Nazaruddin terrorized his former political allies and proteges while on the lam with taunts that they were bandits just like him.

Veby Mega Indah – When I ask Indonesian bureaucrats about the latest proclamations from some environmental group, I often get the same question: "Why are you journalists so close to the

Aris Ananta – As Indonesia grows richer and its citizens acquire increasing mobility, domestic migration between the country's five major islands and 30 smaller island clusters, which f

David Webster – What does a mining company need to do to get a top score for "corporate social responsibility"?

Vidhyandika D.

Wider autonomy granted to Papua in 2001 and a new deal to accelerate development in the resource-rich region in 2006 raised fresh hopes for its people to realize their long-standing que

Yohanes Sulaiman – Last week, House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie barged into the headlines, displacing Muhammad Nazaruddin's allegations of corruption within the Democratic P

John McBeth – A recent public opinion survey showing a drop in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's approval rating from 56.7 per cent to 47.2 per cent over the past six months is the c

Zely Ariane – It was not just for the sake of democracy that the Indonesian people overthrew Suharto's New Order dictatorship in May 1998, but also for justice and prosperity.

Pandaya – It seems that national politics gets more muddled every day. The media is filled with depressing news, from corruption, malfunctioning bureaucracy to communal violence.

Michael Vatikiotis, Singapore – These days it's so easy to look back at the past decade and marvel at Indonesia's transition to democracy.

Bruce Gale – Visiting Jakarta in the early 1990s, when health officials in Asia were just beginning to wake up to the challenge posed by a global HIV/Aids epidemic, I had occasion to di

Robert Finlayson – Your monkey has been following reports that soon some foreign motor car manufacturers might be making very cheap, small cars here.

Donny Syofyan, Padang – Democratic Party executives are supposed to question themselves over the party's politicians getting entangled in corruption.

Lisa Siregar – Dewi Triana found herself sitting cross-legged in a small room listening to sermons denouncing Indonesia and exhorting her to help make the country an Islamic state.

What do Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, and Richard Marles, the parliamentary secretary for Pacific island affairs in the Gillard government, have in common?

Stephanie Riady – This past May the national education minister proudly announced a staggering 99.2 percent passing rate for students taking the national exam.

Sara Schonhardt, Jakarta – A long-running tax saga is keeping this summer's Hollywood blockbusters out of Indonesian cinemas and drawing new negative attention to the country's often dy

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Matt Crook, Dili – It was a humid night and I wandered home in the dark, cursing the government of Timor-Leste for yet another power cut in Dili, the country's tiny capital.

Among the many reforms Indonesia instituted after 1998, the resolution to downsize a bloated bureaucracy and make government more efficient stands out as one of the most significant.

It has been three months since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono put his signature on a landmark immigration bill.

Nadya Khalife and Aruna Kashyap – The Indonesian government has long praised its migrant workers as "economic heroes" for their immense contributions to the economy in their home countr

Brad Nelson & Yohanes Sulaiman – The recent arrest and sentencing of Abu Bakar Bashir, co-founder and spiritual leader of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, to 15 years in prison

"Polling is merely an instrument for gauging public opinion.

Niniek Karmini – A sweeping crackdown on terrorism in the past decade has spawned a new problem in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation: Militants in jail are recruiting n

Pandaya, Jakarta – The surprise passage of a bill amending the Law on the Constitutional Court after secretive deliberations on Tuesday smacks of collusion between political parties and

Armando Siahaan – The nation fumed with rage upon hearing of the unexpected beheading of migrant worker Royati binti Sapubi in Saudi Arabia last week, prompting the Indonesian governmen

Vincent Lingga, Jakarta – The Indonesian government's decision last week to stop sending maids to Saudi Arabia starting as early as next month should only be a temporary ad hoc measure

Marcel Thee & Tasa Nugraza Barley – The current dearth of Hollywood movies in our theaters has once again cast the spotlight on the Indonesian film industry's output, specifically t

During the past month, Jakarta has hosted a number of regional and global conferences.

Armando Siahaan – So far, 2011 has not been a good year for the Democratic Party.

Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa – Indonesia's improving economy has triggered foreign investment inflows.

Harison Citrawan, Jakarta – A recent IndoBarometer survey found that 29.7 percent of 1,200 respondents were satisfied with the Yudhoyono administration and 40 percent thought the New Or

The 15-year jail sentence for internationally known Abu Bakar Ba'asyir definitely fails to satisfy both his supporters and those who demanded maximum punishment for the firebrand Muslim

The country's path to becoming a full-fledged democracy is at stake.

Yohanes Sulaiman – The debate on the legacy of Suharto and the New Order began immediately after his fall in May 1998.

Erik Meijaard – In December 2007, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono launched Indonesia's orangutan conservation strategy and action plan, which calls for all wild orangutan populations

Is Indonesia a nation that abides by the rule of law? Do its elected officials respect the law and govern in accordance with the edicts of the courts?

Armando Siahaan – Sometimes we applaud the police. Sometimes we criticize their actions. And sometimes we just have no idea what they were thinking.

Nila Ardhianie, Semarang – Time has passed quickly. The privatization of piped water service in Jakarta will mark its 13th anniversary on June 6.

Al Araf, Jakarta – The democratic transition in Indonesia is undoubtedly a complex and fragile process.

Nivell Rayda – It has been a year since I visited the tiny goat shed that brought the town of Karangasem, in West Java's Indramayu district to infamy.

Armando Siahaan – Recent political shenanigans have certainly raised questions about how much Indonesian politics have progressed since the end of the New Order regime.

Franz Magnis-Suseno, Jakarta - June 1 is Pancasila Day in Indonesia.

Joe Cochrane & SK Zainuddin – Fortune has favored Indonesia's business barons and captains of industry these past 12 months.

H. Drake, Honolulu, Hawaii – This Sunday May 29, 2011, marks the fifth anniversary of the eruption of the Lapindo mudflow.

Rebecca Lunnon – Jemaah Islamiyah is still often the first name associated with terrorism in Indonesia.

"Everything was much better under Pak Harto," concluded an opinion generated in a recent polling which has been the hot topic these days.

In a vibrant democracy, politics is critical to ensuring the interest of the people is not only met but enhanced through an electoral system.