Jakarta – Supporters of popular Indonesian opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri are up in arms over a weekend smear campaign painting her as anti-Moslem, newspapers said Monday.

The campaign was waged in the form of leaflets, some anonymous and others by Moslem groups. They urged "good Moslems" to spurn her Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP).

Jakarta – Jailed Indonesian People's Democracy Party leader Budiman Sudjatmiko was barred from voting Monday, under rules prohibiting convicts serving more than five years from casting ballots, a prison official said.

Ida Indawati Khouw, Jakarta – Every day electronic and print media have been running commercials urging women to choose parties "which pay attention to women".

[The following is an opinion piece from Monday's Asian Wall Street Journal. Van Zorge and O'Rourke are editors of the Van Zorge Report, a biweekly publication on Indonesian politics and economics.]

Gin Kurniawan, Surabaya – As night arrives, Kembang Kuning graveyard comes alive. This is the place where many men satisfy their sexual drives. In fact, at night, the graveyard becomes a meat market.

Around 300 students staged a sit-in protest at central Jakarta's prominent Welcome Monument yesterday, accusing political parties of failing to push harder for democratic reforms.

Jakarta – Refugees from the Christian-Moslem clashes in the Indonesian island of Ambon are living in poor conditions lacking proper food and medical care, and prey to illnesses which have claimed 25 lives, reports said Saturday.

Yindee Lertcharoenchok, Jakarta – As speculation runs high of political wooing of military support, Indonesia's Armed Forces Chief Gen Wiranto yesterday did not rule out his nomination as the country's next president or vice president, saying political parties have the right to do so.

[The following is a report posted by Joyo Indonesia News by a noted political analyst, who prefers to remain anonymous.]

Jakarta – Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib, a three-star military general, got an unpleasant gift for his 53rd birthday on Thursday from the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW).

Vaudine England, Bandung – The leafy avenues of West Java's capital are host to the green, white, yellow and red flags of the forthcoming multiparty elections.

But, as elsewhere, street rallies are dominated by the red and black colours of Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan).

Jakarta – Anti-riot troops fired shots at a crowd ripping up flags of Indonesia's ruling Golkar party in Jakarta Friday, an AFP photographer said. The state Radio Republic Indonesia said five people had been injured, but two hospitals contacted by AFP said they had not received any casualties.

Jakarta – As Indonesians worried about possible fraud and manipulation in Monday's historic election, more than 500 international monitors moved into action Friday to make sure voting takes place fairly.

Patrick Walters, Jakarta – The Megawati bandwagon took over central Jakarta yesterday as an estimated million-strong crowd joined in the biggest political rally yet seen during Indonesia's 17-day election campaign.

Hugh Bronstein, New York – Wall Street wants a clear victory for the opposition in Indonesia's general elections on Monday, though a messy government coalition is the more likely outcome, New York-based financial analysts said.

Whole villages no longer have to back the dominant party, writes Sander Thoenes Across the heartland of Java, home to more than half of Indonesia's 210m people, villagers almost unanimously admit they have no clue about the policies of the 48 parties competing for parliament in the June 7 vote.

Jakarta – Indonesia votes on Monday in its first democratic election since 1955 to elect a new parliament. A few months later a new president will be elected. The following are details of the voting system under which the election will be held.

Voting system: Proportional representation, on a provincial basis

Total number of voters: 127.6 million

Is Jakarta serious about probing Suharto's alleged billions? No, says BBC correspondent in Jakarta Jonathan Head, in the radio station's East Asia Today programme. Here are excerpts from the programme:

Q: Jonathan, how serious is President Habibie about getting to the bottom of former President Suharto's wealth?

Jakarta – Time magazine insisted Thursday it was standing by its story that former president Suharto and his family amassed a 15-billion dollar fortune during his three decades in power.

Jeremy Wagstaff, Jakarta – Indonesia's election commission, formed to break the national tradition of stage-managed votes, has been riven by infighting, indecision and allegations of corruption. It has resulted in an election system that, while much better than the old one, is a patchwork structure that falls short of the hoped-for overhaul.

Jakarta – Peace held out Tuesday during rallies in the Maluku and East Timor, where hundreds died in recent conflicts, during a round of barnstorming by Megawati Soekarnoputri, but violence marred campaigning in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military, in a major reform move, announced Tuesday that it had told thousands of officers holding positions in the civil service and legislatures either to leave the armed forces or leave their civilian posts.

[The following is a report and commentary on the election campaign posted by Joyo Indonesian News by a highly regarded political analyst who prefers to remain anonymous.]

Golkar

Jakarta – Forensic ballistic experts in Canada have revealed that two bullets taken from the bodies of two students and another found outside a Trisakti University building were fired from SS-1 and Steyr AUG-P rifles.

The bullets were recovered not long after the May 12, 1998 fatal shooting in which four students were killed.

To her growing legion of fans, Megawati Sukarnoputri can do no wrong, but her critics are not so sure, as Louise Williams reports.

