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Muhammad Nafik, Surakarta – Paying money to officials or brokers in order to obtain posts in governmental agencies that require a civil service exam is considered a bribe, which is forb

Muhammad Nafik and Bontank Poer and Slamet Susanto, Surakarta – A showdown between former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and incumbent chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Hasyim

Muhammad Nafik and Suherdjoko, Surakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened a five-day congress of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) here on Sunday, with its senior leaders strongly critici

Blontank Poer and Muhammad Nafik, Surakarta – Tensions ran high on the first day of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) congress here on Sunday as senior ulema at odds over the nomination of incumbent

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) patriarch and former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has made it clear that he is extremely displeased with NU executive chairman Hasyim Muzadi and senior lea

Blontank Poer, Surakarta – Ahead of the 31st Congress of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which will be held at the Donohudan Haj Dormitory, Surakarta, the focus of its members is on the heigh

Blontank Poer and Slamet Susanto, Surakarta/Yogyakarta – The debate on involvement in politics seems likely to dominate the upcoming 39th congress of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the count

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The race is on for control of Golkar, Indonesia's largest political party.

Indra Harsaputra and Muhammad Nafik, Surabaya/Jakarta – Rivalry is heating up inside Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) ahead of its national congress to elect a new leader, which observers say could

Blontank Poer, Surakarta – Days before the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) begins a national congress, many would-be participants complained on Wednesday that they had not received official invita

Jayapura – An alliance of 20 political parties that participated in the April 5 legislative election in Mimika, Papua protested the recent inauguration of 25 councillors for the Mimika

Surabaya – The East Java chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) will propose that the country's largest Muslim organization establish a new political party to accommodate the interests of its

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Golkar deputy leader Marwah Daud Ibrahim said on Monday that she was ready to challenge party leader Akbar Tandjung in the party's leadership election at its 7

Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is having a tough time fulfilling his electoral promises.

Ridwan Max Sijabat & Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Jakarta – We all knew this would happen.

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The Golkar Party, which dominated Indonesian politics under former dictator Suharto, may have lost this year's presidential election but it now controls the lion's share of important po

James Balowski, Jakarta – On October 20, former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono – popularly known as SBY – and business tycoon Jusuf Kalla were sworn in as Indonesia's first directly e

The Indonesian press has hailed the swearing in of the country's new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and called on the nation to give him time to prove his mettle.

Jakarta – As the inauguration ceremony of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla was being broadcast throughout the archipelago, 75-year-old Mardiyem closed the two-and-a-half-page le

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was sworn in as Indonesia's sixth president, promising to revive a precarious economy by personally leading a war on endemic graft while also tackling terrorism

The following is President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's speech, which he delivered at the State Palace after his inauguration on Wednesday at the People's Consultative Assembly:

Jakarta – President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to take office on Wednesday and before long he will have to start working and fulfilling the promises he and running-mate

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – The month between Indonesia's presidential vote and Wednesday's inauguration of the country's first directly elected president brings to mind the classic Clint

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Gloom fell over Megawati Soekarnoputri's private residence in Kebagusan, South Jakarta, as a small group huddled around the television set, hours after

Megawati Sukarnoputri has won plaudits for smoothing Indonesia's path to democracy, but in her final days as president the taciturn leader is in danger of leaving a lasting image as a s

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta/Bogor – Outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri's decision to skip the inauguration of her successor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will bac

Tiarma Siboro and M.

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Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may have won by a landslide, but it is questionable how effective his administration will be because most regional adm

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations questioned Monday the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) commitment to seriously investigate alle

Farish A Noor – Bambang managed to persuade most of the voters that he could restore calm and stability to the country.

Banda Aceh – A rebel commander was among five guerillas killed in new violence in Indonesia's Aceh province, where the government is trying to crush an insurgency, the military said Thu

John McBeth – TB Silalahi was an instructor at the Indonesian army's General Staff College when he first encountered a young Javanese army major called Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

It is a bitter irony that the first direct presidential election to be held in Indonesia has resulted in another general taking power.

Nana Rukmana, Ambon – After a three-day investigation, the Cirebon Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) has ruled Cirebon Mayor Subardi violated election rules by campaigning for i

Jakarta – The US Embassy's election observation team said on Monday Indonesia conducted the direct presidential election orderly and peacefully, without disruption to voter access to th

Mochtar Buchori, Jakarta – While the official vote-count may still be ongoing, it is almost certain that the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi pair has lost the presidential race, an

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Likely president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had little qualms making this promise during his election campaign: There will be no fuel price increase for the poor

Max Lane – Former Suharto-era general Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono and former Golkar official Yusuf Kalla have been elected as president and vice-president in the second round of Indonesia'

Jakarta – Political parties that supported Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Sept 20 run-off poll are accusing him of breaching a pre-election agreement.

Dean Yates, Bogor – From across Java island they have travelled.

Umar Juoro, Jakarta – The early results of last Monday's presidential election clearly show that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will win the presidency convincingly with about 60 percent of t

Devi Asmarani – As the early vote counts began to pour in last Monday, President Megawati Sukarnoputri slipped away from guests at her private residence in the South Jakarta suburb of K

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri has not only been beaten by her rival in the September 20 election in terms of votes.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – As many observers had predicted, presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla would win a landslide victory in the city,

Eugene Low, Washington – Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may be the preferred choice of officials in Washington to be the next Indonesian president, but Indonesia watchers in the US do not

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri is now trying to reconcile with her party's veteran members who had been sidelined as she is apparently coming

The people of Indonesia this week voted for change ... as retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono maintained a clear lead in the country's first direct presidential election.