We accept the reality that our economic development lags behind Asian peers such as Malaysia, Thailand and China.

It will be a miracle if, in the next five to 10 years, Indonesian school children can learn about another Timor Leste story.

Agung Yudhawiranata, Jakarta – The Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) involving Timor Leste and Indonesia is organizing the fifth in its series of public hearings in Dili from Sep

Jon Lamb – On September 12, the new East Timorese government led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, tabled the Government Program for 2007-12.

The manner in which the Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) resolved their dispute through President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's mediation on Saturday does not bode well for

Paul Cleary – For a country controlling a maritime region of 15 million square kilometres – more than twice the size of its landmass – Australia has limited powers to stop unlawful expl

The outcome of Timor Leste's parliamentary election could be seen as a political victory for former President and now Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

It's the season of giving – but you can't give.

Hamish McDonald – Alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summitry last weekend, there was an impressive roadshow from an Asian country that once dominated our regional outlook

Maryann Keady – The current situation in East Timor makes me think of my first year American Politics essay: 'The American President as Actor; the American Actor as President: Discuss'.

Soeharto repeatedly won condemnation from media organizations around the world for muzzling journalists during much of his time as president.

Paul Cleary – Four years ago, then premier (of Victoria State) Steve Bracks led a solemn procession through the main street of Balibo, East Timor, wearing the headdress and rainbow-colo

Tony Iltis – Former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri has called for the withdrawal of Australian troops from his country.

This mountain town in Timor's eastern highlands has known its share of horrors and in recent weeks bad times returned with a wave of violent demonstrations and the alleged rape of an 11

Tony Iltis – On August 6, East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta appointed his predecessor, Xanana Gusmao, prime minister and asked him to form a government without Fretilin, the larg

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – It was President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's third state-of-the-nation address, but whopping figures and complicated words go in one ear and out the other for tho

There was a time when thousands of people would gather to hear president Sukarno deliver the annual state of the union address in person, and millions more across the country would be g

Mohamad Rayan, Banda Aceh – Two years have passed since the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Aug. 15, 2005.

Lisbon, Portugal – United Nations peacekeepers maintained a tense calm Monday in East Timor, which has been rattled by riots, rapes and arson since Aug.

Rory Callinan, Dili – Pedro Belo hasn't slept in two days.

Michael Leach – President Jose Ramos Horta's appointment of Xanana Gusmao as Prime Minister has once again set off conflict in East Timor's streets.

Tim Costello – East Timor again appears engulfed in flames and violence, this time in the wake of a relatively free and fair election and the ascension of the revolutionary hero Xanana

Mark Dodd – As East Timor's capital Dili lay a smoking ruin and starving dogs picked at rotting corpses, victims of retreating pro-Jakarta militia in September 1999, a US diplomat turne

Damien Kingsbury – The troubles currently gripping East Timor following the appointment of Xanana Gusmao as prime minister reflect many of the reasons the country was plunged into polit

David Robie, Dili – Jornal Nacional Diaro is the smallest and youngest of Timor-Leste's three daily newspapers, but it's one of the brightest and gutsiest.

Rory Callinan, Dili – Herminio de Oliveira was enjoying a beer at his tiny drinks and cigarette stall near Dili airport when he heard the yelling from the nearby refugee camp.

The paradox of a metropolis like this is that it's filthy – but no one is leaving.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – After nearly a decade of economic restructuring and financial de-leveraging, Indonesia has finally returned to a position of fiscal strength from the 1997-98 Asia

Footwear, textiles and textile products may be seen as industries of the past, or sunset industries, but the fact is they are the backbone of our exports and domestic economy.

Some strange things emerged from the two massive labor demonstrations against American sportswear giant Nike the last two Mondays.

Rizal Sukma, Jakarta – The decision by the Constitutional Court last week to scrap two undemocratic clauses in Indonesia's Criminal Code should indeed be celebrated.

Ben Terrall – In a June 8 "web memo," The Heritage Foundation called Indonesia "a large, vibrant democracy and a key piece of the geostrategic puzzle in Asia." The right wing Washington

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia is now formally on the vanguard of the global green energy movement.

As Asia this month marks a decade since the region went into a deep financial crisis, one might well ask, what exactly has Indonesia been doing these last 10 years?

The newly passed Jakarta Special Administrative Law can be seen as promoting democracy in Jakarta, though only timidly, but lacks all the articles to necessary to transform Jakarta into

Muhammad Wildan, Singapore – The spread of radical Islamism in Indonesia has led many people to assume that it has to do mostly with the incorrect interpretation of Islam.

Hikmahanto Juwana, Jakarta – This newspaper has published various opinions from writers discussing legal conditions in Indonesia.

Jon Lamb – The June 30 election has resulted in neither of the two main contenders – the ruling party Fretilin and the recently formed CNRT (National Congress for Timorese Reconstructio

Iwan Gunawan, Jakarta – The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seemed to be irritated by independence aspirations reflected in the display of separatist flag in Ambon

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Jakarta – Few issues have shaken the nation as the conflicts in East Timor and Aceh. Both have been resolved, yet their impact on our nationhood lingers on.

Few newspapers gave space for the enactment last week of the Energy Law by the House of Representatives, as its 34 articles only provide a broad outline of national energy policies.

The current brouhaha over the establishment of a local political party in Aceh raises a more important question about the exercise of democracy and equality in Indonesia: Shouldn't othe

The US$1.5 billion civil lawsuit filed by state attorneys against former president Soeharto at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday – more than nine years after his fall – could s

Paul Cleary – A potentially unstable coalition government with few detailed policies and weak administrative ability is now certain to emerge after East Timor's first post-independence

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Jakarta – State responses and the row over flag incidents in Maluku and Papua suggest little has been learned from Indonesia's rich experience with conflicts in Eas

Fabio Scarpello, Dili – Democracy is taking hold in East Timor, but the inconclusive result of recent parliamentary elections is raising the specter of new political confrontation rathe

Statesmanship is in short supply in Indonesia. Our political elite just doesn't have it.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – In an unexpected lurch toward more market protectionism, Indonesia last week greatly expanded its "negative investment list" of local industries to which foreign

The newly-unveiled negative list of investment has turned out to be far from negative.

How influential is a US congressman that he could disrupt security in Papua or, in an extreme case, lead the province to break away from the republic?