Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court will examine demands that the Golkar party of former president Suharto be disbanded because of corruption and vote-rigging, the new Chief Justice ann

Jonathan Thatcher, Balibo – Maria Maia, her mouth stained scarlet from the juice of the betel nuts she chews, bursts out laughing as she fingers her just-printed photograph on the regis

The Concelho Nacional da Recistencia Timorense/Congresso Nasional (CNRT/CN) will be dissolved in early June 2001. Ex-members of CNRT will then form the Resistance Veterans Foundation.

Participants at a weekend discussion seminar, organized by the human rights NGO Yayasan Hak, expressed their frustration at UNTAET.

Chris McCall, Dili – Once branded a gang of dangerous left-wingers, Fretilin is out in the open and may be set to win through the ballot what it lost in 1975 with bullets.

The General Co-ordinator of CPD-RDTL Antonio Aitahan Matak yesterday rejected allegations that the group was behind the threats against CNRT President Xanana Gusmao.

Partai Asosiacao Social Democrat Timor (ASDT) will this week try to get itself registered with the Independent Election Commission.

Chris McCall, Dili – They used to supply bombs to Falintil resistance fighters. Now East Timor's Marxists are preparing for battle at the ballot box.

Tanya Vanaja, Dili – East Timor's social and political tensions may boil over into violence during elections scheduled for August, the country's first since it gained freedom from Indon

The President of ASDT-Fretilin Francisco Xavier do Amaral said East Timorese from 12 districts were in Dili to deliver their aspirations to UNTAET that the Republic of Democratic Timor

Jakarta – The chairman of the former ruling Golkar Party, Akbar Tandjung, said on Sunday that Indonesia would get a lot better when the party wins the general election in 2004 and takes

The President of CNRT, Xanana Gusmao said Satruday that the success of the general election this year was still the number one priority of CNRT.

Geraldine Goh, Jakarta – East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao said new blood is needed to lead his country towards self-rule.

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid has endorsed the 11 names recommended by the House of Representatives Commission II for home and legal affairs as members of the General Election C

Stephen Romei, New York – At the risk of exposing himself to political parody, Xanana Gusmao has a simple message for the international community: Read my lips, I will not run for the p

Reuters in United Nations – Xanana Gusmao, the popular East Timorese resistance leader, said overnight he would not be a candidate for president when the former Portuguese colony achiev

Sydney – East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao will inevitably become his country's first president, even though he says he does not want the job, Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Ho

Dili – After quitting East Timor's interim legislature in a bitter row over the shape of a new constitution, independence leader Mr Xanana Gusmao yesterday announced he will not compete

Dili – East Timor, preparing the way for eventual independence, will hold its first democratic elections on August 30, the head of the United Nations transitional authority said.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Seven suspected Indonesian spies have been detected in East Timor, prompting warnings by United Nations officials that saboteurs could try to wreck the territory's fir

Jakarta – Despite mounting political support for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairperson, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, to lead the country, th

Jakarta – The House of Representatives Commission II for home and legal affairs selected 11 members on Friday for the new General Election Committee (KPU) who are to be the organizers a

Surabaya – The situation in Sampang regency, Madura Island, has become increasingly tense as opposing forces of elected regent Fadhilah Budiono on Wednesday look set for a showdown.

Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung on Tuesday dismissed calls to dissolve the party saying that it is a lawful organization and has the right to exist in the country.

Budi Sugiharto/Hendra & GB, Surabaya – 182 village heads from Sampang regency, on the island of Madura, East Java province, have occupied the office of the East Java Governor in the

Peter Johnston, Darwin – "We expect over 50% of the first elected parliament – definitely", Estanislau da Silva reassured trade unionists here on January 11, claiming that his party, Fr

Hamish McDonald, Dili – His full name is said to be Ely Foho Rai Boot, which translates from the main Timorese language Tetum as something like Ely Great Mountain, but he is known here

Jakarta – Indonesian Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri Sunday told 100,000 supporters of her Indonesian Democracy Party- Struggle (PDIP) that national unity was at stake and called o

Jakarta – Vice President and chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Megawati Soekarnoputri scolded unscrupulous party legislators on Saturday for ha

Jakarta – Question: What is the going rate for elected local office in most of Indonesia today? Answer: At least 1 billion rupiah (S$180,000).

Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid revealed on Saturday that there were four major groups trying to unseat him from his presidential chair, citing that systematic attempts have been

Mark Dodd, Dili – The East Timorese independence leader, Xanana Gusmao, has resigned as president of the National Council over a dispute involving the timetable for the handover of powe

Iwan Triono/Hendra & GB, Jakarta – The Central Leaders' Committee of the People's Democratic Party (KPP-PRD) denied there has been a split in the party.

A Dipta Anindita/Hendra & GB, Jakarta – The Socialist Democratic Faction (FDS) of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) led by Budiman Sudjatmiko has formally separated from the PRD a

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Aceh, one of the proudest and most defiant of Indonesia's provinces, has become the first province in the reform era to elect its own Governor, defying Jakar

Banda Aceh – The provincial parliament in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh has elected a new governor as violence between government forces and separatist rebels killed at least se

Vanja Tanaja, Dili – The newest addition to East Timor's political landscape was declared formally at the National Council of Timorese Resistance headquarters on September 20: the Socia

Philippa Skinner and Jill Hickson, Dili – From August 21-29, members of East Timor's seven political parties participated in the congress of the CNRT (National Council for Timorese Resi

Dili – Members of Timorese Socialist Party (PST) around East Timor have been occupying buildings left by the Indonesian government in order to establish offices for their work with the

Vanja Tanaja, Dili – Speaking at a meeting of the just weeks-old East Timor Press Club on August 12, Jose Ramos Horta, vice-president of the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CN

MMI Ahyani/BI & AH, Bandung – Hundreds supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have staged a protest in Bandung.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Almost a year since voting to end Indonesian rule, East Timor is about to launch into open politicking about the shape of its independent state once the United Nations

Warren Caragata, Jakarta – If anything represents the uneasy muddle that is Indonesian politics these days, it may well be Golkar, the party of discredited ex-president Suharto.

A group of prominent East Timorese leaders, spanning the territory's historical political spectrum, are organizing a new center-right political party with the apparent blessing of indep

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Former guerilla fighter Mr Xanana Gusmao will become the first president of independent East Timor.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Golkar party said it would be ready to be in the opposition and hinted that there would be a shake-up of its executive board ahead of the next general election in

Jakarta – The husband and executive secretary to Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri are emerging as key advisers, providing guidance and support to the policies of Indonesia's most po

Dili – Militants of East Timor's newest political party have seized a building destined to serve as a police station in the eastern district of Viqueque, claiming it as their headquarte

Susan Sim – The People's Consultative Assembly session in August will be a breakpoint for the major political parties, who will also have to work out an inter-party relationship based o