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Indonesia News Digest Number 5 - January 26-Feburary 1, 2004
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Jakarta/Lhokseumawe/Banda Aceh -- Two hostages were freed in
Tungkah Gajah village in East Aceh regency on Thursday, exactly
seven months after they were kidnapped by members of separatist
Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Cut Soraya, 36, and Cut Farida, 31, were freed after a clash
between rebel cadres and soldiers from the elite infantry Raiders
at Tungkah Gajah village in East Aceh regency.
The two, both wives of Air Force officers, were airlifted to
Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, on Thursday, where they were rushed to
hospitals for medical treatment. Soraya, who was pregnant when
GAM rebels took her hostage, was seen in a wheelchair.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto
claimed that the two women were rescued in a military operation.
"We freed the two women and we will continue with efforts to
release other hostages via military means," the four-star Army
general said in Jakarta.
Endriartono also claimed that three GAM fighters were killed in
the rescue operation, in which the military also confiscated an
AK-47 rifle.
But GAM commander overseeing the Peureulak area Teungku Ishak
Daud said Thursday that the two women were released by GAM based
on their policy to leave civilian captives to the military if
they were trapped in a gunfight.
"That was our decision to leave the women there [in the site] and
ordered them to run closer to the military. We would not use them
as a human shield," Ishak said.
"Since the military deployed the elite Raiders to Aceh, they have
changed their strategy by launching raids everyday. But I can
guarantee you that Fery is OK. We'll release him as soon as the
time is right. Please be patient," said Ishak, referring to RCTI
cameraman Fery Santoro.
Soraya and Farida, along with RCTI journalist Ersa Siregar and
his cameraman Fery and their driver Rachmatsyah, were captured by
GAM rebels on their way to Peureulak in East Aceh on June 29 last
year. Ersa got killed during a shootout between TNI and GAM
members last Dec. 29, while Rachmatsyah was rescued by Marine
troops in early December. The fate of Fery remains unclear.
GAM had promised to free about 100 captives in East Aceh if the
military granted a two-day ceasefire and a withdrawal of troops
from Peureulak area. They said any release must be arranged by
Red Cross representatives. The government rejected the proposal.
Endriartono said on Thursday that negotiations with GAM rebels
had hit a snag, forcing them to continue with military operations
to release civilian hostages.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the
Indonesian Red Cross said on Wednesday they had suspended efforts
to mediate the release.
"We have to take another course of action as we no longer can
wait. I see that negotiations have failed to give positive
results and the military method has proven to be effective,"
Endriartono said before attending a Cabinet meeting.
Lt. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, the deputy coordinating minister for
political and security affairs, said that the release of two
Acehnese women has convinced the government to continue assault
operations for the release of all civilian hostages.
Asked how the government could guarantee that the assault
operations would not claim the lives of the hostages, he said
that the military would make "a very organized plan" for
releasing them.
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday
it had put on ice its role in attempting to mediate the release
of civilians being held hostage by Free Aceh Movement
separatists.
The move by the ICRC opens the door to the Indonesian Military to
use force to try to free the hostages. The ICRC said it would
resume its mediation role only after the TNI and GAM reached an
agreement on the release of the hostages. "The Indonesian Red
Cross and the ICRC have suspended their involvement until both
sides to the conflict arrive at an agreement," ICRC spokeswoman
Fortuna Alvariza said.
She said the ICRC was not actually directly involved in the
negotiations but was acting only as a facilitator. "Our job was
to facilitate the exchange of messages, but we have seen that
neither side was willing to find some common ground," Alvariza
said.
The government and GAM are now blaming each other for the ICRC's
move.
Lt. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, the secretary to Coordinating Minister
for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said
the negotiations had been temporarily halted after GAM guerrillas
in the field had failed to follow their commanders' orders in
Stockholm to free the civilians.
"We [the government] had initially negotiated with someone called
Mansor to discuss the releases. At first, the negotiations went
quite well. "But in the middle of the negotiations, GAM replaced
Mansor with Ishak Daud who later rejected the order of his
leaders to free the hostages," said Sudi, who also chairs the
government team trying to arrange the hostage's release.
He was referring to Teungku Mansor, GAM spokesman in East Aceh,
and Teungku Ishak Daud, the GAM commander in Peurelak, East Aceh.
However, Ishak recently said the ICRC had offered him an
unacceptable proposal to release only three of the hostages --
RCTI cameraman Ferry Santoro and the Air Force officers' wives,
Cut Soraja and Cut Farida.
The ICRC also proposed that GAM accept a two-day cease-fire in
only one subdistrict, despite GAM's demand that government troops
be withdrawn from Puereulak regency for the duration of the
cease-fire.
"It was a one-sided arrangement. The ICRC told us that it would
withdraw from its facilitating role if I rejected the
conditions," Ishak told The Jakarta Post by phone.
Sudi said the government could not accept GAM's demand for a
two-day cease-fire in all parts of Aceh, particularly in East
Aceh, and for the military to withdraw its soldiers from those
areas.
Around 100 civilian hostages are being held by GAM, including
Ferry and the two Air Force officers' wives.
Late last month, RCTI reporter Ersa Siregar was shot dead by TNI
troops during a gun battle with the separatists who had held him
for more than six months. It remains unclear what the precise
circumstances of his death were, however.
West Papua
Labour issues
'War on terrorism'
2004 elections
Corruption/collusion/nepotism
Campaign against rotten politicians
Local & community issues
Human rights/law
Reconciliation & justice
Focus on Jakarta
News & issues
Environment
Health & education
Bali/tourism
Armed forces/police
Economy & investment
Opinion & analysis
Aceh
Two female GAM hostages walk free at last
ICRC suspends Aceh mediation
11 killed in separate bouts of Aceh violence
Associated Press - January 28, 2004
Jakarta -- A soldier shot and killed two civilians before turning his gun on himself, and eight other people have also been killed in separate incidents in the strife-torn province of Aceh.
An army spokesman said Chief Private Kun Hendrianto had killed two people when he fired at random in a street in Takengon, the capital of Central Aceh district, on Sunday night.
Hendrianto, who had been suffering from malaria, then shot himself in the head.
Two others who were wounded in the incident were taken to a hospital in northern Aceh, according to the military, while other reports said four people had been seriously injured. Elsewhere in Aceh, soldiers killed eight suspected rebels in four separate gunbattles on Sunday and Monday.
Jakarta Post - January 27, 2004
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) has set conditions for a temporary cease-fire in troubled Aceh to allow Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders to free all civilian hostages, including journalist Ferry Santoro.
TNI commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Monday that he would order a two-day cease-fire provided GAM promised not to take anymore civilian hostages in the future.
"Should they promise and guarantee that they will never take any civilian hostages again, then we will grant a two-day cease- fire," Endriartono said before attending a limited Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace. GAM, which is currently holding dozens of civilians as hostages, has demanded a cease- fire to allow the hostages to be released.
Endriartono said more pressure should be put on the rebels as the TNI could not afford to grant a cease-fire every time GAM wanted to release hostages.
"Should they not provide any guarantees then they will refrain from using civilian hostages so as to reduce the pressure the military is putting on them, I will not comply with their demand," the four-star Army general said.
Aceh has been put under martial law since May 19 of last year, when the so-called integrated operation was launched to crack down on GAM rebels, who have been fighting for independence for the resource-rich province since 1976. Over 10,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, have been killed since then.
Both the TNI and GAM have been engaged in tough negotiations to release around 50 civilian hostages, including Ferry Santoro, an RCTI TV cameraman.
Ferry, who was captured with reporter Ersa Siregar, later shot by the TNI, and several civilians were captured by GAM last June in the eastern part of the province.
Efforts to release Ferry have intensified after Ersa was found death late last year following an ambush by TNI troops on a group of rebels.
The government and TNI have come under international and domestic pressure to ensure the safe release of the cameraman and the rest of the civilian hostages.
The government has appointed the International Committee of the Red Cross to facilitate the hostages' release.
However, the negotiations seem to have reached a dead end as the TNI has been persistently refusing to grant GAM's demand for a two-day cease-fire to facilitate the release of the hostages.
On Monday, Endriartono asserted that GAM had no right to set conditions for the release of the hostages.
He contended that should GAM really want to release the hostages, they could do it at anytime they wanted, with no preconditions attached.
"Should we grant that demand without any guarantees, it will set a bad precedent so that each time they need to consolidate they will take more civilian hostages," he remarked.
Endriartono further said that the TNI would leave the negotiations with the rebels to the ICRC and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).
"They are negotiating. We will wait and see what happens," he added.
Agence France Presse - January 26, 2004
Indonesian troops have shot dead seven suspected separatist militants in Aceh province, the military said Monday.
Troops killed two men during clashes with guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Bireuen and South Aceh districts on Sunday, said provincial military spokesman Asep Sapari.
The previous day, five rebels were shot in separate clashes in various parts of the province, he added. Soldiers recovered four automatic rifles and hundreds of rounds.
Residents in East Aceh on Sunday found the body of an unidentified man in a river, Sapari said.
The head of rebel operations in East Aceh, Ishak Daud, told AFP in Jakarta that troops Sunday continued a mortar bombardment of various areas where they believe the GAM has bases.
"But all my men are safe," he said. Daud also accused the military of roughing up and torturing civilians in the district while in pursuit of rebels.
The army could not immediately comment on the allegations.
The military says more than 1,300 guerrillas have been killed since it launched an operation to crush GAM last May. It says more than 2,000 others have been arrested or have surrendered.
Agence France Presse - January 26, 2004
Jakarta -- Two human rights workers detained in Indonesia's Aceh province have reportedly been beaten up by security forces while in custody and may face further torture or ill treatment, Amnesty International said.
The London-based organisation, in a statement received here Monday, said Husni Abdullah, 26, and Mahyeddin, 23, were members of the People's Crisis Centre, a humanitarian organisation which helps Acehnese forced from their homes during the separatist conflict.
It said they were arrested on December 15 and have been accused of belonging to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a guerrilla group which has been fighting for independence since 1976.
"Both men have reportedly been beaten while in detention. Husni Abdullah has reportedly lost some of his teeth as a result of being beaten with both hands and rifle butts," Amnesty said, urging its members to raise the cases with Indonesian authorities.
Jakarta Post - January 26, 2004
Slamet Susanto and Teuku Agam Muzakir, Yogyakarta/Lhokseumawe -- Eighty-nine convicted Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members arrived in Yogyakarta on Sunday from their home province in the second such transfer to prisons on the country's main island of Java.
A Hercules aircraft carrying the separatists from Malikussaleh air base, some 25 kilometers west of Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, landed at Adi Sucipto Airport, Yogyakarta, at around 3:35 p.m.
The first batch of transferred to Semarang and neighboring towns to serve their jail terms.
"Initially, we planned to fly them (the 79 GAM members) to Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang. But bad weather forced us to land in Yogyakarta," Central Java justice and human rights office head Marsono said on Sunday. The 143 prisoners have all been sentenced to more than three years in jail.
While 79 prisoners were then transported aboard police trucks the prison island of Nusakambangan in Cilacap regency, Central Java, the remaining 10 were taken to a penitentiary in the provincial capital of Semarang.
Twenty-seven of the 79 convicts would be imprisoned in Nusakambangan Penitentiary's Batu jail, where former strongman Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra and his ex- golf buddy Bob Hasan are both serving their sentences.
The separatists arrived chained to each other at the hands and ankles, and a joint military and police force kept tight watch.
It was not clear if any GAM leader was among the convicts, who were transferred from Lhokseumawe aboard five trucks at around 11 a.m.
"We have brought them here because Lhokseumawe prison is being renovated. They will not receive special treatment and will be sent back after the renovation project has been completed," said Marsono.
However, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said the transfer was necessary because prisons and detention facilities in Aceh could not accommodate any more prisoners.
It was hoped the move would also influence other GAM members to surrender, the TNI said.
The government has defended its decision to transfer the GAM convicts to prisons in Central Java, citing security reasons.
"Incarcerating GAM members outside Aceh is a government policy for dealing with state security convicts or those involved in separatist movements, based on national security interests," Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Saturday in Yogyakarta.
The policy is also aimed at preventing any undesirable interaction that could be counterproductive to quashing the independence movement in Aceh.
In Jakarta, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra denied allegations that the transfer was a form of exile.
"A newspaper has cynically said that we are aping the approach of the Dutch East Indies colonial administration. That is not true. This is not exile; the justice and human rights ministry has nothing to do with politics," Yusril said.
A report in The Jakarta Post on Jan. 20 likened the government's policy to that of the Dutch colonial administration a century ago, which sent Acehnese independence leaders to Java to weaken Aceh's resistance movement against colonial troops.
The justice ministry, Yusril said, had merely transferred convicted inmates, while the Dutch East Indies administration had exiled Acehnese independence leaders without trial.
"Besides, GAM is obviously a separatist movement fighting against a legitimate government, while past Acehnese leaders fought for independence from the Dutch," he remarked.
He also dismissed speculations that the government's move to send convicted GAM members to Java was part of its strategy to weaken the secessionist movement.
The decision, Yusril said, was taken solely due to a lack of space in Aceh's penitentiaries.
He said convicted GAM members would be educated in nationalism and practical skills during their terms.
| West Papua |
MiningIndo.com - January 28, 2004
Currently more than 2.2 tons a year of hazardous and toxic (B3) wastes are exported to developing countries, including Indonesia. Indonesia as a country of archipelago is regarded as one of countries that apply lenient standards of environmental management particularly of B3 wastes.
Radioactive wastes have so far been imported from Taiwan into Irian Jaya (Papua). It was reported by the coordinating agency of Indonesian intelligence (BAKIN) as disclosed by deputy for environmental impact control of Indonesian ministry of environment (KLH) Isa Karmisa Ardiputra at workshop in Jakarta, Tuesday (January27).
Certain parties import B3 wastes either legally or illegally to Indonesia. They deceitfully change the status of wastes from B3 to non-B3. Country that is vigorously exporting B3 wastes to developing countries is Taiwan.
Taiwan exports low-radio active wastes to Indonesia via seaports in remote areas that are difficult to monitor. The imported B3 wastes are in form of briquettes that will be used for reclaiming the beach of Tambarani in Fak Fak of Irian Jaya. Other wastes are mixed metal scraps that are exported to Irian Jaya, West Nusa Tenggara, and Flores.
Taiwan makes excuses for such waste export confirming that the wastes are for the purpose of industrial recycle. Other import of waste comprises organic fertilizer and scarps of aluminum, copper, iron, steel, and tin. As planned the wastes will be for make of cone block and concrete used for road refill in Irian Jaya, Minahasa, and Sulawesi.
Republika - January 27, 2004
Jakarta -- Kontras National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Elsham Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy and National Solidarity for Papua formerly Irian Jaya (SNUP) lodged strong protests against plans made in a closed meeting held between People's Representatives Council (DPR) Commission I and the armed forces commander to impose civilian emergency status and launch integrated operations in Papua.
The three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) felt a state of civilian emergency in the province would be a bad move and would only worsen the problem in the province.
According to them, the suggestion raised by a member of the TNI/Polri Indonesian National Military Forces/National Police Faction was a deliberate attempt hamper investigations into human rights violation cases in Papua, in particular the Wamena and Wasior cases.
Apart from that, the suggestion also demonstrated that there was an intention to legalize repressive action in Papua during the 2004 General Election.
"It is also evidence of legislature failure to identify the fundamental problems in Papua. Besides, it is aimed at simplifying the problem solving effort by calling the Papuan public a threat to security, so that an integrated operation can be implemented," said Kontras Coordinator, Usman Hamid, in Jakarta yesterday (26 January).
The three NGOs hoped that the government would cancel the plans before the 2004 General Elections.
Kompas (BBC World Monitoring) - January 29, 2004
Jakarta -- Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno stated that so far the government did not have any plans to raise the status of civil order in Papua formerly Irian Jaya to civil emergency. There was not enough reason to impose such a status in that province.
"We don't have enough reason. Not enough, because the province, not only the Papuan legislative body but also the Papuan government, has not proposed it yet.
Moreover, the authorities in that province are still able to handle problems within the civil order status," Minister Sabarno said after attending a coordination meeting on security and political affairs in Jakarta on Wednesday (28 January). "Actually, it is the media which is making a fuss about the issue. If you hadn't stirred it up, made the story and publicized it, nothing would have developed because there is not enough reason to impose an emergency status in Papua," said the minister while he was heading to his official car.
He even asked who had made up the plan to impose the civil emergency status, "Who did make the plan [the civil emergency status]? Who did it? Please, tell me! Who did it?" he said impatiently.
Jakarta Post - January 26, 2004
Yogyakarta -- The government said it has no plan to raise a civil emergency status on Papua, despite constant security problems in the country's easternmost province.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Saturday that any plan to declare civil emergency status for Papua needed to be considered thoroughly.
He was responding to members of House of Representatives Commission I for political and security affairs, who proposed that security alert for the province be upgraded.
Civil emergency, Susilo said, would only be imposed if the government could no longer handle the Papuan separatist movement.
He stressed that existing laws were adequate for dealing with the province's security problems.
"Despite security disturbances, the separatist movement and social problems in Papua, the government hopes to find a solution based on law," Susilo said.
| Labour issues |
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
A. Junaidi, Jakarta -- The International Labor Organization (ILO) called on Wednesday for the National Police to refrain directly intervening in negotiations and disputes between workers and employers.
The ILO's representative in Indonesia, Alan Boulton, said the police, who are supposed to undergoing internal reform, were expected to focus on maintaining order and upholding the law in industrial disputes.
The world body and the United States government have been working together with the Indonesian government to provide the police with training on labor disputes.
Boulton said the project, funded by the US, would support progress in workers' rights and the sort of police reform given the police's role in the new industrial relations environment in Indonesia.
"However, it is not the role for which ABRI was often criticized in the past, where there was direct interference in negotiations and disputes between workers and employers," he said.
ABRI is the local acronym for the Indonesian Armed Forces, the official name by which the military used to call itself. The armed forces now simply style themselves as the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Boulton said the project would involve curriculum development and training, the formulation of guidelines on how strikes, lockouts and labor disputes should be handled, and improved cooperation with the Ministry of Manpower.
US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce said the program was part of funding to the tune of over US$40 million intended to help the police play their proper role in a democratic society.
"The ILO project complements existing US-funded police programs and expands that assistance into a new field important to civil society," Boyce said.
He said the police role in industrial disputes, such as maintaining law and order, could contribute to harmonious industrial relations.
Manpower minister Jacob Nuwa Wea agreed with Boyce, saying the project would contribute to an improved investment climate here.
In comments that seemed to run against the whole purpose of the training, Jacob said the police should not hesitate to take firm against workers.
