylaws that violate rights and carry cruel punishments, Human Rig