Jakarta – Indonesia's annualised inflation rate rose to 5.92 percent in April due to higher food prices compared to 5.11 percent in March, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI) was up 0.97 percent month-on-month, said bureau deputy chairman Slamet Mukeno. He said all items in the index recorded price increases in April.
Martha Warta Silaban, Jakarta – Hundreds of students and elements from the social movements held a demonstration in front of the national police headquarters at 1pm on Tuesday May 4.
Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – Although the South Sulawesi chief of police has been dismissed, actions condemning police violence at the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) in Makassar continue. In an action on Tuesday May 4, calls for Indonesian police chief Da'i Bachtiar to resign form his post continued to grow.
Lawyers protesting at the arrest of terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir have won support from several members of Indonesia's parliament.
The lawyers, accompanied by representatives from the Indonesian Muhjahedeen Council which Bashir heads and the Surakarta Muslim Youth Front, met members of a parliamentary commission.
Jakarta/Medan/Surabaya – Thousands of workers across the country took to the streets on Saturday to demand the government revoke rules and regulations that fail to protect workers and their welfare.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Presidential aspirant Amien Rais is fading into the background as his competitors step up their campaigns ahead of the July 5 election.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The political fortunes of Indonesia's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are on a high as his soaring popularity has made him the favourite to win the presidency in July.
Muhammad Fasabeni, Heru C.N., Jakarta – Hundreds of people from a number of organisations such as the Greater Jakarta Student Executive Council (BEM-Sejabotabek), the United Opposition Front (BOB), the National Student League for Democracy (LMND) and the People's Dem Party (PRD) held a demonstration in front of the faculty of medicine at the University of Indonesia in Salemba, Centr
Ilham M, Jakarta – The coordinator of the United Opposition Front (Barisan Oposisi Bersatu, BOB), Dita Indah Sari, says that the dismissal of the Makassar provincial police chief does not mean that the bloody Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) incident in South Sulawesi has been resolved.
Ilham M., Jakarta – On May 3, 50 activists from the United Opposition Front (Barisan Oposisi Bersatu, BOB) held a free speech forum on the University of Indonesia (UI) campus in Salemba, Central Jakarta.
Devi Asmarani – It was a week before the April 5 election and a group of women was attending a workshop on political empowerment in Tentena, a charming highland in Central Sulawesi that has turned into a refugee town after religious conflicts in neighbouring Poso.
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The ad hoc rights tribunal sentenced on Friday a retired general to 10 years in prison for committing gross human rights violations in the massacre 20 years ago, which killed, according to official accounts, at least 14 protesters and injured dozens of others.
Nicholas Gilby and Richie Andrew – The Government says "our position on human rights is clear and unequivocal", and that it "does not want to see British-built military equipment contribute to human rights abuses or fuel conflict overseas".
Jakarta – Around 1,000 workers from scores of different organisations demonstrated in front of the national parliament in Jakarta on Saturday May 1. During the action, the workers shouted and listened to a series of speeches by a number of labour activists.
Istiqomatul Hayati, Jakarta – Thousands of workers came out into the streets to commemorate May Day on Saturday May 1. Demonstrators began gathering at three points in the city, at the parking lot of the Danamon Aetna building, the national parliament and the Hotel Indonesia roundabout then began linking up in front of the Radio Republic Indonesia radio station at 11.30am.
Indonesian police re-arrested radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir moments after he stepped free from prison and said he would be charged with the Bali bombings and other terror attacks.
Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court yesterday rejected former president Abdurrahman Wahid's appeal for a judicial review of a health rule for candidates.
The decision dealt another blow to his hopes of making a comeback.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – City Governor Sutiyoso is under fire with groups lobbying to unseat him.
Even President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is after him and is blaming his controversial policies for the party's defeat in the capital city.
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – A sense of deja vu surrounded the astonishing news that an Indonesian court has once more declared a major foreign enterprise bankrupt, despite its healthy financial state.
Jakarta – US lawmaker who authored a bill freezing military ties with Indonesia following violence in East Timor in 1999 said Thursday an indicted general running for president should be brought to justice for his alleged role in that conflict.
Bantarto Bandoro, Jakarta – To the surprise of many, domestically and internationally, Gen. (ret.) Wiranto trounced Golkar Party leader Akbar Tandjung in the party's first-ever internal election, making him a strong contender for the presidential position. He is now positioned as one of two former generals with the best chance to beat Megawati Soekarnoputri for the presidency.
Danang Sangga Buwana, Jakarta – The deputy chairperson of the leadership board of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Mahfud M.D., has sought to clarify a statement by Gus Dur [PKB chairperson and former President Abdurrahman Wahid] stressing that Gus Dur is not anti-military.
M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – United Solidarity for the Victims of Human Rights Violations (Solidaritas Kesatuan Korban Pelanggaran HAM, SKKP HAM) has called on the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to take the initiative and have an active position on the process of nominating presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Jakarta – In Jakarta, opposition to presidential candidates from military circles continues to be organised.
Jakarta – Urban voters in the April 5 legislative election had chosen political parties known to have a commitment to eradicating corruption and zero tolerance for crooked politicians, a survey revealed on Monday.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The power behind the throne has now retreated even more into the shadows. The President's influential husband Taufik Kiemas and his inner circle are now keeping a much lower profile. In fact, the Sumatran-born tycoon is due to leave for the United States and Europe on a two-week holiday.