"If they [workers] are out of order, it's OK for the police to slap them around them a little bit. We often slap our children at home if they are naughty, don't we?" he said.
Meanwhile, National Police Deputy Chief Comr. Gen. Kadaryanto admitted that the police often sided with the employers when handling industrial disputes.
"Through this training, we hope to improve our knowledge of how to handle labor disputes," Kadaryanto said.
Separately, lawyer and labor activist Surya Tjandra expressed fears that the project would only increase abuses by the police against protesting or striking workers.
"In a situation where workers have no bargaining power, the police will continue to favor the employers," said Surya, a former director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute.
He leads a number of non-governmental organizations which are seeking a judicial review of Law No. 21/2003 on manpower affairs.
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta -- The management of state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) and its 6,600 dismissed workers have failed to resolve their labor dispute under a bipartite negotiation, and has relegated the final decision to the Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Dispute (P4P).
The settlement process under the P4p is expected to be lengthy, as the conflicting parties may appeal to the Supreme Court against whatever verdict the committee delivers.
The disputing parties reported the failure of their bipartite negotiation to the committee on Tuesday.
P4P chairman Sabar Sianturi regretted the failure, saying this would not benefit either side because it would only prolong the settlement process.
"It will cost both the management and workers must time to attend hearings at the high court and the Supreme Court under Law No. 22/1957, because the dismissed workers are expected to fight all the way to the Supreme Court," he said.
Johnson Pandjaitan, the workers' legal representative, said his clients also regretted the deadlock and accused the management of lacking the commitment to solving the dispute peacefully in the first place.
"The workers have no other alternative than to bring their case to the Supreme Court," he said.
He said the workers were disappointed with the government for turning a blind eye to the State Administrative Court, which annulled the management's decision, "and so far, neither the management nor the government have taken the initiative to investigate allegations of financial problems and corruption." The management, with the government's approval, dismissed in December 6,600 of 9,350 workers. The workers were laid off in July after the company found it could no longer repay its debts to local and international creditors. The government has disbursed US$5 million for severance and service pay to the dismissed workers, who rejected the payments and demanded that they be reemployed.
They said the company's financial problem was not caused by overstaffing, but by a corrupt and inefficient management that had cost the company between Rp 2 trillion and Rp 3 trillion since 1997.
Sabar said that with the failure of bipartite talks, the 15- member P4P, along with labor experts from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, would hold a plenary session to take a final decision on the labor dispute.
"Whatever decision they take, it will have an impact on either the management or the dismissed workers, and the law allows either to appeal to the higher courts," he said, adding that the committee had yet to set a date for the plenary session.
The dismissed workers have filed a lawsuit with the P4P and the State Administrative Court against the ailing company's management in response to their mass dismissal. They have also demanded that the government appoint a new board to save the company.
PT DI, formerly known as PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN), was an ambitious project of former president Soeharto. Under then-minister of research and technology B.J. Habibie, the company set a target of producing commercial aircraft by 2015.
Meanwhile, thousands of dismissed workers who arrived on Monday in Jakarta from Bandung, West Java, said they would continue their fight case until the government met their demands.
Several workers said they would accept the dismissal only if the company paid their monthly salaries since last July and provided double the severance and service payments as required by Chapter 164 of Law No. 13/2003.
Antara - January 27, 2004
Jakarta -- Police involvement in dealing with labor disputes was pivotal although their performance had been criticized, International Labor Organization (ILO) spokeswoman Gita Lingga said on Tuesday.
While the police's military-style approach in dealing with labor disputes was still controversial, their involvement was vital to creating harmonious industrial relations in Indonesia, Gita said.
The ILO is conducting a one-day seminar in Jakarta on Wednesday entitled "The Role of the Police in Industrial Relations".
Indonesian Police chief, Gen Da'i Bachtiar, US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L Boyce, and ILO director for Indonesia Allan Boulton are expected to open the seminar.
Gita said the role of policemen in handling legal disputes among industrial workers would be among the topics discussed during the seminar.
The seminar also intended to introduce the ILO's declaration on police training, which was launched in August last year.
"The project is part of technical cooperation between the US and Indonesian governments," Gita said.
Jakarta Post -- January 26, 2004
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- All workers, whether in the formal or informal sectors, will receive a monthly pension upon retirement, according to the national social security system (NSSS) bill, provided that they have been participating in the national social security program for at least 15 years.
They will also be permitted to cash in their premiums before the minimum period of 15 years has been reached, but will forfeit their pension entitlements if they do so.
The pension scheme is one of f the NSSS bill. The four other schemes are for health insurance, occupational health and safety insurance, old-age insurance and life insurance.
According to the bill, the NSSS will replace the current insurance schemes administered by PT Taspen for pensions, PT Askes for health insurance, PT Jamsostek for occupational health and safety insurance, and PT Asabri in the case of insurance for military/police personnel.
A reliable system of social insurance is mandated by the amended 1945 Constitution and a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree issued in 2000.
The social security program is mandatory, with participants comprising all local and expatriate employees who have worked in Indonesia for six months or more following the enactment of the law.
Under the bill, all large employers have to register their employees with the Social Insurance Management Agency (BPJS), while small businesses will gradually be brought into the scheme in line with the government regulations that are expected to be issued subsequently.
The employers will pay 50 percent of employee insurance premiums. The amount of the insurance premium will be determined based on the income of each worker.
The owners of small businesses who do not employ staff will have to pay the insurance premiums themselves.
As soon as the employees are registered with the BPJS, they and their dependents will receive membership cards.
The bill states that the government will be required to provide free services for certain groups in society, including the indigent, disabled and homeless, prostitutes and the victims of natural disasters.
The dependents of the workers who are members of the health insurance scheme will also be covered. The services to be provided include free medical care and medicine. The bill, which was drafted by the government, stipulates that the BPJS has the obligation to properly manage the funds collected from the participants.
Each of the five insurance schemes will have a separate account.
The President will be required to establish a council to help the BPJS draft policies and synchronize the implementation of the national social security scheme.
The council, to be known as the National Social Security Council (DJSN), will consist of 15 members who will represent the government, workers and employers.
Employers who do not register their employees in the scheme will face a maximum jail term of six months and/or a Rp 500 million (US$60,000) fine.
Employers who fail to pay their monthly insurance premiums to the BPJS can be jailed for a maximum of one year and/or be fined Rp 5 billion ($600,000).
The bill was finalized by the government on Jan. 16 after two years with the legal drafters.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said the government would allocate up to Rp 3 trillion (US$360 million) annually to pay health insurance premiums for around 40 million poor people.
Jakarta Post - January 26, 2004
Jakarta -- President Megawati Soekarnoputri has signed Law No. 2/2004 on the settlement of labor disputes, which replaces Law. No. 22/1957.
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said the President signed the law on Thursday, but that it would only take effect in January 2005.
"The current system of labor dispute settlement remains effective while the government familiarizes everyone with the new law over the next one year," he said.
The minister called on the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) and labor unions to prepare ad hoc judges to assist career judges in running the labor court when the new law comes into force next year.
"Apindo and labor unions have to be prepared with ad hoc judges to try labor cases as of next January," he said.
The new law, which will allow for less costly and faster trials of labor cases, states that both workers and employers are allowed to bring cases to labor courts if they fail to resolve their disputes in bipartite negotiations or through arbitration.
| 'War on terrorism' |
Agence France Presse - January 29, 2004
The policies of some Western nations in the Middle East and elsewhere are partly to blame for the rise of terrorism in Indonesia and other countries, a top anti-terror official said here.
The main cause of terrorism in Indonesia was religious radicalism that manipulates religion for its own ends, said Asyaad Mbai, the security ministry's coutner-terror chief.
"We have identified the root cause of terrorism here as springing from radical ideologies, which manipulate the extreme values of religions to raise anger against a certain group ... and are based on shallow literal interpretations," Mbai told AFP.
But also fanning the rise of terrorism were Western policies which "sometimes can make radicals even more radical," he said.
"As long as this perceived injustice continue, hatred will continue to come to the surface and radicalism can take place." Mbai said he and other Indonesian officials, including President Megawati Sukarnoputri, had been asking their counterparts abroad to correct "these injustices, double standards."
The Indonesia-based and al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah has carried out a string of attacks or attempted attacks in Southeast Asia in recent years, most notably the Bali bombings which killed 202 people in October 2002. The Bali plotters say they carried out the attack to avenge perceived injustices to Muslims worldwide.
"The radicals always say that there is global injustice, that Islam is being pressured, is being cornered or even being destroyed by the West and the United States. This is their war cry," Mbai said.
"They say that if the Palestinians conduct a revenge action they are terrorists but when Israel bombs with their helicopters and armoured vehicles, they are not terrorists. This is what double standard is.
"The same injustice is done in Afghanistan and in Iraq now, these radicals tells their listeners." Mbai said Indonesia would enlist the help of charismatic and credible Muslim figures to counter radicalism.
"It is these figures that we will empower to help our endeavour" he said, without naming them. "For Indonesia, this is our top priority in the fight against terrorism. We have to eliminate these radical ideologies," Mbai said.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated state with more than 80 percent of its 212 million people following a generally moderate form of Islam.
Agence France Presse - January 29, 2004
An Indonesian court has jailed an Islamic militant for life for helping to make one of the bombs which ripped through two Bali nightclubs and killed 202 people.
"We hereby sentence the defendant, Zaenal Abidin alias Sarjiyo, alias Zaini ... to life in prison," Judge Ari Supraptman announced at a court in the resort island.
Sarjiyo helped make the bomb which devastated the crowded Sari Club on October 12, 2002 and killed mainly Western tourists.
He is the third man to be jailed for life for the attack, which was staged by the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group to avenge injustice to Muslims worldwide.
Three people have been sentenced to death and a number of others have received long prison terms.
"I wish to appeal," Sarjiyo declared loudly, raising his arm, after the judges banged the gavel.
The judges, who took turns reading the verdict, said Sarjiyo helped plan the attack and took part in mixing chemicals for the Sari Club bomb. He also helped pack explosive powder into filing cabinets which were installed in the back of a van.
The first blast was a suicide bombing inside Paddy's Pub. The van blast seconds later at the Sari Club in the Kuta tourist strip claimed the most lives.
Sarjiyo had told his trial the attack was intended to show that Indonesia can resist what he called a foreign conspiracy to break up the country.
"The objective of our action is to show foreigners that there is resistance in Indonesia. We resist to prevent Indonesia from breaking up," he said last month.
He cited Christian-Muslim fighting in Poso on Sulawesi island and in the Maluku islands and the independence of mainly Christian East Timor as proof of a foreign plot to dismember the country.
Sarjiyo also told his trial last month he was in the southern Philippines between 1994 and 1996 to "help Moro jihad fighters".
There have been several reports that JI fighters have trained and are still training at camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The Philippine group denies cooperating with JI.
At another trial, prosecutors recommended that judges sentence Achmad Roichan alias Sa'ad to 20 years in jail for helping to hide key bomber Mukhlas while he was on the run.
Mukhlas, one of those sentenced to death, was hidden in a small home factory owned by Roichan in the city of Solo. Roichan will present his defence plea when his trial resumes on February 12.
Witnesses have said the Sari Club bomb was built under the supervision of two men who are still on the run -- a Malaysian called Azahari Husin and an Indonesian called Dulmatin.
Police have arrested some 35 people for the Bali blasts and most have been put on trial and sentenced.
Apart from the Bali attacks, JI is blamed for the Marriott hotel blast in Jakarta in August last year that killed 12 people and a string of other attacks. It aims to create an Islamic theocracy across much of Southeast Asia.
Jakarta Post - January 27, 2004
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- An Indonesian militant who said he wanted to kill Americans went on trial for last year's Marriott bombing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday and could be sent to the firing squad if convicted. Defendant Mohammad Rais, alias Edi Endra, 29, was charged under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism for organizing acts of terror that had caused mass fear and destruction to vital objects.
The Marriott bombing on Aug. 5, 2003, killed 12 people -- mostly Indonesians, including six drivers and a Dutch banker -- and injured 147 others.
"I regret that there were Muslims among the victims. They were not my targets. My targets were Americans," Rais said after the hearing was adjourned until Feb. 4 by presiding judge Johanes E. Binti to hear his defense plea.
"I am ready to be held responsible because I was involved." When the defendant entered the courtroom, dozens of his supporters broke into a deafening chant of Allahu Akbar (Allah is great).
Prosecutors, who took turns reading the 52-page indictment, said that Rais -- an accomplice of the two most wanted suspects in the Marriott blast, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top -- introduced Asmar Latin Sani, the Marriott suicide bomber, to the two Malaysians before they executed the attack.
The defendant asked Asmar to take part in a "jihad mission", including sacrificing his life "as the Palestinians are doing".
"The defendant, along with Azahari and Noordin, from September 2002 to January 2003, plotted and arranged for other people to carry out an act of terror," state prosecutor Andi Herman told the court.
Azahari -- believed to be the master bombmaker for several attacks attributed to the UN-listed Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist group -- asked Asmar to prepare a vest with pockets for explosives to be used for a suicide bombing mission. Asmar died instantly when the van he drove blew up in the hotel's driveway.
The indictment said that Rais helped Azahari and Noordin collect explosive material -- three kilograms of TNT and detonators -- that would be transported to Jakarta to blow up four possible targets.
Rais was also alleged to have delivered a message from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'ashir in 2001, after he completed his religious training in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ba'ashir is currently serving three years at the Cipinang penitentiary, East Jakarta, after being found guilty of immigration offenses and forging documents, but acquitted of all terror-related charges.
Rais, a graduate of the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java, which was co-founded by Ba'ashir, is the second defendant to be tried in the Marriott bombing case.
The first was Sardona Siliwangi who was tried at the Bengkulu District Court. Prosecutors have accused him of violating the antiterrorism law by possessing explosives and called last Friday for a nine-year prison term for him.
Primary suspects in the bombing, Azahari and Noordin, are still on the run after they have deftly been able to elude police attempts to capture them over the last several months.
The two were also alleged to have substantial roles in the Bali blast on Oct. 12, 2002, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign holidaymakers.
Jakarta Post - January 27, 2004
A. Junaidi, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) have taken advantage of the global war on terrorism to regain the power they had exercised previously to suppress the political rights of the people, a human rights activist said on Monday.
"The war on terrorism has given them legitimacy," said Munir, executive director of the Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), during the book launch of Terrorism, Definition, Action and Regulation.
The 160-page book was published by Imparsial and the Coalition for the Safety of the Civilian Community, which groups dozens of non-governmental organizations opposing the 2003 Antiterrorism Law.
Munir said the military had persisted in maintaining its territorial function using the threat of terrorism as a pretext.
He deemed the recent proposal by BIN to expand its presence to mayoralties and regencies was an effort to regain power.
"Instead of monitoring terrorist activities, they would use its power to curb political activities," said Munir, who is a co- founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is due to sign a decree authorizing BIN to open offices in all provinces, regencies and municipalities across the country, but the time frame for its endorsement has not yet been specified.
BIN chief Lt. Gen. (ret) A.M. Hendropriyono has confirmed the plan, but said it was intended merely to revitalize the agency.
Following the Bali bombing on Oct. 12, 2002, which claimed 202 lives, national intelligence has been under constant fire for its failure to detect terrorist activities, especially as more blasts have rocked the country since Bali.
The government is also proposing an amendment to the Antiterrorism Law that will authorize BIN to arrest suspected terrorists without a warrant.
International law expert Andi Widjajanto of the University of Indonesia warned that BIN would be prone to abuse such power.
"The task of an intelligence agency is to collect information; the police must investigate and arrest any suspected terrorists," said Andi at the book launch.
During Soeharto's New Order regime, the military and intelligence oppressed the people and denied their political rights through a policy of terror, including abducting activists and incarcerating outspoken literary figures.
The State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin) of the time was synonymous with terror and oppression, and was replaced by BIN in 2000, two years after the fall of Soeharto.
Kontras was founded in part to investigate and trace the whereabouts of those who "disappeared" under the New Order, many of whose fates remain unknown, and are presumed dead.
Reuters - January 26, 2004
Jakarta -- A young Islamic militant accused of involvement in last year's bombing of a US-run hotel in Indonesia told a court on Monday he had targeted Americans and regretted that all but one of those killed were his countrymen.
Prosecutors charged Mohamad Rais, 28, with helping to organise the deadly bombing of the J W Marriott hotel. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The bombing killed 12 p 150.
"I'm remorseful because Muslims became victims. The ones who I targeted were Americans. Now I have to be accountable because I was indeed involved in the Marriott bombing," he told the court before the judge adjourned proceedings until February 4.
Rais, whose hearing began on Monday, is only the second suspect to go on trial over the Jakarta incident in which militants detonated a bomb-laden car in front of the hotel lobby on August 5 last year.
The trial of the first defendant in the case began in November in Bengkulu on the island of Sumatra. He is accused of having stored explosives used in the blast.
"The defendant, along with Azahari and Noordin M.Top, from September 2002 to January 2003, plotted and arranged for other people to carry out an act of terror," state prosecutor Andi Herman told the South Jakarta court.
Malaysian engineer Azahari is believed to be the master bombmaker for several attacks staged by the militant Jemaah Islamiah group, a Southeast Asian organisation with links to al Qaeda.
Authorities say Top -- also a Malaysian -- is Azahari's sidekick. Both are among Southeast Asia's most wanted men.
The prosecution said Rais also arranged the transport of bombmaking chemicals in Sumatra, before others carried them to Jakarta where Azahari built the device in mid-2003. Three Indonesians have been sent to death row for involvement in acts of terror.
All were plotters and organisers of the nightclub bombings on the tourist island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, in October 2002. Jemaah Islamiah was also blamed for the Bali blast.
| 2004 elections |
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) disqualified on Thursday 126 of 1,682 regional legislative candidates from 24 political parties contesting the April 5 legislative election.
KPUD chairman Muhamad Taufik said, however, that if any of the approved candidates were found to have submitted fake documents they would also be disqualified. "It's better for candidates who submitted fake documents to quit now rather than be discovered later," he told The Jakarta Post.
Thirty-six of the disqualified candidates are from East Jakarta, 30 from South Jakarta, 26 from West Jakarta, 13 from Central Jakarta and 21 from North Jakarta and Kepulauan Seribu regency.
A total of 1,556 candidates were declared qualified for the election by KPUD. East Jakarta has the biggest number of candidates with 429, followed by South Jakarta with 336 candidates, West Jakarta with 324, North Jakarta and Kepulauan Seribu with 267 and Central Jakarta with 200. They all will run to gain one of the 75 seats in the City Council.
