Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Thousands of former employees at aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia clashed with some 400 police on Tuesday as they demanded to be allowed to resume work.
No injuries were reported in the clash, which occurred in front of the company's factory gates in Bandung.
Indra Harsaputra and Abdul Kholik, Surabaya/Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) and Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) expressed skepticism on Tuesday over the planned visit by Siti "Tutut" Hardijanti Rukmana, the eldest daughter of former president Soeharto, to Islamic boarding schools in East Java.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung has come under fire from within his own party for suggesting that he will accept the vice-presidency after the election for the legislature in April.
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – In the first trial for election violations at the Central Jakarta District Court, a businessman and his four employees were found guilty, but given light slaps on the wrist, for early campaigning that violated the law on general elections.
Richard Norton-Taylor – Arms companies and the government are evading export controls by supplying countries with components rather than complete weapons systems whose sale would be banned, according to a report published today by leading aid and human rights groups.
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The House of Representatives Commission I has planned to set up a working committee of inquiry into alleged irregularities in the procurement of four Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters worth US$21.6 million by the Army.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hailed on Tuesday the Indonesian Military (TNI) for consistently upholding the reform agenda, which civilian leaders had not done.
Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – Allowing ex-political prisoners, in particular ex-members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), to become legislative candidates brings with it consequences for the security forces. The security forces must work hard to ensure that the bad things which happened in the past are not repeated.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court moved closer to restoring the political rights of the former members and relatives of former members of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Tuesday by taking a historic decision to annul an article in Law No. 12/2003 which would bar them from running in the legislative election in April.
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Hundreds of civil servants staged a rally in the town of Bangkinang in Kampar regency on Tuesday to express their lack of confidence in regent Jefri Noer and his deputy A. Zakir. The regency council had recommended that the central government dismiss the two over the weekend.
Jakarta – Judges yesterday rejected a 20 billion rupiah (S$3.9-million) defamation lawsuit brought by a businessman against Indonesia's leading weekly news magazine, Tempo.
The Central Jakarta district court rejected the lawsuit by prominent businessman Tomy Winata because he failed to name enough plaintiffs in it, the Detikcom online news service reported.
James Balowski, Jakarta – "There's no justice for the rich in Indonesia, only for the poor", "You steal a chicken 'cos you're hungry and the police shoot you, you steal a billion rupiah and they let you off", "The Megawati government is hopeless, nothing's going to ever change" – these were the sentiments on the streets of Jakarta on the evening of February 12, after the Supreme Cou
Max Lane – With only six weeks until the general election, there still seems to be very little popular interest in it. Even professional politicians, who are very interested, are focused on possible cross-party alliances, rather than competitive campaigning for voters support.
The man who was sacked as Indonesia's president in 2001 said Tuesday he is seeking a second chance to lead the country.
"I want to show that I'm capable of governing," Abdurrahman Wahid told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference of Islamic scholars.
Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – Authorities in Indonesia said yesterday they believed the perpetrators of last year's $200 million fraud at one of the country's leading state-owned banks used domestic capital markets to launder proceeds from the scam.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The government challenged on Friday the Press Council's appeal for the Supreme Court to abide by the press law in cases involving the media, saying the law was too lenient.
State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif said that the press law did not fulfill people's sense of justice.
Bangkinang – The Kampar regency council decided in a crucial plenary meeting here on Saturday to fire regent Jefri Noer and deputy regent A. Zakir, who were elected for the 2001-2006 period.
The plenary meeting was held in response to mounting protests by thousands of teachers and students in the regency who demanded that Jefri resign.
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Dozens of university students in Kampar regency were seen on Friday "guarding" Sultan Syarif Qasim II Airport in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, in order to prevent Kampar councillors from skipping out on the council's plenary meeting held on Saturday.
The Jakarta Military Command will deploy 1,200 personnel to help 15,968 officers from the Jakarta Police in securing the upcoming general elections.
Lee Kim Chew – Indonesia's National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais is riding on a reformist platform in his bid to clinch the country's top job.
He credits President Megawati Sukarnoputri for the country's political stability, but faults her for doing too little to tackle corruption.
Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB), at a national working meeting here, nominated Abdurrahman Wahid – popularly known as Gus Dur – as its main presidential candidate, PKB chairman Alwi Shihab said on Saturday.
Thousands of Jakarta residents have been forced to flee their homes by flood waters as deep as two metres, officials in the Indonesian capital said.
Wagiman of the Jakarta flood control centre said at least 10 neighbourhoods had been inundated, forcing at least 10,000 to seek temporary refuge in mosques or civic offices.
Rusman, Samarinda – Defying protests from locals, the Samarinda government and municipality council agreed to pay a severance bonus for councillors of Rp 25 million each, a councillor confirmed on Friday.
"The decision was approved a few days ago by the government and the council," deputy speaker of Samarinda legislative council R. Yakub said.
More than half of Indonesia's provinces have been affected by the dengue fever outbreak which has killed nearly 200 people, Department of Health data showed.
As of Friday afternoon the mosquito-borne virus had killed 195 people and infected 10,140 in 18 provinces since January 1, the figures showed. Indonesia has 32 provinces.
