Jon Lamb – East Timor has passed through the first year of "stability" since the failed assassination attempts in February 2008 on East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Min

[The following article was written in response to an article by Kelik Ismunanto, a leader of Papernas (National Liberation Unity Party) titled "Indonesia: Tracing a path towards parliam

Max Lane – Elections for the two houses of Indonesia's national parliament and the provincial parliaments will take place on April 9, at a time of growing dissatisfaction with the parli

With candidates counting down the days to the April 9 legislative polls, merchants and street vendors in Greater Jakarta still lack information about who to vote for – and in some cases

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf underlined here on Friday the importance of the presence of foreign observers in the upcoming legislative elections in Aceh.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government has been slammed for issuing a regulation-in-lieu-of-law to allow double marking on ballots and to update the permanent voter list.

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Jakarta – Most voters still prefer parties over candidates, despite a Constitutional Court ruling that means parties will have little say in who gets a legislative seat, a survey said F

Nivell Rayda – The State Intelligence Agency, or BIN, assured the House of Representatives on Wednesday that there were no known threats that could disrupt the April 9 legislative elect

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The Constitutional Court on Tuesday handed another victory to the country's dominant political parties, ruling that print and electronic media were not require

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Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Djoko Santoso said Monday that widespread vandalism, intimidation, threats, attacks and even murder could occur during the 2009 polls in Aceh p

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Jakarta – A former son-in-law of Indonesian dictator Suharto who is running for president said Friday his "conscience is clear" over human rights abuses he committed as a senior army ge

Tom Allard, Jakarta – A Soeharto-era commander of Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces unit has a novel way of deflecting concerns about grave human rights abuses on his watch

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says he is not bothered by Vice President Jusuf Kalla's decision to stand as his rival in the presidential election this July

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Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) will support the nomination of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla if the two decide to contest the election i

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla sent Friday a clearer signal of his preparedness to contest the presidential election that could put his party on a collision cour

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, says it is breaking new political ground by requiring all of its legislative candidates to stake their r

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Golkar looks likely to nominate a presidential candidate from within the party, after most regional members vowed to have a candidate of their own.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto on Friday expressed optimism that his past human rights record while he was in the Army would not get in the way of his b

Febriamy Hutapea – The Golkar Party admitted on Wednesday that it would have to work a lot harder for a strong showing in the April 9 national legislative elections.

Camelia Pasandaran – Election observers and the head of the Constitutional Court on Wednesday condemned a General Elections Commission, or KPU, request that the government issue a gover

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The door has now been firmly closed shut by the Constitutional Court on candidates for the presidential elections who have no backing either from major politica

Camelia Pasandaran – With legislative elections less than two months away, nothing is being done to correct shambolic final voter enrolment lists other than a frenzied game of finger po

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Independent candidates have won a number of regional elections, but their quest to contest the presidential race has been halted by a legal obstacle, at least t

Election fever mounts as candidates discuss strategic alliances and running mates, but academic and Indonesia expert Max Lane says this may be an election characterized by disappointmen

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – British celebrity footballer David Beckham and US President Barack Obama have taken unexpected lead roles in the run-up to Indonesia's legislative elections in

Wasti Atmodjo, Denpasar – A voting simulation held Sunday by the Denpasar General Elections Commission (KPUD) revealed a flaw that almost everyone – laymen and pundits alike – had alrea

Wasti Atmodjo, Jakarta – A simulation exercise held in Denpasar, Bali, over the weekend showed that 44 percent of eligible voters chose to abstain, an election committee member said.

Alfian, Jakarta – As it tries to ward off the fallout from the global recession, Indonesia's economy should focus more on developing the agriculture sector.

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Muninggar Sri Saraswati – It has been more than a decade since Suharto relinquished power, yet some political parties are still seeking political points through connections to the late

Alfian, Jakarta – Despite their fundamental ideological differences, the secular-prone Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PK

Andra Wisnu, Denpasar – Opposition parties took jabs at the ruling ones for allowing last year's passage of the pornography law, ensuring the issue will become a central theme in Bali's

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court overturned Friday a demand to scrap the parliamentary threshold of 2.5 percent giving a major boost to efforts to simplify the politica

Jakarta – The Golkar Party is eyeing alternative coalitions with other key major political groups, in case the current Yudhoyono-Kalla pairing turns sour.

Jakarta – A former rebel whose wife is contesting regional elections in Indonesia's Aceh province has been fatally shot, raising fears the April polls could descend into violence, polic

Jakarta – The Golkar Party is nearing breaking point over whether to name its own presidential candidate or maintain its coalition with the Democratic Party, political pundits said Thur

Eny Wulandari, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has turned down a request by several political parties to review a number of articles in the 2008 election law, citing lack of evidence

Camelia Pasandaran – The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled to reject a demand for a judicial review filed by 11 minor political parties against the minimum election vote share requir

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, Megawati Sukarnoputri, defended her 2001-04 government during a presentation of her party'

Jakarta – Despite an apology from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Golkar Party is still up in arms over Democratic Party (PD) deputy chairman Ahmad Mubarok's remark that Golkar

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Legislative candidates said Wednesday they would be careful in sending out SMS campaigns to voters because it could provoke a backlash.

Erwida Maulia, Cikeas, West Java – In an attempt to contain the damage to his ties with the Golkar Party, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has reprimanded an executive from his Democr

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Debate about the need for the Golkar Party to name a presidential candidate before the April legislative elections has sharpened

Jakarta – The national elections body complained Tuesday about problems with determining the number of eligible voters in several areas across the country.

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Agus Maryono, Bandung/Purwokerto – The General Elections Commission (KPU) said there is the potential that many votes will rendered invalid if voters mark ballot pa

Jakarta – Hopes abound within the Golkar Party leadership for a deal with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono not to change the winning team in the July presidential election.