Taufik named several factors for the disqualification of candidates including the submission of fake documents and incomplete requirements, being under-age, not fulfilling the minimum education requirement and failure to confirm their documents' authenticity.
Many candidates from major parties like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) were among those who failed to qualify.
Fachruddin, a member of the poll commission from South Jakarta, said that there were also many candidates who had been disqualified because they did not confirm their documents authenticity with KPUD offices at the provincial or municipal levels.
"The number of candidates who failed to go to KPUD offices to confirm their documents is quite significant," he said, without elaborating.
KPUD had earlier informed each political party that their legislative candidates were required to go the KPUD offices to confirm the authenticity of their documents by presenting the original ones.
Data at KPUD showed that 10 of 24 political parties in Jakarta had not fulfilled the 30 percent quota of women legislative candidates.
They include major parties such as the National Awakening Party (PKB) with only 21 percent, the National Mandate Party (PAN) with 25 percent, Golkar Party with 28 percent, PBB with 26 percent and PDI-P with 25 percent.
Other parties that failed to fulfill the quota include the Socialists Democratic Labor Party (PBSD) with 28 percent, the Democratic Party 28 percent, the Reform Star Party (PBR) 17 percent, the Regional United Party (PSI) 28 percent and the Pioneers' Party 26 percent.
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais joined on Thursday those expressing concern over a possible delay to the elections following the ballot box tender fiasco.
Amien said the country's democracy was in danger if the General Elections Commission (KPU) failed to work in a professional manner in preparing for the elections. "A delay will disrupt the whole process of the elections," he said before the launch of a new book compiling his jokes.
He said the KPU was responsible for the logistics of setting up polling stations across the country on schedule.
The nation will elect members of legislative bodies on April 5 and the president on July 5. If a second round of voting is needed in the presidential election, this will take place on September 20.
Amien said if the KPU was unable to establish polling stations in all areas, the elections should be delayed until the polls can take place simultaneously nationwide.
He was responding to concerns raised by legislators from the House of Representatives over the ability of the KPU to organize the elections on schedule, given the fact that many of the planned 565,000 polling stations had not yet received ballot papers or ballot boxes. The KPU has set a March 5 deadline for the distribution of these items.
The KPU canceled the Rp 311 billion contract of PT Survindo to manufacture 2.19 million ballot boxes for the elections, after the company failed to live up to the contract. The commission has appointed PT Tjakrindo Mas and PT Almas, which finished second and third behind Survindo in the tender, to supply the ballot boxes.
House legislators have demanded the KPU sue PT Survindo for its failure to honor its contract, but fell short of pushing for an inquiry into irregularities in the tender process.
Muslim scholar Muslim Abdurrahman also expressed his fear the KPU would fail to organize elections on time. "This will be the most complicated elections in our history. Unfortunately, the KPU members are not professional," he said.
Muslim pointed out that the KPU had not completed the most important part of the elections preparation, namely the distribution of ballot papers and ballot boxes. "We will hold the elections in the next few weeks but the preparations are not even finished," he said.
Similar concerns were voiced by the Government Watch (Gowa), which urged the House to begin preparing contingency plans. "The failure of the House to supervise the KPU could lead to a delay of the elections," Gowa coordinator Farid Faqih said in a statement.
Apart from the ballot boxes, the KPU must also provide nine other items for the elections: ballot papers, voter cards, vote tally forms, ink, computers, operators, training, information dissemination and cargo services.
Amien suggested the KPU not insist on the use of aluminum ballot boxes for the elections if this would only disrupt the poll preparations.
Amien pointed out that during the country's first general election in 1955, the ballot boxes were made of hard paper. "And we know it was a democratic election," he said.
KPU member Mulyana W, Kusumah has said the KPU was considering using wooden ballot boxes.
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Tangerang -- Some 200 activists of 10 non-govermental organisations staged a rally on Thursday at the Tangerang municipal council, demanding the dismissal of the Tangerang General Elections Committee (KPUD) chairman.
NGO Komunike chairman Imron Hamami said the KPUD chairman Adi Warman had been uncooperative in implementing change and dishonest in the use of the KPUD budget.
"We sent letters to the KPU in Jakarta, the Banten Provincial commission, the Tangerang Council and the mayor to demand the dismissal of Adi from his position on October 10, 2003. However, we got no response until today," he said.
Council deputy chairman Burhanunddin met the activists and said the council would deliver the demands to the KPU because "it was the people's aspiration". "We can't dismiss the KPUD chairman. Only the KPU can do that," he said.
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Indramayu -- Hundreds of local supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) burned party flags and tore down other party paraphernalia from the street in a protest against local leaders on Thursday.
The protest started at around 10:30 a.m. outside the PDI-P Indramayu office and became violent as protesters tore down the sign on the office and began removing party flags and banners. The protesters, who came from local PDI-P branches, set the party paraphernalia on fire in a show of anger at the PDI-P Indramayu executive board's selection of legislative candidates.
They accused the board members of putting their own interests first in drawing up the candidacy list.
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
A. Junaidi, Jakarta -- Any move to ban people belonging to the New Order regime from the elections violates the principle of democracy itself, political observer Arief Budiman says.
"We should implement democracy in its entirety. We cannot bar people who are accustomed to the authoritarian system from the democratic process of elections," Arief told a discussion titled "Opportunities and Threats to Democratization in 2004" held by the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP).
Arief was a staunch critic of former president Soeharto's New Order government. He now teaches at Melbourne University, Australia.
He said the participation of a political party that openly claimed to represent the New Order should serve as a test whether democracy would prevail in the country.
Arief was referring to Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), founded by former Army chief Gen. (ret) R. Hartono. The party, one of 24 general election contenders, has nominated Soeharto's daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana as its presidential candidate.
"I predict crooked politicians will dominate this year's elections. So, we should work hard for the 2009 general election," he said. Therefore he suggested that intellectuals and pro-democracy activists join political parties and the elections.
Despite pessimism over the result of the polls, Arief urged people to maintain democracy and freedom of the press. He also asked people to fight the court verdict in a libel case involving Koran Tempo daily and businessman Tomy Winata, saying it was a threat to press freedom and democracy.
The South Jakarta District Court ordered the daily to pay US$1 million in damages to the plaintiff Tomy. "It not about Koran Tempo. It's about press freedom and democracy," Arief said.
Meanwhile, Indonesianist from Deakin University Greg Barton expressed pessimism over the current democratic transition.
"I see the military and Islamic hard-liners could still pose a threat to the democratic transition. We do not want Indonesia to suffer more than the Philippines or Pakistan in the years following transition," said Barton, who is known for his close relations with former president Abdurrahman Wahid. He said the current government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri was unlikely to be able to make the transition to full democracy.
Besides the powerless government, he said the current political structure could not create democracy, which required, among other things, the implementation of checks and balances. Previously, a study conducted by the Democracy and Human Rights Studies Institute concluded that the corrupt political elite had taken advantage of the democratic transition to continue corrupt practices.
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Anton Doni, Jakarta -- The dilemma of idealistic intellectuals ahead of the first election after Soeharto quit the presidency in 1998 was whether or not to get their hands dirty by becoming politicians.
However, if political leadership is about making the best decisions possible for the nation as whole, and changing the narrow-minded culture of accumulation and/or abuse of power, then those with the best minds should enter the political fray. The economist Sjahrir, once a student activist jailed for his involvement in the huge 1974 protests in the early years of the New Order, is among quite a number of intellectuals who seem to have decided that their jobs as scholars and as staunch critics of the government must now be complemented by actual influence in the making of policy. Sjahrir has joined forces with a number of respected senior journalists and fellow economists such as Pande Radja Silalahi to form the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PIB), named after an earlier organization.
The political party was born just last year, but since the 1980s, students and intellectual community in general, have long been familiar with the Yayasan Padi dan Kapas that Sjahrir and his colleagues set up, and which hosted many seminars.
The challenge for this high brow circle is to create a broad- based political party, especially if it wants to avoid being considered a group of intellectual elitists, which is what happened with the banned Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI).
New parties always have a novelty value with new ideas -- and PIB's focus is ridding the country of the negative culture and practices that define Indonesian politics, even in the current reform era. One specific problem pointed out in a speech by Sjahrir was what he termed "re-traditionalism", or communal sentiments that continually provoke communal conflicts due mostly to exclusive in-group feelings.
Another is just plain irrational behavior by those in power, and so PIB envisions "the politics of common sense", or "a common social phenomena", which he believes, if people lived by these basic themes, they would not kill each other.
Before the party was set up in September 2002, the PIB organization prepared and sent a draft of a decree on economic recovery to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) ahead of the Assembly's annual 2001 session. The nine-chapter draft decree ranged from tackling the country's debts to its internally displaced people. It was not adopted, but it did give the public a very clear picture of the party's stance on economic recovery. The draft decree outlined how recovery should be based on a clear division of responsibilities among state bodies, including law enforcers.
As recorded in Sjahrir's various speeches, injustice and unemployment are two of the party's key concerns and it will be interesting to see if they can translate such great ideas into action, that is, if they manage to secure a bloc of House seats in the election.
Freedom is also a concern of this party. Since the reform movement, freedom of expression and association are mostly accepted nationwide. But in some cases, religious freedoms are not entirely respected.
For this, the party feels that security must be provided under a democratic environment to guard freedom of religion for all people, not just the majority.
One feature that distinguishes this party from the other 23 is its great concern for international affairs, without the baggage of ideology which many of the Islamist parties seem to be prone to. It envisions a well-ordered world that ensures security, peace and prosperity for all. In that context it protested the US war in Iraq.
The party's stress on freedom and social justice, its focus on the role of government, its strength in international affairs and its drive to modernization, brings to mind the above-mentioned PSI, which was banned for its alleged involvement in rebellious movements in the 1950s.
In the classic "Indonesian Political Thinking, 1945-1965" in which Herbert Feith and Lance Castles compile translations of speeches and articles by early politicians, one can read the words of the late prominent economist and leading figure of PSI, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo. He also seeks to convince the Indonesian public that freedom, social justice and human dignity should be the substance of nationalism.
Internationalism and modernization were also characteristics of this historical party, grouped in the category of "democratic socialism" by the late Feith. Those themes were articulated more strongly by Soetan Sjahrir and Soedjatmoko, also proponents of PSI.
But again PIB would not like to be likened to PSI, which only got two percent of votes and six seats in parliament following the 1955 elections despite its high profile.
PIB may gain support from among 2.5 million university graduates and 5 million people with higher education degrees. But hopefully PIB members themselves will not follow other idealists who found that many still prefer communalism and irrationality, all that PIB detests.
Excerpts of PIB's vision/mission:
The party strives to achieve the above ideals with programs including:
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
Rusman, Samarinda -- The East Kalimantan General Elections Commission (KPUD) ruled on Wednesday that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) could not run for seats in the provincial council during the upcoming elections.
The decision was made after executives from PDI-P's East Kalimantan chapter failed to beat a midnight Tuesday deadline to file a final and valid list of the party's legislative candidates.
The Tuesday deadline was also imposed on other political parties. "The deadline passed and it cannot be extended. The party is not allowed to run for seats in the upcoming elections," said Noersyamsu Agung, the chairman of the KPUD.
He said originally there were no problems with the list of legislative candidates submitted to the KPUD by the party. The list was signed by Imam Munjiat, the chairman of the party's East Kalimantan chapter, and its secretary-general Soekardi Jarwo Putro.
But, several days ago, another list of legislative candidates signed by the two East Kalimantan PDI-P leaders was submitted to the KPUD. The names of the candidates on this second list were different from the names on the first list.
Soekardi claims that the second list was submitted without his knowledge. "I've never signed a second list of legislative candidates." Noersyamsu said the KPUD gave the party a Tuesday midnight deadline to resolve the differences, but none of the party leaders turned up.
"The KPU has no right to interfere in the internal matters of a party. The internal conflicts of a party must be settled by themselves," he said.
The KPUD invited the PDI-P executives to a meeting on Wednesday, but only Soekardi appeared. Imam Munjiat was absent from the meeting. "I can't comment. This is an internal matter of the party," said Soekardi.
Speaking later, Imam Munjiat said the party had yet to formulate a response to the KPUD decision. He said there would be a meeting that would be attended by all of the party chapter executives to discuss the decision.
Asked about the alleged manipulation of the second list of legislative candidates, Imam said he was prepared to face in court anyone who claimed something was amiss with the list of legislative candidates.
Meanwhile, a KPUD member, Maskur Melle, announced that 759 legislative candidates from 23 political parties, excluding PDI- P, had passed the verification process. The decision was made in a KPUD plenary meeting held on Wednesday.
"Only 27 legislative candidates [from the 23 parties] were disqualified from participating in the upcoming election. Eighteen were men, and the rest were women," he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
They were disqualified because some of them had resigned, while others failed to complete the administrative requirements set by the KPU. The list of successful candidates will be forwarded to the central KPU for final validation.
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
Frans Surdiasis, Jakarta -- The latter half of 2003 saw the re- emergence of the daughter of former president Soeharto, this time on the political stage. Businesswoman and former minister of social services Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, well known as "Tutut", was touted as presidential candidate of the new party under another familiar face to many -- former Army chief of staff under her father's rule, R. Hartono.
Along with the political activity of other figures from the former regime, as shown in drafts of legislative candidate lists, the re-emergence of Tutut and Hartono merely confirmed the perception that many New Order regime figures were on the comeback trail after the regime's ignominious downfall in 1998, and not necessarily with a different ideology.
The establishment of the new party, the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), and its presidential candidate Tutut raises more alarm bells about the return of the former first family and their cronies, as Hartono indicated that the party has been given a direct blessing from Soeharto, dubbed the "Smiling General" after the title of his biography.
The party sells tried and true basics like "developing business and entrepreneurship to increase public welfare" but also a few "reformist" aspirations like military professionalism and respect for human rights. Yet it appears to remain true to its roots. The word "functional" refers to its roots in Golkar (Golongan Karya) which, Hartono said, Soeharto recommended in a meeting with him (the meeting itself raised demands for the courts to reopen the latter's corruption case because apparently he is not as impaired as doctors had claimed).
Astutely building on the hopes of a considerable number of people who fondly remember the rapid economic development under Soeharto, Hartono even went so far as to state that anyone who is anti-New Order is against the state's five official ideological principles, or Pancasila. (belief in: one God, humanity, national unity, people's representation and social justice.) That was the main mantra against dissenters in the days before reformasi, and it now sounds quite offensive to many people.
Trying to imitate the early success story of Golkar, this party expects to rely on two pillars as its main supporters: Former leaders of Golkar and retired military officers, despite the fact that a number of former Golkar people have already set up other parties. Some mass organizations politically affiliated with the New Order are also considered a potential source of votes.
The party originated from a mass organization set up in April 2000 by Hartono, the Concern for the Nation, which focused on issues of the economy and education. On Sept. 9, 2002 the PKPB was declared and its members did indeed include former top Golkar executives, in addition to a number of retired generals. Hartono has reportedly said that the PKPB would be akin to the "old Golkar" to differentiate from the "New Golkar" (the name it chose after reformasi and used for the 1999 election campaign) led by Akbar Tandjung.
So the core selling point of the party seems to be "reform has failed, let's go back to the Soeharto era." A number of surveys indicate that many are suffering from a uniquely Indonesian version of SARS -- not that frightening pneumonia-like disease, but Sindrom Aku Rindu Soeharto (I miss Soeharto syndrome), and to them the post-Soeharto years have seen little improvement, if not worsened, regarding welfare and employment.
The party does seem to have the power, money and connections to market its political ideas. First, they have very good organization and a solid network by any standards. PKPB is the first party which registered with the General Election Commission (KPU) and one of six new parties that passed KPU verification in the first stage.
Second, Hartono claims 3.5 million active members throughout the country, and the involvement of Soeharto, as indicated by the party leadership, ensures a well-funded party, or the beginnings of one.
Third, Hartono's party also has the ear of the "Cendana inner circle", a reference to Soeharto's Central Jakarta neighborhood. Fourth, the party's main asset for public exposure is Tutut, who gained some popularity for her charitable activities.
A serious hurdle is, of course, the party's outlook which is now perceived as out of touch with the times. Even people who say life under Soeharto was better will likely still vote for Golkar, which tries to accommodate some of the new Indonesian aspirations of reform and the ideals of democracy.
Nevertheless, the old powers could be significant players if they can consolidate all pro-Soeharto people and lure the many swing voters, particularly those who have lost jobs in the last several years.
As a new party that rarely makes public statements -- they would be quite dry without Tutut and her demure smile anyway -- PKPB is not yet that well-known by people. This is another of its weaknesses.
Yet the party seems confident of at least being able to win the minimum 3 percent of votes to be entitled to nominate a presidential candidate. After all, it is counting on Soeharto loyalists and their entire families.
Tutut is also a legislative candidate for Yogyakarta, her father's hometown, and that could be cut into some of the votes for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) which won the most seats in the past election there, as well as Golkar's Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. Hartono will compete for a seat in Madura, East Java, and will thus pose a challenge for the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP) in that province.
The result of the challenges posed by parties that campaign on their connection to the New Order will be evident in the results of the 2004 elections -- presuming that we can all exercise our free, informed will. It will be a litmus test of sorts to see whether Indonesians are still prepared to endure this seemingly endless transition to real democracy and reform -- or are fed up and willing to trust "the old forces" again, which would now be eager to show that they are the ones who can provide the much- desired prosperity and security.
Excerpts of PKPB's vision/mission:
Tempo Interactive - January 28, 2004
Jakarta - At around 11.45am on Tuesday January 27, two groups of demonstrators from the Central Leadership Committee of the People's Democratic Party (KPP-PRD) and student demonstrators from the Administration Branch of the Mandala Indonesia Higher School of Education (STIAMI) held demonstrations at the offices of the National Elections Commission (KPU). Before arriving at the KPU offices, they had also held a demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.
The carried a number of posters and banners including ones which read"Not an election, but unifying the people to take power","Come on people, revolt so as not to be poor". "Form a government of the poor, create socialism".
According to the general chairperson of the PRD, Yusuf Lakaseng, the demonstration was organised because in their view the political parties participating in the elections, in terms of their programs, have absolutely no answers to the basic problems which are being faced by the nation, such as the increasingly acute sickness of corruption, neoliberal colonialism, militarism and the oppression against women."These political parties have no solution to this problems", said Lakaseng.
As a result, they are convinced that the coming elections will only produce the same forces as those who were in power before them. Although acknowledging that this is not in the framework of rejecting or supporting the elections, the PRD however is calling for the creation of a united democratic force to build a broad people's movement front. Because of this, in the present stage of the struggle, the PRD is calling for the creation of a government of the poor.
