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Indonesia News Digest 40 – October 25-31, 2008
Tempo Interactive - October 30, 2008
Abdi Purmono, Jakarta – Around three hundred teachers
demonstrated outside the Regional Education Office in Malang East
Java on Thursday to demand a permanent status for thousands of
temporary teachers in the region.
Spokesman for the teachers Abdulrohim said during the protest,
some of the teachers are running out of time as the regulation
that provides legal basis to promote their status to become
permanent civil officials stipulates the age limit to be promoted
was 46.
"Eighty five percent of us are approaching 46." the regulation
stated that temporary teachers should serve at least 20 years to
have the right to be promoted, some of the teachers were short of
the target.
Head of The Regional Civil Officials Council Tulus Haryanto said
the regional administration was restrained by the Government
Regulation no 48 of 2005 on the Promotion Procedures for
Temporary Civil Officials. The regulation only covers the
promotion process until 2009, but the regional administration
said to bring the matter to the central government.
Malang has about 1.500 temporary civil officials some working as
teachers.
Agence France Presse - October 30, 2008
Jakarta – Indonesian lawmakers rammed a far-reaching anti-
pornography law through parliament Thursday despite howls of
protest by artists and religious minorities who say it threatens
national unity.
Lawmakers voted by an overwhelming majority to back a modified
version of the law, which criminalises all works and "bodily
movements" deemed obscene and capable of violating public
morality.
The law has been championed by the Islam-based Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS) and other Islamic parties and is being backed by the
government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
It has prompted protests across Indonesia, with critics saying it
could threaten traditional cultures from temple statues on Hindu
Bali island to penis sheaths on tribesmen in Christian and
animist Papua province.
Two of the parties opposing the bill walked out of parliament
before the vote, saying its definition of pornography remained
too broad despite an exhaustive revision process.
"We feel this law is being passed by force without taking into
consideration the feelings of the community such as artists and
cultural workers," said Tjajo Kumolo, a lawmaker from the
Democratic Party of Struggle, which walked out.
But backers of the bill said the law left space for legitimate
artistic expression and traditional cultures and would not see
bikini-clad tourists driven off beaches in places such as Bali.
"This law will ensure that Islam is preserved and guaranteed. It
is also not in the interest of any specific religion. The law is
also meant to preserve arts and culture and not destroy them,"
said Hakim Sori Muda Borhan, a lawmaker from Yudhoyono's
Democratic Party.
"This law isn't discriminatory. It should be implemented on the
ground so that pornography will be eradicated in time," said
parliamentary chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid, from the PKS.
Activists on Bali, where opposition to the law has ignited
protests of thousands of people, said they would mount a legal
challenge arguing the law violates freedom of expression.
"We're going to encourage civil disobedience if our challenge to
the porn law fails," said Gusti Ngurah Harta, an activist from
the Bali People's Component, which represents artists.
Muslims make up roughly 90 percent of Indonesia's 234 million
population, which also contains sizeable Christian, Hindu,
Buddhist and Confucian minorities.
Pornography & morality
Aceh
West Papua
Human rights/law
Labour issues
Environment/natural disasters
Health & education
War on corruption
Elections/political parties
Armed forces/defense
Economy & investment
Analysis & opinion
Actions, demos, protests...
Hundreds of teachers demand promotion
Pornography & morality
Indonesia passes far-reaching anti-porn law
Indonesian lawmakers pass anti-porn bill
Associated Press - October 30, 2008
Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament passed a bill banning pornography Thursday, ignoring opposition from lawmakers and rights groups who worry it will be used to justify attacks on artistic, religious and cultural freedom.
More than 100 legislators stormed out ahead of the vote saying that – while the bill's final version removed contentious clauses regulating dress and social behavior – it went against the country's tradition of diversity.
Ninety percent of Indonesia's 235 million citizens are Muslim, most practicing a moderate form of the faith. But many of its islands have large Christian and Hindu populations and some women in tribal regions, like Papua, still go topless.
A small group of hard-line Islamist parties argued that globalization was chipping away at the country's moral fiber and dusted off an anti-pornography bill originally drafted in 1999. They were forced to revise it several times, dropping a ban on bikinis at tourist resorts, for instance.
The version that eventually passed Thursday focusses instead on the dissemination of material that contains pornographic images, gestures or even conversations. Violators can be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison and fined up to $750,000.
"We're worried it will be used by hard-liners who say they want to control morality," said Baby Jim Aditya, a women's rights activist, noting that the bill allows ordinary people to play a role in preventing pornography. "It could be used to divide communities."
Minister of Religious Affairs Maftuh Basyuni insisted that the bill, which must be signed by the president before taking effect, would protect women and children against exploitation.
Members of two parties – the second-largest Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the smaller Christian-based Prosperous Peace Party, which together have 20 percent of the 550 seats in Parliament – disagreed. They walked out ahead of the vote in protest.
"The public strongly opposes this bill," Cahyo Kumolo from the PDIP told lawmakers, pointing to street rallies in recent weeks that have drawn thousands. "We don't want to be involved in the process of adopting it into law."
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the contentious anti-pornography bill, defying months of protest from artists, pluralists and human rights groups.
Two of 10 factions in the House, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), boycotted a plenary session to endorse the modified bill that criminalizes all works and acts deemed obscene and capable of breaching public morality.
The passage of the bill was quickly slammed by human rights and pluralist organizations, as well as several provinces opposed to it. They claim the law threatens national unity, discriminates against minority groups and women, and harms pluralism and diversity in the country.
Just minutes after the plenary session opened, PDI-P and PDS legislators interrupted the forum and subsequently walked out of the House in protest at the bill. Also boycotting the session were two Balinese legislators from the Golkar Party, Lisnawati Karna and Gede Sumarjaya Linggih. They each interrupted the meeting and walked out of the room while their party read out its approval of the bill.
"We agree we must protect our nation from pornography, but we can't accept the substance of this bill. Thus we are not responsible for it," PDI-P faction chairman Tjahjo Kumolo said after leaving the session.
Carol Daniel Kadang of the PDS said the House was in too much of a hurry to pass the bill and that procedurally it should have consulted first with each province rejecting the bill.
Hundreds of spectators, mainly supporters of the bill, gave the session an air of religious fervor. Along with several legislators, they clapped and shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great), each time a legislator voiced support for the passage of the bill.
As House Speaker Agung Laksono banged his gavel to officially pass the bill into law, they clapped and shouted even louder. "This is what we need to fight pornography. This law will complete our legal system to protect us from pornographic materials," Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni said.
