Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Fabiola Desy Unandjaja, Gianyar/Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri and her presidential challengers strived to make the most of their "comparative advantages" in their election campaign debuts on Friday.

Robert Go, Jakarta – With just 23 days to go, Indonesia faces critical hurdles that could impede a smooth parliamentary election next month, officials and observers said.

Any last-minute rush to complete poll preparations, they warned, could increase the possibility of honest errors occurring, or even the chances for manipulation of results.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A group of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGO) lashed out on Friday at the government for permitting 13 mining companies to resume activities in protected forests through the issuance of a regulation in lieu of law, or perpu.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – In a land where the school system is rotting and health care is worse, where millions drink from dying rivers while the rich pay cash for Mercedes, it seems only natural that Indonesians have such a deep interest in their looming elections.

Jakarta – Although the 22-day election campaign period just commenced on Thursday, minor political parties scheduled for Friday's first round of campaigns across the country had already begun showing signs that their funding was running out.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – An alliance of 23 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) joined force on Friday to call on the National Commission of Human Rights to carry out an independent and thorough investigation into the Manggarai shooting that left five dead and 28 others wounded.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – The man behind the first efforts to privatize Indonesia's state-owned enterprises, and a staunch critic of the slow pace of the program, has been brought back into the fold to bring state-owned PT Telkom, the country's largest company, back into line after chronic audit problems and market uncertainty.

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – The situation in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, remained tense on Friday following a bloody attack on a predominantly Christian village in the regency a day before.

As long-term readers of this column will have realised, Pierpont is unfashionable. He is white, Anglo-Saxon, Anglican, heterosexual, married and monarchist.

Derwin Pereiradevi Asmarani – Indonesian security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono quit his Cabinet post yesterday after falling out with the President.

His resignation – the first by a minister in the current administration – is the clearest signal yet that he is gunning for the presidency, a move that could pit him against incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri in the July polls.

Jakarta – Following mass rioting at the Manggarai district police station in Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, which resulted in the death of four farmers last Wednesday, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has been asked to immediately go to the location to gather facts.

Jakarta – Public support for incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri has dropped significantly during the past few months while those who backed Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono increased, according to a survey on Wednesday.

Shinta Shinaga, Jakarta – Although indistinct and only in the background, [former President] Suharto is appearing in a television advertisement by the National Functional Party of Concern (PKPB).

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Tarnishing their much-vaunted label as educational institutions, schools are widely prone to corruption practices through unclear school budgets and the lack of supervision by parents, a study by Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) says.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – The names of six popular presidential candidates have been included in a list of rotten politicians by the University (UI) of Indonesia Student Executive Council (BEM).

Jakarta – As the General Elections Commission (KPU) disclosed on Wednesday that only 20 percent of the 660 million ballot papers needed for the elections had been produced, on the same day, President Megawati Soekarnoputri instructed the Indonesian Military, the National Police and the Ministry of Transportation to assist in the distribution of ballot papers nationwide.

Robert Go, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri will not sack her top Security Minister despite an increasingly public rift between the two, a senior official yesterday.

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Thursday he has resigned following a rift with President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

"I have submitted a resignation letter [to Megawati]," he told a press conference.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan said on Wednesday that the police were focusing their investigations into the discovery of five live bombs in a Medan mall on two distinct groups.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Thursday blasted the double standards applied by the United States and Australia in criticizing a supreme court decision earlier this week to reduce the jail sentence of militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and a similar court decision in Germany.

Jakarta – Indonesia's dengue fever outbreak has killed more than 400 people this year and the number of cases could keep rising, health officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry said the death toll from dengue since the start of the year was 408 people, with 29,643 cases across the archipelago.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Some 1,000 civil servants, teachers and community leaders staged a protest on Wednesday in front of the teacher's council building in Kampar regency, to demand that the central government endorse the dismissal of Kampar regent Jefri Noer.

Indonesia will only go ahead with plans to build a nuclear power plant on Java island if the public accepts the project, Research and Technology Minister Hatta Radjasa said Wednesday.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – "From the beginning I didn't want my husband to become a gurandil, because I know how risky it is digging for gold in Pongkor Mountain. But kang Eman insisted, he said he wanted to get some money for a ceremonial meal to celebrate my seventh month of pregnancy.

Max Lane – Of the 19 parties contesting the July Indonesian presidential elections that are not currently represented in the parliament, eight are regarded as critical of the major parties.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Banking reform in the country is still far from complete despite the closure of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), according to a new survey.

US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has charged Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is deeply involved in terrorism after Indonesia's top court halved the militant's jail sentence.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The Muslim cleric accused of a lead role in the group blamed for the Bali bombings is set to be released from jail within weeks after a Supreme Court decision to cut his jail sentence by half.

