Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties are turning to high-yielding rice seeds to woo an agriculture-based electorate in this year's parliamentary and presidential elections.

Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – Only nine of 38 parties contesting the April 9 elections will get seats at the House of Representatives in Jakarta, according to a number of recent surveys.

Alfian, Banda Aceh – Aceh's leading local parties have promised sharia law during their recent campaigns, bidding to win the upcoming legislative elections and a political chance to rei

Jakarta – With Indonesia lurching uncertainly towards national legislative elections next week, the shabby beer bars and brothels of Rawa Malang may seem like an unlikely spot for a bit

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – Motorcycle gunmen fatally shot a rebel-turned-politician in Indonesia's Aceh province, officials said Sunday, raising fresh fears of violence during parliamenta

Pandaya – Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has painfully lost his grip on the National Awakening Party (PKB) to his less popular cousin Muhaimin Iskandar, following a bitter leadership rift

Christian Motte & Putri Prameshwari – Thousands of people took part in a pro-independence rally in Papua Province on Friday, calling for a boycott of the legislative elections.

Jakarta/Bandung/Makassar/Jambi – With the legislative elections less than a week away, the eligible voter lists are still unavailable to the public in some areas of the country.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – If Aceh's young reformists have their way in the coming legislative election the province can expect major changes in the education sector.

Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – Djoko Hariyanto, a food vendor working just outside the House of Representatives building in Jakarta seemed quite content on Tuesday afternoon.

Jakarta – More than 150 million eligible voters desperately need more information on various facets of the electoral process to make sure that they will vote correctly during balloting

Desy Nurhayati and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Political parties have once again shown that allies and foes do not last forever if interest is at stake, as they continued discussions on

Camelia Pasandaran – In a decision that could trigger mass protests ahead of next week's national polls, the General Elections Commission, or KPU, said on Tuesday that 32 political part

Max Lane – The official election campaigning period for the Indonesian national, provincial and district legislatures started on March 1 and will last until April 5.

Jakarta – "I have promoted you as a legislative candidate here, but people will only vote for you if you have something to offer," a text message read on a candidate's cell phone.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Despite pledges by leaders of political parties to engage in peaceful campaigns, election preparations in Aceh Province continue to be overshadowed by acts of

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesian leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to start publicly testing the water within days as to who his running mate should be for July presi

Jakarta – In a show of confidence, some 100,000 Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) supporters thronged Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Monday in a rally billed as the largest held since th

Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – Voters have been granted the right to know who the winner of the upcoming legislative elections is within a few hours of the ballots closing, a court has ruled.

Jakarta – Aceh's local parties are showing a definite edge in the competition with major national parties for legislative council seats, but are still jockeying to align themselves with

Jakarta – A granade that had failed to detonate was reportedly thrown at the residence of Aceh Sabulussalam Party chairman Alimuddin Jabat early Monday morning.

Alfian and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election bid has gained support from beyond his Democratic Party, but analysts say neither of the recent pol

Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Nurdin Hasan – Dian, 19, a communications student at a private college in Jakarta, was enthusiastic when asked if she would vote in the April 9 elections.

Tom Allard, Kupang, West Timor – Eurico Guterres – the militia leader found guilty and then acquitted of crimes against humanity during East Timor's violence-soaked birth as a nation –

Jakarta – The Aceh Party, the leading local party in Aceh whose members mostly include former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) combatants, has denied it was still seeking Aceh's secession from

Jakarta – Two men suspected in several grenade explosion terrors in Aceh province was arrested in Langsa regency on Thursday and was immediately taken to the National Police headquarter

Camelia Pasandaran & Febriamy Hutapea – A controversial measure aimed at bringing stability to Indonesia's notoriously chaotic multiparty system will likely succeed at limiting the

Febriamy Hutapea – With leaders of other major parties talking of grand coalitions, a confident President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has turned in recent days to some of the smaller parti

Ridwan Max Sijabat – Being number one on the list of contesting parties means little in the grand scheme of the elections, and that is something that the People's Conscience (Hanura) Pa

Khairul Saleh and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung, Jambi, Palembang – Election rallies have provided their attendees with various opportunities, for some a chance to voice their concerns dire

Andra Wisnu and Ruslan Sangadji, Jakarta/Palu – Use of state facilities and the exploitation of children at campaign rallies remains rampant among major parties, the Election Supervisor

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Best case, there will be plenty of lawsuits and demands for a revote nationwide.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Opinion surveys will not greatly influence the decision of voters in the April 9 legislative election, a discussion in Jakarta heard Tuesday.

Jakarta – The first week of the open campaign period saw many political parties rely on old strategies to address the different challenges facing them in the general elections.

Panca Nugraha, Jakarta/Mataram – Student groups have called on the government and the General Elections Commission (KPU) for more transparency over the real condition of their preparati

Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – Tension in Indonesia's formerly war-torn province of Aceh has escalated ahead of April's parliamentary elections, with 16 people killed and dozens of building

Jakarta – The signing of the Aceh peace accord in 2005 has not freed the province from violence involving former rebels, as reports of attacks continue to escalate ahead of the general

Aubrey Belford, Jakarta – A former Indonesian general running for the country's presidency has gone to unusual lengths to shake a bloody reputation for human rights abuse, by recruiting

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – National Police chief Gen.

Markus Makur, Jakarta – Top figures from various tribes in Papua, including a number of tribe chiefs, are fighting for legislative seats.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – A survey released Thursday found that more than 50 percent of voters have not yet decided which party they will vote for in the upcoming election.

Jakarta – A decade after it was established in 1998 by key reform figure Amien Rais and other academics seeking to form a reformist government, the National Mandate Party (PAN) seems to

Halida Hatta, daughter of Muhammad Hatta, the co-founding father of Indonesia, remembers her father's words: Politics is dirty, but politics can be the only way to improve people's live

Desy Nurhayati – With the exception of several major parties and one or two new parties, most parties contesting in the April 9 legislative elections do not have a strategy to woo voter

Alfian, Jakarta – Claims of massive fraud in the recent East Java gubernatorial election have raised the issue of the credibility of the April polls, coming days after the resignation o

Alfian, Jakarta – The chances for an unprecedented meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri look less likely, with both leaders at i

Jakarta – For young contenders like Eko Budiantara, the upcoming elections will serve more as a test-run for the 2014 polls than a chance to win a seat.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papuan voters have expressed a desire for young indigenous legislative candidates to represent them at a provincial level and address the major issues of

Kafil Yamin – The recent buzz about the potential for last week's meeting, between former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, to lead to a coalition between

Tom Allard, Jakarta – The killing of an Indonesian soldier in Papua, allegedly by separatist guerillas, has highlighted the risks of violent outbreaks undermining the country's election