People's Consultative Assembly chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid, a member of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) that championed the bill, said the law would not discriminate against any section of society. Nor will it spark violence, he added in all sincerity.
The bill's opponents say its approval smacks of political machinations ahead of the 2009 elections, most likely to boost support among the predominantly Muslim voter base for the parties backing the bill.
"This (bill) only shows that the House and the government have politicized morality and religion and are just using them as a means of retaining power," National Commission for Women's Protection chairwoman Kamala Chandrakirana said in a statement.
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika and North Sulawesi Governor SH Sarundajang, ardent opponents of the bill, vowed to continue opposing the new law. "We will continue opposing the porn law because this has been our stance from the very beginning," Pastika told reporters in Denpasar.
Contentious articles in the porn bill:
1. Article 1: Definition
Pornography is drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, texts, voices, sound, moving pictures, animations, cartoons, poetry, conversations, gestures, or other forms of communicative messages through various kinds of media; and/or performances in front of the public, which may incite obscenity, sexual exploitation and/or violate moral ethics in the community.
Feared impact:
The definition is open to all kinds of interpretation, such as how to define gestures that incite obscenity or sexual exploitation, and will be subject to debate.
2. Articles 20-23: Public Participation
The public can play a role in preventing the production, distribution and use of pornography... by... (d) supervising people on the danger of pornography.
Feared impact: This article could be used by certain groups to take the law into their own hands by attacking people they believe are violating the law.
3. Articles 8, 34, 36: Criminalization of victims
The articles threatens up to 10 years in prison or Rp 5 billion in fines for violators of the law.
Feared impact:
Artists or models in art shows or productions could be punished for their creativity.
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Dicky Christanto and Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika expressed concern about the House of Representatives' decision to pass the controversial porn bill into law during a plenary session in Jakarta on Thursday.
Pastika reiterated that the passage into law only meant one thing: lawmakers had ignored Balinese hopes. "We will continue to oppose the porn law as this has been our stance from the first," Pastika told reporters.
When asked whether his administration had prepared further legal actions to challenge the new law, Pastika said he would have to discuss it with the province's legal advisors before taking any further steps. "We'll see what happens with the new law before exploring legal options," he said.
Both the administration and the provincial council had sent an official letter to the central government protesting the porn bill deliberation. They argued that voting on the bill would threaten the country's current balance between unity and pluralism due to its obscure wording. The letter recommended tabling the initiative indefinitely.
Besides Bali's official protest against the bill, the civic group Bali People's Component (KRB), made up of local artists and activists, launched noisy mass protests as well. Commenting on the passing of the porn bill into law, KRB's coordinator I Gusti Ngurah Harta said his group has begun preparing legal materials to challenge the porn law.
"We'll get ready to challenge it by filing a request for judicial review with the Constitutional Court," he told The Jakarta Post, adding KRB's team of legal experts was led by I Dewa Gede Palguna, one of Bali's noted legal activists and former Constitutional Court jurist.
With regard to the team's preparation, Palguna said the team would wait to get the official copy of the porn law, adding, "of course, we'll read the new law as it was passed carefully before we take any legal action to challenge it".
If the judicial review were to fail, he added, then the KRB would ask the provincial administration and legislature to start considering whether Bali should pursue special-autonomy status, which would give the Balinese a basis for disregarding the porn law. "We will continue to oppose it at any price," he said.
Initially discussed by lawmakers back in 1997, the porn bill was then considered controversial by many rights activists and legal experts who found the bill's language outlined too narrow a perspective for interpreting sexuality.
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Wasti Atmodjo, Denpasar – At least 110 participants from 15 Asian countries grouped under the Kartini Asia Network (KAN) will discuss various gender issues, including the current controversial pornography bill, in a conference in Bali from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6.
"Although the pornography bill is a local issue, it has received international attention," conference chairwoman Nursyahbani Katjasungkana told reporters in a press conference Monday.
According to Nuryahbani, a member of KAN, many of her friends overseas have asked about the issue and its potential political and economical impacts on the country.
During the conference, which will be opened by State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Hatta, who is a supporter of the bill, those participating in the event, including representatives of Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and China, will just share their opinions, Nuryahbani said.
"We don't know how many participants will support or oppose the bill. The point is the bill is viewed as a restriction," said Nursyahbani, who is also a member of the House of Representatives and the National Awakening Party.
She denied allegations the event, themed "The future of Asian feminism confronting fundamentalism, conflict and neoliberalism", was being used to gain international momentum to reject the bill, which will be approved by the House on Thursday.
She said some speakers at the event would discuss sexuality, including Indonesian gender activist R Valentina Sagala, who would present her paper titled "Advocacy for sexual rights in the draft of the anti-pornography bill and pornographic acts".
Nursyahbani said the participants would discuss four other topics at the event: Globalization and women's poverty, fundamentalism, conflict and violence against women; and feminist leadership in Asia.
Nursyahbani said the conference would produce a resolution on the issues, which would be disbursed to local and international institutions.
Local women activists earlier expressed their concern about growing fundamentalism in the country, as evidenced by sharia- inspired bylaws enacted in certain regions.
The activists generally felt the porn bill was mostly being advanced by Islamic-based political parties as part of an increasing trend of fundamentalism.
Bali gender activist Sita T. Van Bemmelen said she hoped the KAN conference would raise awareness on the many problems faced by women.
"Globalization, for example, and its derivative issues, such as labor and privatization, would affect many aspects of women's lives," said Sita, who accompanied Nursyahbani during the press conference.
She said she regretted the fact that the government and academics paid little attention to women's issues, adding that she hoped the KAN conference would encourage public interest and research on the issues.
She said, so far, researches currently being conducted on women were limited by the small number of women study centers in the country and a lack of funding.
Jakarta Post - October 29, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Most factions in the House of Representatives are pushing for the controversial pornography bill to be passed Thursday, despite a threat by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to boycott the move and rejection from several provinces.
The passage of the bill was made possible after eight of the 10 factions at the House accepted the draft Tuesday. The PDI-P walked out of the deliberation process and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) rejected it.
"Yes, we will pass the bill on Oct. 30," chairman of the special committee deliberating the bill, Balkan Kaplale, said.
On Wednesday, leaders of all factions will meet House leaders to confirm the Oct. 30 date for the House plenary session to approve the bill. Thursday will be the last sitting day before the House goes into recess.
The PDI-P walked out of deliberations for the second time after it was unsuccessful in its last-ditch attempt to change the definition of pornography and to remove an article that allows public participation in preventing pornography.