They also called on the people's movement and the extra- parliamentary bourgeois democrats to form a strong united front. This united front must broaden its structure from the national down to the village level. However this united political front must be consistent, be loyal to the interests of the people and involve the broadest and most effective mobilisation of the people.
They also called for the formation of as many welfare coordination posts in the poor people's settlements, in the factories, on campus and in the kampungs as possible. These posts would be a tool for discussion, formation of ideas and as a base for the demands for people's prosperity. This is because it has been proven that the people's rights will only be obtained by path of struggle and though demands which involve the boarder masses.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- After conducting a second verification, the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Tuesday that between 5 and 10 percent of some 8,000 legislative nominees were not eligible for the April polls.
KPU member Anas Urbaningrum, who chairs the legislative screening, said most of the failed candidates were not registered as party members, failed to submit wealth reports or had not relinquished their status as state employees.
But Anas confirmed the KPU did find any candidates who submitted fake school certificates as happened in provincial and regental levels. He said KPU would allow candidates who failed to submit photographs, saying a photograph was not a substantial to bar them from running.
Leaders of political parties will announce on Wednesday evening candidates who passed the second screening. KPU will publicly announce the final list of eligible legislative candidates on Thursday.
Anas said there was one party that had more than 100 candidates disqualified.
KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) was the only one that had all candidates qualified, but a source said there was another party which also recorded a 100 percent record.
According to initial data collected from political parties, there were 8,871 legislative hopefuls registered with KPU, but data issued by the KPU media center revealed the number stood at 8,259 as of December 29, 2003.
The legislative election is on April 5, with the direct presidential election first round on July 5, and a possible second run-off on September 20.
Earlier in the day, KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah said the commission would take over the role to screen legislative and regional representative (DPD) candidates representing West Irian Jaya from the local KPUD which refused to do so.
"But we'll only conduct administrative verification on those people. We have no time to carry out full factual verifications as on February 1, their data should have been put into the ballot paper along with the other candidates," he said.
Based on KPU's latest data, West Irian Jaya had nine DPD nominees and 492 legislative candidates from six political parties.
On January 19, Papua KPUD sent a letter to KPU, saying it would not process the legislative hopefuls from West Irian Jaya due to its busy schedule.
"Therefore, any activities conducted by West Irian Jaya KPUD secretariat is not our responsibility," Papua KPU chairman Ferry Kareth said in a letter.
He said KPU had not yet sent a letter that instructed Papua KPUD to screen the West Irian Jaya candidates.
Separately, Papua special autonomy lawyer team led by Bambang Widjojanto, representing Papua Provincial Legislative Council chairman John Ibo, sent a second warning to KPU to annul the latter's decision on the establishment of West Irian Jaya electoral districts.
Bambang also said that his team also objected to the seat allocation for the West Irian Jaya Provincial Legislative Council and Regencies Legislative Council.
"Under KPU Instruction No. 672/2003, KPU allots 44 seats to West Irian Jaya Provincial Legislative Council, while the province's population is only 567,894 people. This violates Law No. 12/2003 on General Elections, which stipulates a province with a population of less than 1 million should be allotted 35 seats for the provincial legislative council," he said.
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has established a Rp 100 billion (US$11.3 million) budget for the upcoming elections campaign, with half of that budget earmarked for a media campaign.
The party's treasurer, Noviantika Nasution, said, however, the PDI-P could exceed its proposed budget because "we cannot prohibit people from giving more donations to the party".
PDI-P is the first among 24 political parties contesting the April general election to have announced its budget for the campaign.
Noviantika said the money would be raised from the party's legislative candidates, as well as donations from members and supporters.
"Some Rp 50 billion of the money will be used to place advertisements and woo support through television, radio and other media," Noviantika said at a media conference following a weekly party meeting on Tuesday.
She said that aside from cash, some party members might donate T-shirts or other party symbols for the campaign.
The campaign period for the legislative election will run from March 11 through April 1, with balloting on April 5.
Noviantika said the party would also cover the campaign costs of chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is also the President.
"With the extra security required for the President, we will have to charter a plane to ensure her mobility. But we are ready to finance the campaign," Noviantika said.
During the media conference, the party's deputy secretary- general, Pramono Anung Wibowo, said the Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) had ruled that the party had not violated election laws during a series of events marking its recent anniversary.
"Panwaslu said that we did not violate the law by holding parades and other activities to celebrate our party's anniversary, as long as there were no speeches or activities aimed at wooing people's support," Pramono said.
He said the letter, signed by Panwaslu chairman Komaruddin Hidayat, arrived on Tuesday. The party can now go ahead with its plan to hold more events to celebrate its 31st anniversary.
The Panwaslu office in Surakarta, Central Java, filed a police report accusing the party of violating election laws by gathering more than 50,000 people for a parade in the town last week.
"Since we are not guilty of any violations, we plan to hold parades across the country on February 18 as part of the party's anniversary celebration," Pramono said.
Previously, Panwaslu charged the United Development Party and the National Awakening Party with violating election laws in conjunction with activities they held to mark their respective anniversaries. Both parties were reported to the Jakarta Police.
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
A. Junaidi, Jakarta -- A number of non-governmental organizations condemned on Tuesday the General Elections Commission (KPU)'s recent decision to ban election monitors from entering polling stations.
"The credibility of the upcoming elections will be low if the KPU only provides restricted access to the monitors," said Smita Notosusanto of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro).
Besides Cetro, the Student Network for Indonesian Election Monitoring (JAMPPI) and the People's Voter Education Network (JPPR) also criticized KPU Ruling No. 2/2004, which places restrictions on access for monitors, among other things. The three have applied to the KPU to be allowed to monitor the elections.
The KPU has distributed posters showing model polling stations in which voluntary election monitors are shown outside the polling stations. The posters also state that they will be barred from entering.
Smita argued that as a result the volunteers would be unable to properly monitor the election process. "It will be difficult to spot any errors during the election process," she said.
Wahidah Suaib of JAMPPI agreed with Smita, and urged the KPU to revoke its ruling. Wahidah said the situation was better during the 1999 general election as volunteer monitors were allowed to closely scrutinize the polls. "Allowing monitoring teams to watch elections is the norm in democratic countries," she said.
She rejected suggestions that having monitors inside the polling stations would disrupt the election process, saying that the different monitoring teams would synchronize their work so as to avoid any overlapping.
She said the KPU seemed to have discounted the role played by monitors in ensuring fair and free elections despite the fact that the accommodation of monitors was required under Law No. 12/2003 on general elections.
"The KPU should be thanking us as they have no people at the grassroots level," said Wahidah, who claimed that her organization has 30,000 volunteers in 129 municipalities and regencies.
Cetro claimed that it had the capacity to monitor elections in 39 local government jurisdictions in 12 provinces while the JPPR said it had 141,000 volunteers in 31 provinces.
The elections to the House of Representatives and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) will be held on April 5, while the first round of the presidential election will be held on July 5 and the second on September 20.
Hadar Gumay of Cetro said that they had frequently requested the KPU to be allowed to closely monitor the election process. "The KPU frequently promised to permit this, but this ruling goes in the opposite direction," Hadar said.
He suggested that the ruling had probably not been discussed by all the KPU members as many of them were not aware of it, including Mulyana W, Kusuma, who was closely involved in election monitoring in the past.
Green Left Weekly - January 28, 2004
James Balowski, Jakarta -- In the presence of some 200 members and supporters, on January 16 the People's Democratic Party (PRD) "launched" its new central leadership board and 2004 general elections resolution. The resolution is titled "Not an election, but unifying the people to take power!".
The launch, held at the Jakarta Media Centre, followed the fifth congress of the party which was held in Salatiga on Central Java on December 16-19.
Outgoing general chairperson Harus Rusli Moti began the launch by outlining the differences in the political situation the PRD now faces, compared to that of the 1999 elections. He commented on the growing militancy of the Indonesian people. Every week, he pointed out, hundreds of actions across the country are being spontaneously organised against government policies such as mass dismissals, land evictions and liberalisation of food imports.
Moti also noted that people now have a totally cynical attitude towards the government -- any illusions in the political parties and the political elite have long since vanished. He emphasised however, that this cynicism was not directed against the process of democracy or democratic reform, but rather the lack of progress by the government on this question during the last five years.
Following Moti's address, the PRD's new central leadership board for 2004-06 was introduced by PRD member Aan Rusdianto, who took the opportunity to joke that for the benefit of the military intelligence officers sitting the back of the hall, he would also detail each of the new leadership member's impressive political background, experience and commitment. Aan also noted the youthful character of the new leadership board, which has representatives from throughout Indonesia.
The new PRD leadership has a board of five members: Yusuf Lakaseng, general chairperson; Zely Ariane, general secretary; Ari Ariyanto, head of the department of political affairs, the military and issues of nationhood; Lukman Hakim, head of the department of economics, agriculture and the environment and; Vivi Widiawaty, head of the department of women's affairs, youth and culture.
Lakaseng took the podium to outline the key points of the PRD's resolution on the elections which was provided to participants in booklet form.
He noted that not one of the political parties contesting the elections was critical of the government's policy on Aceh and West Papua. This policy, he argued, has allowed the military to reassert its dual social and political role in society as the "guardians" of Indonesia. The reemergence of militarism, he said, represented one of the greatest threats to democracy in Indonesia.
Lakaseng pointed out that increasing poverty, unemployment and the prices of basic goods and services have impacted most on the lives of women. The irony, he said, is that although the development of capitalism in Indonesia had allowed many women to become wage earners, women have become the most underpaid and exploited layer of the working class. They also shoulder the burden of domestic responsibilities.
The destruction of the nation's productive forces and mass dismissals has also forced many women to become sex workers or go overseas as migrant workers, where they have almost no rights and are frequently the victims of violence and sexual abuse by their employers. The increasing economic pressures on poor families have also resulted in a sharp increase in domestic violence. The justification often given for this, traditional cultural values, religion and moral standards, is reinforced by the state through the marriage law, the criminal code and the draft law on pornography.
He argued that the 30% quota for women running as parliamentary candidates -- which almost no political party has fulfilled -- would not resolve the problems, even if it was 50%. At best this kind of affirmative action would only benefit upper- and middle- class women, he argued, continuing to say that women's liberation must be an integral part of the democratic struggle.
Lakaseng discussed the formation of the National Movement Against Electing Rotten Politicians (GNJPPB), which calls for an election boycott or golput and a campaign against holding the elections in Aceh while it remains under martial law.
While acknowledging that GNJPPB will influence public opinion, he asserted that its criteria for defining a "rotten politician" b being involved in human rights violations, corruption, sexual harassment and polluting the environment -- would not address the people's real concerns: poverty, unemployment and rising prices. These, he said, have been caused by the implementation of neoliberal programs supported by all the political parties in parliament.
He also spoke about the moralist character of the movement, which said nothing about the relationship between human rights violations and the military, or widespread corruption in state institutions such as the police, civil service and judiciary. The use of the term "rotten politicians", he said, creates the illusion that it is individuals who are good or bad, not the system itself. What about the "rotten political parties", the "rotten bureaucratic system" and the "rotten economic policies", he asked.
Noting that no political party had put forward any concrete policies to overcome the economic and political crisis, Lakaseng emphasised that this movement should promote the active and mass participation of the people, and have a plan of what to do if after the 2004 elections the same rotten politicians dominate the government.
If this is the outcome, he said, the only solution is to struggle for the formation of a government of the poor, a government which represents a coalition from the progressive, democratic and revolutionary movements which have the central aim of organising the broadest layers of society, workers, farmers, the urban poor and other oppressed classes to struggle for their interests.
The launch ended with a presentation of people's radical poetry and a lively panel discusion on the tactics and strategies in the coming election.
Jakarta Post - January 27, 2004
Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta -- Unless voters are encouraged to mark the individual names of legislative candidates on ballot papers, the upcoming polls will just become another April fool's joke, scholars say.
The experts from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) said the general election in April would simply be a repeat of the 1999 election, which, despite the international recognition for its free and fair manner, resulted in legislators who lacked not only quality or experience, but also commitment to corruption eradication and the qualifications or ability to cope with so many national crises.
"The election law requires good decision-making by voters, not just voting blindly for a party. Voters are expected to know a enough about the people they want to vote for as their representatives so that a contract is made between the one who will govern and the one who will be governed," Riswandha Imawan said during a discussion jointly organized by the Department of Governance Science at UGM's School of Social and Political Sciences here on Monday.
Riswandha said this year's election would only bring about significant changes that lived up to people's expectation if the voters were encouraged to do a bit of research and vote for the right candidates.
"But this requires a voter education mass movement. We cannot expect the KPU, let alone the political parties, to initiate the campaign with only around 70 days left," he added.
KPU is the General Elections Commission, which is organizing the legislative election on April 5 and the direct presidential election on July 5, with the possible run-off on Sept. 20.
Unlike the previous polls, the upcoming general election will adopt an open-list system, in which voters will have to punch the logo of a political party and then have the option to also mark the individual names of legislative candidates. If only the logo is punched, the party will then choose the legislators from the top of the list.
However, most political parties are telling people to simply punch the logos -- presumably, so party leaders can then decide who will sit on each legislature.
Surveys have confirmed that many eligible voters were unaware that they had a choice in the revised electoral system.
Other speakers at the seminar entitled "Strategic Issues of the 2004 Legislative and Regional Representatives Elections" were political observers, Pratikno, Purwo Santoso and I Ketut Putra Erawan, along with moderators Abdul Gaffar Karim and Ari Dwiyana.
Pratikno said that procedurally, the 1999 election was considered fair. However, it resulted some quite disappointing legislative bodies, he said.
He expressed concern that the coming election would lead to a similar situation, as parties contesting the polls tended to "encourage" their supporters to only choose the parties.
"Many political parties have encouraged people to vote for the party, and thus let the party decide its representatives in the legislative bodies," Pratikno said.
The tendency to rank candidates, favored by the party leadership -- regardless of their actual qualifications -- higher up on the legislative lists have sparked protests, sometimes violent, in some regencies.
Riswandha insisted that the time had come now for voters to exercise common sense, instead of emotion, in choosing their representatives.
He said he was pessimistic that a voter education campaign could be successful because political parties were not interested and individual legislative candidates lacked confidence. The unconfident candidates, Riswandha said, just let the parties decide their fate.
Tempo Interactive - January 27, 2004
Yogyakarta -- Actions rejecting the 2004 general elections and calls to golput [white movement, not to mark the ballot paper] are becoming lively in Yogyakarta, Central Java. On Tuesday January 27, demonstrators from the People's Democratic Party (PRD) openly rejected the 2004 elections. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Youth Front for Struggle (Front Perjuangan Pemuda Indonesia, FPPI) called for golput, that is to choose not to choose.
Around 50 PRD demonstrators held a long-march from Jalan Kusumenara to the central post office. They declared their rejection of the elections because they are no more than a theatrical drama which will bring disappointment to the people.
The PRD demonstrators also carried posters and banners complete with symbols of the PRD. Included among these were posters which read"Reject the Elections", "Form a Government of the People", "Reject the Elections or Continue to betion" and "Reject the Elections in Aceh and Papua".
The coordinator of the PRD action, Andi, said that at the moment the political elite is in a race to get into power. Andi said that without having any sense of right and wrong they are deceiving people mealy for the sake of seeking power. Meanwhile the Indonesian people themselves continue to be at the bottom of the heap and live in poverty.
What is needed by the people at the moment, Andi said, is a government which is prepared to resolve the crucial problems in society such as the elimination of corruption, collusion and nepotism, trying the corrupters and creating employment opportunities for the people.
Meanwhile, around 50 activists from the Yogyakarta FPPI also held a demonstration in front of the Yogyakarta regional parliament. During their action, FPPI called on the public not to use their right to vote in the 2004 elections.
The general secretary of FPPI, Dewa Alamsyah, said that the 2004 elections will just become an arena for the consolidation and restoration of the power of the New Order [regime of former President Suharto], for their return to the political stage. In reality it is clear that the New Order is actually one of the roots of the destruction of the Indonesian nation at the moment.
"The political game [being played out] in Indonesia at the moment, indicates perfectly that there has been no improvement [in people's lives]. The legislative candidates and those who competing for the seats of power represent a profile of the status quo forces. Why use the right to vote if this will only result in those in power being like the New Order period", said Alamsyah.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - January 26, 2004
Rais Hidayat, Jakarta -- The Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) is special because it is the only party representing the Protestant and Catholic minorities, which passed the selection by the General Election Commission (KPU).
It is also is special given its limited links to mainstream Christianity in the country -- or at least the religious leaders strongly linked to the Indonesian Churches Union (PGI) and the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI) and their formal youth, student, women's and intellectual organizations. PDS members are mainly professionals from small prayer groups who united gradually over time through networking. The party's background was initially obscure father was once an executive of Parkindo. He himself was president of the Doulos Foundation focusing on social services.
The PDS is one of seven Christian-based political parties which went through the registration process at the justice and human rights ministry for the 2004 election. It is useful to examine its context in the experimentation of these minorities in gaining a political foothold.
Indonesian history has seen many different ways in which Protestant and Catholic minorities have voiced their aspirations.
In the 1955 election, in which ethnic groups and religions were fervently translated into political parties, Protestants solidified their political interests through the Indonesian Protestant Party (Parkindo) and the Catholic community had the Catholic Party (Parkat).
Those parties gained solid support as reflected in the results of the 1955 polls. In East Nusa Tenggara, a province with a majority of Christians and Catholics, Parkat took 41 percent of the votes, followed by Parkindo in second place with 18 percent.
In Maluku and then North-Central Sulawesi (now divided into two provinces), Parkindo's performance was equal to the demographic share -- a very solid majority -- of Protestants there. The same was true in North Sumatra province. Parkindo was second in 1955 with 33 percent in Maluku and third in North-Central Sulawesi and North Sumatra with 11 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Nationwide, Parkindo ranked sixth with 8 seats in the national legislature and 2.6 percent of the votes while Parkat the seventh with 6 seats and 2 percent of votes.
Their representation was sustained in the 1971 election, the second since 1945. Parkindo remained sixth and Parkat at seventh in overall votes. Regional electoral results also confirmed the sustained loyalty of Protestants and Catholics to their parties.
However, the 1977 election saw a radical change in their political affiliations as the whole political system was forcefully rearranged by the New Order regime. As Parkindo and Parkat were grouped into the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) together with the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) and a nationalist party with a strong socialist bent called Murba, Christians' historical loyalties were cut off. They started to identify themselves with their new parties or dropped out of politics altogether.
