Inggrid Galuh Mustikawati – The early months of 2012 have seen several violent land disputes in Indonesia.

Organizing a massive movement of people for quite a long period of time with complex human relations and managerial problems, like the 40-day-long Indonesian haj pilgrimage, is indeed n

Over the last three weeks, at least three surveys have uncovered a growing public distrust of political parties, all because of corruption cases plaguing their leaders and individual me

Razali Ritonga, Jakarta – The labor protests over minimum wage demands that recently occurred in some parts of Indonesia should have been anticipated by the government.

Damien Kingsbury – As Timor-Leste heads into the three rounds of 2012 elections, election observers have begun to organise to monitor the election process and to report their findings.

The money laundering charges slapped on Monday by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Muhammad Nazaruddin, fondly known as Nazar, a former House member and Democratic Party t

Damien Kingsbury – The various contenders for Timor-Leste's presidency in the 17 March election have begun to try to persuade the voting public why they should be elected as president.

Jim Della-Giacoma – Early in 2010, Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sitting in Kabul with some diplomats who had served in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

Agus Wandi – On a recent trip to East Timor, while talking to fishermen on Areia Branca Beach, hanging out with taxi drivers, getting lost cycling in Dili with its new street names, cat

Damien Kingsbury – As Timor-Leste's political climate warms up ahead of next month's presidential elections, many people are asking who is most likely to be elected president.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo – One year ago today, Indonesia hit the headlines with the murder of three members of the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect, by a mob over a thousand strong in a small town n

The decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the conviction of 54-year Rasmiah for petty theft prompted a chorus of condemnation on the state of our judicial system.

Damien Kingsbury – The announcement by President Jose Ramos-Horta that he will seek re-election for a second term in office has thrown open Timor-Leste's presidential race, all but guar

There was no exaggeration when senior Democratic Party politician Marzuki Alie allegorized the conundrum currently facing the ruling party as a "devastating tsunami".

John McBeth, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is in danger of being caught in the crossfire between a newly emboldened parliament and the Indonesian military over

Regarded as an authority on Indonesian affairs, Australian academic Richard Robison is the author of the best-selling book, Indonesia: The Rise of Capital, which looks at the growth of

Marcel Thee – For too many years, local comics have sacrificed their pride and even their bodies for laughs.

Vincent Lingga – For such an important policy reform that has been on and off the national agenda since late 2007, the debates on the need to limit subsidized-fuel sales that dominated

Megawati Wijaya, Jakarta – Draft legislation to redenominate Indonesia's currency is expected to gain momentum this year as lawmakers and monetary authorities push to drop the last thre

The much-anticipated trial of former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin has taken a new twist that may complicate the case after a key witness unveiled the role of powerful

Ratih Hardjono, Jakarta – With so much political jockeying going on among the elites in Jakarta ahead of the 2014 presidential election, the fact that 67 million first-time voters acros

Dwi Atmanta – Thousands of protesters, reportedly from various regions across the archipelago, rallied outside the State Palace on Thursday in another push for long-awaited agrarian ref

Armando Siahaan – If law enforcers would go after high-level corruption the same way they handled the kid who stole a pair of sandals from a police officer, just imagine how clean this

That the lack of proper policing continues to be the biggest concern among the Indonesian people is instructive of how far the country has come over the last decade.

As in the past, the House of Representatives marked the first day of its first legislative session in 2012 with a high-sounding pledge on Monday.

Calvin Michel Sidjaja – 2011 was not a good year for human rights in Indonesia.

Jan Lepeltak – On Jan.

Francis Kan, Singapore – Indonesia's inability to meet the rising energy needs of its businesses, from steelmakers to hotel resorts, threatens to put the brakes on growth in Southeast A

Charlie Hill-Smith – The highest mountains between the Himalayas and the Andes are the snow-topped crags of West Papua (4884 metres).

The trial and conviction of a teenager who stole a pair of flip-flops in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu on Wednesday has sent out the wrong message about law enforcement in the co

John McBeth – When the United States and Australia recently announced that US Marines would begin regular training in the Northern Territory, all that some Indonesian legislators could

Anita Rachman – With 2011 now behind us, pundits looking ahead to 2012 see a year of intense political battles and legal struggles ahead for Indonesia.

Three decades, you're entitled to think, is a long time in politics.

Nurkholis Hidayat – The current state of Indonesian law prompts me to question once again whether the rulers (the investors, political oligarchy, the majority) are the law, or whether t

Nurhayat Indriyatno – The past year offered up a bounty of prime headline fodder, with plenty of people stepping into the glare of the public spotlight, willingly or not, to capture the

Jay Griffiths – I have a hit list in my hand. Fifteen people are threatened with assassination because they speak out for freedom and democracy, against a massacre.

After the completion of a six-month forensic audit process, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) last week announced that its auditors found no evidence of corruption involving the key offici

Usman Hamid, Jakarta – The year 2011 found the predicament of human rights in a state of decay.

Noble mothers, wives and workers, with no troublesome demands – this is what Soeharto's New Order wanted of its female citizens. And every Dec.

Neles Tebay, Jayapura – Papua, under Indonesian rule since May 1, 1963, has been a land of conflict. It has to be transformed into a land of peace.

Oei Eng Goan – This isn't the 1959 courtroom drama "Anatomy of a Murder." It was a real life tragedy that befell farmers in the Mesuji area in South Sumatra and Lampung provinces, where

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed in early October Lt. Gen.

Carmel Budiardjo – According to Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, there are no political prisoners in Papua – only criminals who have b

Catherine Wilson, Sydney – The Indonesian government's offer of development for West Papua, following the crackdown by security forces on a pro-independence meeting in Jayapura in Octob

It has now been four months since workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Papua decided to strike, demanding higher pay.

Ati Nurbaiti, Canberra – As of September this year, at least 26 regencies and municipalities have passed bylaws restricting or banning the Ahmadiyah sect, 11 of them in West Java alone,

Half a century ago, the Dutch encouraged the people of Western New Guinea, now generally known as Papuans or West Papuans, to look forward to independence.

After months of interviews and auditions, which included a tug-of-war within the House of Representatives over trivial procedural technicalities, the House's Commission III on legal aff

Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, Jerusalem – With Special Autonomy unable to address long-standing problems facing Papua, development acceleration is the latest government policy in place in the

Genevieve Woods – In October 2010, Indonesia faced a diplomatic milestone - the inaugural visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) to The Netherlands.