Indonesia is struggling to find competent entrepreneurs to fill the vacuum left by ethnic Chinese who fled during the May riots. David Jenkins, Asia Editor, reports.
Indonesia & East Timor Digest
Displaying 100551-100600 of 103040 Documents
October 28, 1998
October 27, 1998
Jay Solomon, Jakarta – President B.J. Habibie's plan to quickly sell off up to $15 billion in assets that debt-hit business groups must transfer to the government to repay loans has alarmed the International Monetary Fund, which has privately warned Jakarta the plan could damage the economy.
The lid has been lifted on Indonesian politics – with 80 parties contesting the first free elections in 43 years. David Jenkins reports.
October 26, 1998
Louise Williams, Jakarta – Indonesian community groups have for the first time formally joined East Timorese activists in calling for a referendum on independence for the troubled province, saying the East Timorese conflict remains a "major problem" for Jakarta.
Don Greenlees – Indonesia's promised national elections could be postponed by up to two months because of delays in putting draft electoral laws to parliament and the likelihood of a drawn-out debate over the country's new political system.
To the outside world, Indonesia looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Even inside the country, there are fears that the upheavals of May which led to the overthrow of President Soeharto will be nothing compared with what lies ahead if the new government of President B.J.
Surabaya – Hundreds of people, angered when police refused to hand over to them a suspected killer, went on the rampage in the East Java town of Pasuruan, reports reaching here said Monday.
Jakarta – A group of some 80 people Monday protested at the gates of the parliament, demanding that political parties be freed from the obligation to adhere to the state ideology "Pancasila".
October 25, 1998
Jakarta – Amid a massive show of force, the military warned it will not tolerate disruption of a crucial parliament session which will draw up the political parameters of post-Suharto Indonesia.
October 24, 1998
Louise Williams – It is almost a pathetic image. Once they were the most powerful family in the land, accustomed to trotting the globe in their private aircraft and slicing up the national economy in their opulent living rooms, squabbling over contracts like children sharing out cake.
Washington (Agencies) – The United States on Wednesday banned the use in East Timor of weapons supplied to Indonesia and continued a ban on education and training aid to the Indonesian Armed Forces.
October 23, 1998
Jakarta – The World Bank said Friday that a recent investigation conducted by the bank and the Indonesian Ministry of Education uncovered deficiencies and irregularities in the construction of World Bank-financed schools recently completed in East Java and West Sumatra.
Jakarta – At least five workers were injured and 35 others were being interrogated after a clash Friday between police and protesting workers in northern Sumatra, a Indonesia's human right group said Friday.
October 22, 1998
Jakarta – Indonesian President B.J. Habibie said he would not step down before 2000, as surveys published Thursday indicated the nation had mixed feelings on whether he should hang on or go now.
Jakarta – The government stood its ground during the deliberation of its three political bills on Wednesday insisting that next year's general election use a combination of district and proportional representation systems. Represented by Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen.
Jakarta – The Indonesian parliament Thursday passed a new bill that controls demonstrations and protests in the country, which is being plagued by violence and protests.
Surabaya – Following threats made to Moslem preachers by unidentified people here, journalists have been warned that they will be among the next victims in the killing spree which has so far claimed more than 150 lives in East Java. The threats were printed on flyers and circulated widely among the public in the provincial town of Jember.
Andrew Marshall, Jakarta, – Crisis-ridden Indonesia is not short of worries on the economic front, but policy makers are now grappling with an unexpected new concern – is the beleaguered rupiah bouncing back too strongly?
Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesia backed away yesterday from claims President B. J. Habibie offered to open an investigation into the killings of the Balibo Five during the initial, covert phase of the invasion of East Timor in 1975.
October 21, 1998
By Louise Williams in Jakarta and James Woodford in Canberra – A senior minister in the Habibie Government has flatly denied new allegations that he supervised the killing of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor, but President B.J. Habibie has promised to re-examine the deaths during the 1975 Indonesian invasion.
Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – The rejuvenated Indonesian rupiah broke through the 7,000 level against the dollar on Wednesday for the first time in more than eight months, providing a ray of hope for an economy crushed by crippling debt and interest rates.
Dili – An assistant to the UN secretary general said here Wednesday he has met jailed East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao at his Jakarta jail.
"I went to jakarta to hear the comments of Xanana (Gusmao) on the results of the Senior official meeting," said Tamrat Samuel, the UN secretary general's assistant on political affairs for Asia and the Pacific.
Jakarta – Indonesia's legal mechanism is incapable of prosecuting ousted president Suharto, alleged to have amassed wealth during his 32 years in power, an Indonesian group fighting corruption said Wednesday.
Jakarta – Few people in this country buy the Armed Forces' (ABRI) warning of a possible communist comeback, believing that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), outlawed since 1966, has been used as a convenient scapegoat when no other answers are available according to a survey jointly commissioned by The Jakarta Post and D&R weekly magazine.
Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – The ongoing controversy between one of Indonesia's largest foreign investors and the country's legislators is threatening to undermine the country's standing among foreign investors, and could disrupt its long-term economic revival.
October 20, 1998
Jakarta – Hundreds of university students protested at the Indonesian national parliament here on Tuesday, calling on the government to scrap a planned session of the upper house, the first in the post-Suharto era.
October 19, 1998
Jakarta – At least five students and one policeman were injured after a clash Monday during a protest in front of the military headquarters in southern Sumatra.
Kate Linebaugh, Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund on Monday signed a new letter of intent with the Indonesian government, clearing the way for further release of assistance funds for the country. IMF Asian-Pacific Director Hubert Neiss said after the signing that the new letter of intent focused on the country's bank-restructuring and public-expenditure programs.
United Nations – Indonesia, grappling with a severe shortage of hard currency, has been forced to slash its defense spending and shelve an ambitious military modernization program.
Jakarta - A group of farmers evicted from their land in 1974 to make way for a cattle ranch for former president Suharto, Monday called on the attorney general to take the veteran leader to court.
Jakarta – Indonesia's military chief, echoing the leader of the country's most influential Islamic movement, said conflicts among the country's political elite were behind more than 150 murders in East Java, a report said Monday.
Padang – About 2,000 angry villagers attacked an Indonesian palm oil plantation, burning down all the buildings at the company's base camp, reports said Monday.
October 18, 1998
Jakarta – Human rights activists say National Military Police investigating the abduction of political activists were "powerless" and that the 11 members of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) suspected of the crime were still on the loose.
Jakarta – A three-day meeting of regional military commanders ended here on Friday with a commitment to maintain a distance from all political groupings – a break from New Order tradition where military chiefs very often made policies that favored Golkar.
Jakarta – The People's Awakening Party (PKB) has asserted that it does not support Megawati Soekarnoputri and will pick its own candidate in next year's presidential election.
October 17, 1998
Jakarta – A private Indonesian group fighting against corruption has singled out 79 decrees issued by then-President Suharto over the past five years as flawed, reports said Saturday
Louise Williams, Los Palos – Less than two weeks after the brass bands and media circus of Indonesia's "goodwill" withdrawal of combat troops from East Timor in July, a big barge slid silently to shore under the cover of darkness on the lonely, distant coast to the east.
October 16, 1998
Douglas Appell – The rupiah's collapse from late last year accelerated the economic and political turmoil that knocked Indonesia off the map of global stock investors. Is the currency's recent rebound bringing it back?
Jose Manuel Tesoro, Manado – Manajil "Roger" D. Salahuddin thinks of himself as a small-timer. He has been bringing cheap goods from Indonesia to the southern Philippines for just over five months. The amount of dollars he spends for his purchases often hovers in the high three figures, at most a thousand. He does not fly to Manado from Mindanao's main city of Davao.
Jay Solomon, Banyuwangi – Dariah didn't see who attacked her as she returned home last Sunday evening from the village mosque, nor does she know why her black-hooded assailants targeted her.
Sydney – East Timorese leaders in Australia criticised on Thursday Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas two-day meeting with about 60 East Timorese representatives in Bali earlier this week. The representatives of the East Timorese resistance movement complained that they had been informed for the meeting, which began on Thursday, a mere 24 hours in advance.
October 15, 1998
Tommy Ardiansyah, Dili – East Timor spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo on Thursday urged an end to Indonesian military activity in the troubled territory amid reports of fresh armed clashes with rebels.
Sander Thoenes, Sanur – She has proved she can paint a town red, but can Megawati Sukarnoputri run the world's fourth-largest nation?
Jakarta – Indonesian President B.J. Habibie has issued a ruling ordering officials and government institutions to avoid discriminating between Indonesians based on their origins, a report said here Thursday.
October 14, 1998
Amy Chew, Jakarta – Indonesian legislators have unanimously backed sweeping political reforms proposed by President B.J. Habibie to make the nation more democratic, officials said on Wednesday.
Jakarta – Indonesia's ministry of lands has initiated moves to seize lands owned by fallen president Suharto and his family that were obtained illegally or harmed community interests, the state Antara news agency said Wednesday.
October 13, 1998
Jakarta – Hundreds of university students protested at the Indonesian national parliament here on Tuesday demanding a fair first general assembly since the fall of ex-president Suharto in May, a reporter said.
Sydney – The Indonesian authorities announced on Monday the detachment of four mobile police brigades (BRIMOV) in the occupied territory of East Timor, according to Indonesia's national news agency, Antara.
Jakarta – The government's move to probe into high level corruption cases in the country is a half-hearted effort merely to refine its image, an American expert on Indonesia's political economy said here Monday.
October 12, 1998
Jakarta – A recent statement by a close presidential advisor that President B.J. Habibie's strongest opposition in a presidential election bid would come from within Golkar's own ranks has triggered speculation from political observers.