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Indonesia News Digest 25 – July 1-8, 2008
Jakarta Post - July 8, 2008
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission
(KPI) has issued a second warning to Trans TV for its "vulgar"
comedy hit Extravaganza.
"This is the last warning. If Trans TV fails to make
improvements, we will order the station to stop the show," KPI
commissioner Yazirwan Uyun said here Monday.
The broadcasting commission also announced it had reprimanded
Trans TV for two other comedies, Ngelenong Nyok and Suami-Suami
Takut Istri (Husbands afraid of wives), and Global TV for its
anime series One Piece.
The warnings come following the KPI's 13-day review of 285
episodes of 92 comedies, variety shows and children's programs
aired on nine television stations from May 1 to 13.
KPI member Nina Armando said that besides its "vulgar and
sexually suggestive" content, Extravaganza, in a May 10 episode,
"featured a scene where a woman is sexually harassed".
The popular comedy show airs every Monday and Saturday evening.
Nina, also a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said the
commission also found "indecent" scenes in Ngelenong Nyok, aired
Monday to Friday morning, and Suami-Suami Takut Istri, aired
Monday to Friday evening.
Suami-Suami Takut Istri, she said, also featured scenes of
domestic violence, with wives abusing their husbands, and
involved children in "an improper setting".
Ngelenong Nyok exploited "abnormal physical characteristics of
some people", in this case a dwarf and a woman with protruding
front teeth, she said.
Nina said anime series One Piece, aired daily in the morning and
evening, featured "violence and blood" and "sensual looking
women", in addition to close-ups of "women's body parts". She
said none of the programs should be aired when children might
reasonably be expected to be watching TV.
Yazirwan said the KPI would intensify its monitoring of the four
TV programs and "impose sanctions on the TV stations if they fail
to make improvements". "We will perhaps report the TV stations to
the police if they don't follow up on our warning letters," he
said.
According to the 2002 law on broadcasting, those responsible for
airing TV programs that have "violent or indecent content" or
that "mock the dignity of Indonesians" can face five years in
prison and/or Rp 10 billion (approximately US$1 million) in
fines.
The law also threatens administrative sanctions for TV or radio
stations that fail to protect and empower special audiences – in
this case children and teenagers – by broadcasting programs at
"proper times".
Trans TV spokesman A. Hadiansyah Lubis told The Jakarta Post the
station had made changes to Extravaganza after receiving the
first warning letter from the broadcasting commission in May.
"But it appears that the TV show still has yet to meet the KPI's
criteria. We'll evaluate it again," he said.
Hadiansyah said Trans TV would arrange a meeting with the KPI to
discuss the violations in detail.
Detik.com - July 5, 2008
M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Government opposition figures
gathered at the Century Park Hotel in the Senayan area of Central
Jakarta on Saturday July 5 to discuss the problems of the nation,
which may possibly become an arena of lobbying by the political
elite in the lead up to the 2009 general elections.
The opposition and national figures gathered at the hotel in the
context of commemorating Decree Day July 5, 1959 and at the same
time to launch a new tabloid called the Indonesian Monitor.
Present at the event, among others, was the general chairperson
of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) retired General
Wiranto, the former commander of the elite Special Forces
(Kopassus) retired Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto and the
coordinator of the Indonesia Awakening Committee (KBI), former
economics minister Rizal Ramli.
"We want to bring together figures that have the same views about
how to improve the national situation that is becoming
increasingly worrying. Hopefully, following this event we will be
able to unite the movement of the children of the nation who have
a great commitment to improve this country. This will be parallel
with the theme that we have taken up of 'Return to Commonsense'",
organising committee chairperson Mulia Siregar told Detik.com
prior to the event.
According to Mulia, the activity is also being supported by a
number of national figures including, among others, former
student activist Hariman Siregar, former chief economics minister
Kwik Kian Gie, former state secretary Bondan Gunawan, former
student activist and presidential confidant Suko Sudarso,
Nahdlatul Ulama chairperson KH Hasyim Muzadi, Muhammadiyah
chairperson Din Syamsuddin and the former Jakarta chief of police
retired Major General Noegroho Djajoesman.
"They joined the ranks following an invitation," said Mulia,
adding that a number of old as well as new political party
leaders had declared their readiness to attend. They include the
deputy chairperson of the Gerindra Party (Indonesia Raya Movement
Party) Fadli Zon, the general chairperson of the Unitary State of
the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) Party Sys NS, the secretary
general of the National Sun Party Ahmad Rofiq (established by
Muhammadiyah youth) and a number of non-government organisations
and student activists in the Greater Jakarta area.
During a break in the event, Ramli took the opportunity to
comment on a request by the Democrat and Golkar Party factions to
postpone an interpellation motion against the government's recent
decision to increase fuel prices. He said that there are
"systematic efforts to divert the motion" and he and others
genuinely wish to fix the oil and gas sector. He also added that
there is a 'mafia' that benefits from the importation of oil and
that he was willing to reveal who they are.
Speaking separately, former People's Consultative Assembly
speaker Amien Rais said he supported the meeting. "We support this
opposition to oversee the government and remind the government if
it is neglectful and to set the government straight if it
deviates," he said at a book dissertation in the West Java
provincial capital of Bandung.
- Moksa Hutasoit, Baban Gandapurnama, M. Rizal Maslan
Notes:
Decree Day (Hari Dekrit) - July 5, 1959 when Indonesia's founding
president issued a decree providing for a return to the 1945
Constitution.
[Abridged translation by James Balowski based on three reports in
Detik.com on July 5.]
Demos, protests, actions...
West Papua
Human rights/law
Labour issues
Environment/natural disasters
Health & education
War on corruption
Poverty & unemployment
War on terror
Elections/political parties
Local & community issues
Armed forces/defense
Police/law enforcement
Economy & investment
Opinion & analysis
News & issues
Comedy hit gets warning for 'vulgar' content
Opposition figures gather in Jakarta to discuss nation's problems
Red-light district falls on hard times
Jakarta Post - July 3, 2008
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Since the municipal government shut down the Saritem prostitution area in the Andir district of Bandung, West Java, residents have struggled to find work.
One resident, Yudihari, 61, said he could no longer earn enough money to support his family. The father of seven said he could not pay his children's school fees.
Yudihari and hundreds of others have lost their jobs since the red-light district was closed a year ago.
In April 2007, Bandung Mayor Dada Rosada deployed 1,000 police officers to evict people from the red-light district. Hundreds of stalls and small stores were forced to close.
Saritem used to be home to at least 450 sex workers, 200 pimps and 85 brothels. About 2,000 people depended on the red-light district for their livelihoods.
"Before its closure, I could earn Rp 50,000 (US$5.50) from guests per day. I helped them look for women or buy drinks, snacks or cigarettes," Yudihari said.
He said this work allowed him to put three children through high school. They are now married and live separately, but he still has to pay school fees for four more children.
Epon, 49, a mother of eight, is also having trouble earning money. She used to sell rice and fried chicken from a small stall in Saritem, earning between Rp 100,000 and Rp 300,000 a day.
The mayor's decision to close the district was based on a local public order ordinance banning prostitution.
Dada has set aside Rp 5 billion to convert Saritem into "Kampung Santri", a religious area.
The mayor also has promised to provide skills training for Saritem residents, as compensation for the loss of their jobs. However, the promise has yet to be implemented in the field.
A Saritem resident, Bambang Suwarsa, said hundreds of people in the area had fallen into poverty since the red-light district was closed.
There have been several protests by residents, demanding officials help them find new jobs.
Yayan Kristian and Masnu from Saritem said that the closure has had an adverse impact on the people, not only financially but also psychologically.
Officers from the Andir police sub-precinct and the West Bandung precinct often conduct inspections of residents' homes to ensure they are not engaging in prostitution. This has only further to upset people in the area.
"We are not terrorists who need to be monitored all the time. Why do they always watch us, while many other brothels are still operating under the management of rich people?" Yayan said.
Their anger peaked when Saritem resident Anang Sumanang, 49, died in police custody. There has never been a formal explanation of the death.
Anang was arrested for public drunkenness. His wife, Dede Rostika, 42, said that her husband rarely drank. She said frustration over being unemployed had caused him to drink.
Dede attempted to bring a wrongful death suit against the police, but could not afford to pay the Rp 1 million to have an autopsy performed on her husband.
Jakarta Post - July 1, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The latest survey showing a steep decline in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's popularity indicates the people's frustration with the way the government has handled economic problems, observers say.
Experts and activists said people can barely survive with skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, transportation, health and education due to the increased fuel prices. They said if Yudhoyono failed to address his popularity decline, he would harm his chances of reelection.
"The survey sends a yellow light to the President, warning him that people are suffering and that his administration has failed to reach the people," political scientist Dewi Fortuna Anwar of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said.
A survey conducted by Indo Barometer 10 days after the fuel prices increase indicated a sharp fall in Yudhoyono's approval ratings.
The survey, conducted among 1,200 respondents in 33 provinces, found 30.4 percent of respondents would vote for former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in a presidential election compared to only 20.7 percent for Yudhoyono.
A similar survey in May 2007 showed Yudhoyono at 35.3 percent, still far ahead of Megawati at 22.6 percent. A survey last December showed Yudhoyono ahead by a slightly slimmer margin, at 38.1 percent to Megawati's 27.4 percent.
Respondents expressed highest dissatisfaction in the way Yudhoyono had handled the economy, with 79.1 percent saying they were disappointed by his inability to solve economic problems.
Dewi cited the example of the difficulties low-income people faced in gaining access to quality education.
"Low-income families used to use education as a ladder to climb up in society and get a better life. But not anymore. Getting a good education means a lot of money and they just can't afford it," she said. With such constraints, poor people were frustrated knowing they would remain poor, Dewi said.
Economist Faisal Basri of the University of Indonesia said a newer poll could result in even worse ratings for Yudhoyono, now that people had already felt the full impacts of the fuel price increases.
"A month or two after the fuel price hike, people will feel the second round impacts of the raised prices, especially in increased goods and transportation costs," he said.
Faisal said Yudhoyono was "very unfortunate" as he was hit by both global increases of oil prices and food prices at the same time.
However, he said the results did not necessarily guarantee Megawati the presidency, since her approval rating was still just above 30 percent.
"Looking at the survey, the presidency will be decided in the second round as no candidate can garner more than 50 percent of the votes. If the election reaches a second round, it will be between SBY and Megawati, and anything is possible by then," he said.
University of Indonesia expert Fentiny Nugroho said Yudhoyono could rebound only if he enhanced his pro-poor policies in the health and education sectors while trying to create jobs for people.
"Providing jobs and enhancing programs to help the poor in coping with current conditions are ways SBY can regain people's support," she said.
| Demos, protests, actions... |
Detik.com - July 8, 2008
Ken Yunita, Jakarta – Protest actions are again starting to enliven Jakarta and surrounding areas. According to the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre at least five demonstrations will take place on Tuesday July 8.
The first action will be held at the offices of the legal attorneys representing PT Sinar Apparel International. The workers demonstration will begin at 7am.
The second action will be organised in front of the PT Panarup Industri offices at 8am. The third action meanwhile will be held at 10am at the offices of the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises and in front of the State Palace.
A demonstration will also take place at the Corruption Eradication Building at 11am. The last action will occur at the offices of PT Riua Andalan Pulp and Paper. (ken/ken)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Detik.com - July 7, 2008
Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – A number of protest actions will greet the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations meeting that is to begin today in Hokkaido, Japan. The Japanese embassy on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta will be 'rocked' by two anti-liberalism demonstrations.
The first protest will take place at 11am. The Anti-Dept Coalition (KAU) will hold an action demanding that the advanced countries abolish the debts of Third World countries.
KAU believes that the current crisis in Third World countries is occurring as a consequence of neoliberal development that is being forced through by the advanced countries. They also accused the G8 countries of being the biggest contributors to the destruction of the environment through their carbon emissions.
"The G8 countries must take responsibility, one of these is abolishing Southern countries' debts, including Indonesia, without any preconditions," said KAU program officer Yuyun Harmono in an email received by Detik.com on Monday July 7.
In addition to this, the People's Struggle Front (FPR) will also rock the Japanese embassy at 11.30am. They will be opposing the modern imperialism being forced on the developing countries by the advanced nations. (rdf/anw)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Detik.com - July 7, 2008
Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – The G8 Forum Ministerial Level Meeting that is taking place in Hokkaido, Japan, has been condemned by student groups in the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan.
Scores of students from the Medan City National Students Front (FMN) declared their disagreement with the G8 Forum by holding a protest action at the Japanese Consulate General on Jl. Cut Nyak Dien on Monday July 7.
During the action, students expressed their opposition to and condemned the 34th meeting of the G8 countries that will take pace in Hokkaido on July 7-9. They also accused the G8 meeting of only aiming to exploit and drain the blood of the people in countries colonised (sic) by Japan, including Indonesia.
For this reason, the students also condemned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY) plan to attend the meeting. "Will SBY's presence reflect the sovereignty of the Indonesian people?" said Ricard, one of the students.
Although the action proceeded in an orderly manner, the protest at the Consulate General was tightly guarded by police. No consulate representatives would agree to meet with a delegation of students and after the protest ended, they disbanded in an orderly fashion. (rul/djo)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - July 3, 2008
Tangerang – Dozens of members of the Tangerang Journalists Working Group protested at the regency office in Tigaraksa on Tuesday to demand the regent apologize for threatening a reporter.
"We demand Regent Ismet Iskandar apologize for his conduct and for threatening to hit a journalist," the group's chairman, Eka Chandra, said. Chandra said the group would file a police complaint if the regent failed to issue an apology.
Regency administration spokesman Awaludin, who meet with the protesting journalists, said he would deliver the message to Ismet. "I will immediately deliver your demands to Pak Ismet and I also apologize for what happened between the regent and journalist yesterday," he said.
Ismet lost his temper Monday and had to be physically separated from Denny Irawan, a Tangerang-based journalist for Seputar Indonesia daily.
Denny asked Ismet about a graft allegation involving the regent and a Rp 9.2 billion (US$978,723) transfer from tap water operator PDAM Tirta Kerta Raharja, on top of a Rp 9.5 billion transfer Ismet had earlier confirmed.
Ismet told the journalist he borrowed Rp 9.5 billion for Tangerang's soccer team (Persita). Denny repeated his question, clarifying that he was asking about a separate alleged transfer of Rp 9.2 billion.
"Nothing, nothing, that's not true. What do you want, you want me to hit you?" the regent responded, while extending his fist toward the journalist.
Media Bersama - July 1, 2008
Jakarta – Students in Jakarta once again demonstrated against the increase in the price of fuel on June 30, 2008. They gathered as the Indonesian Students League (SMI). The protesters left from the roundabout outside Hotel Indonesia at about 1pm and marched towards the Presidential Palace. There were about 70 people demonstrating.