"We have been stretched to the limit to scrap acts from the definition of pornography and omit the public participation articles, but to no avail," PDI-P lawmaker Eva K. Sundari said. "Therefore, we are not part of the process and will not be responsible for it."
The current draft defines pornography as "man-made sexual materials either in the forms of drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, texts, voices, sound, moving pictures, animations, cartoons, poetry, conversations, gestures, or other forms of communicative messages through various kinds of media; and or performances in front of the public, which may incite sexual desire and or violate moral ethics in the community".
Eva said the PDI-P rejected the definition and demanded that gestures and performances be excluded from the definition as they would limit many people's activities under subjective interpretations and lead to many artistic performances being banned.
"Articles 21 to 23 allow for the public to play a role in preventing pornography. It will justify people taking the law into their own hands," she said.
Eva said she had already received text messages from several groups saying they would ensure the law was enforced.
"It confirms our suspicion that it can spark conflict given that even though there is no law now, some groups have dared to attack others right under the nose of the police. What will happen if they take the law into their own hands?" Eva said.
The passage of the bill also defies official objections from some provinces, especially Bali, Papua and North Sulawesi.
"Why are we in such a hurry to pass the bill? It can be done after the break to allow for more compromises and communication to the provinces that reject it," Eva said.
Last week, the House decided to delay the deliberation of the bill until after the break in late November because of the heated debate over the issue.
Jakarta Post - October 27, 2008
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Lawmakers deliberating the controversial bill on pornography will meet Monday to decide whether to pass or delay it until after the House of Representatives ends its recess late next month.
"It all depends on whether in the House working committee's meeting tomorrow we can reach an agreement on all (contentious) articles in the bill," committee member Eva Kusuma Sundari told The Jakarta Post here Sunday.
She said the Monday meeting would be a follow-up to the working committee's debate of the bill held last Thursday and Friday.
Agung Sasongko, deputy chairman of the House's special committee, confirmed that the deliberation of the pornography bill would depend on the working committee's meeting on Monday.
Last week, Agung said the House had decided to delay the deliberation of the pornography bill until late November because of the heated debate over the issue.
Eva said that should the working committee manage to settle all the contentious issues in the bill during Monday's meeting, a House special committee would discuss it further on Tuesday before passing it at a House plenary session two days later.
"But I doubt it because many working committee members are going on working visits right now, so I think the meeting will not meet the quorum," she added.
Eva said the working committee had yet to agree on many articles in the bill, particularly the definition of pornography.
The current draft defines pornography as "man-made sexual materials either in the form of drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, text, voice, sound, moving pictures, animation, cartoons, poetry, conversations, gestures, or other forms of communicative messages through various kinds of media; and or performances in front of the public, which may incite sexual desire and or violate moral ethics in the community".
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) are the only two of the 10 factions in the House that have staunchly criticized or opposed the bill.
Eva, a lawmaker from the PDI-P, said her party had rejected the definition and demanded that gestures and performances be excluded from the definition.
The party also opposed an article that allows for the public to take a role in preventing pornography, saying it could justify people taking the law into their own hands.
"We want this article dropped from the bill to protect artists and minority groups from moral police within the community," she said.
Eva said protection for artists and cultural heritage should be included in the articles on protection of children and cultural products.
Asked whether the House would pass the bill despite mounting opposition from provinces such as Bali and South Sulawesi, Eva said the House's consultative body had ordered the government and the special committee to engage in discussions with local leaders to increase their understanding of the bill.
"Unfortunately, the head of the special committee refused the idea, saying that was the government's job," she said.
Jakarta Post - October 27, 2008
Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Hundreds of people grouped under the Anti-Pornography Generation Alliance staged a rally at the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) governor's office Friday in support of the anti-pornography bill.
The demonstrators carried a 100-meter-long cloth, asking residents to write their signatures on it to show their support for the bill now being deliberated at the House of Representatives.
Speaking before the demonstrators, Governor Zainul Majdi said he supported the demonstrators approval of the bill.
"Let's not make noise about anti-pornography, then secretly enjoy porn materials. It's hypocritical," Zainul said. He added his signature to the cloth prepared by the demonstrators.
He said the bill was important because of the omnipresence of pornographic materials in the country, including in his province.
| Aceh |
Jakarta Post - October 28, 2008
Aceh – After a two-week-visit to several regions in Aceh, the supreme leader of the disbanded Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group Hasan Di Tiro left the province Sunday for his home in Stockholm.
"He departed from the Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Banda Aceh at 4:50 p.m., flying with Air Asia to Kuala Lumpur," Ibrahim KBS, a spokesman of the Aceh Transition Committee (KPA), said.
Tiro and his entourage, including senior rebel leaders Malik Mahmud and Zaini Abdulah, left Kuala Lumpur for Sweden on Monday.
Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf and hundreds of KPA members saw off Tiro at the airport. There was no special ceremony.
Ibrahim said Tiro, who started an armed rebellion and proclaimed himself Wali Nanggroe in 1976, planned another visit to Aceh in 2009. "We also hope Tiro can reside in Aceh again," he said.
Tiro, a Swedish citizen, made a brief visit to Jakarta to meet Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
| West Papua |
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Nine Christian leaders in Papua have suggested the government hold a dialogue with the Papuan people to find the best solution for the ongoing dispute over the 1965 people's self-determination vote (Pepera).
Although the government insists the result of the Pepera was that Papua belonged to Indonesia, some groups reject the official result, demanding that Papua become a separate and independent state, the Christian leaders said in a statement last week.
The nine leaders are S. Karubaba from the Kemah Injil Church synod, JJ Mirino Krey of the Indonesia Christian Church Ministry (GKI) synod, Tony Infanfi of the GBGP Church synod, Father I Sai Doom from the Pantekosta Tabernakel Church, Father Socrates Sofyan Yoman from the Association of Papuan Baptism Churches of the Center of Liturgy Body, Theis Wopari of the GMK Church synod, Andreas Ayomi of the Pentakosta Church synod, Jayapura deputy bishop Neles Tebay and Lipiyus Biniluk of the GIDI Church synod.
The leaders said a proposal by the International Parliament for West Papua to hold a massive rally on Oct. 20, which police rejected, showed there were still many people in Papua who did not accept the result of the Pepera.
The aim of the planned demonstration was to make their views known to the Papua legislative council, asking it to revise the 1965 Pepera.
"We were sorry that the police prevented them from staging a demonstration and expressing their wishes," they said in a statement distributed to related institutions.
