Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Independent legislative watchdog Teliti said the House of Representatives continued to disappoint despite being filled with younger and better educated mem

Jakarta – The ongoing increases in global oil prices and a volatile rupiah exchange rate have become major obstacles for the government to meet its 2005 state budget targets, according

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Question: Is it a working visit if it's just a visit without working? Will it still be called a study tour if it's just about touring but no studying?

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The government's plan to increase the take-home pay of the President, Vice President, ministers, and high-ranking state officials met with mixed reactions on Wed

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – After wrapping up his Friday prayers with a hasty request for prosperity, Arman – not his real name – rushed to the canteen to meet his colleagues.

Primastuti Handayani, Beijing – Since opening a special PO Box and call center over a month ago, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has received 2,500 letters and 140,000 text messages

Dili – Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri unveiled an enlarged government Wednesday in East Timor as part of his drive to improve the performance of the Dili executive and decentralize power

Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is the first faction in the House of Representatives to openly oppose the controversial proposal for a hike in the salary and allowances of

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – They come, stay a while, murmur a few words, laugh, leave and get paid.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The House secretariat has proposed awarding legislators generous increases in salaries and allowances, despite the generally poor performance of the lawmakers.

Rendi A.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – It is not exactly like a subtle rejection by a fellow who dutifully gives his number and asks you to call him but never picks up the phone.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – If the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, thought he could get closer to his people by giving out his mobile phone number and inviting complaints,

Rendi Witular, PurwakartaWest Java – For those of you who find the notoriously inept bureaucracy is posing a stumbling block in seeking a solution to your problems, add 0811109949 to yo

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Opposition bloc in the House of Representatives was dealt a major blow as the legislative body voted on Tuesday against creating two special committees to inquir

Hera Diani, Jakarta – In order to ensure regional autonomy, the government has been urged to amend the law on regional administrations, which still places governors, mayors and regents

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The House of Representatives is well on its way to failing in its lawmaking function, with zero laws passed and only a few bills drafted since its 550 members to

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The People's Representative Assembly (DPR) is disappointed over the military's domination of Echelon I level positions in the Department of Defense.

Rendi A.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Since its establishment five years ago, the National Ombudsman Commission has experienced many dark moments in their offices, quite literally.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – The unprecedented direct presidential and legislative elections last year were widely praised as free and fair.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – House faction leaders ignored an invitation from the government to discuss the fuel price increases on Friday night, saying they were preparing for a

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A former top official of the defunct Election Supervisory Commission (Panwaslu) said the central government should delay the country's first direct elections fo

Tony Hotland and Rendi A.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The food and beverage allowance for the West Java governor and deputy governor for fiscal year 2005 has been increased by more than 60 percent to Rp 1.138 bi

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Provincial election commissions (KPUD) are facing a number of problems, including a lack of clear guidelines, in organizing the country's first direct elections

Jakarta – Around 50 percent of first echelon government officials are facing imminent reshuffle due to their poor performance, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said.

Rendi A.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – City councillors now have every reason to smile.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A brief commotion ended a five-hour hearing between the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the House of Representatives on Thursday following a lawmaker's remar

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Law No.

Saturday afternoon, February 5. A historical day for the village of Perdamaian in the Langkat regency sub-district of Stabat, North Sumatra.

Nana Rukmana and Rusman, Indramayu/Samarinda – Central government needed to inject more funds into the Indramayu regency because the administration was short of money to run the local e

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – What's in a name? Lawmakers on Monday questioned the move by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to create a new Ministry of Communications and Information.

Rendi A. Witular and Eva C.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – After declaring that his declining popularity did not really matter to him, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono invited two chief editors to his office

Jakarta – The first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration have passed.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was unperturbed by criticism of his early performance, indicating he was prepared to take unpopular measures to fix the sluggish ec

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Gobble ... gobble ... gobble ... is the onomatopoeic phrase often used in cartoon stories whenever characters eat their food in a hurry.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, struggling to cope with the tsunami disaster as he completes 100 days in office, has apologised to Indonesians for failing to fulfil a ran

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – History will judge the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami that devastated Aceh last month as the defining event of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first 100 days as

Ray Rangkuti, executive director of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP):

M.

M.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A vice presidential office circular criticizing recent hearings between the government and the House of Representatives has received a strong reaction from leg

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The first hearing of a judicial review by the Constitutional Court last week of several contentious articles of Law No.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) was again urged on Thursday to prohibit government officials from holding double positions in an effort to fight corru

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Tangerang regency councillors' protest on Monday was condemned by a religious leader and labor activist, who said the councillors had disappointed their consti

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Regional autonomy, including special autonomy in the conflict-ridden provinces of Aceh and Papua, has made little headway in the years since its introducti

Jakarta – The dream for better legislative representation appeared to have come true when the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) agreed in 2002 to adopt a bicameral legislative system