Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung – The political impact of the acquittal of former top spy Maj. Gen.

The Constitutional Court's ruling on the distribution of legislative seats late last month deserves applause, as it basically curbs the power of the party system and instead allows for

The gavel was struck three times in the courtroom on New Year's Eve, after the former intelligence deputy was pronounced a free man.

Obama's new intelligence chief ran interference for Indonesia's butchers

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesia looms large in the Australian psyche as a dysfunctional country, besieged by natural disasters, financial crises, terrorist attacks and political and soc

Usman Hamid, Jakarta – 2009 will be the year of politics – electoral politics to be precise.

Indonesia has specifically stated that people's productive years are between the ages of 18 and 55, but there is little agreement on an appropriate retirement age.

Melody Kemp, Nusa Tenggara – In eastern Indonesia's litter of islands, the remote Lembata seems an unlikely site to for a public battle over mining, replete with paid assassins, black m

Alexander Downer – With the death of former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas, Australia has lost a good friend who was also a decent bloke.

Jakarta – Indonesia's former foreign minister Ali Alatas, who died in Singapore on Thursday, was a widely respected figure in the region tipped at one stage to be a possible United Nati

The 71-year-old former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today for his tireless efforts to end conflicts in many parts of the world, including in

Olle Tornquist, Yogyakarta – Today in Oslo, Finland's former president Martti Ahtisaari, leading diplomat and social democrat, is awarded the Nobel Prize for his outstanding contributio

Nurrohman, Bandung – I am rather relieved as I read the results of a survey conducted by the Center for Islamic and Society Studies (PPIM) at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic Unive

Monday was the Muslim day of sacrifice, but for Muslim and non-Muslim mudflow victims in Sidoarjo, East Java, it was just another day of sacrifice.

A key principle of both good memorialisation and reconciliation is that the truth be honestly acknowledged in plain language.

Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung – The spectacular rise in votes won by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in national elections, from 1.36 percent of the total national popular vote in 1999 to

John M. Miller – According to some pundits, US reengagement with the largely unreformed and unrepentant Indonesian military is the best way to promote reform and human rights.

Sara Webb, Jakarta – Hillary Clinton's nomination as US secretary of state could prove tricky for Indonesia, a key ally in Southeast Asia in the US-led war on terror, because of a past

Winarno Zain, Jakarta – As the world economic outlook worsens dramatically, the Indonesian economy will be heading into a dangerous zone next year.

Kelik Ismunanto – After such a long period of time in a vacuum, uncertain of how to respond to change caused by neoliberal economic policies, little by little, democracy movement activi

Amzul Rifin, Tokyo – The government has decided to lower the export tax on crude palm oil (CPO) in November 2008 from 2.5 percent to 0 percent.

It is certainly a very difficult time for companies in Indonesia now and will continue to be so next year, as our economy begins to feel the devastating impact of the financial crisis a

Simon Roughneen, Port Moresby – Speaking in Washington ahead of the recent Group of 20 global economic summit, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, popularly known as SBY, sai

Paul Daley – There has been a lot of disagreement recently about just who said what to whom in serious policy and political discussions over the course of the last government.

Mob power has taken over the role that the state once played in our recent past in curtailing our freedoms – from freedom of speech and expression and freedom of thought to freedom of r

Democrats on Capitol Hill are obstructing military ties

Tom McCawley, Jakarta – Two old rivals are already jostling in Indonesia's biggest political battle, the presidential elections which take place every five years, with the next schedule

Marwaan Macan-Markar, Jakarta – In many crowded neighborhoods of this sprawling city families sat glued to their television sets late into the night of November 8, watching updates on t

Anthony Deutsch, Surabaya – The men bound the thumbs of dozens of suspected communists behind their backs with banana leaves and drove them to a torch-lit jungle clearing.

Akh. Muzakki, Surabaya – About midday a short conversation took place between a young girl (say Rini) and Cholilah, a fashion seller in Tanah Abang Market, Jakarta.

The younger brother of Amrozi, one of the Bali bombers executed early Sunday, said he was proud his brother had never burdened his parents.

Ken Ward – The long-delayed execution of the three Bali bombers ends one of the strangest sagas in Indonesia's legal history.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Blood has again stained Indonesian soil from an act of coldly calculated violence, after bullets ripped into Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas, strapped to posts o

The Amrozi Circus has left town.

The once famous anecdote Petrus (mysterious shootings) probably re-emerges in the minds of many people in reaction to the newly appointed National Police (Polri) chief Bambang Hendarso

Rita Sastrawan, Paris – The establishment of oil-palm plantations in Kalimantan and Sumatra poses the greatest threat to orangutans today.

Susan Harris Rimmer – Will the date October 30 mark the last best chance for justice for survivors of occupation in East Timor?

Tom Allard, Jakarta – For three men who say they welcome death, the Bali bombers have spent a lot of time trying to avoid it.

For centuries Jakarta has been plagued by floods because of its geographical position. For centuries the rainy season has begun in the same month every year.

Ruth Ratcliffe – "They've been trying to solve problems by using only money, but not to solve the political problems through political means, that they've failed", Fretilin leader Mari

Ivana Prazic, Yogyakarta – "You married?" This frequently asked question is one of the most typical ways to break the ice when chit-chatting with everyone from a complete stranger next

Yansen, Queensland – In the observance of World Food Day on Oct. 16, attention was given to the effects of climate change and bioenergy on the poor.

The deadline for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to relinquish its businesses is only one year away.

Preventing the sexual exploitation of children and protecting women's rights are societal duties of surpassing importance. There can be no qualms about that.

Dili – Timor-Leste is addressing ancient land disputes created by centuries of occupation and confusion over land titles.

Dili – Mounting tension between East Timor's government and the opposition and continued regional-based rivalries in the police and army have left the country in a state of "pre-crisis

Eighty years ago today a group of young men and women from far-flung islands assembled in Jakarta to pledge that they would be united under one motherland called Indonesia, one nation c

Matt Crook, Dili – The streets of Dili are quiet – for now.

Sunny Tanuwidjaja, Jakarta – The latest survey by Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI) seems to confirm a pattern of declining support for Islamic political parties since the reform era.

Usman Hamid and Syaiful Haq, Jakarta – In his remarks during the ceremony to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Surabaya on Tuesday, TNI Chief Gen.