But this fusion was just a minor development, the major one being the establishment of a single major party to become the regime's political machine, the Functional Group (Golkar). The very strong -- sometimes intimidating -- ruling regime required Christians, as well as everyone else, to increasingly identify themselves with Golkar.
Such tactics indeed worked, as reflected in the 1977 results. In East Nusa Tenggara, a shoo-in for Parkat and Parkindo in 1955, Golkar suddenly won overwhelmingly with 62 percent of votes, while PDI was second with 35 percent. Though many commentators surmise that the numbers may have been manipulated, this figure reflects the start of the Golkar identification with Indonesian Christians.
Other regions that were loyal to Parkindo and Parkat also saw growing Golkar numbers.
Instead of expressing their frustration with this forceful arrangement, Christian communities responded positively, at least according to election results at the time. The arrangement was justified by some Golkar Christians as a new way of existing in the political arena -- close interaction with people of various backgrounds in either Golkar or PDI was increasingly perceived as a valuable association. It placed them on par with the majority and, to some extent, gave them greater opportunities in national politics.
While these benefits were regarded as blessings in disguise, despite New Order machinations, some Muslim groups resented it -- the regime seemed to prefer to nurture the above, less troublesome minorities while suppressing the Muslim majority's political aspirations. The regime's ban on public discourse on differences such as those rega suspicion between these majority and minority groups.
Distrust on the part of Christians was particularly evident in the latter half of the 1990s when former president Soeharto, seeking more political security, became more accommodating to Islamic aspirations.
Christians spoke up more on how their freedom was limited, especially the tighter requirements for building churches. The burning of churches in the last years of Soeharto's regime was another shock, adding to fears of revived calls of the sharia.
These shocks have been managed in various ways. Mainstream Christians have sought more intense communication with Muslim representatives to ensure mutual trust.
Prominent Christian politicians seemed to retain their belief that secular parties and the increasingly inclusive Muslim-based parties are those that can support the interests of minorities.
And while the threat of an installment of Islamic doctrines in the rules and regulations at the national and regional levels was getting stronger, a new generation of Christians began establishing new parties.
This was evident in the 1999 election with the presence of the Democratic Catholic Party (PKD) and Love for the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB). These two parties, however, did not perform well or pass the electoral threshold of 2 percent.
This experimentation seems to have continued ahead of the 2004 elections. There were seven registered with the Ministry of Justice: Two versions of the previous PDKB namely Carrier of the Peace and Love for the Nation Party (PDKB) and Love for the Nation Indonesian Democratic Party (PDKBI), Indonesian Democratic Catholic Party (PKDI) as a new version of PKD, the new Catholic Party (Parkat), the Democratic Nationalist Christian Party (PKND), the new Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS).
For Christian voters disillusioned with previous political channels, the ideals offered by PDS can be attractive. For a late start in the political arena, however, the gains may still be relatively insignificant.
| Corruption/collusion/nepotism |
Jakata Post - January 30, 2004
Ruslan Sangadji, Poso -- Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla has urged the public to report any diversion in the distribution of welfare funds for refugees in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
"The public should report to officials if they find any irregularities in the provision of welfare aid, so that we can take stern measures immediately against the perpetrators," he said in Poso recently.
He received reports that welfare aid for refugees in the sectarian conflict in Poso (totaling Rp 2.5 million per family) had been diverted by unscrupulous parties, including several corrupt officials at the social welfare office in the Poso regency administration.
Data from the Poso Reconciliation Task Force (Pokja-RKP) stated that from a total of 18,070 refugee families in Poso, only 10,440 were already registered and had already received aid from the government, while 7,630 families had, as of now, not received aid.
Besides that, according to coordinator of the task force Darwis Waru, an increase totaling 4,802 families was found. "This has become a time bomb for the government in Poso," he said.
The increase was admitted by Poso Social Welfare office head, Anwar M. Ali.
Before departing for the Haj pilgrimage several days ago, he said that there was an increase in the total number of families. Earlier data showed that there were only 18,070 families, but now it had increased to 22,872 families.
The increase, he said, was because the refugees were registered in two villages and there were suspicions that village heads and other parties in Poso had falsified the list.
As a result, when aid was channeled, a family could receive aid twice. "This is what has made the numbers swell," he said.
Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdi Dharma Sitepu admitted that the police had questioned 15 witnesses and three had been identified as suspects in the case.
He did not specify the identities of the suspects and witnesses. He said only that one of them was an official at the Poso regency administration.
But The Jakarta Post discovered that the main suspect was named R, a second-echelon officer at the social welfare office in Poso, responsible for channeling food funds to refugees in several locations such as Napu, North Lore subdistrict, and the Togean archipelago.
After a few months, the suspect was observed in a newly acquired Kijang van and a new house in Palu.
R was also reckoned to be a suspect due to signature forgery of the Pandajaya and Mayajaya village heads. He also counterfeited the rubber stamps of the two village offices and made a fictional list of refugees.
"There were several incidents in which he was implicated, but I haven't clarified them and don't want to announce his name yet. But, when the time is right, I will make it public," said Abdi.
Two other persons were N.A, a treasurer and H.S., a cashier. Both work at the Poso Social Welfare office.
Besides the officials, several people were thought to be involved in the embezzlement of social and welfare funds of Rp 150,000 to Rp 300,000 per family.
Fund embezzlement also took place in Malei village, Lage subdistrict, about 25 kilometers east of Poso city by a person named S.R.M, 35. She works as a cook for military personnel at the village.
"The embezzlement took place from December last year. Residents can take the aid only if they're willing to make an unauthorized payment of Rp 150,000 to Rp 300,000 according to their status," said Darwis.
Irrespective of all of this, the coordinating minister asserted that the law was not being used discriminately against anyone, regardless of whom they were.
"Anyone who is guilty, anyone diverting aid, will be punished, because the aid is intended for those who are suffering."
Jakarta Post - January 27, 2004
Rusman, Samarinda -- A local non-governmental organization activist lashed out on Monday at the East Kalimantan provincial government for allocating a budget to build houses for council officials that far exceeds the market price.
The normal price for a luxury house in Samarinda is Rp 350 (US$41,176) to Rp 500 million, but in the 2004 budget, the government has earmarked Rp 7.6 billion (US$894,117) for the construction of four houses for the leaders of the provincial council.
Therefore each house will be built with a working capital of Rp 1.9 billion.
"This is insane. If the plan materializes, we are afraid that there will be a mark up in the construction of the houses," said Achmad Bashori, the executive director of Concern for State Assets (PKN).
The four houses will be the official residences for the speaker of the provincial council and the three deputies.
Bashori demanded that the government revise the budget. The East Kalimantan provincial budget this year stands at Rp 2.77 trillion.
The provincial government has handed over the draft of the 2004 budget to the East Kalimantan provincial council, and the council is expected to approve it in the near future.
Meanwhile, Kasyful Anwar, the coordinator for the budget committee at the East Kalimantan Legislative Council, acknowledged that the government had proposed a budget of Rp 7.6 billion for the construction of the four houses.
"But, it does not mean that the council will approve it. We are still discussing it," he said.
If the proposal is approved by the provincial council, the houses will be built by East Kalimantan Public Works office.
| Campaign against rotten politicians |
Green Left Weekly - February 4, 2004
Max Lane -- The Indonesian people's contempt for, and rejection of, the country's elit politik (political elite) is wide and deep. So deep, that a term that began as a normal sociological description is now a form of insult used by the masses. Several political initiatives have been launched to try to tap this sentiment.
The rejection of the elit politik by the majority of the population has been reflected in numerous opinion polls. No politician has been able to gain more than 25-30% support, and most politicians have almost no real popularity. Figures for "don't know yet" or "none of these" almost always gain the largest vote.
The anti-elite sentiment is also reflected in the sustained popularity of newspapers like Rakyat Merdeka. Every day, Rakyat Merdeka exposes the huge wealth of politicians, government bureaucrats and big businesspeople, and lashes out at their support for policies that hit the poor and workers hardest.
As a result, Rakyat Merdeka is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Jakarta.
However, the newspaper has paid for its anti-elite stance. On October 27, Rakyat Merdeka editor Supratman was given a suspended six-month jail term for defaming Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri (because of a cartoon that caricatured her).
Initiatives The first serious attempt to politically tap the anti-elite sentiment in the lead-up to the 2004 general election was the formation of the National Movement Against Electing Rotten Politicians. The movement was founded on December 29 by a coalition of intellectual-politicians, most notably the pro- neoliberal economist Faisal Basri, and activists from non- government organisations. Teten Mazduki from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and Longgena Ginting from the environmental group Friends of the Earth-WALHI are prominent.
There have been student demonstrations in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi calling on Indonesians not to vote for "the rotten politicians". Some of these protests have been violently dispersed by the police. Activist groups have also set up posko, neighbourhood command posts to mobilise people for these demonstrations.
Another initiative is the formation of the Alliance for the Salvation of Indonesia, which held a rally in Jakarta on January 22, attended by several thousand people. This group, which also includes some elite figures, rejects Indonesia's mainstream political parties.
Its founders include: Hariman Siregar, an adviser to former Indonesian president BJ Habibie; civil rights lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, who is also close to Habibie; former Jakarta police chief Noegroho Djajoesman; Suripto, who is close to the moderate Islamic and anti-corruption Justice Party; and left populist critic Rachmawati Sukarnoputri.
Also present was former general and Golkar party presidential candidate Wiranto. Golkar is the party of former Indonesian dictator Suharto. Wiranto has been trying hard to exploit the mass anti-elite sentiment. He is also the only prominent politician to promise an end to military operations in Aceh, which he describes as being counter-productive because they only generate popular resentment against Jakarta among the Acehnese people.
Another former general, Try Sutrisno, has also formed the Great Indonesia Awakening Movement, which is also trying to capitalise on sentiment against the elit politik.
On January 26, the left-wing Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) released a list of 15 "rotten politicians" and nine "rotten parties" that should not be elected in 2004. The PRD's list covers the major military and political figures from the Suharto era, who are now standing for various political parties. As well as Golkar chairperson Akbar Tanjung, the list includes President Sukarnoputri, vice-president Hamzah Haz, parliamentary speaker Amien Rais and former president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur).
The "rotten parties" named by the PRD include all the large mainstream parties. The list also includes the Star and Crescent Party, a right-wing Islamic party headed by the current minister for law and human rights (and a former Suharto speech writer), as well as the party sponsoring Suharto's daughter for president and another party set up by various former Suharto-era generals.
The PRD said it included on its list "those who had enjoyed the benefits of participating in 32 years of [Suharto's] rule, who had betrayed reformasi total and who had failed to solve the national political and economic crisis when in power, and had in fact only made things worse". The PRD also criticised the National Movement Against Electing Rotten Politicians for not rejecting politicians who support policies that cause poverty. Moderates back down In response to the National Movement Against Electing Rotten Politicians' formation, Golkar's Tanjung demanded that the movement present proof of alleged wrongdoing by politicians.
Immediately following the release of the PRD's list of "rotten" politicians and parties, the Patriot Party, which is based on the formerly Golkar-controlled Pancasila Youth militia, requested that the police prosecute the PRD for slander.
These threats succeeded in pressuring the National Movement Against Electing Rotten Politicians into not announcing names of politicians it considers rotten. The group's leaders stated that it was up to the "grassroots" to decide who was "rotten" and who was not.
This was a blow to the prestige of the National Movement Against Electing Rotten Politicians and the idea that there could be a viable coalition between anti-neoliberal NGOs and the pro- neoliberal, anti-corruption politicians.
The PRD is now seeking to establish a broader alliance willing to continue the campaign against corrupt politicians and human rights abusers seeking election. The PRD's call for the rejection of politicians and parties who refuse to tackle the national political and economic crisis, or address poverty, has taken the process of giving the massive anti-elite sentiment a political agenda a step further.
Detik.com - January 27, 2004
Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta -- The Pancasila Patriot Party is incensed after being referred to as part of the New Order [of former President Suharto] and has made a complaint to police against the general chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), Yusuf Lakaseng, who published a list of political parties which are part of the New Order [on Monday January 26].
The complaint, which was made by the vice-chairperson of the Pancasila Patriot Party, Henry Yosodiningrat, was made at the Jakarta police headquarters on Tuesday January 27.
The Patriot Party, which is lead by Yapto S. Soerjo Soemarno, is of the view that Lakaseng's inclusion of their party's name in a list of parties which are part of the New Order is a slander against their good name.
Yosodiningrat denied that the party is part of the New Order. He also explained that none of the criteria which was used by the PRD applied to their party.
"The Patriot Party is not included in the criteria which referred to us having the potential to take repressive action against the people and not to have a program to respond to the problems of society. We have a program", explained Yosodiningrat.
Yosodiningrat added that they made the complaint simply to defend the party's honor. "We are defending the honor of the party by making a report to police headquarters. We hope that the police will look into it and carry out an investigation including taking it to court", said Yosodiningrat.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Tempo Interactive - January 27, 2004
Jakarta -- On Tuesday January 27, the vice-chairperson of the Pancasila Patriot Party, Henry Yosodiningrat, reported the general chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), Yusuf Lakaseng to police.
According to Yosodiningrat, they reported the PRD over a statement which was carried by Kompas last Monday which included their party in a list of rotten parties.
"This is a slander against our good name, and we have asked the police to investigate the case thoroughly", Yosodiningrat told journalists at police headquarters. According to the PRD statement, the Pancasila Patriot Party has the potential to act repressively against the people.
"It was said that we have no program to respond to the problems of society. That is not true", explained Yosodiningrat.
After signing the police report, some 30 board members of the South Jakarta branch of the party who had accompanied Yosodiningrat then dispersed.
After having made the police report, they had planned to meet with the chief of the police to ensure that the case would be investigated straight away. It not known why, but plan was delayed and they decided to return to their respective branches.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| Local & community issues |
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
More than 200 people from Kajang village in Bulukumba regency protested at the South Sulawesi legislative council on Wednesday to demand the expulsion of PT London Sumatera (Lonsum) from their area.
They also urged the government to give back what they claimed to be their customary 560 hectares of land allegedly occupied for decades by the rubber plantation firm in Bulukumba, some 240 kilometers from the provincial capital, Makassar.
The protesters arrived in Makassar on Tuesday night and stayed overnight at the council building. Most were dressed in traditional black.
They also demanded that police release soon a number of local residents who were arrested in a violent protest on July 21, 2003, against PT Lonsum.
Security officers blamed for shooting dead two protesters during the incident had soon to be taken to court to face justice, they added.
"We shall remain at the council building until the government issues a fair decision [on the land case] in favor of people in Kajang," protest leader Hamzah said.
Jakarta Post - January 26, 2004
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan -- Hundreds of flood victims in Bahorok claimed on Saturday that the disbursement of aid from the government had been marked by irregularities.
Indra Hasyim, 41, one of the victims of the flash flood that swept through the area last year, said that the irregularities were first noticed in the list of people entitled to receive aid.
And while many victims of the flood have received aid, the amounts involved were less than stipulated on the list drawn up by government officials, he said.
Hasyim said that the irregularities proved that the government was not serious in monitoring and overseeing the disbursement of aid to the victims.
The government had also failed to alleviate the plight of the victims as it had not yet rebuilt their houses and markets as it had promised.
"We demand that the government does not play around with the aid that is supposed to be ours," Hasyim told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar held in Medan titled "The Development of Bahorok after the Flash Flood".
The two-day seminar was attended by hundreds of participants, including environmental activists, the victims of the flash flood and government officials.
Similar complaints were voiced by another victim, Aca Alamsyah, 38, who said that he was supposed to receive Rp 1 million in aid, but had only got Rp 500,000.
Aca said he had become aware that something was amiss after he read the list of aid recipients reported by the Bahorok district head to the Langkat regent recently.
Aca was surprised to read that he was supposed to receive Rp 1 million. "This is clearly a crime," he complained.
He said that he and the other victims had reported the irregularities to the Langkat Police two weeks ago, but there had been no news so far about what had happened.
Aca said that from the very beginning he had suspected that there was something fishy afoot in the distribution of the aid.
"We were asked to write our names and sign a blank piece of paper as evidence that we had received the aid. We did not know how much we were supposed to receive from the government," he said, adding that the entire process had been suspicious from the very start.
He estimated that out of a total of 720 flood victims who are supposed to receive aid, half of them knew nothing about how much they were supposed to get from the government.
Separately, the secretary of Langkat regency, Masri Zein, said that the sums of money involved might have come from third parties, and not from the government.
A total of Rp 670 million had been donated by third parties, he said without going into details.
He supported the move by the flood victims to report the shortfalls in the aid they had received to the police. "This is an age of transparency. If irregularities are committed by government officials, feel free to report it to the police," he said.
Meanwhile, responding to criticism that the government was very slow in rebuilding houses in the area, Masri said that the government needed enough time to prepare a proper reconstruction plan before actually starting the work.
"It takes at least three months to formulate such a plan," he said.
Besides, the Langkat government had to wait until the central government disbursed Rp 50 billion that had been promised for reconstruction. "We don't have enough money. That's why we have to wait for money from the central government," Masri said.
The flash flood hit a residential area in the Bahorok tourist resort, Langkat regency, in November last year, killing 157 people. Some 80 others are still missing, presumed dead.
The flash flood, the biggest in the area for 25 years, destroyed 450 houses and a number of hotels in the area.
Jakarta Post - January 26, 2004
Irvan NR, Palu -- At least two persons were killed, eight suffered stab wounds and 39 homes were that erupted in Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, following the alleged theft of a chicken, police and witnesses said on Sunday.
Hundreds of local residents fled their homes to the nearby jungle and other places of safety following the disturbances on Saturday.
The fighting involved people from the rival villages of Lamo and Uso in Batui subdistrict, some 50 kilometers from the Banggai capital of Luwuk, and 660 kilometers from Palu, Central Sulawesi.
The two victims were identified as Yafet Sumang and his son Iwan from Limo, who both died from blood loss while being taken to the hospital.
The suspected killer, identified only by his initials as Fs, is being detained by police in Batui.
Witnesses said that Fs had reported to Yafet that Iwan had stolen a chicken belonging to the suspect, but Yafet had refused to accept the accusation against his son.
An argument then ensued and Fs suddenly hit Yafet with his machete.
Iwan tried to help his father but was also slashed by the machete-wielding Fs.
The subsequent deaths of Yafet and Iwan incited people from Lamo to attack the neighboring village of Uso, where Fs hails from. In their rage, the Lamo villagers set fire to 39 houses in Uso.
Many residents from Uso were forced to hide in the surrounding jungle, while some others sought refuge at Batui police station. Around 260 families fled to neighboring villages to avoid the possibility of more attacks.
