Jakarta – Indonesia votes on Monday in its first democratic election since 1955 to elect a new parliament. A few months later a new president will be elected. The following are details of the voting system under which the election will be held.
Voting system: Proportional representation, on a provincial basis
Total number of voters: 127.6 million
Luciano Alvarez, Dili – For 3 days, Publico accompanied a UN mission on a journey that took them over 500 kms of the disputed territory's terrain: Dili, Baucau, Lospalos, Viqueque and back to Dili."
Dili – The United Nations officially raised its flag in East Timor on Thursday, provoking loud cheers from a crowd of independence supporters and raising hopes of peace in the troubled territory.
"We have waited 24 years for this moment. This is a historic day, and some people say it is the beginning of peace in East Timor," said student Francisco Dionosio Fernandes.
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Fresh allegations of killings and kidnappings by pro-Jakarta militia in East Timor emerged yesterday as a diplomatic war of words broke out between Indonesia and the United Nations.
Hugh Bronstein, New York – Wall Street wants a clear victory for the opposition in Indonesia's general elections on Monday, though a messy government coalition is the more likely outcome, New York-based financial analysts said.
Jeremy Wagstaff, Jakarta – Indonesia's election commission, formed to break the national tradition of stage-managed votes, has been riven by infighting, indecision and allegations of corruption. It has resulted in an election system that, while much better than the old one, is a patchwork structure that falls short of the hoped-for overhaul.
Too many vested interests mean the chances of East Timor separating peacefully from Indonesia are slim, Asia Editor David Jenkins writes.
On a recent Saturday afternoon, President B.J. Habibie sat in his office and talked about East Timor.
Jakarta – Peace held out Tuesday during rallies in the Maluku and East Timor, where hundreds died in recent conflicts, during a round of barnstorming by Megawati Soekarnoputri, but violence marred campaigning in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.
[The following is a report and commentary on the election campaign posted by Joyo Indonesian News by a highly regarded political analyst who prefers to remain anonymous.]
Golkar
Jakarta – Forensic ballistic experts in Canada have revealed that two bullets taken from the bodies of two students and another found outside a Trisakti University building were fired from SS-1 and Steyr AUG-P rifles.
The bullets were recovered not long after the May 12, 1998 fatal shooting in which four students were killed.
Jakarta – The Indonesian military, in a major reform move, announced Tuesday that it had told thousands of officers holding positions in the civil service and legislatures either to leave the armed forces or leave their civilian posts.
[The following is a posting by Tapol described as a reliable eye-witness report of an incident apparently set up by the military to discredit GAM separatists.]
Following the ouster of Indonesia's President Suharto last year, the new government agreed to give the people of East Timor – which was illegally seized by Indonesia a quarter-century ago – the chance to vote for independence.
John Zubrzycki, Dili – Pro-Indonesian militia were planning a military-style sweep on Dili tonight conducting house-to-house searches to check whether voters had registered for the June 7 general election, church sources revealed yesterday.
Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Indonesian troops were deployed Sunday searching for rebels who allegedly killed nine police officers and soldiers in an ambush, the military said.
Jakarta – At least 4,000 people have fled their villages in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh fearing violence following a deadly rebel ambush which left four dead, officials and police said Saturday.
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – United Nations officials arriving in East Timor yesterday complained of a hostile reception from pro-Jakarta supporters as fresh violence erupted in the territory's second-largest town, Baucau, where a man was shot dead by Indonesian soldiers as he took part in a religious ceremony.
Barry Porter, Ujung Pandang – Armed supporters of the Golkar party ran amok in South Sulawesi yesterday, stoning opposition party offices and hurling insults about their leaders.
To her growing legion of fans, Megawati Sukarnoputri can do no wrong, but her critics are not so sure, as Louise Williams reports.
Jakarta – Supporters of Indonesia's ruling Golkar Party clashed with campaigners of a main opposition party in two West Java towns, leaving nine people injured, reports said Friday.
[In an exclusive interview with The Jakarta Post, the co-winner of the 1996 Noble Peace Prize, Jose Ramos-Horta, reiterates his support for the New York agreement on a United-Nations-supervised ballot.
Jose Manuel Tesoro, Dili – While 110 million Indonesians decide the future of their nation, the 850,000 residents of its youngest province await their own fate – in conditions that are far more uncertain, and far deadlier. On May 14, the first permanent members of the new UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) arrived in Dili.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – For the many thousands of rural Indonesians who have begun reclaiming their land by direct action, the country's new-found enthusiasm for democracy means more than a succession of noisy parades.
Mark Dodd, Dili – The United Nations mission in East Timor will remain until the vote on self-determination for the violence-prone province is completed successfully, a senior UN spokesman said yesterday.
"We're here until it's done, even if it is postponed," said Mr David Wimhurst, the spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission to East Timor.
Hamish Mcdonald – Even before the UN Assistance Mission to East Timor (UNAMET) is fully deployed, diplomats and political leaders of concerned countries are discussing the option of postponing the autonomy-or-independence vote scheduled for August 8.
Hermawan Sulistyo, Jakarta – Golkar's nomination of B.J. Habibie as its only presidential candidate has sparked heated debates. But what are his chances of winning the presidential seat? A glance at the expected voting structures reveals the possibilities for the presidential election to take place in September or October.
