The influential chairman of Indonesia's national assembly says his chances of winning the presidency in 2004 have been greatly improved by the assembly's decision to hold direct electio

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's opponents may have wanted the just-concluded national assembly session to be a referendum on her one year in offic

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesians could get to elect their next president directly in 2004 after the country's highest legislative body yesterday approved a change to the Constitu

Debbie A.

Berni K.

Berni K.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – In a move to net potential voters who have been disappointed with the performances of existing political parties represented in the country's supreme la

Berni K.

Max Lane, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri's support within her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) is falling as she increasingly associates with the political figu

Berni K.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri has come under fire for issuing a decree ordering members of her Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) to support controv

After signing and approving East Timor's state budget Tuesday, President Xanana Gusmao called for revision of the measures within four months, while also lamenting the lackluster nature

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Two of the largest parties in the Indonesian Parliament, the ruling PDI-P and Golkar, are trying to dislodge Mr Amien Rais as the National Assembly Speaker next

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Senior politicians from Muslim-based parties met again here on Monday in an apparent move to counter a coalition between the Indonesian Democratic Party of Str

President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) could split apart following parliament's decision not to investigate House of Representatives Speaker A

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Political observers with the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) urged the House of Representatives (DPR) on Tuesday to give the public a chance to critique

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri is riding roughshod over her party and sidelining many of her allies as she veers towards the military and the corruption-tai

Robert Go, Jakarta – It's a tale of two "sisters", and of how their abilities to "keep it together" over the next two years would affect the rest of Asean.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – A recent series of gatherings involving Muslim politicians could lead to the establishment of an Islamic alliance against President Megawati Soekarnoputri shou

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – All 11 members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) have threatened to resign en masse if the House of Representatives passes a new election bill that wou

Jakarta – A number of political leaders belonging to a loose grouping of Islamic parties, plus some Golkar Party legislators, met at the residence of deputy speaker of the People's Cons

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Political experts criticized chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Megawati Soekarnoputri dubbing her a "democracy killer"

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri's overriding concern with securing her future through political deal-making is causing ripples in Indonesia's most hotly cont

Jakarta – If the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is going to allow the people to directly elect the president and vice president in 2004, then it should allow them to make that sel

Indonesia's Vice-president, Hamzah Haz, has won the backing of a powerful group from his Islamic party for a possible presidential challenge in 2004.

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Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Analysts predict that less than 10 political parties will be eligible to contest the 2004 general election should the proposed bill on general elections be ena

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A significant increase in the level of donations allowed for political parties has won the support of political observers and a politician, who see the increas

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Spurred on by recent problems between President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her deputy, national assembly chairman Amien Rais is fast moving in to consolidate hi

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung is staring at the end of an illustrious 30-year political career with more incriminating evidence being gathered against hi

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) is divided over how to deal with her errant deputy, with some members calling fo

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta A daughter of former president Sukarno said on Sunday the political party she led would likely merge with three other parties with similar support bases.

[Daniel Casey was on hand to watch the world's newest country, and our neighbour, embark upon the road to democracy with its people tackling the ballot box for the very first time.]

Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – The internal rift within the beleaguered United Development Party (PPP), mainly between the veterans and the newcomers, is widening as evidenced by fre

Dili – Almost anywhere else there would be unalloyed delight in an 86-per cent turn-out for a presidential election.

Jill Jolliffe – Guerrilla hero Jose "Xanana" Gusmao is expected to win a sweeping victory today in a poll for East Timor's first elected head of state, despite an organised attempt to r

Jill Jolliffe – It could have been a Meet the Press show anywhere in the world – two presidential candidates on stage in elegant suits fielding questions before an audience of politicia

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Tomorrow, East Timor votes for its first president, taking its final steps towards independence.

Hamish McDonald – A tropical cyclone has been hovering close to East Timor, dumping frequent rain on a mountainous island still in wet-season green and leaving officials wondering if th

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) seems to be trying to use the on-going ad hoc human rights trial to wash its hands of gross human rights violations in East Timor,

[East Timor approaches the last formal step in its long hard road to democracy and independence – on Sunday the people go to the polls to elect a president.

East Timor's two presidential candidates publicly embraced each other Thursday in Dili, appealing to voters to cast ballots in Sunday's election, the last political milestone before the

Jakarta – Former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen.

Jakarta – The highest-ranking Indonesian officer implicated in a wave of violence that swept East Timor in 1999 defended its former police chief on Thursday, telling a court he had save

Indonesia's powerful former military chief, General Wiranto, has published a book giving his version of East Timor's bloody 1999 breakaway, as he campaigns to clear himself of responsib

Tony Parkinson – Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid is planning to attend East Timor's independence celebrations next month, amid increasing doubts that his successor, Megawa

Claire Harvey and A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The United Nations' reconstruction effort in East Timor will continue for at least the next decade, a military expert said on Monday.

Dili – East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao rode on horseback through streets lined with adoring supporters here Monday as the campaign for the presidency of the world's newest na

UN transition administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello went to East Timor's border with Indonesia Wednesday to welcome a group of returning refugees, marking the repatriation of 200,000 peo

Yogita Tahilramani, Jakarta – Internal disputes within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) took on a new dimension on Monday when PDI Perjuangan members protest