Chants opposing the government policy of increasing fuel prices reverberated throughout the protest.
A group of police blocked the protesters in front of the office of the Minister for People's Welfare. After difficult negotiations the police allowed time for protesters to speak about their demands. Besides rejecting the government policy to raise fuel prices, they also demanded the government immediately give subsidies to the people. In their speeches, they criticised the political elites as traitors because the policies they implement are never on behalf of the people.
At around 3.15pm the police asked the protesters to immediately disperse. Several students in the front line were pushed by police. Many people who were surrounded by police tried to stand their ground. But the police continued to force them to disperse. Thirty-five people were arrested and taken to the central police station in Jakarta.
Most of the people who weren't targeted by police met at the Legal Aid Centre in Jakarta. Through a media statement they criticised the police actions as violent. They also demanded the guaranteed safety and release of the demonstrators who had been arrested.
At the time of writing, all thirty five who have been arrested have been released. They were released on June 30 at 10.14pm.
[Source: Media Bersama. Translated by Mel Barnes.]
| West Papua |
Melbourne Age - July 5, 2008
Andra Jackson – As they settle into their new life in Melbourne, tomorrow brings a poignant reminder for a group of West Papuans of why they fled their country.
It is the 10th anniversary of what they call the Biak massacre, when Indonesian soldiers shot and injured 200 islanders after they raised the Morning Star, symbolising West Papuan independence aspirations.
Shivering, and with a slight cough, Herman Wainggai explains why their commemoration is necessary. On that day, he says, in response to protests organised by jailed West Papuan leader Phillip Karma, then Indonesian President B.J. Habibie and the West Papuan provincial government called in the Indonesian army commander to Biak Island, backed by a warship and soldiers.
Mr Wainggai said that 200 protesters were shot and injured, Mr Karma was arrested, the Morning Star was ripped up and young, married women were ordered on to the warship and raped. The body of one of the women was later found floating in the sea, Mr Wainggai said.
Scores of people are believed to have died in the incident. An independent investigation team reported in 1999 that 32 bodies were also recovered at sea after being dumped overboard by Indonesian forces. Mr Wainggai was jailed in 2000 for four months, and later for two years for flying the Morning Star. Tomorrow's commemoration is intended as a reminder to the world, and the Australian Government, that "human rights abuses are still happening in West Papua".
Mr Wainggai said that in March, 11 students were arrested for raising the Morning Star, and his cousin, Jack Wainggai, a spokesman for the nascent West Papua National Authority, was recently arrested on his return from Vanuatu.
Mr Wainggai is one of 43 activists who fled West Papua in a canoe, landing in Australia in January 2006. They were later granted protection visas. Mr Wainggai, who studied law in Jayapura, Papua's capital, and theology at a Bible college, hopes to specialise in human rights law.
Mr Wainggai says the biggest cultural difference he has encountered is that "you are very individualistic and that is very contradictory with our Melanesian community system".
A benefit concert is being held tonight to raise money for the families of the 11 arrested students at the Corner Hotel, 57 Swan Street, Richmond, from 8pm. The Biak massacre commemoration is at the City Square from noon-1pm.
Jakarta Post - July 4, 2008
Angela Flassy, Jayapura – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has breached a 2001 on special autonomy for Papua by issuing a 2008 government decree to amend the law, Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) chairman Agus Alue Alua said Thursday.
"The decree violates the special autonomy law, especially the omission of contents," he said. "It's not the government's prerogative to revise the law, it's the right of Papuans, according to Article 77 of the special autonomy law."
The decree, Government Regulation No. 1/2008, was issued on April 16, 2008. It amended two items in Law No. 21/2001 on Special Autonomy.
Article 1(a), which stated Irian Jaya province would officially become Papua province, was replaced with Irian Jaya officially becoming Papua and West Papua provinces. Article 7(a) on the duty of the Papuan legislature to elect the governor and vice governor, was dropped.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla proposed a revision to the special autonomy law in February, but was initially turned down by the MRP, the governor and the Papua legislature. However, they later agreed to implement the revisions through a government ordinance.
"Revising the law is the privilege of Papuans. We agreed on the ordinance, but it must not be revised or substituted," Agus said.
"We later agreed on the government ordinance on the legitimacy of West Papua province, but the government instead issued an ordinance for the revision of Law No. 21. It has been breached from that perspective."
Frans Maniagasi, a member of the Papua working group, said the decree was approved without public approval, either through a referendum or the legislature.
"It shows a lack of goodwill from the government in resolving the Papua issue through special autonomy, including the status of Irian Jaya and West Papua provinces," he said.
He said two viable options were available. The first would be for the governor, legislature and MRP to conduct a study on the decree and prepare a bill on autonomy for West Papua in accordance to Article 76 of Law No. 21/2001.
The second option, he said, would be for the legislature and MRP to submit test materials for a review of the government decree to the Constitutional Court to determine whether the decree violated the 1945 State Constitution and special autonomy law.
Radio New Zealand International - July 4, 2008
Richard Brunton – Concern has been raised about the poor living conditions among a group of Papuan refugees squatting in a public park in Papua New Guinea's capital.
The group of about 100 is currently camped at Boroko's Apex Park after being evicted from four different public locations over the past nine months.
The refugees are appealing for resettlement in a third country but say the UNHCR is neglecting their bid and have called on the PNG government to assist them.
A local NGO activist who has been camping with the refugees for the past two months, Richard Brunton, says he is concerned for the group's welfare.
He says the group includes children and elderly people who are contending with increasingly dire conditions.
"And for the past three or four days, real problems with sanitation and water. I've not seen one visit by UNHCR, Provincial Affairs, Foreign Affairs, even the Governor of the city, nobody's been down here to check out their conditions or hear the concerns about their safety and not having a place to stay."
Jakarta Post - July 1, 2008
Jakarta – All factions in the House of Representatives have agreed to pass legislation giving a legal basis for the implementation of special autonomy in the new province of West Papua.
"We agreed to pass the bill during a plenary session Tuesday," lawmaker EE Mangindaan, head of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, said here Monday.
West Papua was established as a new province in 1999 when it separated from its mother province, Papua. This partition was enacted in Law No. 45/1999.
Two years later, the House and the government enacted Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua.
Papua legislative council head John Ibo challenged the creation of the province of West Papua through the Constitutional Court in 2004.
He requested the court annul all articles in the 1999 law legalizing the establishment of the new province.
The court ruled the enactment of Law No. 21/2001 meant Law No. 45/1999 was no longer legally binding, but said the establishment of West Papua remained lawful.
The decision created local administrative confusion because Law No. 21/2001 regulates special regional autonomy for Papua, but not for West Papua.
"Since West Papua elected a governor in 2006, the provincial administration has not received any special autonomy budget allocations because of the court's decision," said Eka Santosa, deputy chairman of Commission II.
To give a legal basis for special autonomy in West Papua, the government issued in 2008 a regulation in lieu of law on special autonomy for the province.
The government and the House later agreed to make this regulation a bill, which will be passed Tuesday.
The House also said the government needed to reinforce the legality of West Papua's existence as a province.
"Government services in West Papua are at risk because of its lack of legal foundation. Thus, we are considering reviewing the content of Law No. 45/1999, from which we will formulate a new bill to replace this law," Eka said. The House also urged the government to evaluate and monitor the resources and allocations of special autonomy budgets both in West Papua and in Papua.
The government was also asked to immediately make some adjustment policies to respond to the reinforcement of West Papua's special autonomy. These policies include adjusting the structure of the provincial representatives council and the detail mechanisms of the special autonomy budget allocations as well as the income management for the two provinces. (alf)
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - July 4, 2008
Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – In what was called a "grave for press freedom" in Indonesia, a court here ruled Thursday in favor of a pulp and paper firm in a long-standing dispute with Koran Tempo daily newspaper.
The South Jakarta District Court ordered the newspaper to pay Rp 220.3 million (US$24,000) to PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) and publish apologies to the company in major national media. Prosecutors had demanded the newspaper pay Rp 1.5 billion in material and immaterial damages.
The court found the newspaper guilty of failing to provide RAPP with its proper right to reply over three articles connecting the company and its owner, Sukanto Tanoto, to illegal logging in Riau.
A panel of judges said Koran Tempo must print an apology in full on its front page, which will include RAPP's reply, and have that statement published in several major print media for three straight days. Judges further ordered the newspaper to broadcast the apology and the reply on several TV stations for seven straight days.
In October 2007, RAPP sued PT Tempo Inti Media Harian, which publishes Koran Tempo, and its chief editor S. Malela Mahargasarie, for defamation. The company claimed the three articles of July 6, 12 and 13, 2007, repeatedly mixed facts and opinions.
Koran Tempo's lawyers said the paper had published a correction on July 27 last year, but judges rejected it as an inadequate response.
"Koran Tempo did not make a proper reply because it only provided a small space, much like the space for an ad, for the company's statement," Judge Eddy Risdyanto told the court in reading out the verdict.
The panel of judges said the response did not provide the company justice because the newspaper refused to accept RAPP's demand for it to publish the company's unedited reply.
"It is this court's opinion that Koran Tempo has broken the law because it allowed no right to reply," Eddy said. The judges said Koran Tempo had damaged the company's reputation with the three articles.
The verdict was greeted with jeers from the audience at the courtroom, which mostly consisted of members of the Alliance of Independent Journalists.
Koran Tempo lawyer Sholeh Ali said the verdict was blatantly unfair because it did not consider the facts written in the articles.
Nor did it respect other judges' decisions in the past who had ordered plaintiffs in similar cases to address their concerns through the country's Press Council, he added.
"This decision is a slap to press freedom and an insult to the role the press plays as a voice for the people," Sholeh said after the trial. Koran Tempo chief editor Malela said he would appeal the verdict.
Abdullah Alamudi of the Press Council slammed the decision as a "grave for press freedom" in the country.
"The decision has no legal basis. The right to reply should be proportional to the mistake. If the mistake is three paragraphs long, then the reply should be three paragraphs long," he said.
"I don't know how judges think they can just grant a full-page reply, and for three days for that matter," he said.
| Labour issues |
Berdakiri - July 1, 2008
Ulfa Ilyas, Jakarta – Around 80 people gathered together under the banner of the National front for Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI) and held another demonstration at ExxonMobil and the national parliament building to demanded that the government cancel the increase in the price of fuel, nationalise the mining industry and repudiate the foreign debt. In addition to this they also called on the Indonesian people to not elect again those political parties that are pro-foreign interests and parties that are supporters of the fuel price rise and oppose the parliamentary investigations committee in the fuel price rise – the parties in the SBY and Yusuf Kalla government (Demokrat and Golkar).
In a speech to the rally, Dedi Fauzi spokesperson for the FNPBI action said that workers and the poor people wanted the government to abolish the fuel price rise and protect national industry. If the state took over the mining companies that are currently run by foreign interests, then an independent economy can be achieved and there would be no difficulty in fulfilling the economic demands of the workers.
Katarina Pujiastuti, assistant head of the FNPBI, said in an interview that 85% of Indonesia's mining sector is controlled by foreign interests and the workers were here to demand that the parliamentary investigation committee into fuel price rises (which was to be formed the next day) analyse the domination by foreign capital of the mining industry because the energy crisis lies there.
With the increase in the price of fuel, workers face several challenges: 1. Wages have not kept up with the increase in cost of living. 2. Domestic industry, which local employers and workers depend on for their livelihoods, are badly hit by the rise in fuel prices. In these conditions, workers and local businesses do not have many choices except to struggle for the cancellation of the fuel price increase and the rescue of national industry, she said.
After the action at Exxon Mobil, the demonstrators continued their action taking it to the national parliament with the same demands. On arrival there they shouted out their demands, sang songs of struggle and made political speeches.
[Source: Berdakiri translated by Rebecca Meckelberg.]
Media Bersama - July 1, 2008
Ario Adityo – Indonesian migrant workers demonstrated along with thousands of Hong Kong citizens on July 1. This action coincided with national holiday to mark the day that Hong Kong returned to China.
The group of demonstrators demanded democratisation, like direct elections, wage increases as well as an end to discrimination against minority groups and migrant workers.
"We demand the immediate halting of discriminatory treatment that is carried out by the Hong Kong government towards migrant workers through its immigration policy" said Rusemi, head of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (IMWU).
IMWU condemned the Hong Kong government after evaluating their discrimination towards migrant workers through their immigration policy, the New Conditions of Stay (NCS). Under this policy migrant workers are forbidden to bring their family to Hong Kong, are not allowed to change their type of work, do not have the right to become a permanent resident of Hong Kong even after they have worked there for more than seven years. In addition to this migrant workers are only allowed to remain in Hong Kong for 14 days after the end of their contract.
As observed by Gilang from the advocacy committee of IMWU, "the Hong Kong government has already discriminated against women workers, particularly foreign domestic workers. This policy is only valid for migrant workers who have been categorised as unskilled labour – and domestic workers are categorised as such" she said.
Similar to GIlang, Rusemi said, the Hong Kong government should be able to understand that to do domestic work requires expertise that not all people have or want to do. "The category of skilled and unskilled labour is rubbish", said Rusemi.
The struggle of Hong Kong migrant workers to abolish this government policy has been a long one. One success has been to push the Committee for the Abolition of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), one of the committees in the United Nations, to make a recommendation to the Hong Kong government to immediately abolish the NCS.
Related to the question of discrimination and minorities, on July 9, 2008, the Hong Kong legislative council will examine and finalise a law that regulates the question of minority groups. This law has already been examined several times last year. However migrant workers have determined that this law remains discriminatory. In fact, it legalises discriminatory treatment of migrant workers.
Anticipating this possibility, Rusemi said: "If the Race Discrimination Bill (RDB) does not have effect on all regulations, including immigration policy, then truly this law is a form of ratification of discriminatory actions towards migrant workers, IMWU rejects this legislation!"
According to Rusemi, in one passage of the RDB legislation exempts its application to of immigration law.
Migrant workers have always had difficulty when they struggle for their rights that are violated by their employer and agents in the Hong Kong labour tribunal. Moreover, migrant workers are forbidden from working while their case is being resolved.
[Ario Adityo is contributor for Mediabersama.com living in Hong Kong. Translation for ASAP by Rebecca Meckelberg.]
| Environment/natural disasters |
Jakarta Post - July 8, 2008
Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – The five pairs of candidates contesting the upcoming East Java gubernatorial elections have followed in the government's footsteps by not addressing the impacts of the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster.
During a campaigning session at the East Java Legislative Council on Monday, none of the five attending pairs touched on the issue during each of their 25-minute allocations in which they stated their claims for leadership.
The five pairs were: Khofifah Indar Parawansa-Mudjiono (backed by the United Development Party), Achmadi-Suhartono (the National Awakening Party), Soekarwo-Saifulah Yusuf (the National Mandate Party), Soetjipto-Ridwan Hisjam (the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) and Soenaryo-Ali Maschan Moesa (Golkar Party).
