"Everything was much better under Pak Harto," concluded an opinion generated in a recent polling which has been the hot topic these days.

As the government seeks to lift investment in exploration to counter slowing oil and gas output, it offered 20 blocks on Friday in the nation's first round of tenders this year, a senio

Fidelis E Satriastanti – Sighs of relief from activists on Thursday that a long-awaited two-year moratorium on forest clearance permits had finally been signed were drowned out on Frida

Adianto P.

Made Arya Kencana & Camelia Pasandaran, Denpasar – New data shows that Bali's farmers are steadily being squeezed out as agricultural lands are increasingly converted for use in the

Olivia Rondonuwu & Michael Taylor – Indonesia revealed a long list of exemptions on Friday to a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear forest, a concession to the hard-lobbying

Ismira Lutfia & Nurfika Osman – News coverage and analysis of terrorism should not be allowed to become a platform for extremists to get their message across to the public, media ex

Dicky Christanto, Cirebon, West Java – Members of the recently discovered terrorist group in Cirebon planned to attack military and police targets, according to a counterterrorism opera

Jakarta – Vice President Boediono reprimanded stakeholders, and especially the Remuneration Council, that they should not consider decreasing wages in a bid to increase investment.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja – Indonesia's largest Islamic organization is enlisting hundreds of religious teachers to fight the spread of radicalism in high schools and universities.

Candra Malik, Semarang, Central Java – Six of the 25 men standing trial for burning down churches last February could get away with serving less than an eighth of the prescribed sentenc

Nurfika Osman – Activists on Thursday denounced the Anti-Pornography Law, saying it had been far too harsh on Peterpan frontman Nazril "Ariel" Irham and others like him, but too lenient

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman – Legislators deliberating the intelligence bill warned on Thursday that a proposal to classify the main intelligence agency as a government

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – The newly founded Indonesian Solidarity Society for Justice (SMIK) has named former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as its presidential candidat

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The United Development Party on Thursday quashed a controversial former intelligence official's claim to the chairmanship of the party's Papua branch, but ins

Bakti Buwono Budiastyo, Bantul – Scores of people from Parangkusumo beach in Bantul district, south of the Central Java city of Yogyakarta, besieged the Bantul regent's office on the ea

Dessy Sagita – Efforts to curb HIV/AIDS transmission in the country are often hampered by religious leaders' lack of support and poor awareness of the disease, an official from the Nati

Farouk Arnaz – National Police have officially confirmed that a suspected terrorist group behind the suicide bombing attack at Cirebon Police mosque is directly linked to hard-line Isla

Jihadists in jail: Radicalisation and the Indonesian prison experience – Australian Strategic Policy Institute. May 19, 2011

Nani Afrida – Louis, not his real name, has no physical traits of the stereotypical hard-liner Muslim student: Bearded with a prayer cap and dressed in Muslim attire with trousers somet

Nani Afrida – The tranquility of secular Sebelas Maret University (UNS) in Surakarta, Central Java, was shaken recently when the police sniffed out underground activities tied to an att

Nani Afrida – Understanding the country's violent jihadist movements that have triggered a string of terrorist attacks may not be possible without studying the outlawed Islamic State of

Arientha Primanita & Farouk Arnaz – Indonesian Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring is playing down the hacking of the National Police Web site by an

Fidelis E.

Batam – Despite protests from several Muslim organizations, last weekend's bikini beach party at a hotel in Bintan drew almost 2,000 guests.

Jakarta – The government plans to sell the citizen database enclosed in the electronic identification cards (e-KTP) system for business interests, an official says.

In a vibrant democracy, politics is critical to ensuring the interest of the people is not only met but enhanced through an electoral system.

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which claims to be the largest Muslim organization in the country, has announced that it established a special detachment to counter r

Jakarta – Clad in uniforms sprayed with various colors, high school seniors paraded around throughout the country on Monday to celebrate passing the national exam this year.

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Indonesia may encounter different terrorist foes in the future as universities are increasingly turning into a fertile ground for breeding sympathizers of violenc

Elisabeth Oktofani – Wary of past attacks by hard-liners, the country's gay and lesbian community chose to mark International Day Against Homophobia on Tuesday quietly, with a view to r

The western movies showing in Jakarta last weekend included My Sassy Girl, released in 2008, New Daughter and Blood Creek, both released in 2009, and Source Code, released last April.

Camelia Pasandaran – The government's failure to deliver on promised reforms has led many people to yearn for the days of former President Suharto, analysts said.

The head of an Indonesian budget watchdog said today his NGO would not make a public apology to the House of Representatives, as demanded by the House secretary general Nining Indra Sal

Camelia Pasandaran & Cameron Bates – The United Nations has written to the Indonesian government expressing "concern" about the increasing number of reports about violence committed

Arientha Primanita – The common refrain of "things were better under Suharto" has been given credence in a new survey that shows the former strongman's rule is widely preferred to the c

Ulma Haryanto – Ahmad Masihuddin, Irwan and Bebi are the lucky ones.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has announced plans to investigate the death of Nur Iman, a food stall vendor who was shot to dead in a shootout between t

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued an instruction comprising action plans to eradicate and mitigate corruption, which was met with criticism given the

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – A new draft revision to the corruption law will strengthen the country's fight against widespread corruption, a member of the team tasked with drafting the bill c

Jakarta – Journalists and media activists said on Thursday that the intelligence bill now under deliberation may threaten the freedom of press if the House of Representatives fails to r

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Lack of transparency in labor recruitment and placement overseas has hindered justice and the protection of migrant workers' basic rights, the Supreme Audit Age

Kuala Lumpur – Indonesian labour agents expect to dispatch 1,000 maids to Malaysia every month after Jakarta lifts a two-year moratorium later this month.

Dear comrades,

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Camelia Pasandaran – Saturday's crash of a Merpati Nusantara Airlines flight in Papua in which all 25 aboard were killed has raised questions about the mu

M Hernowo – Case of human rights violations that took place around the time of the fall of the New Order regime have still not been fully resolved.

Jakarta – The National Police Detatchment 88 anti-terror unit gunned down two suspected terrorists during a raid in Sukoharjo, Central Java, in the early hours on Saturday morning.

Bagus BT Saragih and Adianto P.

Camelia Pasandaran & Antara – The National Police on Friday denied a group of Israeli descendants permission to host a party to celebrate Israel's day of independence.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – With limited resources and time and stricter electoral rules, new political parties may find it difficult to obtain votes in the 2014 elections, analysts say