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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Damien Kingsbury – As East Timor went to elections this year, the country was the most peaceful and united it had been in its short history.

Stewart Fenwick – Negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between Australia and Indonesia continue, with little tangible progress so far.

Rui Graca Feijo – Almost nine months after the election of the fourth President of the Republic, the first to be won by a President affiliated to a political party (FRETILIN) and to benefit from a

Prashanth Parameswaran – On Monday, the Indonesian government confirmed that Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had nominated the country's air force chief, Hadi Tjahjanto, as its next milit

Jarryd de Haan – According to a press release published by Scoop, the Central committee of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Frente Revolucionaria do Timor-Leste Independente,

The people of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste will today celebrate the 42nd anniversary of their Declaration of Independence.

Jakarta – Celebrations are moments of joy to commemorate milestones in a person's life, or a nation.

Chaula Anindya – Indonesian lawmakers are currently deliberating revisions to an existing anti-terrorism law which appears insufficient in facing the threat of Islamic State (IS).

In early November, police reported 1,300 people were "being held as hostages" by a "group of armed criminals" in the villages near Tembagapura, Papua, a district that holds one of the largest gold

Marwan Batubara – The long-running dispute between the Indonesian government and U.S.

Herlambang P Wiratraman – Every International Labour Day, workers across Indonesia conduct major protests against outsourcing, low wages, and workforce liberalisation policies.

The ridiculous controversy in Indonesia over "pornographic" GIFs accessible through popular messaging service WhatsApp might be winding down after the government blocked access to GIF search site T

Last week's big news in Jakarta was the closure of the Alexis Hotel, which recently inaugurated Governor Anies Baswedan said was just the beginning of a moral crusade to eradicate prostitution in t

Evan Laksmana – The Indonesian military (Tentara Nasional Indonesia or TNI) turned 72 years old on 5 October.

Todung Mulya Lubis – Last month saw an unprecedented attack on one of the oldest and most influential civil society organisations in Indonesia, the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), which was hosting a d

Phelim Kine – Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla last week praised religious tolerance in Indonesia as "better than in other countries" and a model "for other countries to learn [religious] tol

Hellena Yoranita Souisa and Primatia Romana Wulandari – After banning Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) through a decree in July 2017, Indonesia has now moved to codify in law go