The candidates mainly emphasized solutions for poverty, education, empowerment of villagers and farmers and the environment.
When asked about the mudflow, Soekarwo said addressing the mudflow disaster was part of his agenda as a candidate, but that he had not had enough time to speak about it.
Suparto Wijoyo, an environment observer at Surabaya-based Airlangga University, said Monday the candidates' failure to discuss the issue was similar to that of the central government's. "In reality the disaster has caused formidable losses for those living nearby," Suparto said after the session.
He said the winner of the election would inherit the power to settle any issue in the region, including the mudflow disaster, as defined by the law on regional autonomy.
"Even at present, any decision on how to handle the mudflow issue is in the hands of the central government, but the governor as a regional leader still is entitled to his own judgment," he said.
Pitanto, a disaster evacuee, said at least 600 mudflow victims temporarily living at Pasar Baru market would not exercise their right to vote at the election, scheduled for July 23, 2008.
Even though the Ministry of Home Affairs banned regional leaders from taking part in campaign activities, Surabaya Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono insisted on endorsing the Sutjipto and Ridwan Hisjam pair.
The ban is authorized under a decree signed by Regional Autonomy Director General of the Home Affairs Ministry S. Situmorang on July 4, 2008.
However, Bambang sent a letter to the Domestic Affairs Ministry requesting leave so he could take part in the campaign.
"I just want to become a campaigner for the Sutjipto-Ridwan," he said. "I will not use state facilities in my campaign activities, such as official cars or other attributes," he added.
Bambang left his post last Sunday, the first official day of the campaign period, and has entrusted his duties to deputy mayor Arif Affandi.
The East Java Police have deployed 17,000 officers throughout the province for the campaigning period.
"We've briefed our subordinates to help people who are in trouble to exercise their right to vote, especially the disabled and the blind ones," East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Herman S. Sumawiredja said.
Jakarta Post - July 5, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora and Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – It seems the government has developed a fondness for exploiting the hot topic of climate change to secure foreign loans, then channeling the money elsewhere – and environmentalists want it to stop.
Instead, if Indonesia wants fresh foreign funds, it should apply existing international mechanisms on emissions reductions, through which developing nations can get financial incentives from rich countries, Greenomics Indonesia says.
"There are no compelling reasons for Indonesia to seek foreign loans in the name of mitigating climate change. It really does not make sense," Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
"The government must revoke its plans (to seek new foreign loans), or use existing mechanisms to get financial aid and technical assistance from wealthy nations."
Rahmat Waluyanto, director general of debt management at the Finance Ministry, said the government had received loans worth US$200 million from French financial institution Agence Francaise de Developpement and $300 million from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation – all for climate change programs.
But that is not where the funds are headed. "The funds will go to the state budget," Rahmat said. That is, they will be used to cover the state budget deficit, forecast in the revised 2008 budget to reach Rp 94.5 trillion ($10.24 billion).
He said the government expected to secure Rp 26.4 trillion in program loans this year. As of June, the government had received $400 million in loans, or 15 percent of its target.
The Post's sources at the Forestry Ministry and the State Ministry for the Environment said these loans would not be used to finance climate change programs.
"With the loans, don't expect too much to go toward better mitigation efforts. The money will be spent elsewhere, including to pay the direct cash assistance for poor people introduced after the fuel price rise," a source said.
Mahendra Siregar from the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy said the country's climate change mitigation and adaptation programs had been financed by the state budget.
"We are committed to not using foreign money to fund climate change programs. We will use the loans obtained through the issue of climate change to cover the budget deficit only," said Mahendra, who was also part of Indonesia's negotiator team during the UN climate change conference in Bali last year.
Indonesia is the current president of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the world's most authoritative body on the climate change issue.
The UNFCCC requires rich nations to provide financial assistance for developing and poor nations to help them reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of warmer temperatures.
The Kyoto Protocol binds only rich nations to reducing emissions. Developing and poor nations can participate in emissions reduction programs including through the clean development mechanism (CDM). In return, they receive cash injections.
Indonesia, the world's third-largest forestry nation, could also pull in huge dollars through voluntary markets from carbon selling under reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
A coalition of green groups has repeatedly called on wealthy nations to stop providing loans to developing countries before involving them in emissions reductions.
The coalition, including the Indonesian Environment Forum (Walhi), the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati), the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), Forest Watch Indonesia, Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Friends of the Earth, first made a statement on debt relief at last year's ministerial meeting on climate change in Bogor, West Java.
"It is still our position that efforts by developing countries to combat climate change will be hampered if they dig into natural resources to repay foreign debts. We call for debt relief for developing nations," said Farah Sofa, a former climate campaigner from Walhi.
| Health & education |
CNN - July 8, 2008
Arwa Damon, Remote West Timor – Maria's labored breath echoes within the walls of her family's mud hut. Her tiny, bony hands open and close in slow claw-like motions.
She's 15 months old, but weighs just 10 pounds – one of countless children under the age of 5 facing severe malnutrition in Indonesia's West Timor. A typical infant weighs about 24 pounds at 15 months.
"Maria sleeps most of the time. Sometimes she cries but not often," her 25-year-old mother Adolphina Fao says softly.
Maria is fighting to live, wasting away in her remote village where aid officials say climate change has brought on a severe drought in recent years. It's nearly impossible for residents to live off the land like they have for generations.
"It's hard to feed her," her mother says. "Some are good days, some are bad. Sometimes she eats a whole plate, sometimes nothing." As Fao speaks, she spoons glutinous rice into Maria's tiny mouth. The baby spits out most of it.
Aid officials say Maria is one example of a chronic crisis that has been worsening in West Timor, the Indonesian portion of the island of Timor that is home to about 1.5 million people.
According to a joint survey by aid groups Church World Service, Helen Keller International and CARE, more than 50 percent of children under 5 in West Timor are suffering from malnutrition. In some areas it's as high as 70 percent – a higher percentage than areas of Africa.
Of those, nearly 1 in every 10 children suffer from acute malnutrition, meaning they are near death, according to organizers. The study also found that 61 percent of the children suffer from stunted growth.
"Stunting is the result of extended periods of inadequate food intake, poor dietary quality, increased morbidity or a combination of these factors," the study says. "This finding indicates that the diet has been very poor quality for a very long time."
Aid groups also warn that the situation is likely to worsen because of rising global food prices.
Here, far-flung villages lie nestled in deceptively lush green landscape, with no real roads, no electricity and no running water. Barely clothed children play in the dirt. According to the survey, more than 90 percent of households don't have enough food.
Families try to farm the land, but the prolonged drought has destroyed their crops, cutting off their main food supply. That results in less food for each house, further eroding the supply of much-needed nutrition for young children.
"Nowadays the dry season is lasting longer and longer," says Vincensius Surma, the senior program manager for Church World Service, a global humanitarian agency. "In 2006 and 2007, the dry season lasted for a year."
Dry riverbeds around the region are testament to his statement. Villagers have to walk for miles for water.
Surma travels from remote village to remote village just to follow up on cases that his agency is treating.
One of the families he revisits is Salmoun Ton's. Two of his three children are malnourished. His eldest child has stunted growth. At 8 years old, she's barely taller than her healthy 4- year-old sister. His youngest was severely malnourished and is still drastically underweight.
Ton, a corn farmer, says that his crops aren't producing enough to sustain his family. "It makes me sad, really sad. As a parent, I feel that I can't properly care for them," Ton says.
Further compounding the crisis is a lack of basic education and health care, proper sanitary habits, and inadequate aid, according to humanitarian officials.
On this visit, Surma finds out that Ton sold their fresh eggs – a major source of protein – to buy instant noodles. He then tries to explain basic nutrition to the family. "We're trying to do everything that we can, but for now the results are definitely not enough," Surma says.
Aid organizations have unsuccessfully battled to bring this tragedy into the international spotlight. There are some donations coming in, but the funds and the resources simply aren't enough given the magnitude of the crisis.
Organizations like Church World Service and CARE have established feeding and education centers to try to combat the crisis. The Indonesian government is also trying to address the crisis by supplying vitamin supplements to hard-hit families and other help, but aid groups say there is little cross coordination.
"We can't implement our mid- or long-term plan for this case because... so many children are casualties of malnutrition in this region," Surma says.
The main fear is that unless something drastic is done now, whole generations could be lost to acute and chronic malnutrition.
Jakarta Post - July 7, 2008
Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – UNICEF has renewed calls for donors to refrain from sending formula milk as humanitarian assistance to victims of disasters, saying it could cause even more deaths.
A UNICEF study found rates of diarrhea in Yogyakarta in the aftermath of the 2006 earthquake increased sixfold as the consumption of formula doubled.
Anne H. Vincent, head of UNICEF Indonesia's health and nutrition department, said there was a strong correlation between formula consumption and deaths due to diarrhea in the province during this period.
She said the increase in diarrhea cases was caused by unmonitored donations of infant formula to the disaster-stricken area, coupled with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water.
About 80 percent of children less than two-years-old who were affected by the earthquake received infant formula, which was handed out in clear plastic bags with no instructions on how to prepare it.
"Very often the first aid you see arriving locally is formula. These donations are often uncontrolled," Vincent said.
"It's not that people have negative intentions. What they don't know is in disasters such as tsunami, cyclones and earthquakes, affected families are already poor and often there's poor sanitation and so on."
Almost 6,000 people were killed in the earthquake, which destroyed 300,000 houses in Yogyakarta and Central Java, causing some 1.5 million people to be displaced. Bantul and Klaten regencies were the worst-affected areas.
"There's no clean water, no sanitation and so forth. Therefore bringing formula in increases and multiplies the rate of diarrhea and the risk of death for young babies," she said.
"Donations of powdered milk in an emergency situation can literally increase the rate of death of young babies, while the people mean to do good."
To make matters worse, she said, the donations encouraged mothers to stop breast-feeding their children and instead feed them infant formula.
The study found 42.6 percent of infants under five-months-old were fed infant formula after the quake – a sharp increase from the pre-quake figure of 27.8 percent. "We know breast-feeding is very important for children's health," Vincent said.
A UNICEF study conducted in 42 countries showed exclusive breast-feeding, with no additional food or liquid, proved to have the highest impact (13 percent) on saving the lives of infants, compared to all other interventions. "People need to be informed this kind of donation is very dangerous," she said.
Located in the ring of fire, an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean, Indonesia is prone to natural disasters. In addition, floods and disasters resulting from environmental degradation have struck many areas across the country.
More than 150,000 people were killed by the 2004 tsunami in Aceh and Nias Island, hundreds were killed in a 2005 earthquake on Nias and a tsunami in Pangandaran in 2006 killed more than 200 people.
Jakarta Post - July 7, 2008
Prodita Sabarini – A decline in the breast-feeding rate in Indonesia is one of the primary causes of the rise in childhood malnutrition in the country, a UN official says.
Head of the health and nutrition section at Unicef Indonesia, Anne H. Vincent, said that in 2007 only 7.2 percent of children in the country were breast-fed exclusively until the age of six months, from 7.8 percent in 2002. On average, Indonesian children are breast-fed exclusively for less than two months.
The UN body has found one in every four children in the country suffers from malnutrition. Regions in Indonesia have reported deaths of children due to malnutrition. From January to June this year, some 31 malnutrition-related deaths of children under the age of five were reported in East Nusa Tenggara, 20 in West Nusa Tenggara, 10 in Lebak, Banten, and five in Bone, South Sulawesi.
Vincent said the primary cause of malnutrition was poor infant feeding practices (i.e. inadequate breast-feeding and complementary feeding).
According to a Unicef review of data from 42 countries, exclusive breast-feeding proved to have the highest impact (13 percent) on saving lives of children under the age of five.
"Exclusive breast-feeding for six months can save more than 30,000 Indonesian children from dying each year," Vincent said recently.
Malnourished children are more prone to infectious diseases such as diarrhea and upper respiratory infections.
Barriers to breast-feeding in Indonesia include low awareness of the benefits due to inadequate counseling and support. For working mothers, a lack of supporting facilities such as designated space in the workplace for breast-feeding and adequate maternity leave to support six months of exclusive breast-feeding also hinders the program.
While breast-feeding rates are declining, sales of infant formula have nearly doubled in the last five years. According to Vincent, aggressive marketing of breast-milk substitutes by companies is another challenge for the breast-feeding campaign.
International code on breast-milk substitute marketing bans promotional campaigns for the products. In Indonesia this ban is regulated under a 1997 ministerial decree. A legislative draft on breast-milk substitute marketing is still being discussed.
The Association of Baby Food Producers' head of government relations and Frisian Flag director Hendro H. Poedjono said the association had set up a team to monitors violations. He said the team had handed down sanctions to members that broke regulations. "Every month around one or two members are sanctioned," he said.
He said promotions for breast-milk substitutes sometimes were conducted by retailers, not producers. "Supermarkets sometimes have their own policies, they organize promotions, or offer discounts on certain products, including infant formula, without our knowledge," he said.
Jakarta Post - July 7, 2008
Erwida Maulia, Depok, West Java – Speakers at a seminar in Depok on Saturday said drug laws needed to place more of an emphasis on rehabilitation for users and stop treating addicts the same as traffickers and dealers.
Drug laws, according to an official from the Health Ministry, criminalize drug users, treating them like traffickers, which in turn undermines efforts aimed at rehabilitation.
The ministry's director for the development of mental health, Aminullah, said drug users require special treatment to help them break their addiction. However, he said many users were too afraid to seek treatment because the police targeted them for arrest and criminal prosecution.
The ministry-run Drug Addiction Hospital in South Jakarta gets few patients because addicts fear police showing up at the hospital and taking them to prison.
"The hospital is useless because the police are trying to arrest the patients. And the doctors no longer dare to treat addicts secretly because they don't want to be caught and get in trouble," Aminullah told the seminar on healthcare and drug abuse, held at the University of Indonesia campus.
This, he said, has hampered efforts to break the cycle of addiction, and has helped in the spread of disease through the sharing of needles by injecting drug users.
Aminullah suggested amendments to the 1997 law on narcotics and the 1997 law on psychotropics, which criminalize drug use.
HIV/AIDS activist and senior Kompas journalist Irwan Julianto said drug users were different from drug dealers, and should be treated as such. "Our narcotics law still treats drug users like criminals; this needs review," Irwan said.
According to the University of Indonesia's Health Research Center, injecting drug users are at higher risk of severe infectious diseases, most notably HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
The center found that in 2004, of more than 1 million estimated injecting drug users in the country, nearly 230,000 had HIV/AIDS, 400,000 had hepatitis B and 458,000 hepatitis C.
The total number of drug users in the country is estimated to reach 3.2 million people, with most being between the ages of 15 and 25.
Sabarinah Prasetyo of the Health Research Center said the war on drugs should be focused on prevention, including preventing non- users from starting to take drugs and preventing experimental users from becoming addicts.