The leaders criticized the police, backed by the military, for detaining the activists who planned the mass demonstration.
The group then suggested the government and the Papuan people hold talks to find the best solution to the dispute.
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Jakarta – Hundreds of members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) clashed with police outside a Central Jakarta court and attempted to force the closure of a nearby Ahmadiyah mosque after their leader, Rizieq Shihab, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The FPI members, stationed outside the Central Jakarta District Court, were outraged at the guilty verdict handed down to Rizieq for his role in instigating an attack on religious freedom activists at the National Monument park on June 1.
After a shoving match with police officers securing the courthouse on Jl. Gajah Mada, the FPI members headed to the Al Hidayah mosque, run by the Ahmadiyah community, on Jl. Balikpapan, Gambir, to close it down.
They were stopped 50 meters shy of the mosque by the police, leading to a scuffle between the two. It ended when the FPI members dispersed.
No one was detained during the clash, but Central Jakarta Police deputy chief Heri Wibowo said there were elements inciting the crowd. Some 1,500 police officers had been deployed in anticipation of the hard-liners' reaction to the verdict.
Rizieq's supporters inside the court were also outraged. Several shouted and swore at the judges, but were asked to restrain themselves by their leader. Rizieq's wife and children were crying.
Rizieq and his subordinate Munarman, commander of the Islam Troop Command, were both given 18-month sentences for their role in the attack on members of the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion, rallying for the Ahmadiyah community after it had been declared heretical by the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI).
The presiding judge at both trials, Manusunan Harahap, said Rizieq had been proved guilty of instigating violence, and Munarman of committing violence. Both men protested the verdicts, claiming they were handed down based on dubious evidence.
Both said they would appeal, and Rizieq maintained his calls for anti-Ahmadiyah actions. "Even if we risk breaking the law... even if I'm thrown in jail or die, we will never stop our efforts to disband Ahmadiyah," Rizieq said after the sentence was read out.
There was a visible sense of relief among police officers outside the courthouse after a police car carrying Munarman, whose sentencing followed Rizieq's, left the compound. The officers had frequently been engaged by the FPI in clashes throughout the trial. (mri)
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Two police detectives testified Thursday at the trial of former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy head Muchdi Purwopranjono, denying pressuring witnesses and manipulating testimonies in the defendant's dossier.
Sr. Comr Pambudi Pamungkas and Comr. Daniel Tifauna were summoned to the trial of Muchdi, charged with the murder of noted human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib in 2004, to explain the recent denials and retractions of testimonies by several witnesses.
Daniel and Pambudi, from the National Police's criminal investigation division, had questioned BIN agents Kawan, Zondhy Anwar and Arifin Rahman as witnesses in the case. However, during recent hearings at the South Jakarta District Court the three witnesses revoked their testimonies given to police investigators in March and June 2008.
BIN officials Suradi and Imam Mustopha also made similar moves at the same trial. The flurry of retractions caused the panel of judges to later demand prosecutors present the police detectives to testify in the trial.
Both Daniel and Pambudi denied allegations the police had pressured witnesses and manipulated procedures during the questioning, as claimed by Kawan and Zondhy.
"That was impossible because (the witnesses) were always accompanied by officials from the BIN's legal bureau during the questioning," Pambudi told the court. "The witnesses told us they were in healthy condition before testifying."
Pambudi also denied the detectives had not reread the testimonies to the witnesses for final confirmation. "In fact, Kawan borrowed my glasses to read his testimony himself because he forgot to bring his own glasses," Pambudi said, adding the glasses fit Kawan.
Daniel said his team of detectives was ready to confront the witnesses in the courtroom because the police had videotaped the questioning sessions.
"We videotaped all the questioning sessions in anticipation of such a situation (denials and retractions)," he said, adding the witnesses had been told about the videotaping.
Kawan previously told the court he had never testified to the police about receiving orders from former BIN director Budi Santoso to monitor, track and hunt down activists from the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), led at the time by Munir.
Kawan, Zondhy and Arifin also denied seeing former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto visit the BIN office. Pollycarpus was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the murder.
Prosecutors say they have records of 41 phone calls between Pollycarpus and Muchdi before and after Munir's murder. However, this has been denied by the two.
In Thursday's hearing, prosecutors also presented an expert witness from telecommunications company Telkomsel, Rahmat Budianto, to confirm whether the call data record (CDR) could be manipulated.
Rahmat said it was impossible for anyone to manipulate the CDR, because of the high-level security and accuracy of the system.
"(The system) is error-free, at zero percent. It applies to all operators across the world," he said. "If someone inserts (fake) data into the record, the system will automatically delete the rest of the data."
The trial has been adjourned to Nov. 6, when judges will decide whether to allow prosecutors to read out the testimonies of Budi Santoso and former BIN deputy head M. As'ad, following their failure to appear at court.
Prosecutors admitted they did not know where the two were. "We sent 14 letters to Budi Santoso and 12 to As'ad. They were on state duty abroad, but even the Foreign Ministry has no idea of their exact locations," prosecutor Cirus Sinaga said.
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Thousands of street children in Cirebon are at risk of physical and sexual abuse and often subject to exploitation that forces them to become scavengers and beggars, says a child activist.
"Based on our observations, most of the street children in Cirebon are not protected from sexual abuse, including sodomy and molestation," said Nana Yohana of the Commission for the Protection of Indonesian Children's (KPAI) Cirebon office Thursday.
Some 2,000 abandoned children, she went on, lived on the city's streets, most of them denied an education because of dire financial circumstances. "That figure was recorded in 2006; the real figure is likely bigger now," Nana added.
The street children for the most part hail from the more impoverished areas around Cirebon, such as Krian village in Lemahwungkuk district, Kalijaga and Argasunya in Harjamukti district and Samadikun in Kejaksan district.
Nana said based on observations, almost half of street children had been subjected to sexual abuse.
She said the abuse against the children was often committed by adults, adding many cases of sexual violence occurred in urban areas but were not reported because the victims were in no position to do so and had no access to the relevant parties, such as the police or child protection agencies.
"Many of them are also ashamed to report the harsh treatment they suffer, while other institutions, including government agencies and the media, which should have guaranteed their rights, have instead shunned their responsibilities," Nana said.
"Sex crimes in Cirebon are the tip of the iceberg... There is much more going on than what we see on the surface."
She added street children were also subject to exploitation with economic motives.
"If you are in Cirebon, you see them everywhere; at virtually every traffic light, you see groups of street children begging or scavenging. They usually carry sacks on their backs and go from one housing complex to another searching for recyclables such as plastic, scrap metal and used bottles in garbage bins," Nana said.