Jakarta – The central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), has predicted that the country's economy will, in the first quarter of the year, grow by 4.2 percent to 4.7 percent on the back of low inflation, the stable rupiah exchange rate and declining bank interest rates.

David Fullbrook, Jakarta – Unnoticed by most, a quiet revolution took place in Indonesia in 1999. Its consequences were plunging air fares and dozens of new airlines. Air travelers are doubling every three years. Indonesia was low-fare, no-frills way before those shimmering phrases grabbed headlines elsewhere in Asia.

Indonesia's most celebrated literary figure Pramoedya Ananta Toer, now suffering declining health, is pessimistic about Indonesia's future due to the country's "lack of good leaders".

"After [founding president] Sukarno there have only been clowns who had no capability to lead a country," he was quoted as saying Monday by state news agency Antara.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Security Minister said yesterday that he wanted President Megawati Sukarnoputri to clarify his duties, following media reports that she had frozen him out of Cabinet meetings after he decided to run for the presidency.

Anton Doni, Jakarta Post – Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who served as minister and secretary-general of the then ruling party Golkar, during the Soeharto era, was very confident that the new Regional Representatives Council (DPD) would play key role in the country's political system despite its weak legal position.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Indonesian plywood products may be allowed to enter the British market again after officials met with British buyers to clarify allegations the plywood was made from illegal timber.

Jakarta – Four people were killed and 27 injured when police opened fire Wednesday morning on protesting coffee growers in the island of Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, a doctor said.

The victims were brought to hospital at Ruteng after staging a protest outside a police station in the town, hospital doctor Dupe Nababan told AFP by phone.

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – A local government official said on Tuesday that tens of thousands of people would take to the streets of Kampar regency on Wednesday to protest the central government's sluggishness in handling the controversy surrounding the Kampar regent.

At least four people have reportedly been killed and 27 others injured after police allegedly fired on protesting coffee growers in Indonesia's eastern island of Flores.

The AFP newsagency quotes a doctor at a hospital in Ruteng as saying the victims were brought in after staging a protest outside a police station in the town.

Jakarta – Indonesian policemen shot at a mob and killed three people on one of the country's far eastern islands on Wednesday after protesters besieged a police office demanding the release of seven detained farmers.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – When the nation held its first ever election in 1955, the atmosphere was euphoric. The feeling was justified since it was the first democratic election and just 10 years after the nation won its independence. It turned out to be the only election during the presidency of the nation's first president Sukarno.

Cirebon/Surabaya – A plenary meeting of influential Muslim clerics (kyai khos) of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has mandated Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid to run for president as a candidate of the National Awakening Party (PKB).

About 30 kyai, who head Islamic boarding schools across the country, attended a meeting at the Buntet boarding school in Cirebon, West Java on Tuesday.

Hasrul, Kendari – The Kendari General Elections Commission (KPUD) has barred four political parties from campaigning on the grounds that they failed to register the names of their campaigners to the KPUD before the March 7 deadline.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The 24 political parties that will contest the Indonesian election on April 5 pledged yesterday to keep tight control of their followers and to conduct peaceful campaigns.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Journalists, experts, activists and artists gathered on Monday at the Tempo office building on Jl. Proklamasi, Central Jakarta, to commemorate an attack on the weekly by around 200 protesters, who claimed to be from the Artha Graha Group and the Indonesian Young Bulls, a year ago.

Jakarta – In order get a message across to the public who will soon be under a new administration, around 20 children between 7 and 12 years of age from Cijeruk, Tapos and the Bogor Regency, participated in a demonstration commemorating International Women's Day 2004 in Jakarta on Monday March 8.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – Experts warned the central bank against seeking an instant solution to the slow growth in bank loans to the corporate sector, as aggressive lending without proper risk management would cause another financial crisis.

Jakarta/Surabaya – International Women's Day was commemorated across the country with a public call not to vote for any political party which does not promote women's rights during the next general election.

A deadly dengue fever outbreak which has killed almost 400 people has spread across Indonesia, the health ministry said.

At least 30 out of 32 provinces in the country had reported cases of dengue fever to the health ministry on Monday, said Dr. Rita Kusriastuti, an official with the ministry's research department.

Fadli, Batam – The Batam Mayoralty is planning to conduct raids on couples living together out of wedlock.

Head of the social office, Azwan, said on Monday the raids would begin on March 16. The number of unwed cohabiting couples had reached an alarming level in the area, he said.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – An ad hoc human rights tribunal announced a plan to summon Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, to testify in the trial of 11 Army officers accused of the Tanjung Priok massacre in 1984.

Indonesia's Supreme Court has halved a three-year prison sentence imposed on militant Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, a court official said.

The ruling means that Bashir, who is said by foreign governments to have led the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group, could be free within weeks or months.