She said therapy and rehabilitation centers offering short to long-term medical and social treatments were also necessary.
Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Physicians Concerned about HIV/AIDS, Samsuridjal Djauzi, emphasized the need to curb the growing population of injecting drug users, particularly given their role in the spread of HIV/AIDS.
He said the number of people with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia had grown from between 90,000 and 130,000 in 2002 to between 190,00 and 210,000 in 2006, with 60 percent infected through shared needles.
Irwan said the high rate of injecting drug use, he said, could speed up the spread of HIV/AIDS transmission to the larger population.
Jakarta Post - July 5, 2008
Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Education activists in Yogyakarta on Friday set up monitoring posts to ensure the enrollment of new students in junior and senior high schools was carried out fairly.
The posts were established in four regencies and a mayoralty, and will be in operation through July 12. Enrollment for senior high school students takes place from July 3 to 5, and enrollment for junior high school students will run from July 7 to 9.
Activists said the reason for setting up the posts was the widespread practice by school administrators of demanding money from parents for granting students placement in schools.
"We set up the posts because corruption was rife in past years," said Sudaedy, coordinator of the Yogyakarta monitoring post. "Many students were not admitted into certain schools because they could not afford to pay these 'entrance fees'."
He said monitors would make a list of all suspicious and corrupt practices committed by school officials, and later submit it to the municipal council for subsequent perusal by the provincial administration and legislature.
Activists have also assembled an advocacy team to provide legal advice for students who are rejected because of a lack of finances. The legal team will also challenge regulations from education agencies and schools they consider hostile to the new students.
In addition, the monitoring posts will record complaints from the public and provide information on the school enrollment process, Sudaedy said.
Sutinah, a housewife in Yogyakarta, said she told monitors she could not afford junior high school fees for her child and still needed to pay Rp 300,000 (US$33) for her child's elementary school certificate.
She said members at the post then helped her write a letter applying for financial aid, and provided the relevant school registration forms. "If the school still makes things difficult, we will provide counseling," Sudaedy said.
An estimated 15,000 new students from outside Yogyakarta will enroll in junior and senior high schools across the city this year.
The influx of migrant students comes in spite of a 2007 city ordinance restricting the number of students from outside the city to only 25 percent of the city's new students, with students from outside the province restricted to 5 percent.
Because of the restrictions, new students are required to provide proof of residency when registering.
Sudarto, head of the city's Family Planning and Civil Statistics Agency's information department, said the ordinance was put in place to stem the massive movement of school-aged children into the city every year.
An average of 50 people per day have applied for letters to move to Yogyakarta ahead of the school registration period, with students between the ages of 12 and 16 years making up the majority.
| War on corruption |
Jakarta Post - July 8, 2008
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Most corruption convicts have so far preferred to serve additional jail terms rather than pay restitutions to the state, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said Monday.
Deputy attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said it was important for the state to recover its losses. "Corrupters have caused the state to suffer huge financial losses. They must return the corruption money to the state."
He said prosecutors would demand heavier additional punishments for corruption suspects to prevent them from opting against paying restitutions.
"We have found that in most corruption cases, like those in the Jakarta prosecutor's office, only lenient jail terms were sought for defendants as their secondary punishments," Marwan added.
He said a short-term imprisonment sentence would only be a "slap on the wrist" and would not deter graft suspects or convicts.
Marwan said he had instructed all prosecutor offices to soon start charging heavier additional jail terms for corruption suspects in cases worth more than Rp 1 billion of state losses.
For example, he said, when prosecutors demand a court order a graft suspect to repay Rp 1 billion in fines or to serve five months as an extra-jail term, then the AGO would ask the prosecutors to increase the sentence to several years if the defendant chose not to pay. He said his office would punish prosecutors that disobeyed the instruction.
Marwan said he acknowledged the judges had the final say in administering punishment, but added that prosecutors and judges needed to work more closely.
"The AGO will ask courts to understand our move and embrace the same vision. We will assure the courts that assets recovery has become one of the government's focuses, and as a government bodies, we should abide by its wish," Marwan said.
"We'll tell the judges that if they ignore this idea, they will appear suspicious in the eyes of the public."
In the past, graft defendants have often returned stolen money before a court verdict to encourage judges or prosecutors to reduce jail sentences.
Jakarta Post - July 3, 2008
Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – The anti-corruption commission has been unusually active in recent weeks but its work may vanish into thin air unless a crucial bill is passed into law this year.
Those arrested recently by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for alleged bribery might not end up in jail, anti- corruption scholar Denny Indrayana said in a discussion here Wednesday.
"This is a very important issue. The deadline for the Tipikor law is December next year. But failure to pass it this year will give the KPK no legal basis to punish those people," he said.
The Tipikor law is the yet-to-be-created Corruption Court Law. If the law is not passed by December this year, there is little hope of it ever being passed, because 2009 is an election year and new House of Representative members will be in place in April, he said.
"The new House members may not have the same priorities as the previous members," Denny said. "Hence, finalization of the law now is imperative."
Denny said he believed there could be a scheme to curtail the power of the KPK and failure to create the law would be its death knell. Even if the bill had reached deliberation stage at the House, he said, there would always be a danger of "legislative manipulation" that could put off its creation.
As an example, Denny said, the leader of the House task force could purposely divert the deliberation into another topic that might not have any connection to the bill, thus delaying the process.
"The House is one of the 'epicenters' of corruption in this country," he told the more than 400 discussion participants who packed into the university hall.
The bill is now being prepared by the government. Critics have accused the government is dragging its feet because of a preference for ordinary courts to handle corruption cases.
In December 2006, the Constitutional Court gave the government three years to create the Corruption Court Law. In May, the KPK pressed the government and the House to finalize the law before next year's elections.
The agency has been making headlines recently with a string of arrests including those of a senior prosecutor and a House member suspected of bribery to the tune of billions of rupiah. The suspects are now being tried by an ad hoc Corruption Court.
The discussion was held following the launch of two books by Denny, which are compilations of his press articles. The books are Negeri Para Mafioso (A Country of Bandits) and Negara Antara Ada dan Tiada (A Country Split Between Real and Unreal).
Also presenting their ideas in the discussion were Constitutional Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie, University of Paramadina rector Anies Baswedan, KPK vice chairman Chandra Hamzah and presidential spokesman Andi Mallaranggeng. Communications expert Effendi Gazali acted as the moderator.
Jakarta Post - July 2, 2008
Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) ignored several findings from its investigation in its decision to drop the probe into the embezzlement of Rp 81.1 trillion (US$8.8 billion) in central bank funds, a court here heard Tuesday.
Hendra Dewanto, a former member of the AGO team investigating the embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds, testified in the Corruption Court that the decision overlooked an unpaid debt.
The investigation was launched after the AGO had discovered a huge drop in the value of assets submitted to the state by major debtors when the government sold them to other parties. The assets were surrendered by tycoons Sudono Salim and Sjamsul Nursalim to pay their debts.
"The team found that Sjamsul owed Rp 4.8 trillion to the government and that the Finance Ministry had solid grounds to collect the debt," said Hendra, adding the team's final report was submitted on Feb. 25, 2008. Four days later, the AGO announced it had dropped the investigation due to lack of evidence.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has arrested the team leader, state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, for accepting bribes from businesswoman Artalyta Suryani in return for helping Sjamsul's case. Artalyta is believed to have close ties with Sjamsul's family. Her trial is currently underway in the Corruption Court.
Hendra said the team's final investigation report had been submitted to then AGO director of special criminal investigations Muhammad Salim and a copy of it had been sent to then deputy attorney general for special crimes Kemas Yahya Rahman.
The KPK said Urip's intensive communications with Artalyta since December 2007 revealed he had helped her to hold separate meetings with Salim and Kemas at the AGO special crimes unit.
In a tapped telephone conversation on Feb. 27, 2008, which was presented as evidence in Artalyta's trial, Urip told her that he had managed to help Sjamsul's case. She replied she would give him money as agreed earlier.
On March 2, 2008, Urip was arrested outside Artalyta's house after allegedly accepting from her US$660,000 and Rp 100 million in bribes. Urip claims he borrowed the money from Artalyta to start an auto repair business.
The KPK has also accused Urip of extorting Rp 1 billion from former chief of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, Glenn Yusuf, who was implicated in the BLBI case. Urip threatened to name him as a suspect in the BLBI embezzlement.
Hendra also testified that Glenn's lawyer, Reno Iskandarsyah, had come to the investigation team's room at the AGO building in January 2008. "He came to give an envelope that he claimed had been sent by Glenn for the investigator. We refused the envelope. I don't know what was inside it," he said.
In their indictment, KPK said Urip had accepted a total of Rp 110 million and $90,000 in cash from Glenn. Presiding judge Teguh Heriyanto adjourned the trial until next Thursday week to hear further testimony from Artalyta and her son. (dre)
Jakarta Post - July 1, 2008
Jakarta – The Corruption Court questioned Monday whether there could be a larger conspiracy involving the Attorney General's Office (AGO) in the alleged bribe paid by businesswoman Artalyta Suryani to state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan.
Judge Andi Bachtiar read out the transcript of a telephone conversation, recorded on March 1, 2008, between Artalyta and an unidentified woman, who was in Singapore.
In the conversation, Artalyta tells the woman about the result of the AGO's investigation into the embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds.
She also asks the woman about a "shortage for the subordinates, JAMs, Ses-JAMs and Udji, I haven't distributed anything to them". At the other end, the woman approved the request.
"JAM" is the AGO abbreviation for jaksa agung muda (deputy attorney general) and "Ses-JAM" is short for secretary to the deputy attorney general. Udji refers to Untung Udji Santoso, the then deputy attorney general for state administrative affairs.
Artalyta is charged with allegedly giving US$660,000 and Rp 100 million (US$10,810) in bribes to Urip, who led the BLBI investigation that implicated tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim. A day before the recorded conversation took place, the AGO had dropped its investigation, citing a lack of evidence.
Artalyta is believed to have a close relationship with Sjamsul's family. However, she denied the other woman in the conversation was Itjih Nursalim, Sjamsul's wife, and said the money she gave Urip was not from the woman.
"I don't need to mention the woman's name, but she is my business partner. The money I gave Urip was mine," Artalyta said.
In previous trial sessions, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors said Artalyta had planned a meeting between Urip and Itjih on Dec. 6, 2007.
According to the conversation recorded that day, Artalyta told Urip to "offer her help for the case... and say that this is a good chance".
Artalyta admitted the plan but said the meeting never took place because Itjih had other things to do. Artalyta insisted the money she gave was a personal loan for Urip to start an auto repair business. The judges were not convinced.
"In the 35 meetings and conversations that the defendant and Urip had between Dec. 5, 2007, and Feb. 29, 2008, as recorded by the KPK, there is not a single one talking about a loan," presiding judge Mansyurdin Chaniago said. "Just tell the truth, because none of the defendant's statements made sense," he added.
At previous hearings, the prosecutors revealed links between Artalyta and senior AGO officials in the bribery case, including former AGO deputy attorney general for special crimes Kemas Yahya Rahman and former director of special criminal investigations Muhammad Salim.
Both former officials separately admitted to meeting Artalyta at the AGO building in relation to the AGO investigation into Sjamsul.
Earlier this month, Untung resigned from the AGO after he was dismissed from his position as deputy attorney general for state administrative affairs over his alleged role in the bribery scandal.
Untung was one of several high-profile state officials whom Artalyta called before she was arrested by the KPK on the evening of March 2, 2008. She called them to ask for help by intervening and preventing the arrest.
The trial was adjourned until next Monday when the court is scheduled to hear the prosecutors' demands. (dre)
| Poverty & unemployment |
Jakarta Post - July 5, 2008
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Six weeks after the government's direct cash assistance scheme was launched, only 13.8 percent of the 19 million families targeted have received their aid.
PT Pos Indonesia's director for financial services Arief Supriyono said Friday that only 119 of the country's 440 regency and municipal administrations had distributed the aid.
The state postal company was assigned to hand out the cash under the scheme designed to offset the effects of the fuel price rise announced in May. Under the program, each eligible poor family is meant to receive Rp 100,000 (US$11) for each month between June and December.
As of Friday morning, cash from the program had reached only about 2.62 million families, with Rp 787.3 billion of the total Rp 13.31 trillion earmarked for the program disbursed.
Planning bureau head at the Social Services Ministry Mu'man Nuryana blamed the local governments for the sluggish rate. "They opted to wait for a conducive situation to disburse the cash aid and needed time to verify which families were eligible," he said.
Regional administrations are not supposed to conduct verification, which is the job of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), he added.
Mu'man said the central government would push the local administrations to complete the first stage of the aid distribution by September.
BPS verification will take place between September and October, with the results to be used for a number of other government programs to help those in poverty, including the health insurance scheme for the poor (Jamkesmas), School Operational Aid (BOS) and rice for the poor (Raskin).
The government started distributing the direct cash aid to poor families as soon as it reduced its fuel subsidy and increased the fuel price by an average 30 percent on May 24.
The government is distributing the aid in two stages. The first phase, in which the families receive Rp 300,000 at once, was originally scheduled to conclude in August. The second, the accumulation of the September-December payments, is scheduled to begin in September, with each family receiving Rp 400,000.
The program has already been marked by controversy, with many people protesting their exclusion from the list of eligible poor families, whereas many families above the poverty line have received cash.
The confusion was the result of the use of 2005 BPS data, whereas local governments have updated their own data. The regional administrations then decided to verify the data to avoid community conflicts and protests.
Jakarta recorded the highest rate of program completion, with 94.3 percent of targeted families having received the cash aid. Central Kalimantan and Maluku are the only provinces that have yet to distribute any cash.
Jakarta Post - July 4, 2008
Andy Hajramurni, Makassar – Makassar mayoralty in South Sulawesi has issued a local ordinance banning people from giving money to beggars in a bid to stem the recent sharp increase in beggars in the city.
There are currently 2,600 street children and beggars in Makassar, up from 870 in 2006.
"They enjoy being street children because they can get money easily by asking passers by," Makassar Mayor Ilham Arif Siradjuddin said Wednesday.
He said street children faced high risks, and that they were commonly exploited by adults, including in some instances their parents, into earning money.
"Seeing that the number of beggars had increased over the years and taking into account the high risks they face, the mayoralty decided to establish the local ordinance," said Ilham.
Under the Makassar local ordinance, people who give money to beggars face a maximum fine of Rp 1.5 million (US$166.60) or a maximum of three months imprisonment.
This charge is stipulated in local ordinance No. 2/2008 on education for street children, beggars, vagrants and buskers, which was approved by the local legislative council last month. Street children who beg face fines of up to Rp 5 million or three years imprisonment.
The municipality is currently concerned with increasing public awareness of the regulation, which will take into effect in December.
The decree is in line with those in other big cities across the country, including Jakarta, Denpasar in Bali and Medan in North Sumatra.