She admitted the Cirebon KPAI was fighting an uphill battle in dealing with the situation. "We can't play an active role in tackling the problem because of the lack of funds and support from the local administration," she said.
The Cirebon KPAI receives annual funding from the municipality of Rp 25 million to deal with this problem.
Nana added the agency should ideally be given a budget of Rp 700 million per year if it really wanted to effect changes. A larger budget, she went on, was necessary for the KPAI's operations, public awareness campaigns, advocacy and rehabilitation.
"To make up for the shortage, KPAI members use their own money as part of their moral responsibility to protect the children," she said.
Ali Rahman, a member of the municipal council's Commission C, which oversees public welfare, expressed surprise at the amount of money allocated to the Cirebon KPAI.
He promised he would urge the government to allocate more funds next year. "We will ask the government to pay attention to this critical issue," he said. "How can the Cirebon KPAI be expected to play an effective role with so little money?"
Jakarta Post - October 29, 2008
The House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that terms ethnic and racial discrimination as serious crimes.
Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar, who presided over the House's plenary session to approve the draft law, said Indonesia no longer had any room for any form of racial or ethnic discrimination.
Chairman of the House's special committee deliberating the bill, Murdaya Poo, said the endorsement of the bill should put an end to the long-standing dichotomy between indigenous and non- indigenous people in the country.
"A man cannot choose to be born as part of a certain race or ethnic group, and therefore discrimination must cease to exist," said Murdaya, who is Indonesian-Chinese.
He said the House proposed the bill as part of its effort to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, which has been enacted since 1999. Under the new law, leaders of public institutions found guilty of adopting discriminatory policies would face jail terms one-third more severe than those stipulated in the Criminal Code.
Citing an example, Murdaya said the governor or government of Aceh could not ban a gathering held by Javanese ethnics in the province.
He said the deliberation process had been delayed by a disagreement on whether imprisonment should be made the minimum punishment. Jail as a minimum sentence is typically sought for serious crimes, such as corruption, terrorism, money laundering or drug abuse.
"We decided to set prison as the minimum sentence to deter people from committing racial or ethnic discrimination," said Murdaya, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The bill was passed on the same day Indonesia celebrated the 100th anniversary of Youth Pledge, which Murdaya said should encourage Indonesians to uphold the diverse nature of the nation.
Jakarta Post - October 27, 2008
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has come under pressure to resolve the abduction cases of human rights activists from 1997 to 1998.
During a discussion in Jakarta on Saturday, military analyst Kusnanto Anggoro said the President could exercise his authority to speed up the investigation, which has been restarted by a House of Representatives special committee.
"I think there should be a political decision made before the 2009 election, if possible. It is the President who should make the decision," he said.
"It would be easier and simpler than letting this controversy continue, including the debate on whether an ad-hoc court should be established.
"The President can take various measures. He can discuss with the special committee. The thing is that he can make a political decision to settle this case, once and for all."
The House voted that the special committee continue investigations despite criticism the move is a political attack against several retired military generals contesting next year's presidential election.
The committee plans to summon several retired generals to clarify their roles in the case, including Yudhoyono, who at the time was the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) chief of socio-political affairs; former ABRI commander Wiranto, former Army Special Forces chief Prabowo Subianto, former Jakarta military chief Sutiyoso and Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
The committee, which was established last year, had not declared any results when it recently announced it would continue its probe.
Committee members have denied claims the investigation was politically motivated, citing that the recent resurgence had been prompted by a call by the National Commission on Human Rights.
The committee is expected to issue a recommendation that the government establish an ad-hoc court to try the case.
At least 13 activists are still missing after allegedly having been abducted by Army officers. Nine others have reappeared.
Mugiyanto, one of the kidnapped activists, said Yudhoyono should take immediate action to resolve the case.
The President, he said, should order Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso to hand over documents in the possession of the Military Official Honorary Council, which contain records of interrogations of several military officials in connection with the case.
"The President can take action without having to wait for the special committee to complete its job. They (the President and the special committee) can act simultaneously," Mugiyanto said.
| Labour issues |
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Andra Wisnu, Denpasar – Laborers gathered under the Bali chapter of the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (FNPBI) rallied in Denpasar on Wednesday opposing a recent joint ministerial decree allowing companies to cap their wages.
Some 100 workers, mostly women, carried banners and yelled, "No to SKB-4 (in reference to the decree)! Yes to fuel price reduction!", while marching through the Bali Provincial Legislative Council building to the governor's office and Renon Square.
The decree, signed by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris and Home Minister Mardiyanto on Friday, is expected to discourage local administrations from raising regional minimum wages beyond the capabilities of manufacturing firms.
Existing regulations give local administrations more authority in determining adjustments to the minimum wage, undercutting companies whose financial resources may be at stake.
Laborers at the rally complained that companies may use the decree as leverage to cancel plans by local administrations to raise the minimum wage amidst an already dire economic situation in the wake of the US-led global financial crisis.
The decree would only destroy the lives of Indonesian laborers, said Ayu Pradewati, a rally coordinator.
"Food prices are rising, fuel is already high. How do they expect us to take care of our family when they're only paying us Rp 600,000 (US$55) a month?
"Not only that, but global crude oil prices are down now, so how come our fuel prices are still high? It's just too much," Pradewati said.
Ikhsan Tontowi, another rally coordinator, demanded the decree be revoked, calling it an "insult" to laborers across Indonesia.
"If our minimum wage increase is based on the national economic growth of 6 percent, then we would receive an average raise of just Rp 48,000," he said. "This is just not enough, not even close to being enough," he said.
The rally demanded the government slash export tariffs and raise import tariffs, specifically on consumable goods, and delay payments of national debts for further spending on social programs in order to raise the public's purchasing power.
It was the first rally opposing the decree in Indonesia, although other labor unions in cities such as Jakarta and Surakarta, Central Java, have already stated their plans to conduct bigger and louder rallies.
The government has stated that the decree was only a temporary measure to protect local economies against fallout from the global economic crisis, setting no official timetable for a cancellation of the decree.
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – At least 15,000 employees of West Java's export-oriented companies have been laid off, with the decline in productivity caused by the current global economic crisis, a business association says.
Some 40 companies, mainly involved in the production of electronic goods and garments in Bandung and surrounding areas, laid off workers as they began to face financial burdens, said Dedi Wijaya, chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (APINDO) West Java chapter.
