Devi Asmarani, Surabaya – With another sweeping victory already at hand in this politically strategic province, the Nation Awakening Party (PKB) looks set to secure again a top five pos

Jakarta, Kompas – Support from the political "roots" of presidential candidates continues to be a big factor in getting votes in elections.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The palace is plotting.

Deddy Sinaga, Jakarta – The 2004 General Election observers from European Union (EU) countries have said that they considered the election went well and peacefully despite some weakness

Andrew Burrell – Remember these initials: SBY.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – What a difference a week makes in politics! Seven days ago, Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) carried the banner of the Big Two.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Several local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) reported vote buying on Tuesday allegedly committed by political parties ahead of the April 5 poll.

Counting continues after Indonesia's national elections in the world's third largest democracy.

Banda Aceh/Jayapura/Ambon – Violence marred polling day on Monday in several parts of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam in an apparent attempt to disrupt the election, while people cast their vo

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Australians who mourned the dead at the first commemoration of the Bali bombings will remember the man who is now the favourite in Indonesia's presidential race.

Indonesians have been voting in parliamentary elections today in a crowded contest billed as the biggest one-day vote in history.

General Wiranto, a possible presidential candidate from the Golkar Party, gave student protesters the slip in Surabaya on Saturday.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's parliamentary elections on Monday have been enthusiastically awaited by the majority of the country's voters.

Sentani – Less than three years after special forces troops killed his father, restive Papua's most prominent independence leader at the time, Boy Eluay wants to be an Indonesian politi

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Aceh province have threatened to shoot or fine residents who vote in Monday's Indonesian general elections, an election monitor said Saturday.

Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – The Aceh military has set up security arrangements to enable local residents in areas known as rebel strongholds to exercis

Surabaya – Defying mounting protests, former Army chief Gen. (ret) R.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Golkar leaders have chosen an apt party slogan.

Laurel Teo – Dark clouds held the threat of rain yesterday morning.

Indonesians go to the polls on Monday in what will be the third free nationwide elections in the country's history.

An Indonesian Muslim-based political party has accused rivals of pre-election dirty tricks by circulating a video compact disc which purports to show a key party member being baptised.

Alan Sipress, Bandung – When Gen. Wiranto's stump speech ended, the real action began. "We should fall no more!" he exhorted the crowd. "We have fallen enough.

James Balowski, Jakarta – The government of Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh last May.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – As many as 52 villages in war-torn Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam may skip the elections due to the unfavorable security situation there, a senior Cabinet min

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – As the political party campaigns for the legislative election draw to a close, Golkar Party presidential hopefuls seem to have set their sights against one anoth

Endy M. Bayuni, Cambridge, Massachusetts – How many people will stay away from the polling booths on April 5, or whenever the general election is eventually held?

M.

Jakarta – The government has completed a draft decree that will be issued in the event that the general election cannot be held simultaneously nationwide or must be postponed altogether

Laurel Teo – Decked out in the party colour of blood red, tens of thousands of PDI-P supporters surged into the main arteries of Jakarta yesterday.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – In this ethnically diverse country, the ideal of national unity is an important way to peace.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Golkar Party's political campaign has fixed its guns on President Megawati Soekarnoputri, stepping up on rhetoric that blames her for the nation's many

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Political campaigning for the 2004 general elections in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, is apparently not as lively as before, in 1999, as can be

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – The elections in Aceh will not be delayed, but its implementation will be dependent on the security situation.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Most voters know how to properly perforate their ballot papers, but they remain so indifferent to the candidates that many of them are likely to vote

Laurel Teo – In a country where two in three watch television almost every day, the goggle box has turned into a fierce battle- ground for Indonesian politicians.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The situation in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam at present is calmer than it has been in recent months, but it is not really very different from other days aside fro

Suwarjono, Jakarta – The results of a survey by the Institute of Research, Education and Information of Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES), show that the Golkar Party has the largest a

Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – Arbi Sanit, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, is of the view that the a report by Transparency International (TI) which says that former P

Jakarta – Most of the 24 political parties contesting the upcoming elections are not concerned with public demands, the Forum of People's Concern for the House says.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – For many young people in Jakarta's kampongs, the 22-day official campaign period this month is manna from heaven – free T-shirts and money.

As Indonesians prepare for general elections next month, there are allegations that as election fever heats up, political parties have resorted to taking over the media to control it.

Devi Asmarani, Makassar – Indonesia's most consummate politician, Mr Akbar Tandjung, was clearly in his element.

The smiling daughter of Indonesia's former dictator Suharto is waging a high-profile electoral campaign – less than six years after her father was forced to resign amid massive civil un

Jakarta – Indonesia has increased restrictions on foreign journalists trying to visit war torn Aceh province ahead of April parliamentary elections, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Jakarta – A lawyer for former Indonesian military chief Wiranto accused East Timor prosecutors on Wednesday of trying to sabotage the general's bid for the Indonesian presidency by seek

Ahmad Fikri, Bandung – A former senior economics lecturer from the University of Indonesia, Professor Sarbini, has warned that the forces of the New Order regime [of former President Su

Mafoot Simon – The indoor stadium turned into a sea of white. Some 10,000 supporters of the Islamic-based Justice Party (PKS) crowded into an area no longer than six basketball courts.

Just nine days remain to the 22-day campaign period, after which there is a three-day cooling-off period before people cast their votes for legislative candidates on April 5.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Major political parties are fine-tuning their campaign strategies in order to bounce back from disastrous early indoor campaigning, party sources say.