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Non-governmental organization activists criticized local administrations across the country, including in Jakarta, for handing out unofficial "severance packages" to legislative councillors at the end of their terms.
The activists said there were no regulations to justify administrations awarding this money or councillors accepting it.
Jakarta – Golkar chief Akbar Tandjung has said he would want to be president if his party posts a strong win in the forthcoming election. There would be pressure from within the party to head a ticket and aim for the presidential post, he said.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Members of the movement to ban contemptible candidates are planning to publish the names of politicians with rotten records by March 11 at the latest to help voters identify the quality of their representatives on election day April 5.
Jakarta – Arriving in two Metromini busses at around 11.30am, scores of demonstrators calling themselves the Alliance Against Rotten Non-Government Organisations demonstrated at the offices of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on Jalan Cisadane in Central Jakarta on Friday February 20.
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Despite the World Bank's recent official criticism of counter-trade policies, last week Indonesian Trade and Industry Minister Rini M Soewandi promised that Jakarta will continue to maximize such deals to expand the country's export markets.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Amid increasing attacks on the press roughly coinciding with the moment President Megawati Soekarnoputri was handed power, the Press Council is now urging the Supreme Court to ask all judges to abide by Law No. 40/1999 on the press instead of using the oft-oppressive Criminal Code.
Jakarta – Publicly-listed retailer PT Hero Supermarket said on Friday its net profit had plunged by 93 percent last year, due to the cost of repositioning its business activities amid tightcompetition in the country's retail sector.
Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – Investors handed a vote of confidence to Indonesia's banking sector on Friday, taking minority stakes in four leading banks off the government's hands for $184 million.
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – Kampar regent Jefri Noer is facing widespread opposition in the regency as calls increase for his ouster.
Jakarta – He is the President's man. Coordinating Minister for Welfare Jusuf Kalla is one of two politicians being courted by Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri to be her running mate in the election. Her other shield, of course, is Nadhlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi.
Surabaya – The government is processing the dismissals of some 700 civil servants for joining political parties, a Cabinet minister says.
Jakarta – Despite widespread public criticism and opposition to the water resource bill, legislators went ahead with the endorsement of the controversial draft on Thursday.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) conducted a major reshuffle with the appointment of Vice Marshall Wartoyo as chief of TNI general affairs, the first-ever promotion of a member of the Air Force to such a high position – second overall – in the military's command structure.
Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government has completed the revised draft of much-criticized Antiterrorism Law No. 15/2003, which will grant more power to security authorities to deter acts of terrorism.
Malang – All government institutions, including state forestry company Perhutani, should observe a five-to-10-year moratorium on logging, while intensifying their reforestation activities, East Java Governor Imam Utomo said on Thursday.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government is going ahead with plans to build the country's first nuclear power plant in densely populated, earthquake-prone Central Java, officials said Friday.
"The first nuclear power plant should be in operation by 2016," Soedyartomo Soentono, chief of the National Atomic Agency (Batan) said.
Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – An Indonesian court sentenced a Muslim militant from Malaysia to 12 years in jail on Thursday for planting a bomb in a Jakarta church that killed one person and wounded more than 60 during a Mass three years ago.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Clarity of functions between the central and local governments, and the yawning disparity between poor and rich regencies have posed a real threat to regional autonomy in Indonesia, a World Bank (WB) study reveals.
Jakarta - Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) Decree Number XXV/1966 cannot in any way be the basis for Article 60 sub-section (g) of Law Number 12/2003 on the general elections. This is because the MPRS decree only specifies that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) is a banned organisation.
Ambon – The commander of the XVI/Pattimura Territorial Military Command (Kodam), Major General Syarifudin Summah, has threatened to shoot on sight anybody to tries to disrupt the elections in the Maluku islands. Direct action will be taken if the situation in Maluku becomes disorderly and control of security would be transferred from the police to the TNI (armed forces).
Makassar – Hundreds of students clashed with police on Wednesday during a protest condemning the Supreme Court's unequivocal acquittal of Akbar Tandjung of graft. No fatalities were reported, but several students suffered minor injuries.
Jakarta – The head of Indonesia's Supreme Court has defended its recent decision to clear parliamentary speaker Akbar Tandjung of corruption. The ruling has been seen by many as a setback for judicial reform in Indonesia.
Chief Judge Bagir Manan also accused a lower court judge, who resigned in protest at the Akbar ruling, of lying.
Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of former Indonesian president Suharto who is currently in prison for murder, testified in court that he gave bribe money to associates of former president Abdurrahman Wahid.
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – A special team of Kampar regency councillors on Wednesday recommended the dismissal of Regent Jefri Noer and his deputy, Zakir, following massive protests by teachers and students in the province.
Jayapura – Dozens of civil servants at the Justice and Human Rights office here have protested for three consecutive days, demanding that the government cancel the appointment of Sukarno as the head of the office, as he was incapable of leadership.
Sukarno has served three years as the head of Immigration at the office.
Suherdjoko and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Semarang/Jakarta – Despite mounting public opposition, the House of Representatives is set to endorse the controversial water resources bill when it convenes for a plenary session on Thursday.