Marcus W. Brauchli, Jakarta – For a generation, the World Bank considered this sprawling archipelago's rise from poverty its great triumph. Now Indonesia's unraveling is raising questions about the World Bank's long forbearance of the regime of former President Suharto.

Jakarta – Observers have blasted Golkar's huge executive lineup, saying it was comprised of people affiliated to the government and that it was too big thus making it too cumbersome to meet with the swift challenges of the future. "Just look at the lineup, it is still government-oriented," social observer Mochtar Buchori told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's ruling Golkar party on Saturday elected the country's State Secretary Akbar Tanjung as its new leader and officially snapped its last links with discredited former president Suharto. The result of the leadership vote was greeted with cheers and hailed as a victory for the party, which many had predicted could not survive in the post-Suharto era.

Louise Williams – "These are primitive people," said the Indonesian military officer of the tribespeople of the pristine forests and coastal mangrove swamps of the remote province of Irian Jaya.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, has strongly defended Canberra's military links with Indonesia as useful channels for urging restraint, despite revelations that Indonesian troops were involved in kidnapping and torturing democracy activists.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights put the blame squarely on the government yesterday for the rampant rapes and sexual assaults during riots in Jakarta and other cities in May, denouncing its attitude toward the victims as "insensitive".

Jay Solomon, Sumber Wungu – Unbowed by his poverty, the village elder is more than happy to display his menu for the day: processed cassava root, perhaps some corn – and grasshopper.

Jakarta – Following the retaking of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters by pro-Megawati Sukarnoputri PDI supporters the day before in Jakarta and Sumut [North Sumatra], on Friday afternoon, July 10, thousands of pro-Megawati PDI supporters simultaneously attacked and retook five branch offices in Jakarta.

Jakarta – More than 10,000 workers from 14 companies in the Jakarta area have gone on strike to demand an increase in the minimum wage, today's Jakarta Post quoted a labor activist as saying.

Jakarta – Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Harmoko swore in 27 new members yesterday, 24 of whom represent the dominant political group Golkar. Some of the new appointments are politicians and public figures known to be close to President B.J. Habibie, including his aide, political scientist Dewi Fortuna Anwar, and cabinet ministers Theo L.

Jakarta – About 2000 becak (pedicab) drivers pedaled their three-wheeled vehicles to Jakarta City Hall yesterday morning to urge the authorities to allow them to operate in the city's alleys and narrow streets.

Jakarta – Prosecutors at the military tribunal investigating the Trisakti shooting incident demanded prison sentences for two police officers who ordered their men to shoot into the crowd of demonstrators. They requested a 10 month jail term for First Lt. Agus Tri Heryanto and a seven month sentence for Second Lt. Pariyo.

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – Indonesia's food situation has worsened in recent months and it is likely the key August harvest of rice, the country's staple, will fall below target, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

Louise Williams – Thousands of protesting tribespeople in the remote Baliem Valley raised an independence flag early this morning, as pro-independence demonstrations in Irian Jaya widened despite a bloody police crackdown at a similar ceremony on the island of Biak yesterday.

Stevie Emilia, Jakarta – More pollution. That's the first thing that comes to mind after learning that the city plans to suspend its environmental programs due to its limited budget.

Jakarta – Indonesian troops may have killed as many as five people and wounded 141 when they opened fire on a crowd which raised a separatist flag in Irian Jaya province, church and human rights sources said Tuesday.

[Message received from NGO in North Sulawesi dated July 1 - translated.]

More than 300 young Minahasans (one of the peoples of N. Sulawesi) protested about the presence of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya – the largest gold mine in North Sulawesi located at the village of Ratatotok. A group of "reformists" occupied part of the mine for more than 7 hours.

Jakarta – Students prevented police entering a campus in Irian Jaya Monday to investigate a shooting at a pro-independence rally amid fears over the honesty of the probe, witnesses said. More than 80 students stood guard at the Cendrawasih (UNCEN) University campus where law student Steven Suripatty was shot and seriously wounded Friday during a rally.

[This is a slightly summarised translation of an account of events in Sorong, West Papua on 2 July by IHRSTAD, the Jayapura-based Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy - Tapol.]

Kate Beddall, Jakarta, – Indonesian security forces fired rubber bullets to disperse around 700 pro-independence demonstrators in the remote province of Irian Jaya on Monday, wounding 24 people, the official Antara news agency said.

Jakarta – A Coalition of the Democratic Movement (Koalisi Garakan Demokrasi), which will gather together political [opposition] figures outside of the government, will soon form a pressure group and "moral force" to push for total reform.

Amy Chew, Jakarta – Social pressures are building in Indonesia, where nearly half the population is forecast to be living below the poverty line by the end of the year as jobs dry up and prices soar.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – On the first day the strike seemed pretty ordinary: hundreds of steel workers milling outside the factory gates on the industrial fringe of Jakarta demanding better food, time off to pray and better wages to cope with rocketing prices.

Jakarta - The Indonesian military has apologized for shooting at and wounding students during a pro-independence demonstration in the remote province of Irian Jaya, witnesses and press reports said Saturday. Local military commander Colonel Samuel Josef made a public apology Friday in the provincial capital of Jayapura, where the shooting took place, the Kompas daily said.

Jakarta – Leading human rights campaigners have dismissed a bill on street protests as the government's bid to restrict citizens' rights to freely express ideas rather than a serious effort to respect freedom of expression.

