SP/Carlos Paath, Ezra Sihite & Rizky Amelia – It was with great fanfare that Anis Matta was appointed the new president of the Prosperous Justice Party on Friday.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A new public opinion poll released on Sunday shows that the job approval rating for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has in fact been improving in spite

Zakir Hussain – The world's largest Muslim organization, with some 40 million followers, marked its 87th anniversary with a musical ensemble and a wayang performance featuring a Javanes

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – Violence remains rampant in Papua as two civilians were attacked by unidentified people in two different areas.

Ina Parlina and Margareth S.

Daniella White & Eileen McInnes – The year 2012 was a turbulent time for minority rights in Indonesia.

Arya Dipa, Bandung – Chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Prabowo Subianto is concerned that despite Indonesia's resource wealth the country has always been see

Ina Parlina and Margareth S.

More than 7,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the National Police Chief and South Sumatra Police release an activist arrested during a protest rally held by farmers an

The Council of Minsters has decided to maintain the ban on martial arts groups after it decided they could cause conflict for another year.

Margareth S.

According to the Ministry of Education unemployment amongst educated people, some of whom have qualified overseas, is on a par with the unemployment of recently graduated high school st

Members of Parliament used the number of roads unrepaired and in a bad condition as an example to highlight what they say is poor and inefficient budget execution.

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – Indonesia suffered its first ever annual trade deficit in 2012 as shipments to most of the country's major trading partners fell during the year amid the slowd

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie has said that he supports a recommendation for the Indonesian Ulema Council to issue a haram edict, forbidden in Islam, to ban meat, fruit

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – The National Police have downplayed a report claiming them to be complicit in attacks against religious minorities in the country, adding that they have take

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – After admitting to having made a mistake in recommending "rape joke" judge Muhammad Daming Sunusi for "fit-and-proper" tests, the Judicial Commission (KY) has dec

Farouk Arnaz – Police in Indonesia's restive Papua province are searching for a man who shot a motorcycle driver in the neck on Thursday in Tigi Timur, in the district of Paniai.

According to statistics from the UN agency and UNICEF, malnutrition in Timor-Leste has risen to 58 percent.

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – An expert urges the Yogyakarta administration to take necessary steps to stop "thesis writing" workshops and their degradation of the education system in

Ezra Sihite – The newly-appointed chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party, Anis Matta, said on Friday that the naming of the party's former leader as a graft suspect was all just a "bi

Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, Surakarta – Activists rallied in Surakarta, Central Java, on Thursday, calling on the Home Ministry to remove regional government officials who abuse women.

Jakarta – The Press Council is calling for a rethink of the draft state secrets bill that has been given priority on the House of Representatives' legislative agenda for 2013.

Wahyu Sudoyo – The recent floods in Jakarta and surrounding areas are estimated to have caused Rp 32 trillion ($3.3 billion) in losses.

Jakarta – In the latest damning assessment of religious freedom in Indonesia, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted the government's failure to protect religious

Those jaded by the incessant string of politicians arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) may take heart in the latest scandal, involving Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)

The high-profile graft scandal that shook the nation's largest Islamic party was first picked up by the media in 2011, when Tempo magazine ran a cover story on irregularities surroundin

Rabby Pramudatama and Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named the chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, a suspect on

Hayat Indriyatno – Thousands of years' worth of carbon stored in Indonesia's peat forests is being released at an alarming rate as a result of deforestation, a new study by UK scientist

Jakarta – Although Indonesia's economic fundamentals remain among the strongest in Asia, "political noise" ahead of the 2014 elections may affect the country's economic growth, an inter

The arrest and detention of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq not only shocked the party members but also surprised its critics, who have longed argued tha

Sita W.

Twenty three farmers and three activists of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) have been arrested in connection with violent protests in Palembang, South Sumatra, police c

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Prostitutes and activists in Yogyakarta are calling on the government not to prosecute men who pay for sex to protect the rights of women.

Dessy Sagita – Misperceptions about freedom of expression and gender equality have been blamed for the growing number of female smokers in Indonesia.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Ramadhan Pohan, the deputy chairman of House Commission I that oversees defense issues, questioned the validity of results from a recent survey conducted by w

Jakarta – In what could be seen as an effort to squeeze votes out of devout Muslims, the Islamist United Development Party (PPP) has declared itself ready to strike a deal with the vigi

Yeremia Sukoyo – The Great Indonesian Movement Party says that there is still a chance that it would form a coalition with Megawati Sukarnoputri's party to support its founder, Prabowo

Ed McWilliams – In a December 5, 2012 lecture at Stanford University's International Policy Studies program (revised January 22, 2

Dion Bisara – Rising consumer income in Indonesia has prompted citizens to shop till they drop and spend more on discretionary goods and services, according to a survey by Credit Suisse

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is seeking the Constitutional Court's (MK) support in the fight against legislation considered to hinder civi

Hayley Davis – Indonesia must do more to defend minority rights and free imprisoned activists to set an example for other consolidating democracies in the wake of the Arab Spring, New Y

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Tolikara Legislative Council member Husia Yosia Karoba was beaten to death by a mob at a polling station as Papuans elected a governor on Tuesday.

Some non-government and community groups in Vanuatu remain opposed to the Melanesia Spearhead Group's acceptance of Indonesia as an observer.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Legislators' recommendation for an ad hoc human rights court to be set up to probe past rights violations will likely be discussed in an upcoming meeting betw

Ina Parlina and Margareth S.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Concerned by the increasing number of communal conflicts throughout the country, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued on Monday Presidential Instruction No.

Jakarta – Bickering between Bank Indonesia and some oil and gas companies has returned to the public domain when the bank's governor revealed that some firms refuse to deposit their dol

Ricky Binihi – If the Melanesian Spearhead Group is the brainchild of the late Father Walter Lini then how appropriate it would be to grant West Papua its MSG Observer Status when the p

Nethy Dharma Somba and Rendi A.