It may not have quite the power of the image of Nelson Mandela applauding his former jailer, F.W.

Robert Go, Jakarta – For Indonesia's five pairs of presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls, yesterday began with prayers, the signing of a unity declaration, a parade of floats and

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – What is the most attractive catch for presidential contenders in Indonesia today? Answer: The 40 million votes of the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU).

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday launched a re-election charm offensive aimed at drawing support from Indonesia's millions of poor people.

Those people that have been busy opposing the idea of presidential candidates with military backgrounds have their own reasons.

Max Lane, Murdoch WA, Australia – On May 26 The Jakarta Post published two interesting opinion pieces: Indonesian democracy or 'demo-crazy'?

Indonesian troops gunned down 12 suspected separatist rebels over the weekend as violence continues despite the government's decision to lift martial law in the troubled Aceh province.

The government has shut down one foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) in Jakarta and is closely monitoring 19 others, including local ones, citing that reports they have made cou

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has publicly embraced the man accused of responsibility for the deaths of 1500 East Timorese.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Both the Tangerang regency and municipality administrations on Saturday ordered public order officers to arrest city truck drivers known to be regularly dumpin

Sari Setiogi and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A group of well-known national figures criticized the government for intimidating and terrorizing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and ind

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri, in a rare meeting with the press on Monday, denied responsibility for the pending expulsion of the International Crisis Group (ICG) director

Akmal Nasery Basral – It seems that calamity has now struck within the International Crisis Group (ICG), a worldwide institution known for its study and review of national and internati

Leony Aurora, Jakarta – People coming out of the two great arched doors of Kota railway station in West Jakarta are first greeted by blue public minivans, with touts frantically screami

Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – The day before the presidential campaign was to start around 150 activists from the Indonesian National Student Movement (GMNI) and the National University Stud

Dian Intannia, Jakarta – Scores of students from the City Network (Jaringan Kota) have again demonstrated against military presidential and vice-presidential candidates by burning photo

Movements opposed to a military president have spread into a number of cities-some with apparent help from the competition.

Jakarta – Campaigning starts Tuesday for a July 5 election in which Indonesian voters will for the first time choose their president directly.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The razzle-dazzle begins tomorrow.

Surabaya – No less than 500 sex workers operating in six red-light districts across the East Java capital of Surabaya gathered on Sunday for a mass prayer, to pray for a peaceful presid

Edy Budiyarso – The success team of Golkar Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid is controlled from the Imperium Tower in Kuningan, South Jaka

Under the glaring light of the Jakarta Convention Center in South Jakarta, General (ret) Wiranto stood with a sullen face, quite bereft of his usual strength.

Banda Aceh – Indonesian troops have shot dead four separatist guerrillas and captured another in Aceh province, the military said on Monday.

The murder last week of a prosecutor in the case of three suspected Bali bombers has been blamed in some quarters on the regional militant network, Jemaah Islamiyah.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The police plan to question Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam governor Abdullah Puteh would not, for the time being, affect his status as civil emergency adminis

Lenore Taylor – Woodside Petroleum is increasingly wedged between a rock and a hard place as its multibillion-dollar Greater Sunrise joint venture becomes the bargaining chip in an incr

Pamela Bone – Australia gives to poor countries with one hand and takes back with the other.

Nigel Wilson – Australia could face a compensation claim from East Timor for up to $US6 billion ($8.4 billion) because Australia did not halt production in the disputed oil fields of th

Rowan Callick – Two years after guiding his country to independence, East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, is struggling to contain issues that threaten to set the impoverish

Dili – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao returned home Monday from a weekend meeting with former Indonesian military chief General Wiranto to face dozens of angry demonstrators, dem

Peter Cronau: A month ago, the Australian intelligence community took a direct hit.

Dean Yates, Garut – The dramatic rise of Indonesian presidential frontrunner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is all the more surprising when you look at his campaign headquarters in the West J

Indonesia's presidential race gets under way this week, with two ex-generals among the front-runners to lead a nation which was ruled for most of its history by authoritarian figures.

East Timor's Foreign Minister on Sunday criticized his head of state's meeting with an Indonesian presidential candidate indicted for war crimes for his role in the killing of some 1,50

Jakarta – Despite strong opposition from a senior minister, East Timor President Xanana Gusmao is being firm in his decision to go ahead with a scheduled Saturday meeting in Bali with p

Nani Afrida – The Jakarta Post's correspondent in Aceh, spent two nights two weeks ago at the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) hideout in East Aceh regency, after she and five other journalis

Dennis Shanahan – In a David and Goliath scenario, a row over oil revenues is threatening relations between Australia and its struggling neighbour East Timor

Sian Powell – For the East Timorese, it's simple.

Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has given police the go-ahead to investigate allegations of a multimillion-dollar graft case involving the governor of the war-torn province of

Dili – Peacekeepers marked their withdrawal from Timor Leste yesterday, winding down a nearly five-year mission that ended Indonesia's brutal occupation and oversaw the birth of the wor

Jakarta – General Hendropriyono, the chief of the National Intelligence Agency, BIN, has been challengd to reveal in public the information he submitted to parliament (DPR) about twenty

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Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A baby boom is looming large in Indonesia with its much-touted population control programme losing pace due to budget cuts and decreasing foreign aid, following

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The number of people suffering from psychiatric ailments has been on the rise over the past few years in the West Java capital of Bandung, with much of the i

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Many political parties have not submitted the appropriate reports on campaign expenditures for the April 5 legislative election to the General Elections Commiss

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Aside from global concerns over a possible hike in US interest rates, the rupiah's sharp drop should also be blamed on excess liquidity in the domestic bankin

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The contents of a draft domestic violence law are considered so sensitive by the government that it has been reluctant to start deliberations in the H

Jakarta – For the second time in a week, former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has hit a snag in efforts to revive his chances of returning to power.

Bogor – Vice presidential candidate Hasyim Muzadi was met by a rally during a visit to the Bogor Institute of Agriculture campus, where he was scheduled to talk.