Nasir, who hails from Lamo, said he and his neighbors were not going to let Fs get away with murdering a father and son over such a trivial matter.
He demanded that Fs be punished to the full extent of the law as he had taken the lives of two human beings.
"We want to see him being punished severely. How come he was carrying a machete -- obviously he was intent on murder. And we don't believe that Iwan was the chicken thief," Nasir said.
Banggai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Widodo was unavailable for comment as he still at the scene of the disturbances.
However, Pvt. Badi from Batui police station confirmed the exodus of refugees from Uso, and said the two feuding villages were still tense.
Police and military personnel have been deployed to guard Uso and Lamo to prevent possible revenge attacks.
"The situation is under control and the security forces are standing guard there," Badi said. The riot was apparently not linked to the sectarian conflict in the area as Muslims, Christians and the followers of other religions live peacefully side by side in Uso and Lamo.
Last Wednesday, people from the predominantly Christian village of Maranatha clashed with rivals from Sidondo, a mainly Muslim village, in Donggala regency, Central Sulawesi. One person was killed and four houses were set ablaze during the disturbances.
Meanwhile, masked gunmen on Saturday night shot a police officer, identified only as Pvt. Azis, in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso, where some 2,000 people were killed during two years of sectarian fighting that officially came to an end in 2002, but has erupted sporadically since then.
Azis was shot in the left leg by three armed men in Masani village, Poso Pesisir subdistrict, Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdi Darma said on Sunday.
He said the attack took place when Azis was on patrol in Poso Pesisir, one of the areas most prone to violence. His attackers rode on two motorcycles.
Abdi said Azis, despite his wounds, was able to return fire, but the gunmen escaped into the jungle. Azis believed, however, that either one or both of the attackers had been wounded as they left a trail of blood behind them.
The local police chief urged people not to allow themselves to be incited by the latest incidents.
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has questioned a proposal to grant the presidency the right to veto the entry into effect of legislation passed by the House of Representatives, arguing that the government fully participated in the deliberation of bills before their approval by the House.
"The government is involved in the deliberation of every bill right from the very beginning. So, why should the president be given an additional right of veto?" asked Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang after a meeting on Thursday of the MPR's ad hoc committee on the amendment of the Constitution.
The Constitutional Commission, which is currently engaged in harmonizing recent amendments to the 1945 Constitution, said earlier that it was considering proposing that the President be granted a right of veto over legislation, similar to that enjoyed by the presidents of many countries, including the US, so as to improve the checks and balances between the executive and the legislature.
MPR member Hobbes Sinaga from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) doubted on Thursday that the suggestion for a presidential veto was based on in-depth research.
"I don't think commission has conducted a serious study on this idea. Perhaps the commission is simply adopting it from the practices in other countries," he added.
Both Baharuddin and Hobbes were members of the MPR committee that drafted the recent amendments to the 1945 Constitution.
In an interview with The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, the Constitutional Commission's deputy chairman, Albert Hasibuan, revealed that commission members had agreed that the presidency needed to be strengthened through the granting of the right to veto bills considered to be prejudicial to the national interest.
The idea was prompted by the current legislation, which provides that bills that have been endorsed by the House will enter into effect within 30 days after their approval, irrespective of whether the president has given his consent.
This provision, according to Albert, shows that the position of the president is weaker to that of the House, making it impossible for the checks and balances mechanisms to work properly.
The deliberation of a bill involves the government and provides an opportunity to the president, through the relevant ministers, to raise objections to the bill.
Baharuddin pointed out that the Constitutional had been established to assess and harmonize amendments to the country's basic law, which many say are characterized by short-term political interests. The commission has to submit regular reports to the Assembly's ad hoc committee on the progress of its work.
According to Baharuddin, the ad hoc committee agreed on Thursday to accept whatever recommendations the Constitutional Commission made.
"However, we will discuss later whether to apply its recommendations or not," he said.
The Constitutional Commission is slated to submit its first report to the ad hoc committee members on February 9. The commission is expected to submit its final recommendations in early April.
The commission consists of 31 experts from various disciplines who are charged with improve the quality of the Constitution.
Straits Times - January 30, 2004
Robert Go, Jakarta -- Indonesia's Supreme Court yesterday postponed until next week its review of an appeal by the country's Speaker of Parliament and potential presidential candidate Akbar Tandjung, prompting protests from student groups and anti-corruption activists.
After deciding to review Akbar's appeal on February 4, a panel of five justices explained they had to study new evidence pertinent to the case. They declined to elaborate further.
Presiding Justice Paulus Lotulung told reporters that the panel needed more time so that its "decision will be truly independent and free from political pressure".
Akbar was found guilty on September 4, 2002, of embezzling the equivalent of US$4.7 million in state funds intended for public food assistance for the poor. He was sentenced to four years in prison by Central Jakarta's District Court. A Jakarta Superior Court last year reduced his sentence to three years.
But he has remained a free man pending a final decision from the Supreme Court. He has emerged as a key presidential candidate for Golkar, the political party of former president Suharto that he now leads.
Much is at stake for Akbar. If the Supreme Court upholds his convictions, he would have to start serving his sentence and his political career would be over.
A judgment in his favour, however, would keep his bid for the presidency alive and strengthen his position within Golkar, which is currently Indonesia's second strongest political party, but one that experts said could overtake President Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI-P in the parliamentary elections in April.
Analysts, however, added that it is not only Akbar who is on trial here, but also the reputation and credibility of the entire Indonesian legal system. The courts here have been said to be incompetent and bribery prone.
Indonesia's foreign donors and potential investors have often said that legal reforms are needed before its economy can take off again.
Protesters, made up mostly of university students, yesterday threw tomatoes at the Supreme Court compound in reaction to the justices' decision.
Anti-graft activists said there was no reason for further delays in deciding Akbar's future, and speculated that politics and cash may be influencing the process.
Mr Hendardi, head of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, said: "Justices have taken a very long time to decide. This is a public matter that should be dealt with quickly." Comparing Akbar's lengthy trials to the speedy trials of suspected terrorists, and said that both types of cases should be processed as quickly as possible.
"This delay is making people think that the courts are still susceptible to political and economic factors. Domestic and international opinions of Indonesia's legal system will be that there is no such thing as an independent judiciary here."
MiningIndo.com - January 29, 2004
Indonesian government is currently discussing a bill on safeguarding vital objects throughout the country. The discussion is to highlight reconsideration and criteria of vital objects that will be necessarily safeguarded.
Indonesian President will soon sign the bill that will be legislated into presidential decree.
It was said by Mr. Sudi Silalahi of the coordinating ministry of politics and security during a close-door meeting of coordination to discuss the bill on vital objects including the revision of law no.15/2003 on terrorism taking place in the office of the ministry on Jl Medan Merdeka Jakarta (January28).
Indonesian military (TNI) will give full support to safeguarding all vital objects throughout the country such as the facilities belonging to PT Arun LNG, PT ExxonMobil, The hydropower plant (PLTA) Sigura-gura, PT Inalum, PT Caltex Dumai, Kilang Minyak Plaju and Gerong, the coal-fired power plant (PLTU) Suralaya, PT Dirgantara Indonesia Bandung, Cilacap oil refinery, PLTU Paiton, Petrokimia Gresik, PT Badak LNG Bontang, PT Vico Muara Badak, Unocal Sangata, PT UP V Pertamina Balikpapan, PT Nikel Soroako, PT Freeport Indonesia Tembaga Pura, and PT Puspiptek Serpong. About three battalions of troops are prepared to safeguard various facilities in 16 locations.
TNI Commander General Endriartono Sutarto, National Police Chief General Da'i Bahctiar, minister of energy and mineral resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, and minister Hari Sabarno attended the coordination meeting.
"The agenda of meeting is to discuss and highlight the authority of safeguarding the vital objects between TNI and National Police, and criteria on vital objects. The criterion of being vital has changed from time to time since a facility, which used to be regarded as a vital object, may no longer be as vital as it was. There is also a possibility that certain facility that was previously excluded from the category of vital object can now be included in the list of vital objects.
Safeguarding operational facilities should actually be of the responsibility of companies that own them. But in a number of areas prone to security disturbances, the safeguarding of facilities in location should be of the accountability of the national police of Indonesia. In case the police are in lack of personnel, the TNI is ready to backup the police in doing their job of safeguarding.
"The safeguarding of facilities that has so far been under the control of the TNI, is currently under the process of transition," said Sudi. But after the period of transition, the TNI will remain the main source of personnel to back up the police in safeguarding the vital objects and other facilities all over the country. Before, in a dramatic about face form statements made, Indonesia's Commander of the Armed Forces (or TNI), General Endriartono Sutarto said that the TNI is still capable and ready to assist in securing the nation's vital strategic natural resource and infrastructure projects.
The force available to mobilise to secure these installations amounts to three battalions
However, General Endriartono again reiterated his comments of last week saying that security on strategic installations is actually the responsibility of company management.
What TNI does in assisting to secure companies including the overseas investment mining companies if only the situation is considered threatening.
"The ideal is if [the company] can not self protect, [then] don't set up a company. TNI can not continuously protect them," added Endriartono.
With the issuance of Laws No 3 year 2002 regarding State Defence, TNI plans to transfer the duty to related company management and to the Indonesia Police force in order for TNI to focus on TNI professionalism building.
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The Constitutional Commission (KK) is considering granting the president authority to veto bills that he or she deems to be unfavorable to the nation.
Commission deputy chairman Albert Hasibuan said such a power would promote the checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches.
Hasibuan said fellow commission members had agreed to the idea of giving the president the power to veto draft bills.
"We are now trying to finish the wording. We have accepted the idea," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Hasibuan criticized the current stipulation in the Constitution, which gives a great deal of power to the House of Representatives in the law-making process.
Article 20 (5) of the Constitution stipulates that all draft bills already endorsed by the House automatically go into effect 30 days after their approval, with or without the signature of the president.
Albert said this created an imbalance of power between the president and the House, preventing the system of checks and balances from working properly.
At least three laws went into effect without the authorization of the President. Those were Law No. 32/2002 on broadcasting, Law No. 25/2002 on the establishment of the Riau Islands province and Law No. 17/2003 on state finances.
All bills, either those drafted by the government or by the House, are deliberated by both the government and legislators in the House. Hadimulyo, a member of the Constitutional Commission, acknowledged that several commission members had floated the idea of giving the president veto power over draft bills.
"But I think we have not officially agreed on that issue. That issue is still being debated," he told the Post.
Although the commission has the task of synchronizing amendments to the Constitution, the final say belongs to the People's Consultative Assembly. The commission will report to the Assembly in April.
The Assembly set up the long-awaited commission on Oct. 7 last year to harmonize the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, which, according to some analysts, are weakened by compromises designed to favor short-term political interests.
The commission, which has 31 members, has seven months to complete its work.
Speaking after the Constitutional Commission's establishment last year, Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said the commission's assessments would not be binding, but pledged to use the findings to improve the Constitution.
"We hope the results will be good and that Assembly members will accept the outcome," Amien said.
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- Former president Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, failed once again to testify at a trial in the Central Jakarta District Court. And once again the imperturbable judges gave him more time to decide whether to show up or not.
Tuesday's no-show was the sixth time Tommy failed to turn up to testify during the trial of the religious leader of an Islamic boarding school, Abdullah Sidiq Muin, who is on trial for extorting a total of Rp 15 billion (US$1.76 million) from Tommy.
The prosecutors had earlier received a letter dated January 25 from the warden of Batu Penitentiary on Nusakambangan island, Cilacap, Central Java -- where Tommy is currently serving out his time for organizing the murder of a Supreme Court justice -- stating the Tommy would definitely put in an appearance on Tuesday.
However, another letter, this timed signed by Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarief, and dated January 26, said that he would not be able to attend as he was "sick", the same excuse Elza had given to the judicial panel during the previous hearing on January 13.
Both letters regarding Tommy's appearance were submitted by prosecutor Yunan Hardjaka to the judicial panel, chaired by Judge Saparudin Hasibuan, who during the last hearing had vowed to slap a subpoena on Tommy if he failed to show up again.
Apparently forgetting his own vow, Judge Saparudin then gave Tomy a further two weeks to put in an appearance. "We will reconvene to hear Tommy's testimony on February 10," Saparudin said.
The judges also ordered the other key witnesses, including Tommy's elder sister Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana, to appear at the February 3 hearing.
Defense lawyer Supriyadi said the court proceedings had been turned into a farce by blatant irregularities. "Let the public decide whether this trial is for real," he said after the hearing.
Tommy's testimony is essential in the trial of Sidiq, known as a "spiritual mentor" of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur as he is familiarly known, who, it is alleged, promised to get Tommy a presidential pardon after he was sentenced to 18 months in jail for graft in 2000.
| Reconciliation & justice |
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
Jakarta -- A small group of people claiming to be victims and their relatives of a bloody 1989 clash in the village of Talangsari went to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Wednesday to reject a plan to reopen the case.
Calling themselves the National Reconciliation Movement (GIN), the group said victims of the clash had come to terms with the past and absolved the military personnel involved in the incident through an Islamic reconciliatory settlement, known as islah.
"We are against all efforts to reopen the case, as we know it would end up pitting the families of the victims against the Indonesian Military (TNI)," the group leader Nur Hidayat said during a meeting with the head of the commission's team of inquiry into possible rights violation in Talangsari, Hasballah M. Sa'ad.
Hidayat said an investigation into the incident would just benefit non-governmental organizations like the Commision for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which has long sought real justice in the case.
A banner unfurled by the group in front of the Komnas HAM office read "Dissolve Kontras at once" and "We don't want anyone to take advantage of our plight."
Kontras has linked the alleged rights abuse to A.M. Hendropriyono, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief who was the military commander in Lampung in 1989.
Hasballah maintained that the commission had decided to launch a full investigation into the clash following a thorough study of the case.
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) A.M. Fatwa testified on Tuesday in an ad hoc rights tribunal that he had been a victim of torture by military personnel in the wake of the bloody 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre.
Fatwa, who testified against former military police chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo, said while he was being held at a military detention center in Cimanggis, Bogor regency, a number of military personnel tortured him to extract information about his involvement in a demonstration that led to the massacre.
In his fiery testimony, Fatwa also told the courtroom that Pranowo was not the only one to blame for atrocities against civilians, as he merely executed an order from his seniors: former president Soeharto, then-Indonesian Military (ABRI; now TNI) commander Gen. (ret) LB Moerdani and then-Jakarta Military commander Maj. Gen. Try Sutrisno.
"Former president Soeharto and LB Moerdani should also be tried for ordering the crackdown. However, due to their poor health, both could be pardoned," he said.
When asked by tribunal member Sunaryo on his knowledge of the Islamic reconciliation settlement, known as islah, Fatwa replied: "The idea is noble, but in practice it was merely a fabrication devised to absolve a number of high-ranking military personnel who were implicated in the human rights abuse." He said the initiative for islah came from only a handful of people who might not represent the majority of massacre victims.
Pranowo is charged with unlawfully detaining up to 169 civilians without warrants. The detainees were reportedly tortured by members of the military police, some suffering serious injuries, and were also denied contact with their families.
The prosecution has also charged him with violating Articles 7 and 42 of Law No. 26/2000 on crimes against humanity. Violation of the law carries a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of death.
| Focus on Jakarta |
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- Twenty-four fish farmers in Cilincing subdistrict, North Jakarta, demanded on Wednesday that the city administration provide Rp 340 million (US$40,476) in compensation for polluting their fish farms by dumping waste in a nearby swampland that is the site of Cilincing dump.
The compensation was calculated from the potential profits they estimate to have lost from the pollution. The farmers are also considering a class action against the administration if it does not compensate them for their losses.
State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim and his deputy Darsono, who is in charge of legal affairs, met with the farmers' representatives and promised to help them claim compensation from the Jakarta Administration.
"We hope the administration will pay for our losses. If it refuses to meet our demand, we will file a report with the police," fish farmer Eddy Djubaedi told The Jakarta Post.
Eddy has a 2.5-hectare fish farm and nine hectares of rice fields near Cilincing dump.
Other fish farms have also been affected by liquid waste that has allegedly seeped from the dump since Jakarta started to dump its garbage at Cilincing after it withdrew from Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi municipality on January 4.
Jakarta and Bekasi finally agreed on Monday to reopen Bantar Gebang and the dump started processing the capital's waste again on Wednesday.
Eddy said the farmers would not be able to farm fish for the next five years due to the pollution. The state minister's office had confirmed earlier that the liquid waste from Cilincing dump had polluted the farmers' fish farms and destroyed their stock.
The city administration has denied the allegations.
Darsono said the office would follow up the reports by investigating the problems the fish farms were facing.
The results of the investigation will provide evidence to support the farmers' demand for compensation from the capital, he said, while strengthening an earlier report that showed pollution at the farms.
"We are ready to facilitate talks between the farmers and the capital," he said, adding that the office would help farmers to file a class action, if necessary.
Darsono said the office had also considered taking the Jakarta Administration to court for damaging the environment around Cilincing dump.
The state minister's office is authorized under Law No. 23/1997 on environmental protection to take legal action against those causing environmental damage.
Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said the police could investigate into the allegations of environmental damage under the Environmental Law, and hoped they would take an active stance in the matter.
Jakarta Post - January 27, 2004
Evi Mariani and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta -- A total of 780 motorists were ticketed for violating the new three-in-one traffic policy on the first day of its implementation on Monday.
They are scheduled to face trial in two weeks at appointed courthouses depending on the location of the traffic violation.
Each violator will face a maximum of one month's imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp 1 million (US$119) as stipulated by Law No. 14/1992 on traffic.
"Police issued 346 tickets in the morning and 434 tickets in the afternoon to three-in-one violators," said the Jakarta Police traffic division chief Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Ishak.
Most of the violators were private car owners and only a few were official car owners, he said, adding that many high-profile figures demanded to be excluded from the policy.
"I told them to accept the tickets and leave earlier next time." The number of violators was much higher than the month-long trial period in which the city police recorded 30 violators on Dec. 19, the highest on any day during the period.
Sulistyo explained that police closely monitored check-points at the Youth Statue traffic circle, Gate 1 of the Bung Karno Sports Complex, the corner of Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat and Jl. Merdeka North and along Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk down to Kota Railway Station. Police also kept watch at two other check-points on Jl. Gatot Subroto -- in front of the Park Royal apartment and the Kuningan intersection.
"We also deployed three commanding officers at each check-point to ensure there were no bribery attempts," Sulistyo said.
The extended three-in-one policy was implemented to support the busway project along its 12.9-kilometer corridor, which stretches from Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in West Jakarta.
Traffic was normal during the morning restricted period from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Monday, while the busway buses were packed with office workers. However, traffic jams occurred after 10 a.m. when private cars started to flock the capital's main thoroughfares.
