Michael Sainsbury – In January, after half a year of political gridlock, Timor-Leste's president Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres set the date for its 730,000 registered voters to head to th

Phelim Kine – Three undocumented Indonesian immigrants have taken sanctuary in a New Jersey church to avoid deportation from the United States.

Olivia Tasevski – A new requirement for foreign researchers to obtain a permit to enter museums run by the Indonesian military constitutes an attempt to bolster questionable Suharto-era

Alexander R Arifianto – Since the Defending Islam rallies in late 2016 and early 2017, there is a perception of a growing ideological convergence between clerics and activists affiliate

Liam Gammon – In the past couple of months, a regular feature of the right wing (for lack of a better term) Indonesian Facebook groups I follow has been "news" of attempted attacks on u

Robertus Robet – While most of Indonesian civil society was up in arms about controversial revisions to the Criminal Code (KUHP) last week, the national legislature quietly went about p

Indonesia's growing moral and political panic about sexuality has now produced draft laws that could criminalize sex outside marriage, and same-sex conduct.

John McBeth, Jakarta – To the consternation of pro-democracy activists and those with grim memories of ex-president Suharto's authoritarian rule, Joko Widodo's government continues to m

"If Jokowi and Prabowo go head to head in 2019, they almost definitely cannot, and should not, repeat the strategies they used in 2014".

Viji Menon – The oil and gas sector is the mainstay of Timor-Leste's economy, with almost 90% of government revenue coming from oil.

Kim McGrath – The UN Compulsory Conciliation between Australia and Timor-Leste, which aims to set a boundary in the Timor Sea, appears to be inching towards resolution, with details eme

Kate Walton – The Indonesian Government is grappling with a measles outbreak in the Papuan district of Asmat, where at least 65 children have died since the epidemic began in October.

Kyle Knight – It may seem preposterous, but some Indonesian politicians are attempting to portray the criminalization of adult consensual same-sex conduct as somehow protecting against

Stanley Widianto – History seems to be repeating itself in Indonesia. Same beats, same choruses, same incendiary statements, same rebuttals.

Tess Newton Cain – The last time the leaders of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) got together was in 2016, for a special leaders summit held in Honiara.

Aisyah Llewellyn – Indonesia is currently gripped by news about plans to revise the country's criminal code (RKUHP).

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – It is easy to go to jail in Indonesia. If you say anything wrong about someone's religion, you could go to jail.

Devandy Ario Putro – LGBTI people have always existed in Indonesian culture and society – long before the genesis of the nation itself.

Luke Hunt – ASEAN aspirant Timor-Leste is being democratically tested today, with new elections slated after the minority government formed just last year failed to get its budget and p

Chaula Anindya and Satrio Dwicahyo – Shortly after his inauguration as the new commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto took the unprece

Jakarta – Democracy moves in a mysterious way.

Jakarta – Indonesia is campaigning for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2019-20, boasting its track record that includes ranking as the ninth-largest cont

Jose Belo, Dili – As Timor-Leste's minority government lost control over parliament in the four months since it was installed by President Francisco Guterres Lu Olo in September 2017, c

John McBeth – With opposition parties threatening to play the Islamic card on a broader scale, the appointment of National Intelligence Agency (BIN) director Budi Gunawan to a leading p

Naila Rizqi Zakiah – Over the last two weeks, the bitter debate over whether lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Indonesians should be criminalised has reached new heights of

Erin Cook – Last week's cabinet reshuffle in Indonesia follows months of speculation and is President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's third, and likely final, of this term.

The woodcarvings of the Asmat people of Papua are world famous.

John McBeth Jakarta – What was billed as a Cabinet reshuffle turned out to be little more than a riffle, but in replacing his chief of staff with a retired military commander Indonesian

Alek K Kurniawan – Tourism is a priority of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. He has built a lot of infrastructure for it. He has created a friendly policy toward investors.

Deasy Simandjuntak, Singapore – As Indonesia faces its election years of 2018 and 2019, experts have begun speculating whether the rift between the government and the forces riding on c

So far, the rise of Islamist politics has not hurt his popularity.

Jack Britton – Human rights activists in Indonesia have gained a brief respite after the Constitutional Court on December 14 narrowly rejected a petition to alter the criminal code to m

Ary Hermawan – In hindsight, it may appear that Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has become the Kim Kardashian of Indonesian politics.

Fahmi Panimbang – Facing crucial upcoming elections, Indonesia is cracking down on organized labour.

Greta Nabbs-Keller – For Joko (Jokowi) Widodo, the first Indonesian President elected from outside Jakarta's elite, the combination of disruptive global forces and the intrinsic feature

David Hutt – Last year, Timor Leste was held up as a shining example of democratic progress after staging two successful elections after years of volatile and often violent politics.

Kyle Knight – In mid-December, Indonesia's Constitutional Court dismissed a petition that had sought to criminalize all consensual sex outside of marriage, as well as adult consensual s

Vedi Hadiz and Inaya Rakhmani, Jakarta – The first anniversary of the largest religiously-driven mass demonstration in Indonesia has just been celebrated by some of the organisations th

Michael Leach – Nearly six months after an election that left Timorese politics in a state of protracted uncertainty, the manoeuvrings in the young nation's parliament seem likely to re

Randi Julian Miranda – The nexus between climate change and economic development is complex.

Simon Philpott – John Ondawame greatly admired the independence struggle in East Timor, especially its ability to win active support from people in Europe, the United States and Austral

Jose Ramos-Horta – As the aftermath of the U.S.

Francis Chan, Jakarta – A recent decision by Indonesia's Constitutional Court to reject a bid by a local conservative group to criminalise sex outside marriage took many people here by surprise.

Ken Ward – Indonesia's President Joko Widodo can look to next year in a far more relaxed way than he faced 2017.

Wataru Suzuki, Jakarta – "The Future is Here Today." This slogan is splashed across billboards all over Jakarta, advertising a massive satellite city project on the outskirts of the capital.

Bec Strating – Timor-Leste ends 2017 with great uncertainty over the future of the Greater Sunrise gas field, over the stability of its government and over its ambitions to become a member of ASEAN

Hendri Yulius – After almost two years of intense debate, the Constitutional Court last week rejected a challenge to the Criminal Code (KUHP) that would have criminalised sex between people of the

John McBeth – The 100,000-strong crowd that turned out in downtown Jakarta for Sunday's protest over US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli's capital again demonstrates the

John McBeth, Jakarta – Billed as Indonesia's 'trial of the century', the formal arraignment on December 13 of Golkar Party chairman and former House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto paves t

Luke Lischin – On December 2, alumni of the so-called "Aksi 212" protest that contributed to the downfall of former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama held a rally to commemorate the event at