Jakarta – Three hundred workers dismissed or laid-off from 22 companies in the Greater Jakarta area demonstrated again yesterday demanding that Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris step down for failing to help them.

Jakarta – Since Monday June 29, thousands of traders in the village of Kerang Tengah, in the sub-district of Ciledung, Tangerang, have occupied nine hectors of land owned by PT Bogasari. The same thing was done by thousands of traders from North Jakarta on land owned by PT Subentra in the village of Harjamukti Cimanggis in Bogor, West Java.

Jakarta – The Ministry of Manpower announced yesterday it will increase minimum wages by an average of 15 percent from August 1. The move is intended to arrest the decline in real wages caused by soaring inflation, Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards Mohammad Syaufii Samsuddin said.

Andrew Marshall, Jakarta – Indonesia is on the edge of an abyss. The country is lurching towards economic disintegration, analysts say, and the only thing that can halt its catastrophic decline is a return of the investor confidence which collapsed last year to set the crisis in motion.

Margot Cohen, Pekanbaru, Riau – A tribal leader reaches over to grasp the gnarled, arthritic hand of a local elder. He straightens one finger and holds it upright. "This is good politics," he announces to the illiterate men, women and children crouched around him on the bare wooden floor. They nod their heads and smile shyly.

Jakarta – Indonesia's leading independent trade union has called off all planned demonstrations following appeals from the public and businessmen, its leader said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Hundreds rioted against a local leader on an eastern Indonesian island on Monday, as sporadic violence hit the country for the second day, news reports said yesterday.

Jakarta – Troops yesterday opened fire with rubber bullets on more than 1,000 workers who were demonstrating for better pay and conditions at a steel factory in Jakarta's Bekasi district, slightly injuring 23 people, residents and police said.

[In July we interviewed Muhammad Ma'ruf, chief-editor of Pembebasan-Liberation, paper of the Indonesian PRD.]

What is the meaning of the May unrest in Indonesia which led to the downfall of Suharto?

[Belgian trade union activist Mark Slane visited Indonesia in July. These are his impressions on the development of the working class movement after the May events.]

Jakarta – President BJ Habibie has recalled 41 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) members, part of whom were former high-ranking government officials in former president Soeharto's administration.

In July we interviewed Muhammad Ma'ruf, chief-editor of Pembebasan-Liberation, paper of the Indonesian PRD.

What is the meaning of the May unrest in Indonesia which led to the downfall of Suharto?

Jakarta – Police and soldiers fired rubber bullets on thousands of steel workers staging a violent protest in a West Java town Tuesday, injuring dozens of people.

Jakarta – Minister of Defense and Security Affairs/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto admitted yesterday he is still personally close to former president Soeharto but insisted the relationship did not influence Armed Forces decision-making.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Indonesian soldiers were involved in the disappearances of pro-democracy activists earlier this year, the Commander of the Armed Forces, General Wiranto, has conceded after months of official denials that the military was linked to the abductions, torture and illegal detentions.

Christopher Torchia, Jakarta – When traffic lights blink red at big intersections, beggars, vendors and street musicians swarm around cars, insistently tapping on rolled-up windows. Cadgers abound now in Jakarta, the jobless victims of a yearlong economic crisis in Asia that refuses to let up. Most evenings, two dozen hustlers jostle on a curb near a cluster of luxury hotels.

Jakarta – Government officials and entrepreneurs involved in corruption, collusion and nepotism are parking their money overseas, a newspaper here has reported.

Sander Thoenes, Jakarta – Indonesia will need to use taxpayers' money to bail out some of its banks, further depleting a budget already saddled with an 8.5 per cent deficit, according to a senior International Monetary Fund official.

Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament Monday approved a proposal to hold a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to change electoral laws and set the date for general elections. The proposal was made by President B.J. Habibie.

North Sumatra – Members of the parliamentary (DPR) fact-finding team in Aceh held a meeting at the office of the NGO, WALHI, in Bandar Aceh to receive testimony from victims of violations in Aceh. They were moved to tears from some of the testimony they heard.

London – During the past week, the Habibie regime has announced two measures which it hopes will persuade the international community that it is dedicated to upholding human rights and to a switch in policy towards East Timor. On Friday 24 July, the Justice Minister Muladi announced the release of fifty political prisoners.

Jakarta – Indonesia's government has confiscated millions of dollars of reforestation funds from firms associated with former President Suharto, a senior minister said yesterday. Forestry and Plantations Minister Muslimin Nasution said the funds were retrieved after an investigation into the way the previous administration had re-routed money into Suharto-linked firms.

Grainne Mccarthy, Jakarta – Indonesia's fourth agreement with the International Monetary Fund was greeted with resounding silence in financial markets Thursday, with many analysts dismissing its budgetary targets as still far too unrealistic.

Jakarta – What would be the right present for Habibie on his 62nd birthday? A demonstration. That is what around 200 pro-democracy activists under the banner of the Committee for Total Reform (Komite Reformasi Total, KRT), gave him on Thursday morning (25/6), in front of his residence at Jl. Patra 14, Kuningan Jakarta.

Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri tops the list by a big margin in a nationwide survey asking people about who they would like to be president. The survey, organized by the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)'s camp loyal to Megawati, was advertised in various local newspapers last week.