With around 800 officers deployed for the implementation of the policy, police have been very strict.
On Jl. Sisingamangaraja, South Jakarta, policemen used megaphones to order passing cars with tinted glass to slow down and wind down their windows for inspection.
However, many ticketed motorists expected the police and the Jakarta Transportation Agency officers, who were deployed to help the police, to be more lenient.
Usman, a truck driver entering Jl. Gajah Mada from Jl. Suryo Pranoto, said he was aware of the regulation but had thought the police officer would only warn instead of ticketing him.
"We'll have to use an alternative route tomorrow," he said, adding that it was uncommon for a truck to carry three passengers.
Police and the city administration have given four alternative routes parallel to the busway corridor for private car owners who still prefer to use their cars. However, many of them were confused as their destinations could only be accessed from the three-in-one zone.
Edi Putra, who entered Jl. Gajah Mada from Jl. Hasyim Ashari, was ticketed when he headed to the Central Jakarta District Court which is only 100 meters away from the corner of Jl. Hasyim Ashari.
"I thought the officers would not mind as it was only a short distance," he said after being ticketed.
Chief of the traffic violation section of the city police traffic division, Comr. Suzana Saras, pointed out that the policy was enforced for all cars passing the restricted zone and not only at the entrances. Only ambulances and fire trucks are exempt from the policy.
| News & issues |
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Despite progress over the past three years, the implementation of regional autonomy in some parts of the country has fallen short of what had originally been hoped for, The Asia Foundation revealed.
The foundation noticed improved popular participation in the decision-making process, which encouraged the local democratization process.
"The hoped-for better future, however, is shadowed by the inability of legislative councils to respond to people's wishes," said Hana A. Satriyo, a senior program officer with The Asia Foundation here.
She was speaking at a seminar titled "Reflections on Three Years of Regional Autonomy in Indonesia", which was held here on Tuesday. The foundation's report was based on its monitoring of the administration of government in 31 regencies and nine municipalities in 27 provinces.
The monitoring process began in November 2001, and involved 28 research institutes in the local government jurisdictions concerned.
A number of experts who helped The Asia Foundation in monitoring the practice of regional autonomy also presented their findings during the seminar.
One of them, Medelina K. Hendytio of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the central government's intervention in some areas of local government was only giving rise to disputes.
In some fields, like mining, maritime boundaries and transportation, Medelina said, the central government had been playing the dominant role compared to that played by the regional administrations.
She asserted the vague dividing lines between the powers of local administrations and the central government would adversely affect the quality of public services.
In order to improve the situation, the central government needed to continuously evaluate the roles and responsibilities of provincial and regency administrations.
She suggested that local administrations formulate minimum service standards based on their evaluations.
Bambang P.S. Brodjonegoro, an economist with the University of Indonesia (UI), hailed the idea of adopting minimum service standards, and said the criteria for the standards should be discussed between the local administrations and the central government.
"Minimum service standards can serve as yardsticks for evaluating how local autonomy is being administered," he added.
Meanwhile, Partini of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) said the bureaucracy in Indonesia was culturally paternalistic by nature.
She said gender bias in the bureaucracy was evident in most areas of the country. Women lived in a male-dominated culture and structure, thus depriving them of access to the policy-making process, she said.
| Environment |
Jakarta Post - January 30, 2004
Jakarta -- Dozens of demonstrators staged a protest at City Hall on Thursday, demanding Governor Sutiyoso take stern measures against an oil driller they said was polluting the waters of the Thousands Islands.
The protesters, members of the Environment Care Society, targeted offshore drilling firm PT Cnooc Ses, which they said was polluting the seawater from its platform in the Thousand Islands regency. They demanded Sutiyoso order the company to clean up the oil spills created by the drilling.
Coordinator Yozep, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com, said administration officials -- including Sutiyoso -- knew about the pollution and let it happen.
The protesters carried banners saying "Sutiyoso and PT Cnooc Ses responsible for environmental damage in Thousands Islands" and "Punish the polluters in the Thousands Islands".
The slick has killed fish, destroyed coral reefs and damaged beaches at Pantara Barat, Pantara Timur, Matahari and Subaru Kecil islands.
Melbourne Age - January 26, 2004
Matthew Moore, Jakarta -- The most detailed count of wild orang- utans in the past decade has found 50,000-60,000 of the great apes left on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo -- twice as many as thought.
But a conference of orang-utan experts in Jakarta has concluded the species has declined by a third in the past decade and will become extinct in about two decades if nothing is done to halt the trend.
Aerial and ground counts of the forest canopy nests the apes build afresh each day have revealed several new populations in central and west Kalimantan.
"It's clear that we have made a big underestimate of the numbers in Borneo," said Willie Smits, head of the world's largest great ape preservation project called BOS (Borneo Orang-utan Survival) Foundation .
"But this is not great news if you look at the percentage of orang-utan habitat being lost every year and the numbers being poached and killed. If this continues, in 20 years there will be no orang-utans left in the wild." The conference heard that seven prosecutions of illegal traders in the past six months had done little to slow smuggling operations.
Dr Smits estimates 1000 infant orang-utans, whose mothers were shot so the babies could be caught for sale as pets, were smuggled into countries including Thailand and Malaysia in 2003 .
"You have to remember that only 50 per cent of the babies survive the shooting of the mother, and many more die on the roads to the big cities. So each of the 1000 represents two more orang-utans that never made it to trade," Dr Smits said.
"That means 3000 babies lost and 3000 mothers -- 4500 females -- lost from the remaining orang-utan population each year." A boom in palm oil plantations has added to the destruction of orang- utan habitat already caused by rampant illegal logging and continuing forest fires. "The plantations create small pockets of rainforest where the orang-utans are starving, opening the way for hunters," Dr Smits said.
As the only great apes in Asia face their greatest crisis, scientists have found major differences in the appearance, behaviour and genetics of orang-utans in Sumatra and Borneo, which warrant them being reclassified as separate species -- the Bornean Pongo pygmaeus and the Sumatran Pongo abellii, rather than as subspecies of the same species.
As well, scientists now regard the Bornean apes as comprising three subspecies with cultural differences. Carel van Schaik, professor of biological anthropology at Duke University, said an example of the cultural differences was how different populations performed their "kiss-squeak" -- the distress signal they send to each other or to a predator.
"We've just recently realised that in some places they kiss- squeak on the flat of their hand, to enhance the sound, while in other places they shape their hand like a trumpet and turn it as they squeak; in other places they kiss on leaves -- but sometimes a single leaf and sometimes they strip a whole bunch of leaves from a stem," Professor van Schaik said.
Studying the evolution of such behaviour would help scientists understand the evolution of human culture and intelligence, "to get a handle on why one great ape, namely humans, became such a completely different species.
"But you can't study that in one population: you need a lot of different populations."
| Health & education |
The Guardian (UK) - January 29, 2004
John Aglionby -- The bird flu ravaging Asia has thrown up many surprises in the last week and many experts are expecting more in the next few days. Perhaps the hardest to explain is that of the contrasting fortunes of the governments in Bangkok and Jakarta, which both withheld information for months about the extent and duration of the crisis.
One -- Thailand -- is coming under withering public criticism while the other, Indonesia, appears to be escaping virtually scot free.
Indonesia announced today that it would, after days of saying it would not, comply with international recommendations and cull all birds on farms infected with bird flu in order to stamp out the disease.
How many birds this will involve remains to be seen, but an estimated 400 farms across the archipelago are thought to have been infected, some since last August. Almost five million birds have already succumbed to the disease.
When making the announcement, the country's senior social welfare minister, Jusuf Kalla, did not say whether fowl on neighbouring farms would also be culled or whether transport restrictions would be imposed on the movement of birds in infected areas.
The government's commitment to eradicating the virus remains questionable after the agriculture minister, Bungaran Saragih, came out with a classic piece of unfathomable Indonesian government logic. He told a parliamentary hearing today that the government had not announced the presence of bird flu earlier than a few days ago because "we did not want to cause unnecessary losses through a hasty decision".
The fact that birds had been dying by the million for months and people had started falling ill in Vietnam and Thailand seemed immaterial.
The ostrich-like attitude is now likely to haunt ministers, because they have now had to set aside 13.9 million Pounds to cull chickens and vaccinate healthy ones while the chamber of commerce estimates the bird flu crisis could cost the country some 500 million Pounds.
Amazingly, the government appears to be getting away with the cover-up, even though thousands of people have lost their livelihoods and will struggle for months to make ends meet. According to Mr Bungaran, it will take six months to completely cleanse the country of the disease.
Luck has certainly played a part, as far as the Indonesian government is concerned. No humans have become infected, let alone died, or at least no such cases have been reported so far. Moreover the World Health Organisation representatives in Jakarta have been much less aggressive and vocal than their counterparts in Thailand, thus alleviating pressure on ministers either to act with more rapidity or explain their five months of silence.
Demonstrations usually occur for the mildest of reasons in Indonesia but no one has taken to the streets over bird flu. Similarly, there has been little enthusiasm in the media to call the government to account for its lack of action. And even the normally vocal consumer groups are keeping their powder inexplicably dry.
One consumer activist said she could not get worked up about bird flu. "It's only a few chickens," she said. "We've got bigger battles to fight." This does make some sense. There are only 1.3 billion chickens in Indonesia -- not a huge number for a population of 215 million -- and the vast majority are bred for internal consumption. This means that, unlike in Thailand, where the export industry alone is worth some 1 billion Pounds a year, there will not be much noticeable economic disruption.
Perhaps this explains why, with the general election only nine weeks away, no one is even attempting to garner political capital out of the crisis. This contrasts very sharply with Thailand, where the opposition Democrats -- who currently do not have a chance of unseating the prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, at next year's polls -- are planning no confidence motions against the premier, the agriculture minister and his deputy.
The fact that back in Jakarta, opposition parties are hoping to become bedfellows with President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) perhaps goes some way to explaining the silence. A PDIP coalition is still the most likely result of the election and no one wants to go out on a limb over what is still a relatively minor issue and risk exclusion from a future government.
Incompetence in previous crises has also helped shape public expectations. One meat seller in a south Jakarta market said yesterday that she was not at all surprised by what has happened. "Our government does this all the time," she said. "It would have been surprising if they had acted swiftly and decisively."
Melbourne Age - January 28, 2004
Matthew Moore -- Despite up to 10 million Indonesian chickens dying from bird flu since August, Indonesia's Health Ministry said yesterday it has had no reports of any-one contracting the deadly disease.
With eight dead in Asia, there is growing concern that the disease will spread to Indonesia's 220 million people, with the World Health Organisation telling hospitals to look for symptoms in patients thought to have normal flu.
WHO representative in Indonesia Georg Petersen said it was vital that hospitals treating people with flu symptoms or breathing problems asked patients if they had been on a farm. Anyone suspected of having bird flu should be tested, Mr Petersen said.
Asked to comment on the reaction of the Indonesian Government, Mr Petersen said the Government comprised many ministries and he could not assess how the outbreak has been handled.
The Indonesian Agriculture Department has no plans to slaughter any chickens and the Health Department has not recommended mass culling.
Straits Times - January 27, 2004
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government is being slammed for keeping the public in the dark about the spread of bird flu despite being aware of it since last November.
Researchers, poultry farmers and parliamentarians said the damage could have been curtailed if the government had admitted much earlier that the avian influenza was killing millions of chicken.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Muhaimin Yahya said: 'I'm worried that the government's slow response to the outbreak will severely affect our economy. Over the next two days, the government should give a better explanation to the public.' Information now becoming public suggests that many independent and government researchers had confirmed the existence of the virus as early as November.
But it seems the government was under pressure from lobby groups to stay silent. Industry sources said government officials and top representatives of the poultry industry agreed in December to keep the bird flu outbreak under wraps for a while.
But on Saturday, The Association of Indonesian Veterinarians in Surabaya, East Java, disclosed that about 10 million chicken have died from avian influenza since October.
This finding led to a hastily called press briefing the next day in which the government confirmed that the bird flu has spread here since August, killing 4.7 million hens from 400 farms so far, although it has yet to spread to humans.
East Java, West Java, Banten Yogyakarta, Lampung, Bali and some provinces in Kalimantan have been hardest hit by the outbreak.
Mr Samhadi of the Indonesian Poultry Information Centre said the number of chickens to have died from the outbreak could be a lot more than what the government has revealed.
"I think at least 15 per cent of the country's chicken production had been affected, and most of these are laying hens which have a longer life span of two and half years than broiler chickens, making them susceptible to diseases," he told The Straits Times.
"Based on our estimates in mid-December alone, at least 10 million have died from the disease. By now, it's probably around 12 million."
Reuters - January 26, 2004
Karima Anjani, Jakarta -- Indonesia's government came under fire from farmers on Monday over its handling of a bird flu outbreak that has killed millions of chickens, while officials said take days to determine if it is dangerous to humans.
The agriculture ministry said it was waiting for tests to see if the strain of flu was the same H5N1 type found in Thailand, Vietnam and several other Asian countries, which has killed seven people and resulted in the mass slaughter of poultry.
"We are currently seeking to find out if the virus strain is H5N1 ... Hopefully we will know by the end of this week," said agriculture ministry spokesman Hari Priyono.
Indonesia confirmed a bird flu outbreak among chickens on Sunday, but authorities said they had found no evidence the disease had spread to humans.
The government had previously said Indonesia was free of the flu and blamed the deaths of chickens in East Java and the tourist island of Bali on Newcastle disease, a virus harmless to humans that does not affect the safety of poultry meat.
Indonesian Farmers Association Chairman Siswono Yudhohusodo said the flu outbreak had already cost the poultry industry millions of dollars.
"It shows the government has not been alert from the beginning. I deeply regret that the initial diagnosis was far too simple and attributed to Newcastle disease," Yudhohusodo told Reuters.
"There may be more unreported cases, so it is difficult to give an accurate guess, but the damage must be billions of rupiah," he said.
The agriculture ministry said 4.7 million chickens had died since November, and 40 percent were infected both with avian influenza and Newcastle disease.
At least 400 farms spread throughout most of the vast archipelago have been affected by the outbreak.
A World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Indonesia said he was confident any threat to humans could be minimised and people in the world's fourth-most populous country should not avoid eating chicken.
Avian influenza can range from a mild disease that has only minor effects to a highly infectious version that is fatal.
A contagious bird flu that has spread across parts of Asia in recent weeks has jumped to humans in Vietnam and Thailand, killing seven people.
But experts say there is no sign the flu is being passed between people. All of the human victims are believed to have come into contact with sick chickens.
'Cover-up'
Indonesian media have also been critical. "Government confirms bird flu after long cover-up," said a front-page headline in the Jakarta Post on Monday.
But the agriculture ministry spokesman denied any cover-up, saying authorities had found a strain of avian influenza in Indonesian poultry in December but had not wanted to jump the gun and assume it was dangerous to people. "We didn't plan to announce anything yet, but the media have raised this. We planned to complete the research to see whether H5N1 does exist in Indonesia," Priyono said.
The WHO representative said he had met Indonesia's health authorities and they were taking steps to handle the situation.
"I don't know much about what happened from the agricultural side, but from the ministry of health side they took action as soon as the international situation became known," said Georg Petersen. "We are somewhat optimistic that the health section would be able to deal with this." Petersen said people working in the poultry industry should be aware that the disease may be able to jump to humans, but eating properly cooked chicken was harmless.
Most Jakarta residents remained oblivious. "There are no complaints from customers so far. Things are as usual," said a chicken vendor at a central Jakarta market.
[Additional reporting by Harry Suhartono.]
| Bali/tourism |
Jakarta Post - January 29, 2004
Jenny H. Backstrom, Kuta -- It is still the rainy season in Bali. But other forms of clouds, confusion and uncertainty, currently cover the island. The hot topic causing this confusion is the much-debated new visa-on-arrival policy, to be effective February 1.
For Bali the policy is a potential nightmare. The island's tourist industry has been trying to recover since the October 2002 bombing and the more recent threat of SARS in the region.
The policy, previously scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2003, will restrict visa-free entry to tourists from only 11 countries -- instead of the present 48. The countries include Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Macao, China, Peru and Morocco.
The 21 nationalities that lose their visa-free status but are still able to apply for a 30-day visa on arrival include the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The new policy also cuts the length of stay in Indonesia for short-term visitors from 60 days to only 30 days with an optional US$10 payment for three-day visit and $25 for a 30-day visit. Visitors from the affected countries are by far the largest groups to visit Bali. Three of the countries -- Japan, followed by Australia and South Korea -- are the island's biggest tourist markets.
With only three days left to its implementation, question marks still hang over the scheme. Which segments of the tourist market will be hit hardest by the regulation? What will the economic consequences be? Opinions on these matters vary.
Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agents (ASITA) Bali chairman I Gusti Agung Prana said the government's decision was political and had to do with national pride and respect.
The Bali provincial government supports the decree -- especially the reduced length of the visa. The visa, it says, will protect local people from being exploited by expatriates living in Bali without a business visa. However, most in the industry are against the additional visa fee, which they say is a transparent money-making scheme that will further discourage tourism.
Bali Tourism Board (BTB) chairman Putu Agus Antara remarked: "The smell of politics spiced with other interests is strong." I Gde Pitana, the head of the Bali Tourism Agency, objects to the visa fee and the date of its implementation. The decision had nothing to do with economic and security issues as had been argued by Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra, he said.
Pitana said the new regulation would not increase security in Bali as 30 days was easily enough time to plan and carry out a terrorist attack, plus any threats were unlikely to come from outside Indonesia.
"The timing is very bad," he said, adding that Bali was still suffering from the effects of travel warnings imposed on the island by Western countries after the Bali bombing.
Two-thirds of total arrivals in Bali each year are tourists traveling on package deals and many of these are families who would perhaps find it difficult to pay $25 for each member, he said. Tourists will object to the extra costs, especially those who booked packages up to six months ago.
However, Pitana does not believe that halving the visa to 30 days will have a big impact on tourism in Bali. Even before the Bali bomb in 2002 the average stay had been only 9.5 days, with the longest stay about 21 days.
"Very, very few stay longer than 30 days, maybe less than 10 percent," he said. Tourists who usually stay the longest in Indonesia are backpackers and surfers.
Pitana said that Bali needed "quality tourists" interested in culture, upmarket environments and spending their money. Since surfers and backpackers did not fit into this category, losing some of them would not have a big impact financially on Bali.
However, a walk around in budget areas like Kuta, where every other motorbike seems to be equipped with board racks, suggests that Bali's long-term stay clientele would have to make a difference to the island's local economy.
