Jakarta – The Democratic Party and its 22 coalition partners signed in Cikeas, West Java, on Saturday what they call as a "coalition contract".

The pen is sharper than a blade. This was an adagium used by social observer and woman activist Debra H.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Camelia Pasandaran & Febriamy Hutapea – After confusing and at times dizzying maneuvers by nine top political parties in forming coalitions and tickets for

Febriamy Hutapea – The National Mandate Party continued its flip-flopping over the weekend as rifts again emerged over President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's decision to name Boediono as

Dicky Christanto and Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – All three presidential tickets registered themselves for the July 8 polls with the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Saturday, which is

Ed Davies & Sunanda Creagh – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a clear favorite to win a second term in office in a July election, helped by the resilient performance of Southea

Nivell Rayda & Fidelis E.

Erwida Maulia and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday declared his bid for a second term in office and officially named Bank Indonesia Governor Boed

Febriamy Hutapea & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – On the eve of the deadline for candidates to register for the July 8 presidential election, certainty finally came that the upcoming po

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru, Riau – The NGO Riau Forest Rescue Working Network (Jikalahari) is urging the central government to reform forestry policies and end land disputes to slow the p

Dozens of Bali environmental activists Friday stood in front of the Bali Provincial Prosecutor's Office and Denpasar District Court on Jl.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The number of jobs created rose by 1.94 million from August 2008 to February 2009, despite the country suffering impacts of the global downturn, the Central

Jakarta – The bill outlining the guidelines for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), House of Representatives, Regional Representatives and provincial and regency legislatures has

Katherine Demopoulos, Jakarta – Indonesia's presidential hopefuls must announce their intention to run for election in July by this Saturday, and only incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Lower-income residents of Makassar municipality in South Sulawesi are protesting against what they claim is the administration's "half-hearted" implementatio

Hotli Simanjuntak and Rizal Harahap, Banda Aceh, Pekanbaru – Fifty-five boat people allegedly escaping political unrest in Sri Lanka reportedly arrived at a beach in Babah Leung village

Titania Veda – It has been 11 years since the bloody riots of May 1998 led to the resignation of then President Suharto.

Endy M.

Agus Maryono, Kebumen – Around 2,000 farmers from the South Kebumen Farmers Association (FPPKS) staged a demonstration Thursday in the Urut Sewu area in Kebumen regency, Central Java, d

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Indonesian Muslim voters uncertain of parties' economic policies are more likely to vote for Islamic parties than Pancasila-based nationalist ones, a research s

Tom Allard Herald, Jakarta – The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has shed his customary political caution and chosen a pro-Western and pro-market central bank governor,

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The three Islam-based parties that had threatened to quit a Democratic Party-led coalition, after being angered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's vice pr

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – It seems July's presidential election will be a one-round affair, with incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono looking set for a landslide win no matter wh

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Febriamy Hutapea – Two days before the registration deadline for candidates for the July 8 presidential election, Megawati Sukarnoputri was on Thursday st

The media have danced to the tune of politicians' music in the past several weeks as we have been treated with news about presidential-pair candidates, as if the world stood still.

Usman Hamid and Matthew Easton, London, New York – For more than four years, no case has been more central to the security of human rights defenders in Indonesia than the 2004 poisoning

Febriamy Hutapea – Religion and ethnicity appear to be losing their hold as factors in voter preferences over the pairing of candidates to run in the July presidential race, a survey re

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) did little to ease concerns about its status as a conservative Islamic organization on Thursday, maintaining its strong objections to President Susilo

Jakarta – After securing seats at the House of Representatives, the winning legislative candidates for Jakarta said the newly changed electoral system had forced them to put extra effor

Andi Haswidi, Manado – Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are currently cooperating to repatriate 708 Indonesians, from various backgrounds, currently living in the neighboring country, acc

In a single evening on Wednesday, lawmakers managed to block almost Rp 1 trillion ($97 million) of the central government's Rp 12 trillion package on vital infrastructure spending, part

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' Commission III on Law and Human Rights has pledged to push the government for greater action into addressing alleged human rights violations comm

The killing of Nasruddin Zulkarnaen is unfolding like a soap opera.

Indra Harsaputra and Lutfiana Mahmudah, Surabaya, Jember – East Java Governor Soekarwo has proposed manganese mining activities in Jember regency continue, despite strong opposition fro

Ni Komang Erviani and Luh De Suryani, Denpasar – Dozens of environmental activists staged a quiet rally in front of the Bali Police headquarters in Denpasar on Tuesday to protest the ar

Jongker Rumteh, Manado – Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) executive director Berry Nahdian Furqon and water and food campaign manager Erwin Usman stood trial Tuesday, follow

Jakarta – The Manado District Court on Wednesday refused to try two environmental activists charged with organizing demonstrations without permit and returned the case to the police, An

Heru Andriyanto – Of all the challenges in the country's fight against corruption, the so-called court mafia – where defendants pay law enforcers to get a favorable court verdict – rema

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said Wednesday it would follow up a revelation at the Corruption Court that Megawati Soekarnoputri received a port

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Several political parties have threatened to quit a planned coalition with the Democratic Party (PD) and form an entirely separate alliance after SBY named Bank

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has fractured the field ahead of registrations this weekend for Indonesian presidential elections in July.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Despite an aggressive push by the Democratic Party to forge a coalition with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the latter is still holding

Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) has blamed many of the problems that occurred during April's legislative election, including voter list fraud and the low poll turnout,

Jakarta - Indonesia will deport 15 Philippine activists on Tuesday after they held a protest with local fisherman near the venue of a global conference on ocean conservation, officials

Jakarta – Corruption could lead Indonesia to bankruptcy with statistics showing that in just four months white-collar crime has cost the country a whopping Rp 2 trillion (US$194 million

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Eurico Guterres, the pro-integration militia leader who terrorised East Timor as it voted for independence, has failed to win a seat in Indonesia's parliament.

Jakarta – Internal conflict among the elite of the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has greatly reduced its authority and influence as the nation's politica

Nurfika Osman, Heru Andriyanto & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The families of victims of the May 1998 riots have lashed out on the anniversary, expressing anger that the full story ha

Jakarta – The mothers of people abducted in the late 1990s joined victims themselves at a moot court in Jakarta on Monday to try those responsible for gross human rights violations comm

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – The secular party of Indonesia's president tripled its share of the vote in parliamentary elections and support for religious parties nose-dived – a sign of ho