"Those who process imported raw materials are facing difficulties to keep production costs down. So, it's better for them to lay off workers than dismiss them while waiting for the situation to recover," Dedi said on Tuesday.
Aside from increasing production costs that have climbed 25 percent since the depreciation of the rupiah against the US dollar, declining overseas demand has impacted conditions for business, Dedi said.
According to the association's data, Dedi said, the decline in business could lead to the dismissal of up to 100,000 workers in the province. Dedi said, as well as laying off workers, many businesses had reduced their working hours and stopped overtime to reduce costs.
In anticipating the decline, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said his administration had begun to identify companies that were suffering and clustered them into groups. "This will help us isolate problems and seek solutions for them," Heryawan told reporters on Tuesday.
In a meeting on the manpower issue on Monday, Heryawan urged workers to understand the tough times and to cooperative in demanding minimum wages.
He hinted at a possible increase of 20 percent to the provincial minimum wage, due to increases in the cost of living (KHL) which are calculated based on the prices of basic needs. However, Heryawan said, "we must first conduct a survey on KHL before we decide to increase minimum wages".
The current minimum wage in West Java is set at Rp 568,193 (US$47) per month, nine percent higher than last year's rate.
West Java's Manpower and Transmigration Agency head Mustofa Djamaludin confirmed that the current global financial crisis could trigger dismissals of up to 100,000 workers in the garment and plantation industries. "None of the companies have proposed dismissals yet, but some have laid off employees," Mustofa said.
According to the manpower office data, there are 24,000 small and medium enterprises in the province, employing some 2.8 million workers.
| Environment/natural disasters |
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Massive forest conversions, rising demand for timber and infrastructure projects are the main causes for Indonesia's world-leading rate of deforestation, a new study has found.
The study by the Indonesian Forest Watch (FWI) categorically blamed deforestation on forest conversions into palm oil plantations conducted by big companies.
"We find palm oil companies prefer to convert forest areas rather than utilize idle land for their expansion as they get extra incentives from trees in the cleared forests," said Wirendro Sumargo, FWI coordinator for public campaign and policy dialogue, on Tuesday.
The field study was conducted in Central Kalimantan and Riau and Papua. It said Central Kalimantan was seeing the fastest rate of conversion of forest area into palm oil plantations.
"In the last 17 years, the rate of forest conversion to palm oil plantations increased by 400 times to 461,992 hectares (per year) in 2007 from only 1,163 hectares (per year) in 1991," the study said, quoting data from the Central Kalimantan administration.
"Our finding shows that about 816,000 hectares of forest (there) was cleared for palm oil plantations in 2006."
He said 14 percent of the 3 million hectares of peatland in the province had been converted into palm oil plantations. In Riau, the local administration allocated 38.5 percent of its total forest area for conversion into plantations.
"As of 2006, there were 2.7 million hectares of plantations, including 1.5 million hectares of palm oil plantations," he said.
Wirendro said that out of the 550,000 hectares of forests felled for plantations in Papua, 480,000 hectares had been allocated for growing palm oil.
The Forestry Ministry has said total palm oil plantations increased to 6.1 million hectares in 2006 from 1.1 million hectares in 1990.
The ministry has claimed the rate of deforestation between 1987 and 1997 remained constant at 1.8 million hectares per year before spiking to 2.8 million hectares per year by 2000 mainly because of severe forest fires. However, between 2000 and 2006, the rate fell to 1.08 million hectares per year, it added.
The Indonesian Forest Watch has said the deforestation rate stood at 1.9 million hectares per year from 1989 to 2003.
The Guinness Book of World Records puts Indonesia as the country with the highest rate of deforestation on the planet, citing a rate equivalent to 300 soccer fields per hour.
Wirendro said another factor contributing to the acceleration of forest deforestation was the rising demand for timber due to the low supply of raw materials from industrial forests managed by pulp and paper firms in the country.
"The capacity of paper industries increased sharply from one million tons in 1987 to 11 million tons in 2007, while the capacity of pulp companies also rose from0.5 million tons to 6.5 million tons over the same period," he said.
"But, the industries could only supply about 50 percent of the needed raw materials. We believe the companies also take timber from outside their concessions, including production forests (to offset the shortages)."
Wirendro said wood product industries, which bought wood from illegal and illegal sources, could be the main driver of deforestation in Indonesia. There are currently seven pulp and paper companies operating in the country.
The study said the previous government's transmigration programs had also contributed to deforestation.
In Riau, 773,331 hectares of forest were converted into transmigration areas, while the Papua administration cut down 375,203 hectares of forest to make way for resettlement zones.
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Triwik Kurniasari, Jakarta – Environmental impact assessments (Amdal) are still not being enforced, with rivers becoming increasingly polluted while many industries do not properly treat their waste, environmentalists said Wednesday.
Industrial firms believe Amdal is only an administrative formality, said Hasbi Azis from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment's (Walhi) Jakarta chapter.
"It (Amdal) has not been applied properly. Only 10 percent of 200 industrial companies in Jakarta have waste treatment facilities," Hasbi said during a dialogue at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) office on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
"Besides that, there are 54 factories expelling hazardous waste with no Amdal. The factories dump their waste into the city's rivers. And this doesn't count the waste dumped by hospitals in the city," he said.
According to the Walhi research division, 90 percent of hospitals in Jakarta dispose of their waste at public dumps, he said.
"This kind of waste should be separated from other waste because it is very dangerous. The administration should provide a special dump and treatment facility for hospital waste so it doesn't harm people," he said.
Hasbi also criticized the Jakarta Environmental Management Board (BPLHD) and the State Ministry for the Environment for not taking strict action against industrial firms disobeying the environment law.
"BPLHD has the authority to take stern measures against alleged polluters who do not build waste treatment facilities."
Hermien Roosita from the State Ministry for the Environment said there had been many Amdal violations, but it was not easy to take the cases to court.
"It is the police who investigate and take the cases to the attorney's offices. If they stop the investigation, there is nothing we can do nothing about it," Hermien said.
She said the ministry was also drafting a revision of the 2007 law on environmental management to improve law enforcement.
"In the draft, both industrial firms and officers face sanctions if they disobeyed the law on Amdal.
"Industrialists risk a six-month jail sentence and Rp 1 billion (US$94,000) fine, while the officers face a minimum two-year jail sentence and a Rp 100 million fine," Hermien said.
"We hope the revised law will effectively solve disputes over environmental pollution between industrial firms, the administration and residents."
Walhi faces obstacles every time it tries to resolve environmental disputes at court, Hasbi said.
