Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – As the political party campaigns for the legislative election draw to a close, Golkar Party presidential hopefuls seem to have set their sights against one anoth

James Balowski, Jakarta – The government of Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh last May.

Endy M. Bayuni, Cambridge, Massachusetts – How many people will stay away from the polling booths on April 5, or whenever the general election is eventually held?

M.

Jakarta – The government has completed a draft decree that will be issued in the event that the general election cannot be held simultaneously nationwide or must be postponed altogether

Derwin Pereira Jakarta – A dagger is pointing again at Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung's political future.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Although Kampar has seemingly returned to normal after the recent dismissal of Kampar regent Jefri Noer, police plan to summon teachers who allegedly o

Jakarta – Witness Syarifin Maloko has admitted to obtaining data on the disposal of bodies from the Tanjung Priok(1) incident which were dumped over the Thousand Islands and Snake Islan

Canberra – Parliament passed legislation Monday allowing Australia and East Timor to share revenue from a Timor Sea gas and oil field in a deal that a Greens lawmaker said robs one of t

Jakarta – Approved foreign direct investment in Indonesia fell 66 percent in the January-February period to US$805.4 million from $2.4 billion a year earlier, Bisnis Indonesia reports.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Political campaigning for the 2004 general elections in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, is apparently not as lively as before, in 1999, as can be

A barbed-wire fence and steel gate stand in the way of Fatimah Ali (not her real name) in Bukit Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tiarma Siboro and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Claiming that the number of military personnel remains far from enough to guard the country's vast territory, the Ministry of Defense is draf

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) could use the recent civilian lawsuit, involving an alleged bribery attempt by Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung, to fi

Nezar Patria, Kuala Lumpur – A wooden boat stealthily approached a beach near Port Klang in Malaysia at the end of last February.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Golkar Party's political campaign has fixed its guns on President Megawati Soekarnoputri, stepping up on rhetoric that blames her for the nation's many

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – In this ethnically diverse country, the ideal of national unity is an important way to peace.

Laurel Teo – Decked out in the party colour of blood red, tens of thousands of PDI-P supporters surged into the main arteries of Jakarta yesterday.

Surabaya – The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) cannot be placed under the authority of the civilian government.

Charlotte Denny – Mohammed Soeharto, Ferdinand Marcos and Mobutu Sese Seko ripped off up to $US50 billion from the people of Indonesia, the Philippines and Zaire, equivalent to the West

Robert Go, Jakarta – A former government prosecutor has accused presidential candidate Akbar Tandjung of reneging on promises to make under-the-table payments in exchange for inside inf

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Work at the Kampar district administration in Riau returned to normal on Friday after three days of paralysis caused by protests against its much-derid

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Most voters know how to properly perforate their ballot papers, but they remain so indifferent to the candidates that many of them are likely to vote

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Two Supreme Court judges have risked high-level political opprobrium by criticising Indonesian armed forces' crimes in East Timor in 1999.

Suherdjoko and Rusman, Semarang/Samarinda – The number of tuberculosis sufferers increased to 36,820, with 12,000 fatalities, in Central Java province this year and that number is expec

The Straits Times Indonesia bureau chief Derwin Pereira spoke to Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday on her administration's successes and her plans, if re-elected.

Jakarta – Indonesian Muslims reacted angrily to the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by Israel, with rallies held in several major cities on Java island on Friday in a

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Though now defunct, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) remains prominent in the current two-month changeover period to a new way of managing debt res

Jakarta, Kompas – The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) is of the view that law enforcement in Aceh since a state of martial law was declared is not working.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The elections in Aceh will not be delayed, but its implementation will be dependent on the security situation.

East Aceh – Seven members of the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and two Indonesian soldiers were killed on Friday after an armed clash on Tateh mountain in East Aceh regency.

Jakarta – Indonesia's government said yesterday it would pay its civil servants a special bonus in June but the finance minister has denied the move is linked to the presidential electi

Devi Asmarani, Makassar – Indonesia's most consummate politician, Mr Akbar Tandjung, was clearly in his element.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The National Police have sent another team to further investigate the recent shooting incident in Manggarai regency on the eastern island of Flores, which kill

Steven Gutkin, Jakarta – Indonesian police have obtained a letter that allegedly identifies jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as the leader of the al Qaida-linked terror network J

Laurel Teo – In a country where two in three watch television almost every day, the goggle box has turned into a fierce battle- ground for Indonesian politicians.

As Indonesians prepare for general elections next month, there are allegations that as election fever heats up, political parties have resorted to taking over the media to control it.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – For many young people in Jakarta's kampongs, the 22-day official campaign period this month is manna from heaven – free T-shirts and money.

Jakarta – Indonesian will no longer pay attention to East Timor's Serious Crime Unit (SCU) which has accused several Indonesian officials of human rights violations, a spokesman of the

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung is facing a fresh court case after a self-confessed middleman filed a lawsuit against the speaker of the House of Representatives

Jakarta – Most of the 24 political parties contesting the upcoming elections are not concerned with public demands, the Forum of People's Concern for the House says.

Dili – Tiny East Timor accused its giant neighbour Australia on Friday of breaching international law by issuing exploration licences in a disputed section of a giant gasfield in the se

Haidir Anwar Tanjung and Tiarma Siboro, Pekanbaru/Jakarta – Joyful celebrations erupted in Kampar regency, Riau province, on Thursday, shortly after Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarn

Jakarta – Indonesian police have enough evidence to bring new charges against jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who is scheduled to be released from prison next month, a senior

Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – Arbi Sanit, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, is of the view that the a report by Transparency International (TI) which says that former P

Reporter: Anne Barker

Hamish Robertson: A children's schoolbook which portrays the President and Prime Minister of East Timor as monkeys has caused a diplomatic outcry.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The situation in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam at present is calmer than it has been in recent months, but it is not really very different from other days aside fro

Suwarjono, Jakarta – The results of a survey by the Institute of Research, Education and Information of Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES), show that the Golkar Party has the largest a

The Constitutional Court, established on the basis of the decision of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), is currently engaged in reviewing the legal contradictions that are affec