Ilham said the ordinance was aimed at reducing the number of street children, beggars, vagrants and buskers in his town.
Several NGOs in Makassar, however, opposed the ruling, saying that the mayoralty had been insensitive, and had made street children appear as criminals.
"The mayoralty seems to deny its failure to provide jobs and good settlement for its people. It's funny that people, who live a hard life because of the central government's and the mayoralty's failures have to face the ordinance that can send them to jail," said Mappinawang, chief of South Sulawesi Children Protection Institution.
"The 1945 state constitution and human rights law say the government should take responsibility in providing its people with health and educational services as well as protecting them from any exploitation," he said.
Ilham said the mayoralty had provided a special program to educate street children, adding that the mayoralty did not prohibit people from helping street children.
"We do not forbid people from helping street children. But we encourage people to give their donations through formal organizations, such as the Ministry of Social Affairs or NGOs concerned with street children issues," he said.
Jakarta Post - July 2, 2008
Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The number of people defined as poor fell by 2.21 million between March 2007 and March 2008, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
This is the second yearly decline in a row. There were 2.13 million fewer poor people in March 2007 compared with the year before.
At the release of its latest survey on Tuesday, the BPS attributed the drop to a fairly stable rice price and a decrease in unemployment between March 2007 and March 2008.
The BPS defines as poor those people who eat fewer than three meals a day or live on less than Rp 182,636 (US$19.73) a month.
The number of poor people fell from 37.17 million, or 15.42 percent of the population, in March 2007 to 34.96 million in March 2008, as inflation was relatively stable during the period, with a year-on-year inflation rate of 8.17 percent.
Another contributing factor, the BPS said, was the declining price of rice, which is "the most important commodity for Indonesians". The price fell from Rp 6,414 (69.55 US cents) per kilogram in March 2007 to Rp 6,221 in March 2008.
Other BPS data show unemployment also fell, from 10.55 million people in February 2007 to 9.43 million in February 2008.
The Rp 182,636 benchmark used by the BPS to define poverty is an increase from last year's benchmark of Rp 166,697.
The figure is far below the benchmarks used globally. Among the most common measures is that used by the World Bank, which defines people as poor if they are living on less than $2 a day, or $60 a month – more than triple the benchmark used by the BPS.
Using the measure set by the World Bank, which conducted its latest survey on the issue in 2006, one in every five Indonesians falls into this category.
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) claimed the difference was because the World Bank's definition was "too high" for Indonesian standards.
Bambang Widianto, Bappenas deputy chairman for development evaluation, said with Rp 182,636 per month, "people can consume 2,100 calories per day".
Bambang cited what he said is a widely recognized standard poverty measurement, which says a person has enough food to sustain their body if he or she consumes between 2,000 and 2,500 calories, obtained from three meals, per day.
Bappenas and the BPS use 14 criteria to define people living in urban areas as poor, taking into account consumption of 52 food products and access to 27 nonfood products. For those living in rural areas, there are 26 nonfood products.
The criteria used to define poverty include living in a house smaller than eight square meters and having no access to clean water.
The two agencies are planning to revise the 14 criteria through a national survey, to be conducted in September, after critics said the criteria were outdated.
Despite the drop in the number of poor people, the final figure falls short of the government's target.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he wanted Indonesia to reduce the number of poor people to 5.5 percent of the population by 2009, when he completes his current term.
May's fuel price increases are expected to slow down efforts to reduce poverty, because they are leading to higher prices for other commodities.
The fuel price rises are already taking their toll on inflation, with year-on-year inflation in June hitting 11.03 percent – a 21-month high.
| War on terror |
Jakarta Post - July 7, 2008
Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – Despite a significant decrease in terror attacks over the past three years, the recent arrest of 10 alleged Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) members in South Sumatra has raised the possibility of future terrorist attacks, experts said Saturday.
They warned further acts of terrorism could be forthcoming because al-Qaeda-linked terror plotter Noordin M. Top was still at large, and because of available local and international support in funding and hiding terror suspects.
"It's not very hard run a suicide bomb operation because it doesn't require much money or many people," Sidney Jones, a researcher at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, told The Jakarta Post. "What is interesting to me is how Noordin managed to connect with JI in Singapore."
One of the 10 detainees, M.H., has been identified as a Singaporean citizen with links to Noordin, a Malaysian citizen. M.H. was arrested in a June 28 police raid in Sekayu district in Musi Banyuasin, South Sumatra.
"The Singaporean government has crushed the terrorist network in their region, but from this latest arrest, it seems remnants clearly abound," Sidney said.
The arrest of M.H. led to the subsequent counterterrorism strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday in which police arrested nine terror suspects and confiscated several explosives, which police said were more powerful than the ones used in the 2002 Bali bombing.
Sidney said the latest arrests showed a better understanding by the police of the terrorist network in Indonesia. But she said the fact Noordin was still free demonstrated the resilience of terrorist cells in the country and the region.
"I think everything the police has done so far is aimed at finding Noordin, but there is a network in Indonesia and overseas that is willing to protect him. By now, Noordin would have perfected his hiding skills," she said.
Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist at the University of Indonesia, said police needed more legal power, such as the authority to arrest suspects without due process, if they wished to find Noordin. "But that brings up the dilemma of how far we want to go in countering terrorism by sacrificing human rights," he said.
The House of Representatives amended the draconian 2002 government regulation in lieu of an antiterrorism law, citing human rights considerations as a factor.
Speaking in Kuala Lumpur at the sidelines of a meeting of eight developing Islamic nations in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said the detentions of terror suspects suspected of plotting to attack Western targets had weakened but not crippled terrorist movements in the country.
"We are not sure whether we have crippled (them), but the fact that they are on the run, and the fact that we have uncovered various terrorist cells in the past three years means that they are within our reach," he said as quoted by Reuters.
Reuters - July 3, 2008
Olivia Rondonuwu, Jakarta – A group of 10 suspected Muslim militants detained in raids on Sumatra island by Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit was plotting to attack Western targets, a police source said on Thursday.
A large cache of bombs was found during the raids in Palembang, 425 km (260 miles) from the capital Jakarta, and other areas in South Sumatra, police said. The raids followed the capture of a suspected militant after a tip-off by authorities in Singapore, national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said.
"They were preparing for foreign targets," said the police source, who was involved in the raids. The source, who asked not to be identified, said police believed the targets included the capital Jakarta.
Heavily armed members of the anti-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, escorted blindfolded and shackled suspects on a transport plane to Jakarta for interrogation on Thursday.
"Nine suspects have been flown to Jakarta and are currently in the Mobile Brigade headquarters," Nataprawira told a news conference, where he only listed the initials of the suspects. He said one suspect was still being questioned in Sumatra.
He said that last Saturday an English teacher had been captured after an alert from Singapore that he was involved in the regional militant Islamic network Jemaah Islamiah (JI). He said the man was a bomb-making expert linked him to Mas Selamat bin Kastari, a senior JI member who escaped from a Singapore prison in February. Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry confirmed that a Singaporean had been arrested, but said it was not Kastari.
Kompas newspaper reported the Singaporean went by a series of aliases, including Abu Hazam, and had trained in Afghanistan, where he was believed to have met Osama bin Laden.
"In the raid, Detachment 88 also confiscated five tupperware bombs, 14 pipe bombs and potassium chlorate," Nataprawira said, declining to comment on whether they might have been targeting foreigners.
But he said the group was suspected of being involved in plans to bomb a cafe in Bukittinggi, a popular tourist resort in West Sumatra, as well as an assassination attempt on a priest in Bandung in West Java in 2005.
He also linked the group – which he said included a student, government worker and the head of an Islamic boarding school – to Noordin Mohamad Top, who is wanted over some of the deadliest attacks in Indonesia by JI.
'Big fishes'
"I think they've got a couple of big fishes," said Sidney Jones, a Jakarta-based analyst with the International Crisis Group.
The 20 bombs found appeared to be more sophisticated than some used by militants previously in Indonesia, with 16 ready to use and some packed with ball bearings, a police source said. Kompas newspaper, which reported that the bombs were found in the ceiling of a house in Palembang, also said police believed the group had considered attacking a location in Sumatra popular with holidaymakers last July before dropping the plan.
More explosives had also been found in Sekayu, about 105 km (65 miles) from Palembang, a police source said.
One of the suspects was also believed to be a close friend of Azahari Husin, a Malaysian bombmaker for JI who is thought to have played key roles in attacks in Indonesia and died in a police raid in East Java in 2005, the source added.
JI, which wants to create an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia, carried out a string of deadly attacks in recent years in Indonesia, including the 2002 nightclub bombings on the island of Bali, which killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.
There have also been a number of deadly bombings against Western targets in the capital Jakarta, although there has been no major attack in Indonesia for more than two years and Washington last month lifted a travel warning for Indonesia.
Tristram Perry, a US embassy spokesman in Jakarta, said there was no plan to reimpose the travel warning, which he said reflected Jakarta's improved response on security.
A series of raids, often involving Detachment 88, a police unit funded and trained by the United States and Australia, have led to the arrest of hundreds of militant suspects.
In addition, some experts say mainstream members of JI felt the violence was hurting their cause and had led to the deaths of Muslims, resulting in splinter groups forming around figures such as Noordin Top still backing more violent methods.
[Additional reporting by Telly Nathalia and Ed Davies, and Melanie Lee in Singapore; Editing by Alex Richardson.]
Associated Press - July 3, 2008
Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Anti-terror police arrested 10 suspected Muslim militants and seized a large cache of high- powered bombs, foiling a major attack targeting Westerners in the Indonesian capital, police and media reports said Thursday.
Among those detained was a Singaporean who met several times with Osama bin Laden, a senior police officer told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The arrests highlighted the lingering terror threat in Indonesia, which has been hit by a string of suicide bombings blamed on the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah since Sept. 11, 2001, including the 2002 attacks on Bali island that left 202 people dead, many of them foreign tourists.
There were no immediate details about the timing or the exact location of the planned strike.
Some of the suspects told police during interrogations that they had initially planned to attack foreign tourists on Sumatra Island, but shifted their target to Jakarta after realizing too many Indonesian lives could have been lost, TVOne quoted anti- terror police as saying.
The Indonesian government has won praise for arresting and convicting hundreds of Islamic militants since the Bali attacks, leaving the terror network severely weakened and isolated, with the most recent strike occurring more than 2 1/2 years ago.
Citing improvements in security, the United States lifted a travel warning early this year that had been in place since 2000 and there were no immediate plans to reverse that decision.
"The Indonesian government's response to the threat has improved," said Tristram Perry, the public diplomacy officer at the US Embassy in Jakarta. "If anything, these busts validate the lifting of the ban."
At least 22 bombs were seized during raids Wednesday in Palembang, a coastal city on Sumatra, some packed with bullets to maximize the impact of the blast, said a police general, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.
Many were ready to explode, Kompas newspaper reported Thursday, adding that dozens of pounds of explosive powder, grenades and several types of electric detonators also were recovered.
The arrests began Saturday in the Sumatran village of Sekayu when police captured a Singaporean terror suspect, Abu Hazam, who allegedly met with bin Laden on several occasions and received training in Afghanistan, TVOne and Kompas reported.
The reports said the man, also known as Omar, tipped police off to the whereabouts of two other suspects, Abdul Rahman and an unidentified alleged bomb-maker, who were arrested Monday. Six others were netted Wednesday and a seventh before dawn Thursday.
All but one of the men were flown to the capital, their faces covered by black masks as they disembarked from the police aircraft. If found guilty of violating anti-terrorism laws, they face a maximum penalty of death.
Lawyers have agreed to represent the alleged militants and will be present when police begin formal questioning, according to a group of attorneys that specializes in defending terror suspects.
If sufficient evidence is not found after seven days, they must be released.
The suspects allegedly had ties with Southeast Asia's most wanted man, Noordin Top, a Malaysian fugitive who is believed to head the violent breakaway faction of Jemaah Islamiyah that is committed to al-Qaida style attacks on Western, civilian targets.
He is believed to have been behind all four major attacks in the predominantly Islamic nation since 2002. Together the blasts have killed more than 240 people, including many Muslims, something that has caused divisions in the splinter group.
Police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira confirmed the arrests and the recovery of explosives, but would not elaborate, saying the investigation was ongoing.
[Associated Press reporter Zakki Hakim contributed to this report from Jakarta.]
| Elections/political parties |
Jakarta Post - July 8, 2008
Desy Nurhayati and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The 2009 legislative election will see 34 political parties vying for seats in the House of Representatives, after the General Elections Commission (KPU) passed 18 new parties after less than a month of factual verification.
Old faces will feature in next year's election, including former Indonesian Military commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto with his Hanura Party, Roy Janis with his Democratic Reform Party, Oesman Sapta with his Regional Unity Party and Yapto Soerjosumarsono with his Patriot Party.
Only 24 parties contested the election in 2004, down from 48 in the country's first democratic election in 1999.
Sixteen established parties automatically qualified for the election without verification as they already hold seats in the House, according to the new election law.
The 16 parties are the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the United Development Party (PPP), the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Star Reform Party (PBR), the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the National Democratic United Party, the Pioneers' Party, the National Concerned Workers' Party, the Marhaenism Indonesian National Party, the Justice and United Indonesian Party and the Indonesian Democracy Upholders Party.
Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) member Wahidah Suaib said it was unfortunate the KPU had failed to simplify the political party system, which constitutes the spirit of the election law. She said the number of parties contesting the 2009 polls would have fallen if the KPU had followed the regulations.
"If the KPU strictly enforced the rules, many more parties would not have made it to the election," she said. "Many parties, for example, could not prove their real popular support in the form of their members' ID cards, but the KPU overlooked this."
Before the announcement of the parties eligible to run in the election, at least 10 members of the police bomb squad (Gegana) swept the KPU building and its surroundings for explosive devices while dozens of police officers guarded the front door and the building area.
Everyone – including hundreds of journalists and party supporters – were asked to wait outside the building during the security process. Police also thoroughly checked all those wanting to enter the building.
Under the 2008 law on the legislative election, each party must have at least 50 members with chapters in at least 60 percent of the country's 33 provinces and branches in half of the 500 regencies.
The law also obliges parties to allocate 30 percent of their central board executive seats to women, and they must have at least 1,000 citizens as members.
About 174 million people will be eligible to vote in the legislative election, scheduled for April 9, 2009, but the KPU expects only 70 percent of them to turn out.
The campaign period will run from July 12 to April 5 next year and is divided into two stages. The first stage, from July 12 to March 17, is dedicated to indoor rallies, whereas the second phase, from March 18 to April 5, allows outdoor rallies.
The government has allocated Rp 6.667 trillion to fund the 2009 elections.
New political parties qualifying for 2009 election
Jakarta Post - July 7, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The Indonesian financial intelligence unit has warned of financial violations and money politics during next year's legislative and presidential elections unless monitoring efforts are enhanced.
The Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) said over the weekend that the number of suspicious transactions jumped by 30 percent in six months, from around 12,000 early this year to some 16,000 in June.
PPATK chairman Yunus Hussein said his office received some 25 to 30 reports of suspicious transactions per day from banks and non-bank financial institutions this year, up from only 10 to 16 transactions per day last year. The financial unit monitors only bank transactions of at least Rp 500 million in value.
Yunus said the transactions, which involved domestic and foreign transfers, totaled millions of dollars.
"We don't know yet whether the transactions involve politicians and political parties as we have yet to check them out. But of course, the sharp increase has something to do with the elections, which are drawing near," Yunus said.
The sharp increase in suspicious transactions has been visible for some time, with PPATK reports suggesting that such transactions at banks and non-bank financial institutions almost tripled from 2,055 in 2005 to some 5,831 in early 2007.
A transaction is considered suspicious if it involves, among other things, a sudden transfer of money without clear explanation about the sender or the purpose of the funds.
The election law limits donation from individuals at Rp 1 billion per candidate and from groups or companies at Rp 5 billion. Political parties and presidential candidates are banned from receiving foreign donations.
Violations carry a maximum punishment of one-year in jail and/or a fine amounting to twice the amount of money received.
The PPATK also said the number of cash transactions filed by financial institutions more than tripled from 1.5 million in 2006 to more than 5 million this year.
Yunus said he did not rule out the possibility that the cash transactions were connected to politicians and political parties.
He urged the General Elections Commission and the Election Monitoring Body to sign a memorandum of understanding with his office on specific joint measures to monitor financial contributions for political parties and politicians.
Election Monitoring Body chairman Nur Hidayat Sardini recognized the need to join forces with the PPTAK to strengthen the monitoring of money channeled to political parties and politicians.
"We will sign an MOU with the PPATK to trace money that goes to parties or politicians. This is crucial to determine whether there are violations of the law," he said.
The legislative election will take place on July 9, 2009, with the first round of the presidential election to take place about three months later. The campaign period for the legislative election will begin on Saturday and conclude on April 5 next year.
Jakarta Post - July 5, 2008
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Political parties and candidates might resort to smear campaigns and dirty tricks during the nine-month campaign period that starts next week, the General Elections Commission (KPU) has warned.
There is likely to be tougher competition between parties contesting the 2009 general elections because they are required to win a minimum number of votes to have a chance at getting a seat, KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said Friday.
"Under the 2008 election law, a political party must win at least 2.5 percent of the vote to join the meeting to decide on the distribution of legislative seats, let alone actually get the seats. It is not easy for parties to secure that number of votes," he said.
"They will do anything when faced with such fierce competition. A dirty campaign is something we should be ready for."
About 174 million people will be eligible to vote in the legislative elections, scheduled for April 9, 2009, but the KPU expects only 70 percent of them to turn out.
The campaign period will run from July 12 to April 5 next year and is divided into two stages. The first stage, from July 12 to March 17, is dedicated to indoor rallies, whereas the second phase, from March 18 to April 5, allows outdoor rallies.
Competition might occur not only between parties, but also between legislative candidates from the same party, Hafiz said.
The 2008 election law requires a candidate to win least 30 percent of the vote threshold, which varies across electoral districts depending on population, to win a seat in the House.
"In the 2004 election, many candidates qualified for a seat in the House. Therefore, individual candidates within a party will compete to woo voters," Hafiz said.
He is foreseeing a hectic situation because the campaign period will coincide with a number of regional election campaigns before the end of the year, including gubernatorial elections in East Java and Bali.
"We will need maximum security by police officers to avoid disorder," he said.
The KPU and the National Police signed Friday a memorandum of understanding on security measures during election activities. The agreement includes security coverage for KPU personnel and offices in the regions. It also stipulates that the police and the election supervisory board should jointly monitor the printing, storage and distribution of ballot papers before and after the polls.
"The problem is election fraud in polling stations, because observers may not be there at all times during the ballot counting," he said.
The KPU will discuss the problem with the police, as well as with community heads to hire community security personnel, he added.
With only about 375,000 personnel, the National Police will be unable to secure the 511,000 polling stations across the country.
Hafiz said the KPU was also concerned the three-month interval between the legislative elections and the presidential election was too short.
The KPU could lack the necessary time to prepare for a possible presidential runoff and legal disputes over the election result, he said.
The announcement of the results of the legislative elections is scheduled for May 9, 2009. The newly elected president and vice president will be sworn in on Oct. 20.
Jakarta Post - July 4, 2008
Dicky Christanto, Denpasar – Bali General Election Commission (KPUD) chairman Anak Agung Gede Oka Wisnumurti on Wednesday said he had received the wealth list of all the candidates participating in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
He received the list from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
"As stipulated by the local administration law, we have to announce the candidates' wealth to the public as part of the effort to establish a transparent public administration," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The list shows that all the participating candidates are billionaires with the Golkar-backed governor candidate, Cokorda Budi Suryawan, at the top of the list with a total wealth, as of May 1, 2008, of more than Rp 18 billion (US$2 million). The last time the former two-time regent of Gianyar reported his health was in December 2003. At that time, his personal wealth reached a mere Rp 1.7 billion.
The list stated that the steep increase in Suryawan's wealth was due to the enormous inheritance worth around Rp 8.5 billion he received from his family. Suryawan belongs to the royal family of Ubud, which is among the wealthiest house of nobilities in Bali.
The incumbent regent of Jembrana, I Gde Winasa, sat in second place with a personal wealth of around Rp 14.3 billion. In 2005, his reported wealth was nearly Rp 10 billion.
Most of Winasa fortunes came in the form of land possession, which he set as farming and husbandry industries worth over Rp 12 billion.
Former chief of the National Anti Narcotic Agency I Made Mangku Pastika, who was named as a candidate by the largest political party in Bali, the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle, held the third position in term of personal wealth.
By April this year, the three-star police general recorded a total personal wealth of Rp 6.2 billion plus an additional US$10,000, almost doubling his wealth of Rp 3.7 billion plus $10,000 in 2005.
Coming after the general was I Gde Winasa's running mate, IGB Alit Putera, who was recorded a personal wealth worth around Rp 2.8 billion plus $20,000. But, unlike the other candidates who booked a significant increase of wealth in the recent years, Putera's personal wealth decreased significantly. In April 2001, the retired Army's brigadier general and former vice governor of Bali reported a combined personal wealth worth around Rp 5.5 billions and $20,000.
In the fifth place was Suryawan's running mate, I Njoman Gede Suweta. The retired one-star police general was reported of having a personal wealth worth around Rp 2.4 billion.
The "poorest" candidate on the list was Mangku Pastika's running mate and the current mayor of Denpasar, AA Ngr Puspayoga. He was reported of having a combined personal wealth worth around Rp 1.9 billion, a slight decrease from his 2007's wealth of around Rp 2 billion.
Wisnumurti said by publicly announcing the wealth list the KPUD wanted to provide the public with an opportunity to scrutinize and verify the list.
"If the public find some discrepancies between the list and the actual condition, they can directly file a report to the KPUD or KPK," he said.
When asked whether the hopefuls' plush economic conditions could prevent them from committing any corruption, Ngurah Rai University rector Cokorda Gede Atmaja said that it guaranteed nothing since corruption carried out by public officials was mostly driven by greed instead of need.
"Maximizing every monitoring efforts, especially empowering the press, can help us prevent the next administration from conducting such practices."
Jakarta Post - July 3, 2008
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The public has lost faith in the House of Representatives, believing its members put their parties' interests first, a recent survey has found. Instead, people are looking to the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) to voice their concerns.
The survey, conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) in April, found about 80 percent of 1,200 respondents wanted the DPD to have greater authority as a counterbalance to the House's domination.
"The respondents see political parties and lawmakers as having weak legitimacy because they fail to fight for their constituents' needs and merely pursue their own interests," LSI executive director Saiful Mujani said at the release of the survey Wednesday.
Most respondents believed they could rely on the DPD as the only representative body that was free of party influences.
The survey was conducted three months before the Constitutional Court ruled that political party members were eligible to run for DPD seats in 2009.
More than two-thirds of respondents agreed the DPD should hold equal powers with the House in regional autonomy issues. Under the Constitution, the DPD is restricted to providing recommendations to the House.
About 59 percent of the respondents supported a fifth amendment to the Constitution to empower the DPD, the survey found. The survey also revealed the DPD members were perceived as being more accountable than House members.
In the DPD election, people vote for individuals, while in the election for House members voters choose political parties. Senior executives of the political parties hold the power to select legislative candidates.
"Half of the respondents assume the selection of House members accommodates the interests of political parties only," Saiful said.
When asked about the institution that would be able to voice their interests, respondents chose the media and nongovernment organizations over political parties, which were chosen by only 11 percent of respondents.
Political analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies J. Kristiadi said he doubted DPD members would be able to defend the public interest once they were given greater powers.
"The weak position of DPD is not about the domination by the House, but because the DPD itself has yet to make the most of its role," he said. "The DPD's efforts to endorse the Constitutional amendment could be suspicious. It is possible they only want more power."
Denny Indrayana of Gadjah Mada University said he lamented the Constitutional Court's decision to allow nonpartisanship in the DPD, saying it was a setback to the 2004 election system and to the council's existence. "With such a verdict, we cannot expect much from the DPD, but maybe the next Constitutional amendment will provide a solution," he said.
| Local & community issues |
Jakarta Post - July 3, 2008
Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – Jakartans may like to think of their hometown as a prominent 21st century world-class city.
But several subdistricts in North Jakarta municipality still exist in a mid-19th century Gangs of New York-type era where thugs are the kings who provide bread and meat for residents.
"We don't get jobs from the local administration, but from the big gangsters that rule the areas where we live," said Isroil, a resident of Kamal Muara subdistrict, North Jakarta.
Isroil was speaking Tuesday in a discussion on citizens' views of heterogeneity and the challenges of living in North Jakarta.
He said most residents in his village were given jobs at the Muara Angke fish auction market – ranging from fish sorters to stevedores – by "the bosses" who had controlled the market for decades.
The Urban Poor Consortium and researcher AbdouMaliq Simone of Goldsmiths College, London, facilitated the discussion between residents in six subdistricts: Kamal Muara, Penjaringan, Pademangan Timur, Warakas, Kalibaru and Prumpung.
Their aim was to research the socioeconomic conditions of the area and to define the power distribution that determines the residents' lives.
There are always at least five "big bosses" ruling the subdistrict, another resident, Dela Apriani from Penjaringan subdistrict, said.
The "big five" include the bosses who each control the Samudra Port, Muara Baru fish auction market and several traditional markets in the area, as well as one boss from the Betawi Brotherhood Forum who runs the small kiosks near the ports and a fifth who controls the warehouses.
"During (Idul Fitri) holidays or the recent fuel price hikes, these people are the ones that provide us with incentives or cash," she said.
Dela, who has lived in the area since the 1970s, said the gangsters who controlled the ports and the fish market worked alongside local businesspeople, who wanted protection from them.
"Over time, these businessmen's trust grew and finally gave them authority in the ports," she said. Dela said the authorities allowed the gangsters to provide jobs at the port to locals.
North Jakarta is home to hundreds of ports, warehouses and various industries, dominated by non-oil and gas manufacturing economic activities.
Simone, who has spent three months researching the subdistricts, called North Jakarta one of the most complex and heterogeneous urban regions in the world.
Imas, a resident of Kalibaru subdistrict, said when high pollution in the 1990s caused green oysters to vanish from Jakarta Bay, several thugs claimed the empty land along the streets to the ports and offered residents jobs building kiosks.
"We almost lost hope when those oysters went because we had lived by selling them for generations. They (the thugs) ran the small kiosks and made several women work as sex workers there. "It wasn't nice, but at least they offered opportunities," she said.
Simone said the domination of gangs in the municipality was a result of a dysfunctional local government. "But this kind of informal authority cannot work in the long run because it doesn't make people better off," he said.
Residents could not become prosperous as there was too much uncertainty in their lives under the illegal authorities, Simone said.
Jakarta Post - July 1, 2008
Nurni Sulaiman, Jakarta – The Dayak people have demanded the central government give equal opportunity to indigenous and non- indigenous candidates in the appointment of officials to temporarily lead East Kalimantan province.
Yulianus Henock, head of the United Dayak Solidarity Organization, said Monday the demand was made because the government had in the past ignored such requests by the indigenous people.
Decisions about the administration of the province are usually made by the central government without any consultation with local people, Henock said by phone from Samarinda.
He said the Dayak often felt as if they were sidelined by the central government.
Henock made the remarks Monday in response to the government's plan to appoint a non-indigenous person to replace Yurnalis Ngayoh as acting governor of East Kalimantan.
The acting governor will work for three months until the appointment of a new governor through the gubernatorial election, which enters the second round on Sept. 5.
Ngayoh's term as acting governor of East Kalimantan expired on June 25. Ngayoh was temporarily replaced by provincial administration secretary Syaiful Teteng, who will assume the post for several days.
"If there are still many other local people who could potentially lead the province, why should the central government appoint an outsider?" Henock said. "Such an act belittles local people."
"That's why we will stage a rally at the legislative council and the governor's office in Samarinda on Tuesday," Henock said, adding local people also planned to send a group of representatives to file a protest with Home Minister Mardiyanto in Jakarta on the same day.
A group of indigenous Banjar people and representatives of youth organizations will also take part in the rally.
Henock said there was no need for officials from the central government to meddle in provincial business.
"Even though it is only an acting post, the official should learn about the local culture and tradition," he said.
Appointing an acting official from the central government will only require more funding and time to adjust to existing conditions, he said.
"The problems in East Kalimantan are very complicated. We have our own representatives capable of handling the situation, like Ngayoh and Teteng themselves. We don't care who it is, but the most important thing is he or she should be an indigenous person," Henock said.
| Armed forces/defense |
Jakarta Post - July 3, 2008
Jakarta – The latest reshuffle within the Indonesian Military (TNI) has dragged on following the appointment of Vice Adm. Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno as the new Navy chief.
The reshuffle, signed by TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso on June 30, affected 29 jobs, including the TNI chief of general affairs and three military command chief posts.
Deputy Navy chief Rear Adm. Yosaphat Heru Didik Purnomo will take over from Tedjo as the new TNI chief of general affairs, allowing the Navy to keep the strategic position intact.
Operational assistant to the Navy chief Rear Adm. Moekhlas Sidik will succeed Heru as the Navy's second in command.
The shake-up also saw the replacement of three regional military commanders less than seven months after their appointments.
Jakarta Military commander Maj. Gen. Johanes Surjo Prabowo was promoted to the position of deputy Army chief, replacing Lt. Gen. Cornel Simbolon, who is retiring. Surjo, a 1976 graduate of the Military Academy, will be replaced by his senior, Diponegoro Military commander overseeing Central Java Maj. Gen. Darpito Pudyastungkoro.
