Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – The European Union election monitoring mission is upbeat Aceh's first direct elections, scheduled for December, will proceed pea

Banda Aceh – An eight-person team from the European Union has begun monitoring work ahead of elections in Indonesia's Aceh province, the head of the monitoring mission said Tuesday.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The future of political Islam remains bleak in Indonesia, with fewer than one in 10 Muslims saying they would still vote for Islamic parties in the next election

James Balowski, Jakarta – Although still three years away, citing the need to prevent Indonesia's 2009 general elections from becoming "overly fragmented" by a plethora of new political

Jakarta – New political parties continue to surface.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former rebels may lose upcoming direct elections in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam because they have split into two rival groups, analysts say.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – An Acehnese woman is fighting to contest this year's direct gubernatorial election, saying the local poll body unfairly declared her unable to read the Kor

Sutarto, Jakarta – Sidney Jones, President Director of the International Crisis Group for Southeast Asia, estimates that regional leaders' election in Aceh will be safe.

Jakarta – Election officials in Indonesia's strife-torn Aceh province have ordered that potential candidates for upcoming provincial polls must be able to recite from the Koran, Islam's

Jakarta – The challenge of staging polls in Indonesia's Aceh this year should not derail a peace pact signed in 2005 between separatists and the government, an analyst said Thursday.

Jakarta – Peace in Indonesia's once-restive Aceh province should hold even if former separatist rebels running in December's local elections fail to win any posts, analysts said on Thur

Paul Alexander, United Nations – East Timor needs fair elections, reconciliation and a big injection of international aid to overcome the recent violence that battered the fledgling nat

Ramdhan Muhaimin, Jakarta – Although the 2009 general elections are still three years away, 27 seven new political parties have already registered with the department of Justice and Hum

Jakarta – Politicians from different political parties are supporting a move to allow Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel to exercise their voting rights in the 2009 legislative and pre

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Major and minor parties are at loggerheads over whether an electoral threshold should be set for parties running in the legislative and presidential races

The Declaration of The preparatory committee of National Liberation party of Unity (KP-Papernas) at the East Java Branch on Sunday (17/09) was intimidated by the militia group, called t

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Leaders of small political parties are fiercely objecting to a plan to increase the electoral threshold from 3 percent to 5 percent.

Lindsay Murdoch in Dili and agencies – East Timor's Prime Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has warned that voters' hostility towards the ruling Fretilin party could make his country difficul

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leader Hasyim Muzadi said Sunday that the central board of the country's largest Muslim organization would not give its blessings to a new political party that seni

Gagah Wijoseno, Jakarta – A variety of political party flags adorn the site of the fire in the Penjaringan area of North Jakarta.

Kediri, East Java – Senior ulemas opposed to the leadership of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in the divided National Awakening Party (PKB) are vowing to start a new polit

Dili – Intra-mural opponents of former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's continued leadership of East Timor's dominant FRETILIN party said Monday they hope to convene an extraordinary cong

Mark Dodd – East Timor's highest court has declared legal the controversial "show of hands" vote that endorsed the leadership of then prime minister Mari Alkatiri at a national party co

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesia plans to hold the first direct elections in once-volatile Aceh province by December 10, a government minister said on Thursday.

Windoro Adi – It was just like the good old days when on the afternoon of Friday July 28, RMH Heroe Syswanto NS Soerio Soebagio, who is affectionately called Sys NS, appeared once again

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked foreign monitors in Aceh to stay on through the province's crucial elections, planned for later this year, a spokeswoman said Wedn

Max Lane, Jakarta – On July 23, 1500 people attended a rally at the National Library of Indonesia to publicly launch a new political party – the Preparatory Committee of the National Li

Jakarta – Economist Faisal Basri and former environment minister Sarwono Kusumaatmaja have both said they will firmly oppose any sharia-based ordinances in the capital city should they

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Jakarta – If one thought that regional elections would produce a more accurate map of the strengths and ideological leanings of political parties, think again

Suherdjoko and Ridwan M.

Jakarta – In the mist criticism over the performance of the political parties, a number of elite parties have initiated a process of internal consolidation as well as using public forum

Ken Yunita, Jakarta – Thousands of workers, farmers and urban poor have started the process of forming a new political party but launching a preparatory committee for a national party o

Jakarta – Student activists, workers, farmers and the urban poor have started planning the establishment of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) to fight for the welfare of

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Political parties have begun building strategies and forces ahead of Jakarta's first-ever gubernatorial elections, scheduled for next year.

Katarina Pujiastuti – The spirit of unity filled the air as democratic organisations agreed to build a Party of National Liberation Unity (KP-PAPERNAS).

M.

Makassar – Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri challenged critics Saturday to prove accusations that the political party she leads, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Most governors, mayors and regents who have come to power in direct regional elections across the country received less than 50 percent of the popular vote

Jakarta – Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's faction of the conflict-ridden National Awakening Party (PKB) is the legitimate face of the political group, a court here ruled Monday.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A breakaway faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has officially registered as the country's 28th political party, a move that the

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The decision of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) not to participate in the upcoming direct election of Aceh governor came as a shock but failed to discourage polit

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – An internal rift has forced the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to drop its ambition to field gubernatorial candidates in the upcoming direct elections, a reliable sou

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) formally announced the establishment of a new political party Tuesday and appointed two independent candidates to take part in the

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Despite its image as a conflict-torn city, Ambon's peaceful first direct election of its mayor last Monday suggests that its residents are politically mature.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Mari Alkatiri was so confident he had stitched up the leadership of East Timor's ruling Fretilin party that by morning tea at the party's national congress y

Mark Forbes, Dili – East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's leadership has been overwhelmingly endorsed in raucous, joyous scenes at the ruling Fretilin party conference, after a c

M.

Tiarma Siboro and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Aceh is set hold its first-ever gubernatorial elections sometime in August, with independent candidates expected to contest the polls, th

Jakarta – East Java Police chief Brig. Gen.

Denpasar – After losing a grueling and sometimes violent Star Reform Party (PBR) leadership battle here over the weekend, a morose faction leader Zaenal Ma'arif now plans to resign from