Antara said that while budget travelers were a minority and often spent less money than other tourists, their money was of great importance. It usually went straight into the pockets of local people in small-scale businesses, he said.
This is the case not only in Bali but also in other regions such as Sumatra, Java, Lombok and Sumbawa, to where longer-term visitors often travel.
"Since we have a lot of poor people, the budget travelers are important," Antara said, adding that their role in Bali's economy was often played down.
"Bali benefits from people staying longer," he said. "I believe we will lose these people." This is a shame, he said, because budget travelers and families love Bali and may be more "loyal" than other tourists. "There is no logic behind the decision," he said.
And indeed, it does seem illogical to implement a law likely to hit almost every segment of Bali's tourist market: Families and package deal tourists with the visa fee, surfers and backpackers with the limited stay, and expatriates with both.
Up until the last meeting, it was expected that the visa law implementation would be postponed, Agung Prana said. "During a crisis like this we need all the segments of the tourist market." In the short-term Bali will lose visitors, maybe as many as 30 percent, but as time goes by and the clientele changes, the provincial government and tourism board predicts that tourist numbers will return to normal levels, he said.
There will be an evaluation of the new regulation in six months. If indicators show that the market has been badly affected amendments will be a priority.
| Armed forces/police |
Republika - January 29, 2004
Jakarta -- The State Budget for the Indonesian National Military Forces (TNI) has been increased by 15 per cent from 11.536 trillion rupiah in 2003 to 13.266 trillion this year.
Chief of the Armed Forces Information Centre, Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, stated in a press release that the increase in TNI's routine budget would be allocated to improve soldiers welfare.
Besides that, there is also development funding prioritized for operational units and Primary Defence Equipment (Alutsista). Procurement of new defence equipment is an attempt to modernize TNI's equipment.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono emphasized the budget priorities during a special coordinating meeting on maritime defence held at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) office on Tuesday (27 January). Yudhoyono acknowledged the increased budget was to strengthen the national defence system.
According to Sjamsuddin, the budget for TNI is the second largest after the budget for education.
The inter-institution coordination meeting on security and political Affairs also agreed on revitalizing the Maritime Security Coordination Body (Bakorkamla) to handle poaching of the country's marine resources which so far had cost the country more than 90 trillion rupiah.
State Minister for National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Board Kwik Kian Gie said that the allocation of 13 Trillion rupiah was actually still insufficient. However, there was no other option considering the government's limited budget.
Kwik agreed that the increased budget for the military was still not enough for the country to build a strong national defence system. Sharing Kwik's opinion, Navy Commander Adm Bernard Kent Sondakh said that the additional war ships were still far from making an ideal fleet.
The Navy Chief revealed that currently some 16 Parchim class corvettes were serviceable had been totally unserviceable. In addition, the navy had ordered patrol boats from PT PAL Indonesia state-owned shipyard.
| Economy & investment |
Asia Times - January 29, 2004
Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- A blueprint just released by the central Bank Indonesia (BI) spells out in some detail how banking-sector reforms will be implemented over the next 10 years. The document, termed simply "The Indonesian Banking Landscape", describes how higher standards of capital and good corporate governance will be imposed on a sector badly lacking in supervision.
Six years after the banking crisis hit, the banking industry remains fragile and highly vulnerable to shocks despite significant improvements in the key indicators of most Indonesian banks. Though all banks are now in compliance with the mandatory capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 8 percent, with some even boasting up to 26 percent, almost 50 percent of the their core capital consists of government bonds.
Bank Indonesia governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said last week that the purpose of the new program is not reform for reform's sake, but to restore investor confidence. He said he wants to see bank lending grow by at least 20 percent this year to allow the country to notch up economic growth of between 4 and 4.5 percent.
But new borrowing and investment have almost dried up because of lingering problems such as legal uncertainty, labor unrest and volatility in overseas export markets. BI has been aggressively cutting its benchmark rate over the past year in hopes of encouraging banks to follow suit and reduce their lending rates significantly to make loans more affordable to the corporate sector. BI's efforts have been unsuccessful, however.
Though lending rates have remained high at about 17-18 percent, BI's benchmark interest rate for SBI (Sertifikat Bank Indonesia) promissory notes stands at less than 9 percent compared with an average of 13 percent in 2003.
The credit crunch affecting corporate Indonesia is, according to the banks, attributable to the high risks of doing business, the corrupt system of bankruptcy proceedings and the large number of companies still undergoing restructuring. In fact, the corporate sector has yet to take up some Rp80 trillion worth of available bank loans, according to BI.
Without better institutional capacity to assess credit risk, banks are unlikely to expand their lending operations significantly. For that matter, why should they? It is so much easier and safer for them to rely on government recapitalization bonds, BI's promissory notes (certificates of deposits) and the lucrative inter-bank money market. Indeed, the 10 largest banks account for more than 70 percent of banking assets, but still depend on such paper for almost 50 percent of their revenues.
The rebuilding of the entire Indonesian banking industry began in 1997 with the onset of the world's worst banking crisis since the 1970s. The three countries worst affected were Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea. The majority of Indonesian debtors, more than 2,000, were corporations. Much of their borrowing was highly leveraged, denominated in foreign currency, unhedged and short-term.
A World Bank report that year identified vulnerabilities in 10 major corporations that together owned more than 50 percent of the market capitalization of all of Indonesia's corporations. They all had close ties to the Suharto family and had used borrowed money to finance speculative investments in non-tradable projects, mainly property.
In Thailand and South Korea, short-term debt problems were addressed from the very beginning of the crisis and debt restructuring was implemented, but in Indonesia debtors and creditors agreed on a framework of corporate debt restructuring much later.
Renegotiating this debt involved reaching out to hundreds of creditors, mainly Japanese and European banks, and took a very long time. In short, the ongoing bank restructuring has proven to be been one of the most complex and costly efforts in the country's history. Cleaning up the balance sheets and non- performing loans (NPLs) of ailing banks has cost the equivalent of more than US$75 billion in taxpayers' money for restructuring and recapitalization. The return on this massive investment has been minuscule and NPLs continue to create major problems.
By early 1998 the government had set up the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to take over a hodgepodge of grossly overvalued assets, mainly houses, hotels, apartments, warehouses, buildings and land from troubled banks and former bank owners.
IBRA was mandated to sell the assets to raise cash to help finance the state budget, which, in turn, has been continually drained by the cost of the protracted bank bailout program. In response, massive amounts of government bonds were issue to prop up banks during and after the crisis.
IBRA, due to be closed down on February 27, has been hard at work selling off the assets it holds, including the NPLs, at massive discounts. Recalcitrant debtors have been just as busy seeking financing to buy loans from the IBRA at between 15 and 20 cents on the US dollar.
The agency has been strongly criticized for its sale of these loans amid claims that many of the assets have been bought back by their former owners with the assistance of banks that were rescued by the government. As Dradjad H Wibowo of the Indonesian Institute for Economic and Financial Development (INDEF) puts it, banks that have already been recapitalized are the ones now providing loans. IBRA classifies NPLs into those that have been caused by business risks not properly covered by the lenders and those stemming from debtors refusing to repay their debts. Clearly, if banks buy up the latter type of loan there is a strong possibility they could still remain non-performing.
The giant state-owned and publicly listed Bank Mandiri, the country's largest bank in terms of assets, has been the prime mover in buying up assets, including NPLs, from the IBRA. Mandiri was created in 1998 by a merger of four insolvent state-owned banks which had been crippled by non-performing loans of some 60 percent, causing them losses totaling Rp103.1 trillion.
But now, Mandiri, with assets of Rp250 trillion and a capital level of some Rp22 trillion, has been aggressively buying up such poisoned chalices as NPLs. Last year it struck a deal to purchase IBRA loan assets worth some Rp4.9 trillion.
The blueprint also promises efforts to maintain confidence in international trade and to improve good corporate governance particularly relating to transparency of banking transactions.
Rampant corruption and weak law enforcement have resulted in the country being a safe haven for money launderers, but a government committee has now been set up to combat this after the passage of the new Money Laundering Law last year.
Presidential Decree No 1/2004 tasks the committee, chaired by the coordinating minister for political and security affairs, with coordinating measures between several state agencies to prevent and combating money laundering. It will then make recommendations to the president on policies designed to prevent money laundering.
Despite this, the country remains on the list of non-cooperative countries and territories (NCCTs) drawn up by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money-laundering watchdog set up by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Before the crisis most banks were riddled with corruption and collusion, and the sector may not yet be wired in to the drastic changes in organizational and institutional changes needed to ensure full compliance with laws, rules and standards. The government imposed a 20-year ban on ex bankers owning a controlling stake in any bank, even after they settled their debt with the state.
But last year's disclosures of the Rp1.7 trillion ($200 million) lending scandal at state-owned Bank BNI and the Rp50 billion lending scam at Mandiri, respectively the second-largest and largest banks in the country, jolted the industry. That such scams could have taken place at the biggest banks for such a long time without being detected by internal control mechanisms speaks volumes about the quality of their risk management.
The principles of effective banking supervision set out by the Basle, Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlement in 1997 will now be followed in creating effective banking supervision using international standards, and the minimum capital requirement for domestic banks will be increased drastically from Rp10 billion to Rp100 billion.
The banking sector, after implementing the new structure, should be leaner and meaner, with much fewer banks than the current total of 138. Many Indonesian banks lack the capital needed to be a strong bank and are incapable of absorbing external shocks.
But the future still holds major challenges and presents a dilemma for the government. Currently, banks are putting their excess liquidity in central-bank bills (SBIs) and in return BI has to pay interest on SBIs and thus pump more liquidity into the banking sector. If banks continue to invest their funds in financial instruments rather than expand lending, economic recovery will remain weak. BI senior deputy governor Anwar Nasution has slammed banks for preferring to boost their capital adequacy ratio through the issuance of bonds. "Banks should earn their profits from interest on loans rather than from bonds," he said. To be sure, rebuilding their loan portfolios and decreasing their reliance on recapitalization bonds is a major challenge for the banks. By increasing and rebuilding their lending portfolios with proper risk management frameworks, Indonesian banks could minimize the possibility of another crisis.
Governor Abdullah describes the new program as a comprehensive and forward-looking platform for banking policy and frequently highlights the excess liquidity in the banking sector and non- functioning intermediation (the lack of lending). Abdullah has said that under these circumstances, setting monetary policy is like "chasing our own tail".
The recently amended central bank law calls for a single supervision authority in the financial services industry, a task which must be completed by 2008. The new supervision authority, along with sound risk-management practices, may well underpin the establishment of a comprehensive financial safety net for the banking sector. But before this is accomplished, there is likely to be more than just a little tail-chasing if banks continue to turn a deaf ear to the central bank's advice.
Jakarta Post - January 28, 2004
Jakarta -- Plans to provide Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency officials with legal immunity once it is closed have been fiercely criticized, as it violates the basic principle of equality before the law.
Vice President Hamzah Haz led the chorus of criticism on the plan, saying on Tuesday that no one should be above the law nor should they be allowed the opportunity to evade the law just because their working term expires.
Hamzah was responding to questions regarding recent press reports that the government was drafting a presidential decree on IBRA's termination that included a clause protecting agency officials, current and former, from possible criminal charges by providing them with legal immunity.
"If it involves criminal charges, then it'll be inevitable [that they must answer to the law]. IBRA's closure does not mean officials will no longer be accountable for policies they issued during their term," Hamzah said.
Any IBRA officials, as with those at other institutions, who are suspected of violating the law must undergo existing legal processes, he added.
IBRA was established in 1998 tasked with freezing, taking over, restructuring and selling assets of troubled banks and former bank owners to compensate for the massive bail-out funds the state injected into the banking sector during the 1997-1998 financial crisis. The agency is slated for closure by February 27.
The draft in question was formulated by the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy.
State Minister for National Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie also expressed his disagreement with any plans to clear anyone of criminal charges, calling it bizarre and irrational.
He said he would agree only after legitimate evidence was found through an audit that proved no regulations were violated during IBRA's existence.
The remarks come at a time when public outcry over the agency's controversial performance is on the rise.
A source at the State Palace has said that immunity would only be given to those who had done their job "in accordance with their tasks and regulations". He said the draft was still subject to review.
Antara - January 27, 2004
Jakarta -- The amount of bank credits extended in 2004 will not exceed credits disbursements by banks in Indonesia in 2003, analysts have predicted.
There will be brisk credit expansion in the first four months of this year but a slump will prevail in the rest of the year because the business sector and banks will tend to restrain themselves amid political activities, banking analyst Ryan Liryanto said yesterday.
The country will hold parliamentary elections in April to be followed with the presidential election in July, discouraging investment.
Ryan said bank credits are expected to boost the real sector but will depend greatly on the implementation of the general elections.
Data at the central bank showed that credits disbursed totaled Rp55.9 trillion in the first 11 months of 2003, or 61.8 per cent of the whole year's target of Rp90.5 trillion.
The loan to deposit ratio of Indonesian banks is less than 50 per cent.
Wall Street Journal - January 26, 2004
John McBeth, Jakarta -- PT Freeport Indonesia has cut its 2004 sales forecasts by nearly one-third after a second landslide in three months forced it to reconfigure the slopes of its giant Grasberg mine in Indonesia's Papua province.
The copper and gold mining company has cut its Indonesian production forecasts for the next five months by more than one- half. Some mining industry analysts estimate the production cut could keep as much as 200,000 metric tons of copper -- contained in concentrated form -- out of an already tight market in the first quarter of 2004, leading to world-wide shortages for smelters and copper rod manufacturers.
Richard Adkerson, president and chief executive of Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the Louisiana parent of the Indonesian company, lowered its 2004 forecast for copper sales to one billion pounds (450 million kilograms) from 1.4 billion pounds. He also reduced projected gold sales for the year to 1.5 million ounces from 2.2 million ounces. Mr. Adkerson disclosed the revisions in a conference call last week with metal industry analysts.
"We're in part of the cycle where manufacturing companies throughout the supply chain have been replenishing their inventories at a time when prices of all commodities has been rising," one metals analyst in London said Sunday.
"Grasberg's problems are really the straw that broke the camel's back."
The world price for copper cathode has risen to $2,445 a metric ton from $1,600 in March and is expected to strengthen further during the next 12 months, with analysts estimating a 750,000-ton shortfall in world supplies this year.
That is the good news for Freeport, whose share price has remained at near record highs despite its crop of misfortunes at Grasberg. Freeport executives say they expect a strong cash flow in the second half of the year and into 2005, once engineers get the Indonesian mine back into full production.
Freeport McMoRan's stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, rocketed to a high of $46 last year from about $16 at the beginning of 2003.
Although the price has dropped back in recent weeks, Freeport stock was still trading at close to $40 last week after Mr. Adkerson and company Chairman James R.
Moffett disclosed the company's longer-term outlook.
Grasberg is widely regarded as the world's most profitable mine, with rich gold deposits helping to keep the cost of mining copper down to 10 cents a pound, compared with more than 50 cents a pound for most other copper producers.
Freeport's problems in Indonesia began Oct. 9, when a massive landslide in the south wall of the Grasberg pit killed eight workers and buried most of the mine's high-grade ore deposits. Then, in early December, only days after the company received Indonesian government approval to resume full-scale operations, a second slide occurred in the same section of the mine.
This is the first time since the Grasberg mine opened 15 years ago that Freeport has had trouble with the slopes of the pit, which is at an altitude of about 3,600 meters in Papua's central highlands. With engineers now drilling rubble out of the south wall, total ore production has dropped to 100,000 metric tons a day from 230,000 tons, with half of that coming from Freeport's underground operations.
| Opinion & analysis |
Jakarta Post Editorial - January 29, 2004
News about the possibility that the central government might impose a civil emergency in Papua province has caused strong reactions in several quarters. The source of the news was Effendy Choirie, of the National Awakening Party (PKB), who chaired a closed meeting of Commission I of the House of Representatives.
He is the deputy chairman of the committee assigned to handle matters related to foreign affairs, defense and security, and information.
After the closed meeting some time last week, he told a reporter that the possibility of implementing a state of emergency in Papua province was indeed discussed. He said that a number of commission members returning from a visit to the easternmost province of the Republic were quite concerned about the security situation there.
He himself did not agree that an integrated operation as is being implemented in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam should also be applied in Papua. The current Aceh operation consists of a two-pronged approach, namely a military operation against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and a social-economic drive to reconstruct destroyed villages and burned down schools.
A civil emergency is the stage before martial law is imposed in a province beset by serious conflict. Under a 1959 law, the president, as head of the Civil Emergency Authority, is given virtually unlimited powers to do whatever is deemed necessary to restore peace and order. Those powers include imposing curfews, news blackouts, banning public speeches and gatherings, isolating certain regions affected by conflicts, and arresting people without a warrant. A provincial governor could be assigned as administrator, although his powers would be limited as the police would have a more prominent role. Effendy himself did not see the necessity of imposing a civil emergency in Papua. In his opinion, the full implementation of special autonomy as stipulated in Law No.21/2001, including the formation of a Papua People's Council (MRP), would be more important.
It is interesting to note that Papua Governor J.E. Solossa, who was a functionary of the Golkar party, has denied that the situation in his province is serious and warrants the imposition of a civil emergency. The governor stated In unequivocal terms that there was no need to apply a civil emergency. "If forced, it would only create possibilities for the spread of Papua separatism caused by human rights violations," Solossa said in a recent statement.
Another critical voice was raised by Bambang Widjojanto, who was at one time director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) in Irian Jaya (Papua). He also did not see any justification for applying a civil emergency in Papua. As a matter of fact, he thought that it could worsen the situation in the province. According to Bambang Widjojanto the implementation of a civil emergency in Papua would only create new problems, while old problems would remain unresolved. It is an open secret that some observers view the situation in Papua from the conspiracy angle, as a means to weaken the Golkar party in Papua, and to maintain a certain level of conflict in the province in order to postpone the full implementation of autonomy.
Despite the many failings of the Abdurrahman Wahid administration, at least it was very understanding of the wishes and aspirations of the indigenous population of that easternmost Indonesian province. On the other hand, it is not too early to conclude that President Megawati's most serious shortcoming is the political mismanagement of the Papua situation. Sutradara Ginting, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission I known for his wisdom and balanced attitude, has appealed for restraint since no concrete decisions have been made.
Nevertheless, with only six weeks to go before the legislative elections commence and the conclusion in October of the government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, constant vigilance is warranted to avoid possible unpleasant surprises that could upset peace and order in Papua. In particular, this time Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had better be more alert in order to prevent novel proposals being surreptitiously presented to the President and signed without his knowledge. Papua province should not be allowed to become a hunting ground for intelligence agencies and ambitious party officials.