"We receive more than 100 environmental complaints every year, but we fail to win the cases. We have difficulty obtaining evidence," he said.
"Once we were in court and the prosecutor nullified our evidence, including photographs and video recordings, by saying it was not enough to prove the allegation," he said, adding that there was a lack of environmental understanding among law enforcers. "The government should hold routine training on the environment for officers at district attorney's offices and the attorney general's office."
| Health & education |
Jakarta Post - October 25, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Ernawati recalls her outrage when her daughter, a second-grader at a private school in Bekasi, West Java, came home in tears one day.
"I was shocked to learn the teacher 'hit' my daughter with a ruler in front of the whole class, just because she made a mistake in maths," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
She said her seven-year-old daughter, Lestari, ranked in the top 10 in her class, grew fearful of attending math classes at the school.
"I reported the case to the school's headmaster because this was the third time the teacher had punished a student for making a mistake in class. But none of the other parents were aware of it," Ernawati said.
"This is killing the spirit of my daughter. I believe it is violence against children."
Lestari is among millions of students across the country who suffer some form of violence at school. The government-sanctioned Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) said violence against children was on the rise in schools.
KPAI chairwoman Masnah Sari said the incidents ranged from punishing students for not doing their homework, to sexual abuse. "We found several primary school students in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta, were kicked out of class and ordered to stand outside in the sun because they did not do their homework," she said.
On Friday, the KPAI reported the incidents to Vice President Jusuf Kalla. The commission said it received 555 complaints in 2007 about cases of violence committed by teachers during school hours, with that number constantly rising.
"Surprisingly, in 11.8 percent of the cases, the abuse was committed by teachers in school, and in 18 percent of cases, by people in their immediate social circles," Masnah said.
"As of July this year, cases of violence against students have increased by 39 percent. What's worse is most of the school cases involve sexual abuse by the teachers."
She said most victims of violence in school were female students. "This means female students are more vulnerable to sexual harassment," Masnah said.
She said that in West Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, 13 students were forced to leave their school because they refused to salute the national flag.
"The students refused to do so because of their religious beliefs. They weren't wrong. It was the teachers who violated the 2002 law on child protection," Masnah said after meeting with Kalla. She added the KPAI would discuss the issue with the National Education Ministry.
During the meeting, Kalla ordered the commission to bring to justice all teachers or parents involved in violence against children.
"I asked the KPAI to take stern measures to prevent sexual abuse or child exploitation. They can report these cases to the police," Kalla said at a press conference after Friday prayers.
The government established the KPAI in 2004 to help draw up child protection policies, with KPAI members selected by the House of Representatives.
Jakarta Post - October 26, 2008
Andra Wisnu, Denpasar – Commercial sex workers have been found roaming some of Bali's more remote villages, increasing the possibility of a wider spread of HIV, a report from the Bali Regional AIDS Commission (KPA) revealed Friday.
Yahya Hanshori, program coordinator at the Bali Regional AIDS Commission who works with the island's HIV-infected former sex workers, said sex workers began working in Bali's villages after public order officers tightened their grip on the island's cities.
Yahya, who delivered the report at the KPA office in Denpasar, said the condition had forced sex workers to develop new ways to receive income, including by stationing themselves in areas that were not as fiercely monitored.
"But sadly, this only increases the possibility of a wider spread of HIV because villagers are even less aware of sexually transmitted diseases than city people,"he said. "This is a really, really troubling development."
According to the report, only 20 percent out of the estimated 3,000 sex workers in Bali use condoms during intercourse, which, Yahya said, led to an HIV infection rate of 840 males who pay for sex services each year.
Yahya, who could not specify how many sex workers had been found in villages or the name of the villages, said the commission would continue to monitor these sex workers while offering free counseling on the prevention of HIV infection to anyone.
"Obviously we are trying to work together with sex workers and those key population groups who are most prone to HIV infection,"Yahya said.
"We simply do not want this disease to hit anyone, so I urge those who feel like they need counseling to come to the KPA,"he said.
Bali still struggles to contain HIV because the island is known as a destination spot for tourists looking for sex workers. The sex industry continues to thrive due to the island's popularity with tourists and its dependency on the tourism industry.
The government established the KPA to contain the spread of HIV by offering free contraception and education on sexually transmitted diseases to sex workers and drug users, another population group prone to HIV infection.
The report, which is based on interviews and monthly reports from Bali's hospitals, further revealed there were a total of 2,323 known cases of HIV infection on the island in September this year.
Heterosexuals and people in the age group of between 20 and 29 make up the largest number of people known to be infected with HIV, while Injected Drug Users and people in the age group of between 30 and 39 make up the second largest group.
The KPA has estimated that there are actually more than 4,000 people living with HIV or AIDS in Bali.
| War on corruption |
Jakarta Post - October 29, 2008
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has fired six of its prosecutors, citing charges of bribery, extortion, drug abuse, negligence and disobedience.
Assistant Attorney General for Internal Affairs Darmono said in Jakarta on Tuesday that among the dismissed officials were Ratmadi Saptondo, a former head of Tilumata Prosecutor's Office in Gorontalo.
Ratmadi came under the public spotlight when a recording of his conversation with an official of the Boalemo regency administration was leaked to public. In the conversation, Ratmadi threatened to arrest a number of top administration officials for their possible involvement in corruption cases. He expressed his dissatisfaction with Boalemo Regent Iwan Boking and other officials for the amount of money they had received.
"Our internal investigation concluded that he had violated our code of ethics. The attorney general (Hendarman Supandji) decided to fire him immediately after he read the conclusion," Darmono said.
The AGO also fired "SW" from West Sumatra and "TH" from East Nusa Tenggara for extortion and receiving bribes. Prosecutors DOP from Poso, Central Sulawesi, and SF from Timika, Papua, were fired for drug abuse and for being absent without leave, respectively.
"Prosecutor SF was absent from his duty for more than a year without having asked for permission," Darmono said.
He also said prosecutor "HST" from Karawang, West Java, had been fired for negligence resulting in the escape of a prisoner. "HST escorted prisoner Ali Rahman without any guards from the police, allowing the prisoner to escape," he added.
Darmono said the AGO was currently investigating eight other prosecutors, including one charged with polygamy, which is banned by a regulation on public servants.
He said the AGO had recently begun investigating three of its officials in Medan, North Sumatra, who had allegedly manipulated court verdicts.
Two weeks ago, the police arrested three people for allegedly illegally reducing the jail term of a convicted drug dealer.
The court in August sentenced Sumarlin (alias Cen Yu) to two years' imprisonment, but three officials allegedly produced a new court document with false signatures and stamps that stipulated a sentence of only six months.