A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Undeterred by a possible rejection due to his health, the National Awakening Party (PKB) submitted Monday the name of half-blind cleric Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid as its candidate in the upcoming presidential election.
Kurniawan Hari and Indra Harsaputra, Jakarta/Surabaya – The Golkar Party agreed on Monday to devote its energies to forging a coalition with the National Awakening Party (PKB) to win the presidential election.
The party will also select whoever is approved by PKB cofounder Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid as the running mate for Wiranto, who won the Golkar convention last week.
Robert Go, Jakarta – One reading of the election aftermath has the old guard and the Suharto clan making a comeback.
After all, Suharto's daughter, who took part in the campaigning, had openly banked on nostalgia for her father to bring in the votes.
Andreas Harsono and Jim Lobe, Jakarta – In mid-May 1998, as rioters were ransacking business areas and looting properties owned by Chinese-Indonesians in Jakarta, General Wiranto, then Indonesia's military chief, was approached by his No 2, Lieutenant-General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The legal dispute over a land swap deal dating back to 2000 between the government and developer PT Tata Disantara, owned by former manpower minister Abdul Latief, has yet to be resolved.
An Islamic militant accused of involvement in bombing Bali nightclubs and Jakarta's Marriott hotel went on trial in the Indonesian capital and could face the death sentence if found guilty.
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Ubud, Bali – The malnutrition rate in the country has reached alarming levels since the economic crisis, sending a signal to the government to pay more attention to the issue. The infant mortality rate is currently two infants per minute in the country.
Jakarta – Indonesia's top economics minister said on Tuesday that a controversial bankruptcy ruling against the local unit of Britain's Prudential Life insurance company will hurt foreign investment in the country.
Evi Mariani, Jakarta – A mob burned down two public minibuses and vandalized eight others, following a traffic accident in which a motorcyclist was killed instantly at the scene in Kalideres, West Jakarta, on Sunday night.
Woro Swasti, Jakarta – Two years after it was disbanded, Laskar Jihad is ready to be sent back to Ambon if the government cannot overcome the situation there.
Ambon – Snipers killed one policeman and wounded two in Indonesia's strife-torn Ambon on Tuesday as police and soldiers patrolled the streets to restore order, officials and witnesses said.
Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – Actions rejecting militarism and the New Order [regime of former President Suharto] continue to be organised. At a free speech forum on Tuesday April 27 at the campus of the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) in Salemba, Central Jakarta, students set fire to photographs of [presidential candidates] Wiranto and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
Endy M. Bayuni, Cambridge, Massachusetts – First Golkar won the April 5 general election. Now, the political machinery that kept dictator Soeharto in power for over 32 years has named Gen. (ret) Wiranto, one of Soeharto's protege, its candidate for the presidential election in July.
Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Since the establishment of a special desk to handle cases of violence against women at the Jakarta Police headquarters in 1999, the number of reports filed have been steadily increasing.
The police data reveals that there were 107 cases filed in 2002, but the number increased by 25 percent to 134 cases in 2003.
ID Nugroho, Surabaya – The government's controversial plan for a mega nuclear power plant (PLTN) on Madura island, East Java, has been thrust back into the spotlight by a group of students.
The students from Madura's Trunojoyo University (Unijoyo) began a hunger strike on Thursday to pressure the National Atomic Energy Agency (BATAN) to cancel its plan.
Ambon – Twenty-two people have been killed and scores badly injured in a major outbreak of Muslim-Christian violence in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, medical staff said on Monday. The violence which flared on Sunday after a parade by Christian separatists was the worst since a pact in February 2002 ended three years of sectarian fighting in which some 5,000 people died.
A. Junaidi/Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – An alliance of 17 small parties said on Sunday that it would reject the result of the April 5 legislative election, saying the poll was illegitimate due to many flaws, including erroneous ballot counting and money politics.
One of Indonesia's most senior Muslim scholars has warned that a failure to release jailed cleric Abu Bakar Bashir could result in an Islamic backlash. The Vice-Chairman of Mohammadiyah says Indonesian authorities have come under international pressure to keep the cleric behind bars.
Presenter/Interviewer: Marion MacGregor
Indonesian police postponed plans to question jailed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as a terrorism suspect after he and his lawyers complained that the summons was legally flawed.
"Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest) shouted about 50 supporters of the elderly cleric Monday as police announced the delay outside Jakarta's Salemba prison.
Khairul, Banda Aceh – When contact by Fpdra.com by phone, the general chairperson of the Acehnese Democratic Women's Organisation (Oraganisasi Perempauan Aceh Demokratik, ORPAD), Raihana Diani, said that they reject a presidential candidate originating from the military.
Imran Rusli and Apriadi Gunawan, Padang/Medan – Local residents blamed on Sunday illegal logging as the main cause of Friday's landslide in Pasaman regency, West Sumatra, that buried a bus and killed at least 39 of its passengers.
It is tempting to shrug off the decision by Golkar, the Indonesian party that did best in this month's general election, to choose General Wiranto as its candidate for the presidential poll in July.
Jakarta – Opposition to presidential candidates originating from the military is continuing. On Monday April 26, scores of activists from the Student Action Committee of Democratic Concern (Komite Aksi Mahasiswa Peduli Demokrasi, KAMPD) set fire to photographs of Wiranto, as a symbol of this opposition.
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Reform-minded political parties should form an opposition in the House of Representatives if a candidate with military background gets elected in the July 5 presidential election, a respected Muslim scholar says.