Cenderawasih Military commander overseeing Papua Maj. Gen. Haryadi Soetanto will take over from Darpito, with Maj. Gen. Azmyn Yusri Nasution, the commander of the 2nd Division of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), appointed Haryadi's successor.
TNI spokesman Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki said Wednesday the reshuffle was "an organizational need" as many officers were reaching retirement age.
"Nothing is peculiar or out of the blue. Everything has gone through the standard procedures," he said, dismissing speculation about a link between the reshuffle and the upcoming elections.
The TNI has conducted four major reshuffles since last December, across all three armed forces and at TNI headquarters.
In the series of TNI shake-ups, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law Brig. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo became the youngest officer to be promoted to a major general rank. Pramono, a 1980 graduate of the Military Academy, took office as chief of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) on Tuesday.
Yani said the frequent reshuffles represented the dynamism of the TNI in responding to the challenges it was facing.
Jakarta Post - July 2, 2008
Desy Nurhayati and Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono swore in Vice Adm. Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno as the new Navy chief of staff at the Merdeka Palace on Tuesday.
Sumardjono will hand over the command baton to his successor at the Navy's Eastern Fleet Command in Surabaya on Friday. An exit briefing by Sumardjono and a joint fleet inspection by the outgoing and incoming Navy chiefs will mark the change of guard. Sumardjono was Navy chief of staff for less than eight months.
Born on Sept. 20, 1952, Tedjo graduated from the Naval Academy in 1975. He served in the Navy's Air Fleet unit for 14 years before becoming a warship commander. His last command was of the KRI Multatuli in 1996.
Tedjo was appointed commander of the Navy's East Indonesian Fleet in 2003 and deputy commander of the Naval Officers' Staff and Command School later that same year. He was named the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief of general affairs last year.
Among those attending the inauguration of the new Navy chief were Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sutjipto, State Secretary Hatta Radjasa and TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso.
Also on Tuesday, President Yudhoyono's brother-in-law, Brig. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, was inaugurated as the new chief of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), as part of the latest reshuffle within the TNI.
Pramono, who is the brother of First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, replaces Maj. Gen. Soenarko, who will serve as the Iskandar Muda Military commander overseeing Aceh.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo denied that the Kopassus top position swap had anything to do with the 2009 general elections.
"Many military commanders are retiring, so we need to do this reshuffle now. We do it on a professional basis," he told reporters after leading the handover ceremony at the Special Forces' headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta.
Pramono said he would "continue what Pak Narko had been doing" with his leadership of the Army's elite force.
Pramono, born in 1955, is the son of Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, one of the "red beret" troops who helped bring in the New Order under Lt. Gen. Soeharto in 1965/1966. Soeharto was later sworn in as president and ruled the country for 32 years before stepping down in 1998.
Prominent figures attending Pramono's inauguration included the youngest son of the late Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, and Soeharto's son-in-law and former Kopassus chief, Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo.
| Police/law enforcement |
Jakarta Post - July 2, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A mother of two teenage boys, Mira, 40, wants the oldest to join the police once he graduates from high school, hopefully next year.
"Most people here look up to police officers nowadays. They think it is better to become a police officer than a military soldier," Mira, a resident of the East Java regency of Magetan, told The Jakarta Post recently.
Relatives and friends told her it was unlikely a student from a normal family, like her son, would be admitted to the police academy. She found later that acceptance to the academy comes at a price. Mira said police officers, acting as brokers, broke down the costs for her.
"It will cost my son Rp 200 million (US$21,500) to join the police academy and Rp 80 million to join the police cadet school," she said.
With her husband, a civil servant in the local administration, Mira is busy raising the money necessary to ensure her son can become a police officer. The family plans to sell a plot of land and seek loans.
Mira's case highlights a long-standing problem in the police recruitment process throughout the country, the external relations director of human rights monitoring group Imparsial, Poengky Indarti, said Tuesday.
She said the corrupt recruitment process created corrupt officers, as the new cops would try to recoup their money as soon as possible, by all possible means, including accepting bribes or embezzlement.
"Then, how can we expect the new generation of police officers to clean their squad if they enter the institution to seek profits. We demand that the President and the police chief focus on mending the recruitment process," Poengky said.
Imparsial, speaking in conjunction with the 62nd anniversary of the National Police, also views the police as the country's most violent institution.
"The attack on the National University (Unas) campus that resulted in the death of one student and the harsh treatment of protesters have proven that the police are still repressive and violent," Imparsial managing director Rusdi Marpaung said.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira acknowledged that some individual officers acted as brokers for people who wished to join the force.
"It does not involve the police institution. We have taken measures to eradicate the practice, including the recent arrest of a broker in West Java," Abubakar said.
He added that the police had done much to improve professionalism and uphold human rights. "There have been thousands of protests and only one or two incidents involving the police," Abubakar said.
Imparsial called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and National Police chief Gen. Sutanto to change the police's "culture of violence" by introducing legal knowledge and human rights promotion into the police academy's curriculum.
| Economy & investment |
Jakarta Post - July 8, 2008
Jakarta – Passengers waited helplessly in dimly lit terminals as the runway fell eerily quiet.
Activity at Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar – South Sulawesi's major airport – came to a standstill as a region-wide electricity blackout suspended operations for several hours.
Flights delayed. Schedules abandoned. Travelers frustrated and angry.
Elvi, a passenger headed for Jakarta, said she had arrived at 4:30 a.m. to a pitch-black airport. "The check-in gates were closed. We all had to wait outside," she said.
The three-hour blackout on Saturday, which began at about 3 a.m., was an example of how private, public and commercial activities across the country are being disrupted by the nation's growing power deficit.
In Riau province, the frustrations caused by blackouts are boiling over into a civil lawsuit.
For much of the past two months, the local state-owned electricity company (PLN) has conducted a weekly rotating blackout of two hours once a day in Pekanbaru.
But the frequency has increased during the past week to about three times a day, with each lasting for up to three hours.
The provincial chapter of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) is now preparing a class action against PLN.
"We expect accountability from PLN," Muhammad Herwan, Kadin's executive director in Riau, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
"What are the solutions? What compensation can we expect for these blackouts? If they cannot ensure a sustainable supply of electricity, then let the private sector handle it."
Head of the Riau branch of the Indonesia Employers Association (Apindo), Hamdani Tarigan, warned of the impact the blackouts could have on investment.
"This morning I received a report from Japanese investors who left because of this situation," he said.
But there seems to be no relief in sight. PLN said its central Sumatra grid has a deficit of 200 megawatts.
Two steam turbines in Ombilin, West Sumatra, are undergoing repair, and water levels in Singkarak Lake and Koto Panjang are low because of the dry season.
PLN branch manager in Pekanbaru Ericson Sidabutar acknowledged the shortcomings. "No one is doing this on purpose. No one is profiting. We're all suffering," he said. "We can only urge the public to be more sparing in using electricity."
It is a story that is becoming increasingly familiar across the country. PLN also announced on Friday there would be rotating blackouts in Tangerang and Jakarta.
Businesses estimated losses for Tangerang industries could reach more than Rp 2 billion (US$2.17 million) per day.
Makassar residents' revered airport quickly came "online" again. But many are bracing for the next blackout.
They too are hostages to the national electricity shortfall.
Head of the PLN local public affairs office, Muhammad Yamin Loleh, could offer nothing more than a warning.
"We urge critical installations in South Sulawesi to prepare their own generators," he said. "The fact is, electricity supply is limited."
[Andi Hajramurni in Makassar and Rizal Harahap in Pekanbaru contributed to this article.]
Jakarta Post - July 5, 2008
Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – A survey of Asia-Pacific countries carried out on the Internet reveals 77 percent of the respondents believe Indonesia is in a recession, despite first-quarter economic growth.
Catherine Eddy, executive director of PT ACNielson Indonesia, the company that carried out the survey, said Friday rising fuel and food prices were the main cause for the gloomy outlooks.
"This is I think worse than what happened in 2005 when the government also increased the fuel prices. This time is like a double hit," she said.
South Korea and Thailand had the highest level of pessimists, with 81 percent of the respondents from each country saying they were experiencing recessions.
The survey was conducted between mid April and early May and surveyed 532 consumers in Indonesia who have internet access and monthly incomes of at least Rp 3.5 million. The survey queried a total of 7,637 consumers throughout Asia Pacific.
In the first quarter of this year, Indonesia's economy grew by 2 percent, while in the fourth quarter of last year, it fell 2.15 percent.
The government has revised its 2008 economy growth prediction to a maximum of 6.4 percent from previously 6.8 percent due to surging global oil prices and an adverse global economy. The government also reduced energy subsidies by raising fuel prices by an average 28.7 percent on May 24.
Eddy predicts that in the second half of this year, the country will suffer an economic slowdown as industries and individuals will cut spending. "Some people have started to buy cheaper brands, and even have reduced the quantity of their usage. Some even have stopped spending," she said.
Expensive brands will benefit most from the situation, while middle-range brands will suffer the most, she said. "The lower brands will win," she said.
The survey covered some of the other concerns Indonesia will face over the next six months.
It shows that of 13 issues, balancing work and leisure is the biggest concern, with 38 percent of the votes. In second place was concern for the economy with 37 percent, followed by parents' welfare and happiness with 27 percent, children's education and/or welfare with 22 percent, health with 20 percent and job security with 12 percent.
The survey also shows what consumers do with cash left over after essential living expenses have been paid, with 61 percent of the respondents saying they put their money into savings, followed by investment in shares with 51 percent and spending on holidays and paying off debts both with 30 percent.
| Opinion & analysis |
Jakarta Post Editorial - July 7, 2008
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) alarmingly said last week while international oil prices continued to surge closer to US$150 per barrel that rising oil prices had reached a critical point and that they could cause fuel and electricity subsidies this year to explode to more than $30 billion.
Yet no less alarming was the seeming hopelessness that the President portrayed in his evaluation of the situation. Even though the wasteful burning of money through fuel subsidies has increased steadily to exceed even the combined spending on education, health and other social services, the President still doesn't get the real message.
How morally irresponsible it is for the government to allocate almost one third of the state budget for such wasteful spending on middle-income and rich people when not even half of that amount is designated for education, basic health, social services and food subsidies.
Yudhoyono still stubbornly refuses to realize that gradually bringing domestic fuel prices closer to international market levels is the only way to address the energy crisis.
He was quoted by mass media as saying in Palembang, South Sumatra, that "The government cannot simply raise fuel prices again and again". He instead urged the government and the parliament to work together to tackle the problem and called on the people to economize on energy.
Yudhoyono's comments are typical of a President who is facing reelection. He is attempting to avoid unpopular, painful measures, even at the big expense of the whole economy.
Like most other politicians and members of parliament, the President saw the fuel crisis mostly as a temporary fiscal problem that would eventually go away when oil prices receded.
The President seems unaware that the fuel crisis is threatening to increase fuel and electricity subsidies and the fiscal deficit to unsustainable levels with devastating impacts on the country's sovereign risks, inflation and the strength of the rupiah.
He also missed the point that the fuel crisis we are now facing is the latest warning for us to act firmly and quickly to improve energy efficiency, conservation and diversification. And the most effective way to achieve all this is to sell energy at its economic costs.
The biggest mistake the President made in late May when he increased fuel prices by around 28 percent was rising the prices by too little, and too late. The new prices were based on a state budget oil price assumption of between only $110 and 120 per barrel.
Moreover, the fuel policy was not supplemented with additional measures to gradually phase out within a fixed schedule fuel subsidies for private cars, which use the bulk of the subsidies.
The consequences of the haphazard, half measure were that within just a few weeks after the price increase, the gap between domestic fuel prices and international markets had again widened to over 40 percent, which is a very lucrative margin for smugglers and offers big incentives for industrial users to misuse subsidized fuels.
Indeed, while the May 24 fuel price increase has strengthened inflationary pressures, incited protest demonstrations and even prompted the House of Representatives to exercise its right to challenge the government's decision, the hike had a negligible impact on the government's fiscal situation.
Yet more worrisome is that the painful measure had no positive impact on energy efficiency, conservation or diversification, which were the basic objectives of the energy policy.
The President reiterated last week the vital importance for diversifying energy sources by adopting alternatives, including biofuel based on jatropha. However, his message was meaningless considering the huge subsidies which make the prices of fossil fuels artificially low.
Likewise, his appeal to the people to save fuels also sounded hollow, and not credible.
It is simply economically unfeasible and politically irresponsible to maintain such a huge sum of fuel subsidies which are anyway enjoyed mostly by the middle and high-income groups.
It is likewise morally irresponsible for the government to allocate almost one third of the state budget for such wasteful spending when there is such a pressing need for the money to be spent on other services.
Like in most other countries, government-fixed price curbs are not only ineffective but also counterproductive because both producers and consumers get the wrong price signals and consequently the forces of supply and demand do not work normally.
James Dunn - July 3, 2008
Mr. Rudd's recent Jakarta visit was obviously a success, paving the way for a more informal and creative relationship between Canberra and Jakarta. However, this successful encounter should be seen as a basis for a more positive and creative relationship, not as an end in itself.
There is nothing unusual about close and easy relations between the Australian and Indonesian leaders. Remember Gough Whitlam's so-called batik shirt diplomacy? He impressed Suharto with his determination to bring Australians to Asia. And what could be closer that the relationship between Paul Keating and the Indonesian dictator?
In the end this leadership intimacy led the Australian governments concerned into a shameful policy of pandering to a dictator, now discredited by his own people as ruthless and corrupt, whose family's voracious appetite for wealth stripped the Indonesian state of a huge fortune. Even worse, in the case of East Timor we then gave strong diplomatic support to Jakarta, helping shield it from allegations of gross crimes against humanity, including against its own people.
In many ways the situation is now changed. The dictatorship is history and Indonesia is on the way to becoming a democracy. At least that is the case under SBY's leadership, but he just might not make next election, and that could changes. Hower, Kevin Rudd make good use of the June meeting. The leaders discussed a wide range of issues – security and defence cooperation, environmental issues such as carbon trading and climate change, the status of our large aid program for Aceh, free trade and Rudd's proposal for an Asian Pacific union. These were relatively easy matters, with the possible exception of the Asia-Pacific union. Indonesia has a strong commitment not only to ASEAN, but also to its offshoot, the Asian Regional Forum, which embraces the wider region outside Southeast Asia.
The problem is that these forums simply do not go far enough, in relation to key issues like trade, security and the increasingly important subject of human rights, the implementation of which is today seen as the real test of a functioning democratic system. Just what SBY thought of the proposal is hard to judge: he is polite listener. Mr. Rudd apparently reiterated our support for Indonesia's transition to a democracy. In its wider context the latter issue is a sensitive matter, and clearly here our prime minister does need to tread carefully, always bearing in mind that Indonesia's road to nationhood has been infinitely more difficult than the Australian experience.
