Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo, has held his first Cabinet meeting amidst criticism from human rights activists for picking a new defense minister who once defended military kil

Allan Nairn, Jakarta – General A.M.

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – And so it begins.

The first cabinet for Indonesia's new, 'reformist' president, Joko Widodo, is striking for how bad some of the appointments are, writes Edward Aspinall.

President Joko Widodo has been hailed as the country's first leader who has no ties to the past corrupt regime.

Indonesia has never had a president closer to the people than Joko Widodo. After his inauguration on Monday, for instance, he simply walked onto a crowd of people and talked with them.

Millions of Indonesians in Jakarta and across the country held a merry festival to welcome their new President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Tom Clarke – Indonesia's incoming president presents a promising opportunity for Australia to recast both its military and human rights relationship with our northern neighbour.

Andreas Harsono – Prime Minister Tony Abbott had the opportunity to restart his "more Jakarta, less Geneva" foreign policy when he attended the inauguration of Indonesia's new president

Michael Bachelard – Just a month ago, on the cusp of the end of his long term as Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono trended globally for several days on his beloved social m

Outgoing Deputy Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro has suggested that the incoming government of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla prioritize

Endy M. Bayuni – When the circus leaves, the whole town would normally be saddened by it.

Kornelius Purba, Opinion – Amid rising concern over the reported plan to block the inauguration of Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Jusuf Kalla as the country's president and vice president on

Mohammad Zulfan Tadjoeddin, Sydney – The true level of economic inequality is much higher that its official measurement and something must be done about it.

Indonesians have seen enough violence inflicted by the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, and witnessed their seeming legal impunity.

Bhatara Ibnu Reza, Sydney – Amid recent debates on the controversial Regional Elections Law, the House of Representatives passed the Military Discipline Law to replace the 1997 Discipli

The House of Representatives, or DPR, and People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR, are two state institutions through which the people's will is supposedly voiced.

Marsen S. Naga, Banda Aceh – The passing of Qanun Jinayat, an Islamic criminal code bylaw, by the Aceh legislative council has revived discussion on the formalization of sharia.

There are concerns that the new government will face a period of political instability as soon as president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla take office o

Amid all the fracas of late, it is hard to believe that things could get any worse in Indonesian politics.

In Indonesia, people have always been forced to vote for figures they do not exactly know as their representatives.

The National Commission on Violence against Women is pushing for the annulment of the new Criminal Code bylaw passed last week in Aceh, as the commission says it does not provide protec

Ary Hermawan, Tucson, Arizona – It is ironic that at a time when it has been hailed as politically mature, reformasi is facing its own death at the hands of the man who was midwife at i

Edited transcript of Herb Feith Annual Memorial Lecture 2014, Melbourne, 20 August 2014

Jess Melvin, Melbourne – Joshua Oppenheimer's latest film is truly shocking.

Just as most Indonesians believe they had entered a new, better era after electing Joko Widodo as their president, they will wake up one of these days realizing they are living under an

In the space of five days, the Red-and-White Coalition has savored two consolation wins that clearly serve as a warning: that despite its failure to secure the presidency, its political

Instead of progressing, Indonesian democracy is regressing after the House of Representatives voted early Friday to seize the right to elect regional leaders from the people and give it

The ugly process by which the House of Representatives reached a decision in the early hours of Friday to pass a bill that takes away from the people the right to vote for regional head

Once dubbed a young, smart and promising politician with the potential to help fill the country's deficit of national leaders, Anas Urbaningrum has instead fallen from grace at just 45

Many have paid too much attention to the heated debate over the controversial bill on regional elections, but have overlooked the equally crucial bill on regional governments, which, if

Jeff Kingston – In July, Joko Widodo, universally known as Jokowi, won a decisive victory in Indonesia's presidential elections.

Evan A.

Evan A.

Azis Anwar Fachrudin, Yogyakarta – How do we deal with the so-called jilboobs, an Indonesian term for Muslim women wearing the jilbab (Islamic headscarf) while at the same time wearing

An ungracious, ungrateful politician is the image portrayed of Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama by his former party, Gerindra, which was founded by losing president

The body of one of West Papua's most prominent freedom fighters, John Ondawame, was buried in Port Vila Thursday afternoon.

Jet Damazo-Santos, Jakarta, Indonesia – After losing in the July 9 presidential elections, as well as in subsequent attempts to challenge its results, Prabowo Subianto and his allies ha

The post reformasi generation is leading the way forward toward a new Indonesia where falling in love should not be tantamount to a crime.

Richard Ackland – Already we have a taste of what lies in wait once the new bundle of Asio laws are passed.

The elite's betrayal of reformasi is visible through its "structured, systematic and massive" efforts to pass a regional election bill that will allow it to seize back sovereignty from

Papang Hidayat, London – Today marks exactly 10 years since Indonesia lost one of its most courageous and compassionate voices – Munir Said Thalib.

Ary Hermawan, Tucson, Arizona – At first, it was just another ludicrous Internet story.

Clinton Fernandes – Australia has been flouting international law since 2002, taking billions of dollars in oil revenue that should rightfully belong to East Timor.

John M.

Pat Walsh – Since its foundation as a modern state in the 1940s, Indonesia has been plagued by a series of conflicts that have threatened the dream of a united republic, inflicted griev

Max Lane – The Indonesian Constitutional Court has rejected all components of a legal challenge by Prabowo Subianto to the July presidential election results.

Indonesia gained new momentum for harnessing its 28,000 megawatts (MW) of potential geothermal power after the House of Representatives surprisingly approved on Tuesday a new Geothermal

Phelim Kine – Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono broke his long silence on violent religious extremism the other day, describing it in an Aug.

It will likely be just a matter of days before most of Prabowo Subianto's supporters completely abandon him after his failure to embarrass Indonesia in front of the international commun