Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The central government brushed off worries Tuesday about the likely victory of a former rebel leader in the landmark Aceh gubernatorial election, saying whoever

Tanja Vestergaard – The elections constitute the culmination of the peace process initiated in 2005 between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government, following a drawn

Jakarta – Elections in Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province have swept a former rebel leader to victory, unofficial results show as officials tot up the ballots.

Nani Afrida and Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – Former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Irwandi Yusuf is leading with over 39 percent in unofficial results from the landmark gubernatorial

Robin McDowell, Banda Aceh – A former rebel leader appeared headed to easy victory Monday in the first elections in Aceh province since the government and the separatists signed a peace

Semarang – Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin has said his organization has no connection with a new political party called the National Sun Party (PMB) which was established by its y

Ian Timberlake, Banda Aceh – Former separatist rebels have no alternative but to follow the political path after laying down their weapons, a key candidate backed by ex-combatants has s

Achmad Sukarsono, Meunasah Bak'you – Teungku Sobirin lost his seven children and home to the tsunami that devastated Indonesia's Aceh province two years ago, but he believes there was a

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Aceh was like a wild horse in need of a brave jockey to tame it, the former rebel leader making a strong run for governor in the Indonesian province's fir

Amy Chew, Banda Aceh – He was convicted of treason and imprisoned at the Keudah Prison in the provincial capital here in 2003.

Dayah Tanoh – Before last year's peace deal, Cek Bi used to lie awake at night listening to gunfire rattling through her village.

Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – On the eve of polling day on Dec. 11, Mutia says she will perform special prayers to ask God who to vote for.

Banda Aceh – Thousands of people flocked to final election rallies on the last day of campaigning for landmark polls in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Jakarta – Small political parties demanded Tuesday they be allowed to contest the 2009 elections.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Former rebels in Aceh will form a political party within six months, opening up the way for their participation in the 2009 national elections, officials said

Jerry Norton, Banda Aceh – Indonesia will soon set the ball rolling to allow former rebels in Aceh to establish a political party and join the mainstream in the once volatile province,

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Dozens of people claiming to be victims of the conflict in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam rallied in front of the Independent Commission for Elections in Banda Aceh

Contents

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Infighting ahead of the coming landmark Dec.

Jakarta – Local elections in Indonesia's Aceh province pose a challenge for former separatist rebels in their transformation from an armed insurgency into a political movement, the Inte

Banda Aceh – A second electoral worker has been abducted since the start last weekend of campaigning for milestone elections in Indonesia's Aceh province, police said Wednesday.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has taken a neutral stance toward all candidates in the first gubernatorial election in Aceh, following a controversy over whether

Jakarta/Surabaya – Two new political parties, linked to the country's two biggest Muslim organizations – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, are expected to contest the 2009 presiden

Campaigning has begun for next month's long-awaited elections in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

M.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Campaigning for the landmark Dec.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Two foreign observers have been accredited by Aceh's Independent Election Commission (KIP) to monitor the upcoming Aceh vote.

Nani Afrida, Aceh Jaya – It was once too dangerous to dine out in Aceh Jaya's Tuwe village, a former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) stronghold and the scene of frequent fighting between guerr

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Golkar Party's demand last week for a Cabinet reshuffle to enable it to place more party members in senior positions has not impressed political analys

J. Osdar – Indonesian journalists roared with laughter when they witnessed the general elections or great election in the Malaysian state of Sabah in 1985.

Banda Aceh – All eight pairs of candidates for the governorship and vice-governorship of Aceh on Tuesday vowed to work for peaceful elections in December.

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – Expectations are high while the possibilities for violence are likely slim in the scheduled December elections in Aceh.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Aceh needs at least 10,000 election observers to help ensure just and democratic regional polls in Aceh on Dec.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Eight pairs of candidates are eligible to contest Aceh's Dec. 11 gubernatorial elections, the Aceh Independent Elections Commission declared Monday.

Banda Aceh – A former Indonesian general and a separatist rebel are among eight candidates running for governor in the once-volatile province of Aceh next month, an election official sa

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Aceh's first-ever direct elections are scheduled for December, yet many eligible voters may be unable to cast ballots because they have not registered.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – The European Union election monitoring mission is upbeat Aceh's first direct elections, scheduled for December, will proceed pea

Banda Aceh – An eight-person team from the European Union has begun monitoring work ahead of elections in Indonesia's Aceh province, the head of the monitoring mission said Tuesday.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The future of political Islam remains bleak in Indonesia, with fewer than one in 10 Muslims saying they would still vote for Islamic parties in the next election

James Balowski, Jakarta – Although still three years away, citing the need to prevent Indonesia's 2009 general elections from becoming "overly fragmented" by a plethora of new political

Jakarta – New political parties continue to surface.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former rebels may lose upcoming direct elections in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam because they have split into two rival groups, analysts say.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – An Acehnese woman is fighting to contest this year's direct gubernatorial election, saying the local poll body unfairly declared her unable to read the Kor

Sutarto, Jakarta – Sidney Jones, President Director of the International Crisis Group for Southeast Asia, estimates that regional leaders' election in Aceh will be safe.

Jakarta – Election officials in Indonesia's strife-torn Aceh province have ordered that potential candidates for upcoming provincial polls must be able to recite from the Koran, Islam's

Jakarta – The challenge of staging polls in Indonesia's Aceh this year should not derail a peace pact signed in 2005 between separatists and the government, an analyst said Thursday.

Jakarta – Peace in Indonesia's once-restive Aceh province should hold even if former separatist rebels running in December's local elections fail to win any posts, analysts said on Thur

Paul Alexander, United Nations – East Timor needs fair elections, reconciliation and a big injection of international aid to overcome the recent violence that battered the fledgling nat

Ramdhan Muhaimin, Jakarta – Although the 2009 general elections are still three years away, 27 seven new political parties have already registered with the department of Justice and Hum

Jakarta – Politicians from different political parties are supporting a move to allow Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel to exercise their voting rights in the 2009 legislative and pre