It is one thing to enjoy an easy and warm relationship with Indonesia's political leaders and its spirited media, that part of the establishment that has really been freed up. It is another to deal with the not yet reformed military and the undemocratic, expanding and increasingly assertive Islamic fundamentalists whose leaders are bent on weakening the secular nature of the Indonesian state. In relation to the TNI we should move very cautiously, avoiding past practices where, on occasion, senior Australian military officers echoed TNI claims that the human rights situation in East Timor was in good shape.
There are no doubt a number of serious issues that were not addressed during the Rudd visit. One of these should arise quite soon, and it could offer a challenge to our prime minister, of the kind that his predecessors declined to take up. An issue that may soon challenge the Government's stand on humanitarian issues will surface, with the release of the Indonesia-Timor Truth and Justice Commission report on crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999 and earlier. The Commission's report will probably disappoint those of us who would like to see an exposure of, and some action against, those military commanders responsible for nasty war crimes that are now well documented. Already there are renewed international calls for a tribunal that might offer a measure of justice, and closure, to the Timorese who felt the cruel weight of the TNI's brutal culture. Interestingly today they are likely to be supported by those Indonesians pressing for comprehensive democratic reform, especially of military organizations like Kopassus which still retain a shadowy, intimidating presence.
What is at stake is justice for a catastrophic level of killing, torture and suffering that has inflicted on the Timorese a kind of trauma. Some leaders, like Xanana Gusmao, are unwisely prepared to forego justice for the sake of good relations with Jakarta. Such a course, however, risks being counter-productive from a security point of view, so we, too, should be pressing for the kind of justice that we have joined with the international community in demanding for Bosnians, Kosovars, Rwandans and Cambodians. But it is not just about the rights of the East Timorese; it is also about clearing the way for the fulfillment of Indonesia's democratic transformation. As for Australia, from the point of view of our human rights commitment, it is about behaving responsibly rather than pragmatically.
Direct Action - July 2, 2008
Max Lane – Protest demonstrations in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities in recent weeks marked the appearance of a new progressive alliance, the National Liberation Front (FPN). The FPN was formed in May at the initiative of the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM), a coalition of progressive union federations. The FPN was formed partly to fight another round of price increases for petrol and kerosene and partly as a result of simmering frustration among progressive unions at the state of the people's movement.
The ABM was founded in July 2006 as an association of 33 unions from 16 provinces, an ABM and FPN coordinator, Anwar Maruf, also known as Sastro, explained to me. The unions involved had been working together to draft alternative labour legislation to a law planned by the government, which was meant to make it easier for employers to use casual labour and to outsource.
Eventually a national conference produced a broader four-point platform: repudiation of the foreign debt; nationalisation and anti-privatisation; strong and self-reliant national industrial development; and eradication of corruption through the confiscation of the assets of corrupt officials.
Spread of new unions
Trade unions are going through a new phase in Indonesia. Since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998 and the passing of less repressive labour legislation, at the initiative of then president Yusuf Habibie in 1999, it has become easier to register a trade union, which is done first of all in the enterprise. Over the last 10 years, thousands of new enterprise unions have been established, either as entirely new entities or by breaking away from the old formerly state-controlled "yellow" unions. As these enterprise unions spread, they started forming federations, sometimes on a sectoral basis and sometimes on an ideological basis. These federations can also register with the labour ministry.
The first sector to radicalise, in the 1990s, were workers in the garment and footwear industries and other light manufacturing sectors. They formed the bulk of the membership of the first radical unions, such as the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPB), associated with the radical People's Democratic Party (PRD). They also constituted the bulk of the initial membership of the ABM, which included the FNPBI and another growing progressive union, Congress of Indonesian Trade Union Alliances (KASBI). Sastro was chairperson of KASBI from 2002 to 2008.
Sastro explained that as the ABM consolidated, it was able to draw in unions from other sectors, including oil and gas, the state-owned electricity generation company, transport and pulp and paper factories, whose new union has 70,000 members. Media workers, spearheaded by the Alliance of Independent Journalists, are trying to form a national media union federation, which is also likely to join ABM.
These formations are all at an early stage of development. Budi Wardoyo, also known as Yoyok, is part of ABM's division handling the relations with other organisations, and is coordinator of the FPN's propaganda materials team. He is also active building the FNPBI-Politics of the Poor, an effort of PRD members expelled from their party and the FNPBI after they disagreed with a proposal for an electoral fusion with a small centre-right party for the 2009 elections.
Yoyok commented that probably less than 20% of the total workforce is covered by trade unions, and that most of these are "yellow" unions, set up under the Suharto dictatorship. While the progressive unions are increasing their influence, there is still a long way to go. At May Day this year, the ABM in Jakarta was able to mobilise 15,000 workers.
Multiple campaigns
There has been increasing awareness among the progressive unions that a broader multi-sectoral alliance will be needed if they are to face up to deepening neoliberal policies. Alongside the more or less stable factory and state enterprise workforce, there are tens of millions of others who are either not organised at all, or organised through a variety of action and advocacy committees, NGOS and other formations. Outside the cities too, there are steadily if gradually growing farmers' organisations.
The need for an alliance was repeatedly being raised by different groups in a range of forums. Yoyok said that more and more people in ABM realised that an alliance was needed with students, who had already started to protest the fuel price increases, as well as with women's groups, the urban poor and farmers. There was increasing commitment for ABM, and the groups with which it was politically close and which had their own extended networks, to start to build a multi-sectoral alliance.
The idea was raised again at a meeting called by the ABM in early May to organise a mobilisation for May 21 against the fuel price rises. Groups present from around the Jakarta region agreed, and the FPN was formed. FPN Branches were soon formed in other cities: Labuan Batu, Medan and Lampung in Sumatra; Bandung, East Java, Semarang and Solo in Java; and Mataram, Bima, Ternate, Palu, Luwuk and Gorantolo in the eastern islands. Between the meeting and May 21, the FPN organised several protests outside the presidential palace. The largest was on May 21, when around 6000 people mobilised.
Consolidation
According to Sastro, the FPN has been able to form in 18 cities and another 10 towns, not yet using the FPN name. Sastro explained that they would be renewing their campaign against the fuel price rise and were preparing for this with calls for the formation for local posko (command posts) at factories and in neighbourhoods, which could quickly mobilise people.
"But the fundamental task is consolidation, which is not easy", he explained. "We have often made plans for national consolidation that have then failed. We have to learn from the ABM's experience, how to identify momentum and also how to manage tactical alliances to become programmatic ones. There is also the problem of avoiding the deliberate temptations put out by the elite and the scandal-mongering aimed at ruining the movement. We need to strengthen out collectivity to deal with this."
The FPN goes into this difficult period of consolidation with around 50 member organisations. Among these are two openly socialist political groups, the Working People's Association (PRP), with which KASBI is closely associated, and the Union for the Politics of the Poor (PPRM), initiated by the expelled left wing of the PRD. There is another socialist political stream organised through the very active Indonesian Students Sarekat and the Jakarta Trade Union Confederation (FPBJ).
Other groups involved in the FPN include trade unions, agrarian reform NGOs, human rights advocacy groups, grassroots campaign networks of various kinds, left networks (such as Left House) and a major environmental group, Wahli (Friends of the Earth, Indonesia). The consolidation of FPN will be a challenge, both in building collaboration between socialist groups with different histories and in coordinating more than 50 groups with different levels of ideological development, organisational capacity and national spread.
A further variable is the extreme political ferment in Indonesian society. Discontent has deepened over the last 10 years, giving rise to more and more campaign, protest and advocacy groups. Some come and go; others are able to consolidate. At least one other, more homogeneous but smaller alliance has consolidated, the People's Struggle Front (FPR), which takes ideological inspiration from peasant struggles in the Philippines and migrant worker struggles in Hong Kong.
Another alliance, the People's Challenge Front (FRM), organised a protest action on May 20 and some smaller actions since then, including on June 25. This an alliance of various elements connected into the political elite with the old PRD forces, who have adopted a strategy of postponing efforts to lead any fight with the domestic bourgeoisie.
However, the unaffiliated groups, often active primarily at the local level, far outnumber those affiliated to the FPN, let alone the other two. While nobody knows exactly how many of them there are, there must be thousands, all developing in an environment in which there is no sizeable left or progressive ideological current that they might gravitate towards.
The 50 groups in FPN, while including some of the most ideologically developed and most influential groups (such as the state enterprise unions), still represent only a small proportion of the groups campaigning against the myriad impacts of neoliberal economics and politics. As ideological clarification takes place, there may be new alliance configurations, new national liberation coalitions or indeed the transformation and even rapid expansion of the current FPN.
Asia Times - July 2, 2008
Tom McCawley, Jakarta – A breakaway Islamic sect's struggle to survive has become a major test of tolerance for Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country. Conservative, hardline Muslims are confronting moderates over the existence of Ahmadiyya, a 100-year-old minority sect that does not accept Mohammad as the last prophet of Islam.
The Ahmadis, who have worshipped in their own mosques and communities here since 1924, believe that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the messiah and last true prophet of Islam. The claim has energized and enraged Indonesia's disparate Muslim hardliners, who in recent years have united in a campaign to ban Ahmadiyya, labeling its followers "heretics" and "deviants".
Indonesia's mild-mannered and religiously moderate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his government are caught in the middle. In a campaign season, where conservative religious groups have electoral clout, his administration has so far managed to please neither side.
Tensions flared into the open on June 1, when the hard-line vigilante group the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) attacked a peaceful rally in support of both Ahmadiyya and religious tolerance at a symbolic national monument in central Jakarta. Stick-wielding FPI members, attacked women, the elderly and even clerics, leaving some 70 people injured. Police later arrested the FPI's firebrand leader, Habib Rizieq.
On June 9, Yudhoyono signed a controversial decree which failed to fully support the sect's right to exist, though it stopped short of disbanding it altogether, as religious conservatives have demanded. The decree explicitly forbade Ahmadiyya from proselytizing and threatened its members with up to five years in jail for possible charges of "tarnishing religion".
Security forces, however, are compelled to protect Ahmadiyya followers if their actions are in accordance with relevant laws, under the decree. "We were facing two camps, both of which were extreme," complained Indonesia's religion minister Maftuh Basyuni to parliament, according to a quote published in Tempo magazine. "On one hand, Ahmadiyya is a victim. However, they are also the cause of public restlessness," he said.
Several commentators have warned that the decree puts the country's global image as a tolerant and secular society at risk. Indonesia remains a firmly secular state, with its 1945 constitution enshrining religious pluralism. Until now all of Indonesia's five post-independence presidents have demonstrated a strong commitment to upholding secular values.
Conservative clerics have countered that Ahmadiyya has violated a sacred tenet of Islam and must be punished, shut down and brought into the mainstream religious fold. Such debates, over whether or not Indonesia's public sphere should be run on secular or religious values, hark back to the nation's independence from colonial rule over 60 years ago. The discussion has become more heated in Indonesia's new democratic climate, which has recently transplanted over three decades of authoritarianism under former strongman Suharto, who stepped down in 1998.
Ahmadiyya, which claims followers in 190 different countries, is no stranger to persecution. Pakistan, where the breakaway sect was founded in the 19th century, banned the group in 1974. In Bangladesh, Muslim groups petitioned to have Ahmadiyya followers officially declared as "kafirs", or non-believers. Ahmadiyya claims that its estimated 200,000 to one million members in Indonesia have faced rising harassment with the country's transition to democracy.
Deviant or different?
This alleged discrimination included the fatwa issued against the sect in 2005 by Indonesia's powerful, semi-official Muslim Scholars Council (MUI), which proclaimed Ahmadiyya "deviant" in its edict. Muslim mobs reacted to the fatwa by closing down sect's mosques, attacking its prayer sessions and burning down houses of its followers across the country.
The calls to ban Ahmadiyya later spread from fringe radicals to influential mainstream conservative Islamic groups. As attacks against the sect have stepped up, police have frequently watched idly as its followers have been assaulted, complaining their forces are understaffed and under-funded.
Rights groups, on the other hand, claim that Yudhoyono's government is pandering to militants and failing to uphold Indonesia's tradition of religious tolerance. "You ban Ahmadiyya, then you ban the Shi'ites, Christians and Buddhists," Indonesia's former president Abdurrahman Wahid recently told Reuters. Wahid, also a former chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim mass organization, the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama, said hardline groups did not represent most Indonesians and that the government should not cave to radical hardliners.
Other minority groups are understandably nervous in the wake of the June 1 attack and the government's controversial legal response to the violence. Some 88% of Indonesia's 230 million people declare Islam as their religion, with the other 12% mostly Christian, Hindu and Buddhist, all of which are included among the five religions covered by the official secular ideology, Pancasila.
Yet Islamist mobs have in recent years shut down over 90 Christian churches and prayer groups in West Java alone. To Christian and other religious minorities, Yudhoyono's June 9 decree is a disturbing sign that the government is willing to prioritize hard-line Islamist demands over its constitutional commitment to protect religious freedoms.
Following the announcement of the June 9 decree, there have been signs that conservative religious groups feel emboldened, as witnessed in the rallies they have staged with several thousand people in attendance to protest against the Ahmadiyya sect. Muslim mobs have meanwhile continued to close down by force Ahmadiyya mosques across the country.
Ahmadiyya's open challenge to mainstream Islam presents a dilemma, even for moderate Muslims who believe in the sanctity of maintaining a secular society. Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations, the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama and the 30- million strong Muhammadiyah, have both said Ahmadiyya should not be banned.
Privately, however, many clerics and moderate Muslims feel the breakaway group is misguided. Yet in Islam's estimated 700-year history in Indonesia, the religion has over the centuries merged with local and often animist beliefs and customs.
In the seafaring, mainly Muslim Bugis culture of South Sulawesi, for example, transvestite priests still perform traditional wedding ceremonies. On the most populous island of Java, Muslim children still carry Hindu-derived names like "Sri" (a rice goddess), or "Dharmawan" (follower of the Dharma), and their life cycles are often marked by pre-Islamic ceremonies known locally as selamatan.
Some analysts attribute the government's hard stance against Ahmadiyya to political timing. Yudhoyono, whose coalition maintains a slim hold over parliament, is seen as vulnerable to interest group pressures in the lead-up to next year's general elections. That's recently been compounded by a declining popularity rating, which took a hit in May after his government oversaw a dramatic fuel-price hike.
Although Yudhoyono won a landslide victory in direct presidential elections in 2004, political analysts say he can ill-afford to alienate the alliance of Islamist parties in parliament, which currently account for around 15% of the legislature's vote. Fears of Indonesia abandoning outright its secular tradition are for now overblown.
But Ahmadiyya's current struggles demonstrate that in Indonesia's emerging and raucous democracy, even voices of intolerance will be heard.
[Tom McCawley is a Jakarta-based freelance journalist.]