Jeremy Luedi – The successful conclusion of East Timor's 2017 presidential election has been lauded as another positive milestone for the country's fledgling democracy.

Jakarta – The commotion over the Jakarta gubernatorial election in the last six months has been both a relief and a concern.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Over the past two decades, Bangkok has made great strides in public transport, building the so-called Skytrain and a subway in the expectation it would relieve the once-canal

Bec Strating – On 10 April this year, the 2006 Certain Maritime Agreement on the Timor Sea (CMATS) was terminated.

Kyle Knight – The rights of all Indonesians are at greater risk following a Constitutional Court ruling this week that the central government could no longer repeal local Sharia (Islamic law) ordin

Chris Biantoro – Since Suharto stepped down in 1998, and political reform occurring for the last 18 years, Papua has yet to enjoy real reform, as enjoyed by other provinces in Indonesia.

Michael Hart – In the Indonesian province of West Papua, a movement for independence has existed since the early 1960s.

Andreas Harsono – The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health did something remarkable last week: he traveled to the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Syafiq Hasyim, Jakarta (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network) – The ongoing Jakarta gubernatorial election race has made international headlines for one thing: the massive and systematic use of relig

Jakarta – The blacklisting of Jack Hewson, a freelance journalist working for Al Jazeera shows the government's paranoia towards foreign journalists.

Andrew Mantong – When US President Donald Trump came to power, there was widespread concern that the United States' image in Muslim-majority Indonesia would fall to pre-Obama levels.

Stephen Grenville – In October 2018 Indonesia will host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Jon Emontmarch, Jakarta, Indonesia – Crowned with spiky feathered headdresses and daubed with face paint, scores of protesters gathered outside the Jakarta offices of an American mining giant last

Sue Ingram – Last week, Francisco Guterres became Timor-Leste's first party-affiliated president.

Jokowi should show political will, not just rhetorical support

Jonas Guterres and Khoo Ying Hooi – The March 20 presidential election was the first election held in Timor-Leste without assistance from the international community since the United Nations (UN) M

Damien Kingsbury – East Timor's presidential election looks to have produced a strong victory for Fretilin's serial candidate, Francisco Guterres, known as Lu-Olo.

Michael Leach – The count so far in Timor-Leste's presidential election appears to have delivered a decisive victory for FRETILIN's Francisco 'Lu Olo' Guterres.

Flavio Simoes – The big day has finally arrived for voters all across Timor-Leste and, for the first time since the restoration of independence in 2002, for Timorese also living in Australia and Po

Damien Kingsbury – East Timor goes to the polls on today to elect a new president.

Gobie Rajalingam, Susan Marx – Politics in Timor-Leste is always engaging and colorful, and the lead-up to the 2017 presidential election on March 20 is no exception.

Andreas Harsono, Indonesia Researcher – A coalition of Pacific island states is urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate human rights abuses in Indonesia's easternmost province

Khoo Ying Hooi – Timor-Leste's 15 years of independence have been marked by a mixed performance of progress and crisis.

David Hutt – Politicians must sometime feel as though they can never win.

Chong Wu Ling – In the 2010 Medan mayoral election Chinese contestant Sofyan Tan was the victim of a concerted campaign against him based on religious identity.

Ahok's returns in yesterday's vote for governor show that pluralism and tolerance aren't quite yet sunk in the nation's capital.

A conservative turn in Indonesian Islam helps explain why issues like religion and blasphemy have shaped Jakarta's election and plagued incumbent governor Ahok.

The ongoing trial against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama for alleged blasphemy is not just a matter of religion and politics – Indonesians' sense of honour and relationships are at

Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo – How much will religion influence the choice of voters in the Jakarta gubernatorial election scheduled for 15 February?

Indonesian democracy remains susceptible to illiberal tendencies, particularly when politicians use ethno-religious issues as a cudgel in campaigning, instead of their track records and policies, w

M.

Timor-Leste has terminated one of its maritime treaties with Australia in a bid to find common ground over the disputed Greater Sunrise gas field. But will the move backfire?

Despite claims of progress and reform, East Timor's government is not putting the needs of its population first in planning for a future without oil propping up its economy.

Wahyu Susilo – In May 2015, the Indonesian government announced a permanent ban on sending domestic workers to 21 mainly Middle East countries.

Dan McGarry, Port Vila – Last month, New Zealand-based analyst Jose Sousa-Santos commented on Twitter that "Indonesia's attempt at buying support from the Pacific region seems to have little to no

Tim Lindsey – It began with a statement by the spokesman for the commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), General Gatot Nurmantyo, that defence cooperation with Australia had been suspended

East Timor and Australia have agreed to a new maritime border which would give East Timor control of a $40 billion oil field. But not everyone is happy.

Recent reports of a suspension of military cooperation between Indonesia and Australia were wildly exaggerated, but they emphasise the importance of proper intercountry linguistic, cultural and pol

Willem van der Muur – Three years have already passed since the Indonesian Constitutional Court ruled that indigenous adat forests are not part of state-owned forest.

Hendri Yulius – In the last year there have been consistent legal efforts to outlaw same-sex practices and LGBT identity in Indonesia.

David Hutt – With much of the population living in poverty and oil wealth running dry, Timor-Leste's upcoming elections could be the public's most important decision since independence

Hands up anyone who believes that the Sunrise gas project in the waters that separate Australia from East Timor will be developed in their lifetime, a challenge that Slugcatcher extends to any chil

Steve Bracks – The revelation this week that Australia will negotiate a maritime boundary with Timor-Leste represents a significant and welcome policy shift within the Australian Government.

Bec Strating – On Monday, a joint statement from the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia announced that Timor-Leste planned to officially notify Australia that it wished to terminate the 2006

Tom Clarke – Australia's dodgy oil and gas treaty with East Timor is dead. Now it's time to negotiate fair and permanent maritime boundaries with our tiny neighbour.

John Martinkus – East Timor's cancellation of the 2006 Treaty between Australia and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS), which centres o

Hopes of a clean slate in developing the gas riches of the Timor Sea have now shifted to the international courts in The Hague.

Rebecca Strating – The government of Timor-Leste has officially notified Australia of its wish to terminate the 2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS).

Damien Kingsbury – East Timor has won a significant moral victory in the Timor Sea dispute, with Australia agreeing to scrap the controversial 2006 Timor Sea treaty.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Hardly any other element exerts the same level of attraction for mankind than gold.