Barry Porter, Ujung Pandang – Armed supporters of the Golkar party ran amok in South Sulawesi yesterday, stoning opposition party offices and hurling insults about their leaders.

Jakarta – Supporters of Indonesia's ruling Golkar Party clashed with campaigners of a main opposition party in two West Java towns, leaving nine people injured, reports said Friday.

Hermawan Sulistyo, Jakarta – Golkar's nomination of B.J. Habibie as its only presidential candidate has sparked heated debates. But what are his chances of winning the presidential seat? A glance at the expected voting structures reveals the possibilities for the presidential election to take place in September or October.

Jakarta – The replaced head of the official team investigating former president Soeharto's wealth, yesterday expressed doubt the Attorney General's Office will ever manage to complete the corruption probe.

Vaudine England – Up the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan, hundreds of Dayak farmers have been occupying the base camp of an oil-palm plantation company since November.

Now two of their number are detained by local police and several have gone missing.

The company arrived in 1996 as part of a plantation expansion project supported by the International Monetary Fund.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – For the many thousands of rural Indonesians who have begun reclaiming their land by direct action, the country's new-found enthusiasm for democracy means more than a succession of noisy parades.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Indonesia's Golkar party is under fire for using bribery to win votes, but the chief of the Jakarta chapter is very upfront about his tactics.

Purwokerto – Police here dispersed hundreds of Democratic People's Party (PRD) supporters who attended a night campaign rally on Monday. The party supporters had flocked to Saudagaran square on Jl. D.I. Panjaitan when about 100 police came to disband the gathering on grounds that it violated campaign rules.

Jakarta – The only Indonesian political party leader behind bars, Budiman Sujatmiko, was allowed to campaign Wednesday inside the walls of Jakarta's high-security Cipinang jail.

Yang Razali Kassim – Is the Indonesian opposition's dream of a united front as good as shattered?

Tangerang – Dita Sari, jailed for subversion at Tangerang Women's Penitentiary, called for international organizations on Monday to press the Indonesian government for her unconditional release.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Golkar will be hoping its election day support will prove more steadfast than that offered by the motley crew bussed in yesterday for its first campaign rally, held in a dirty industrial wasteland in north Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesia's opposition parties are certain to win parliamentary elections next month and to take the presidency later in the year, according to an opinion poll published yesterday. But none of the parties had anywhere near a commanding enough lead to form a government on its own.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Troops fired into the air in Jakarta yesterday to disperse an angry crowd which claimed the ruling Golkar party had broken a promise to give them money and food in return for acting as a rent-a-crowd at a party rally.

[A Time investigation into the wealth of Indonesia's Suharto and his children uncovers a $15 billion fortune in cash, property, art, jewelry and jets.]

[Political and legal issues, including investigating former president Soeharto and the threat of separatism, dominate the current political campaign. Economic issues, including those on foreign investment and the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are barely touched upon by any political party during their campaign.

"Not one cent abroad"

Holed up in the family compound in Jakarta, Suharto declined repeated requests for an interview about his holdings. But Hong Kong bureau chief John Colmey met separately with two of the former President's lawyers, Otto Cornelis Kaligis, head of Suharto's eight-member legal team, and Juan Felix Tampubolon. Excerpts from the interviews:

By Jeffrey Winters – President Suharto opened his 1989 autobiography with memories of his simple childhood bathing in muddy canals in Java. "My roots are in the village," he wrote. From the start of his dictatorship in 1966, Suharto carefully cultivated an image not just of humble origins but of lifelong simplicity.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer – As the Dutch writer Multatuli has stressed, it is the obligation of every human being to become human. Whoever murders his own kind, therefore, violates the basic principle of his existence. And murder, where there is no legal basis, is a crime against humanity. Simple logic, but it isn't simple in practice.

Peter Symonds – Only a few days after its formation on Monday, the alliance forged between three of the major opposition parties standing in the Indonesian elections on June 7 is showing signs of disarray.

Jakarta – Troops fired warning shots as thousands of students shouting "Hang Suharto" tried to storm parliament on the first anniversary of the downfall of the former strongman here Friday.

Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesian students took to the streets in the country's second city of Surabaya on Friday to mark the anniversary of reviled President Suharto's ouster.

Witnesses said campaign activities by political parties for June's general election in the city were overwhelmed by the large number of student protesters.

Jakarta – The ministry of State Enterprise Empowerment acknowledged that it has channelled soft loans to small and medium scale businesses through the ruling Golkar party. The move is seen by many people as an attempt by Golkar to buy votes ahead of the election, said Sofyan A. Djalil, communication deputy for the ministry.

Jakarta – Tensions marked the second day of campaigning in several volatile areas across the country, including Pidie in Aceh, where hundreds of Geulumpang Tiga villagers attacked and burned a United Development Party (PPP) van to drive home the message that they do not want a general election but a referendum.

David E. Sanger, Washington – Top Clinton administration officials said Wednesday that they had pressed the World Bank to make sure that more than a billion dollars in aid to Indonesia was held up for several weeks so that the country's government could not use it to buy votes in the first free election there in more than 40 years.