Vaudine England – Up the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan, hundreds of Dayak farmers have been occupying the base camp of an oil-palm plantation company since November.
Now two of their number are detained by local police and several have gone missing.
The company arrived in 1996 as part of a plantation expansion project supported by the International Monetary Fund.
Jakarta – The replaced head of the official team investigating former president Soeharto's wealth, yesterday expressed doubt the Attorney General's Office will ever manage to complete the corruption probe.
Jakarta – Voting in Indonesia's June 7 general election may be delayed in troubled Aceh province by up to a month because of recent violence, a report said Thursday.
"There is a possibility the elections will be delayed for security reasons," Home Affairs Minister Syarwan Hamid was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.
Raphael Pura, Krueng Geukueh – In his crisp safari suit and gleaming black shoes, sub-district officer Marzuki Muhammad Amin looks the very image of local authority as he strolls this dusty hamlet. With Indonesia's first free election in 44 years less than two weeks away, he says he should be exhorting fellow citizens of Aceh province to vote.
Jakarta – The only Indonesian political party leader behind bars, Budiman Sujatmiko, was allowed to campaign Wednesday inside the walls of Jakarta's high-security Cipinang jail.
Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesia's Golkar party is under fire for using bribery to win votes, but the chief of the Jakarta chapter is very upfront about his tactics.
Purwokerto – Police here dispersed hundreds of Democratic People's Party (PRD) supporters who attended a night campaign rally on Monday. The party supporters had flocked to Saudagaran square on Jl. D.I. Panjaitan when about 100 police came to disband the gathering on grounds that it violated campaign rules.
Yang Razali Kassim – Is the Indonesian opposition's dream of a united front as good as shattered?
Mark Riley, New York – The United Nations proposes sending a team of military advisers to East Timor in the face of continuing violence. The team would join a 280-strong UN police contingent ahead of the planned autonomy vote in August.
Jakarta – Indonesia's opposition parties are certain to win parliamentary elections next month and to take the presidency later in the year, according to an opinion poll published yesterday. But none of the parties had anywhere near a commanding enough lead to form a government on its own.
Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Troops fired into the air in Jakarta yesterday to disperse an angry crowd which claimed the ruling Golkar party had broken a promise to give them money and food in return for acting as a rent-a-crowd at a party rally.
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Golkar will be hoping its election day support will prove more steadfast than that offered by the motley crew bussed in yesterday for its first campaign rally, held in a dirty industrial wasteland in north Jakarta.
Terry Friel, Wamena – Indonesia's first democratic election in four decades has hit trouble in remote Irian Jaya, where separatist passions have prompted some voters to boycott the poll and some ballots may not be delivered in time.
Separatists say they cannot accept the election and are prepared to die for their cause.
Maskur Abdullah, Medan – Violence flared on the Indonesian island of Sumatra Tuesday, with the military reporting six dead at the hands of separatists while a bloody confrontation also erupted between police and farmers.
Lee Kim Chew, Banda Aceh – Fighting hard to protect its turf in deeply religious Aceh, the Islamic United Development Party (PPP) – one of the ruling parties in Indonesia – is going for the jugular.
Tangerang – Dita Sari, jailed for subversion at Tangerang Women's Penitentiary, called for international organizations on Monday to press the Indonesian government for her unconditional release.
Lisbon – Pro-Indonesian militiamen launched a manhunt for an East Timorese resistance activist in the territory's capital, Dili, Monday night, with paramilitary groups surrounding four of the city's neighborhoods.
[A Time investigation into the wealth of Indonesia's Suharto and his children uncovers a $15 billion fortune in cash, property, art, jewelry and jets.]
By Jeffrey Winters – President Suharto opened his 1989 autobiography with memories of his simple childhood bathing in muddy canals in Java. "My roots are in the village," he wrote. From the start of his dictatorship in 1966, Suharto carefully cultivated an image not just of humble origins but of lifelong simplicity.
Pramoedya Ananta Toer – As the Dutch writer Multatuli has stressed, it is the obligation of every human being to become human. Whoever murders his own kind, therefore, violates the basic principle of his existence. And murder, where there is no legal basis, is a crime against humanity. Simple logic, but it isn't simple in practice.
"Not one cent abroad"
Holed up in the family compound in Jakarta, Suharto declined repeated requests for an interview about his holdings. But Hong Kong bureau chief John Colmey met separately with two of the former President's lawyers, Otto Cornelis Kaligis, head of Suharto's eight-member legal team, and Juan Felix Tampubolon. Excerpts from the interviews:
Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prospects of a free and fair election in the troubled province of Aceh are fading by the day, and the presence of extra troops may be a hindrance rather than a help.
"Yes there are several areas in Aceh with problems," said a source at a main independent election monitoring organisation.
[Political and legal issues, including investigating former president Soeharto and the threat of separatism, dominate the current political campaign. Economic issues, including those on foreign investment and the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are barely touched upon by any political party during their campaign.
Cameron Stewart and Don Greenlees – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been advised the UN-sponsored vote on autonomy for East Timor might not be possible if violence in the territory remains at current levels.