Muhammad Kiblat, Makassar – The leadership crisis plaguing the United Development Party (PPP) broke down further at the weekend after two factions faced off at a meeting to declare a re

Ina Parlina and Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Amid public pressure, the Democratic Party is launching a probe into the decision made by its lawmakers to walk out during a crucial vote o

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – Gay sex and sex outside marriage in the Indonesian province of Aceh will be punishable by 100 lashes of the cane under new laws passed by the local parliame

Instead of progressing, Indonesian democracy is regressing after the House of Representatives voted early Friday to seize the right to elect regional leaders from the people and give it

Indonesia's conservative Aceh province passed a law on Saturday making gay sex punishable by 100 lashes of the cane, in a decision described by rights activists as "an enormous step bac

Yuliasri Perdani and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Critics have suggested that the irresolute stance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party in the deliberation of the controv

Yuliasri Perdani, Bambang Muryanto and Ainur Rohmah, Jakarta/Yogyakarta/Semarang – The House of Representatives' decision to scrap direct elections of regional heads has sparked widespr

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Political parties appeared to have secured a lock on regional administrations following the passage of the regional elections (Pilkada) law, which will vest Regio

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – France bans it; Australia has occasional attacks of hysteria about it but in Muslim-majority Indonesia, the wearing of Islamic head covering has grown rapid

The ugly process by which the House of Representatives reached a decision in the early hours of Friday to pass a bill that takes away from the people the right to vote for regional head

Jakarta – Lawmakers passed the child protection bill into law after months of deliberation, delivering substantial changes to the previous law on child protection, Law 23 of 2003.

Rizky Amelia, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Friday officially named Riau governor Annas Maamun a suspect for allegedly taking Rp 2 billion ($166,000) in kickb

Dany Permana, Jakarta – Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) board of patrons chairperson Prabowo Subianto says he is grateful that the mechanism for electing regional heads thro

Muhammad Muhyiddin, Jakarta – The walkout by 129 members of the Democratic Party faction just prior to the House of Representatives (DPR) vote on the Draft Law on Regional Elections (RU

Sabrina Asril, Jakarta – Democrat Party (DP) politician and lawmaker Ruhut Sitompul claims that they decided to walkout before a vote on a draft law on regional elections after being or

Nala Edwin, Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto's Red and White Coalition has succeeded in returning the election of regional heads into the hands of Regional Representative Councils (DPRD) as i

Vanuatu's West Papua Unification Committee has confirmed its conference in Port Vila will now be held from the 4th of December following the National Day and flag raising ceremony on th

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club is calling on the incoming administration of Joko Widodo to immediately lift all restrictions on foreign journalists travelling to the Papua regi

Edo Rusyanto, Jakarta – The Blacksteel Group, a property developer, is developing three malls in Sorong regent, West Papua, at a total investment of Rp 600 billion ($50 million), the co

Jakarta – Around 100,000 workers will hold demonstrations in several cities across Indonesia on Oct.

New York – Veteran East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao said Thursday he's pushing back plans to stand down as the fledgling nation's prime minister.

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's statement that he would refuse to sign the law that scraps direct regional elections has no constitutional basis or

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ezra Sihite, Jakarta – The decision of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party to walk away from direct local elections is a terrible depart

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – An internal council within the United Development Party (PPP) has decided to maintain the leadership of party chairman Suryadharma Ali, following attempts

Adelia Anjani Putri, Jakarta – Indonesians took to social media on Friday to channel their anger and disappointment at the House of Representatives' decision to scrap direct elections o

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Amid the public anger and harsh criticism, the Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra, defended the House of Representatives' decision to end di

Kate Lamb, Jakarta – Fears have been raised for Indonesia's democracy after its parliament voted to abolish direct election of local leaders, a key post-dictatorship reform credited wit

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – It was billed as a scrap that would go down to the wire, a vote to determine Indonesia's democratic credentials. In the end, it wasn't even close.

Persiana Galih, Jakarta – A protest action at the entrance to the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Central Jakarta opposing the Draft Law on Regional Elections (RUU Pilkada) e

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – With only two weeks remaining in the five-year term of Democratic Party lawmaker Himmatul Alyah Setiawaty, she admits there is only a slim chance that the re

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – An Indonesian soldier was killed following an armed attack at a market in Puncak Jaya Regency in Papua on Thursday.

Fadli, Batam – A military official with the Wira Pratama Regional Military Command in Batam has said Army headquarters has decided to replace Regional Military Command chief Brig. Gen.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Administrative Reforms Ministry announced Wednesday that state bodies had performed slightly better in this year's state institutions accountability evaluatio

Sita W.

Jakarta – Protesters from the People's Movement for Direct Elections (Gerpala) held a long-march from the TVRI building in Central Jakarta to the House of Representatives (DPR) building

The West Papua conference that was expected to open in Vanuatu next week has been postponed.

Auckland (Pacific Media Watch/The Fiji Times) – The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) has called on Prime Minister John Key to pressure Indonesian President Joko Widodo to rel

Adelia Anjani Putri, Jakarta – A seemingly simple mathematical problem has multiplied in proportion over the past few days, becoming a topic of hot debate in mass and social media alik

Once dubbed a young, smart and promising politician with the potential to help fill the country's deficit of national leaders, Anas Urbaningrum has instead fallen from grace at just 45

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – The Aceh provincial administration's plan to impose Shariah on non-Muslims has met a chorus of disapproval from the province's minority religious groups.

Ari Rikin, Bogor – Despite the huge benefit of biological resources for human civilization, awareness and knowledge by the Indonesian public of the country's vast bioresources remains l

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao of Timor-Leste, a country which the United Nations shepherded to independence from Indonesia a dozen years ago, told the General Assembly today that while t

Jakarta – Anas Urbaningrum's slow-motion fall from grace ended with a softer thud than many had expected on Wednesday, after the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court sentenced the former Democ

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – The University of Sanata Dharma has decided to cancel a planned seminar on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) issues following a threat from th

Kornelius Purba, New York – A senior Indonesian official warned the international community on Monday that the massive deforestation in Indonesia was partly caused by unscrupulous pract

Jakarta – Hundreds of Islamic hardliners on Wednesday protested against the incoming governor of the Indonesian capital, labeling the Christian, ethnic Chinese politician an "infidel" a

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A coalition of green groups has urged president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to incorporate sustainable development into his maritime development programs, i

Dyah Ayu Pitaloka & Jeis Montesori, Malang/Palembang – Health-threatening haze generated by forest fires hit several areas across Indonesia on Tuesday, forcing authorities to be on

Jakarta – Speculation is growing that the altercation between police officers and members of the military in Batam on Sunday, which led to the wounding of four soldiers, occurred becaus

Margareth S.