The three also allegedly received between Rp 2 million (US$171) and Rp 3 million in bribes to falsify the document.
| Elections/political parties |
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The House of Representatives unanimously passed the presidential election bill Wednesday, bringing an end to a heated debate over the minimum support a party must win to nominate a presidential candidate.
The newly enacted law requires a party or coalition of parties to win a minimum 20 percent of House seats or 25 percent of popular votes to be eligible to nominate a candidate.
Most of the 10 House factions had agreed with the proposed thresholds during a preceding plenary session, although the National Mandate Party (PAN) insisted until the dying minutes that the House seat threshold be set at 15 percent.
"All factions have wisely decided to avoid voting to prioritize the nation's interests," Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, chairman of the House's committee deliberating the bill, told the plenary session.
Home Minister Mardiyanto, State Secretary Hatta Radjasa and Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata attended the meeting to represent the government.
The factions also agreed to scrap an article in the bill forbidding the elected president and vice president from retaining executive political party posts.
The PAN, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) had voiced their support for the bill until the last.
Political observers said the agreed threshold meant President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would be unable to run for reelection with only the backing of his Democratic Party, which occupies 57 of the total 550 seats at the House, forcing him to form a coalition with other parties.
Analysts said the new law meant the political advantage now lay with the Golkar Party and its chairman Jusuf Kalla, as well as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and its presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Yudhi Latief, executive director of the Reform Institute, said the incumbent President would desperately need the support of Golkar to secure his candidacy as the rising PKS had distanced itself from Yudhoyono and the PKB was unlikely to win many seats in next year's legislative elections.
"That's why Yudhoyono hinted earlier he would run with Kalla again. But it has created tension among many Golkar cadres who want to have their own presidential candidate," Yudhi added.
Indo Barometer executive director Muhammad Qodari said it would become complicated for Yudhoyono if Golkar decided to nominate its own presidential candidate, forcing him to seek support from many smaller parties and thus compromise on his political stance.
"I think there will be only three candidates with the (new) threshold: Yudhoyono, Megawati and an alternative hopeful that could either be Sri Sultan (Hamengkubuwono X), Wiranto or Prabowo," he said.
Sindo - October 29, 2008
Jakarta – The results of research and a political study by Charta Politika (Political Charter) has revealed that the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) has three sources of strength to help it win the 2009 legislative elections.
Strong support for the Gerindra Party will come from the mass network and supporters of retired General Prabowo Subianto, who is also the chair of the advisory board to the party with the Garuda bird as its symbol. According to the Charta Politika Executive Director Bima Arya Sugiarto, there are five key sources of mass support that are directly headed by Subianto.
These five networks could become a permanent source of votes and at the same time a mass base of support for the Gerindra Party. The five networks include, among others, the Indonesia Farmers Association (HKTI), the National Farmers Mainstay Group (KTNA), the All Indonesia Association of Market Traders (APPSI), the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) and the Supersemar Foundation founded by the Subianto's former father-in-law, the late President Suharto.
"If Gerindra is able to take care of these mass networks, it could become a threat, including for the big parties," said Sugiarto said explaining the results of his research in Jakarta yesterday. Furthermore, according to Sugiarto, the second strength that the Gerindra Party has in addition to Subianto's background as the head of these five strategic organisations, is as a businessperson and also his military experience as the former commander of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) and the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus).
The third strength for the Gerindra party is strong financial support, primarily coming out of Subianto's own pocket. Among other positions that he holds, he is the CEO of Nusantara Energi, which has assets valued at US$1 billion. Nusantara Energi is active in the forestry, plantation, mining, fisheries, pulp and paper and professional services sectors.
The Charta Politika research also noted that there was financial support from Subianto's brother Hashim Sujono, the owner of Nations Energy, which has assets valued at US$2.3 billion. According to Sugiarto, the popularity and support for the Gerindra Party will grow and be sustained if Gerindra is able to strengthen its advertising campaign through socialisation, strengthening the grassroots base and the party's social networks.
The party must also be able to translate the big concepts about economic nationalism, food security and industry into issues that are local in character. Sugiarto also said that Subianto as an individual figure has a huge influence over the pace and popularity of the party and organisational networks that are both strong and extensive. "Not to mention the non-stop 'air attacks' or advertisements that are concrete and grounded", he said.
Gerindra Deputy Chairperson Fadli Zon meanwhile said that Gerindra and Subianto are like two sides of a coin that cannot be separated. "It has to be admitted that without Prabowo, Gerindra's pace [of growth] would be slow, but indeed it is preferable if voting for a party that it is packaged as one with its presidential candidate", he said. (fahmi faisa)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Slamet Sutanto, Yogyakarta – In Javanese tradition, a king or sultan is a figure with superlative abilities because of the divine revelation needed to become one.
Cults grow up around them, and ordinary people deify them. The sultan is meant to be unerring, a figure above reproach and whose every order must be done. His words become the law, and his people are subject to them.
"I live and die for Ngarso Dalem," said Rudjito, a villager in Samas Beach, Bantul, referring to Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. "I am just a layman who must obey the king."
The father of two braved the scorching sun in the back of a pickup truck to attend the Pisowanan Agung (grand meeting) on Tuesday where Hamengkubuwono declared his bid for the presidency in 2009.
"I will support Ngarso Dalem with my life," Rudjito said after the meeting. He was confident Hamengkubuwono would win the presidential election, citing his lineage from the Mataram kings and "supranatural abilities".
The Yogyakarta governor's father, the late Hamengkubuwono IX, served as vice president from 1973 to 1978 under former president Soeharto.
Yogyakarta was once a sovereign sultanate, and most of its residents still believe in the king's omnipotence, thus the reason for the tens of thousands in attendance at the grand meeting.
However, a paradigm shift is underway, as manifest in the people's request for Hamengkubuwono to attend the meeting – tradition dictates the king's subjects may never request anything of him.
"This is a learning process of democratization for Yogyakartans, and it shows democracy is alive in Yogyakarta society," Hamengkubuwono said.
"The grand meeting was an instrument to learn about democratization. In the past, the sultan always gave the commands; but now, through the meeting, the sultan was commanded to run for president."
Hamengkubuwono was cautious in reminding his supporters there was a good possibility he could lose the election.
The Pisowanan Agung has a long tradition dating back to Hamengkubuwono I, founder of the Yogyakarta sultanate.
Kanjeng Raden Tumenggung Pujaningrat, a Yogyakarta court official, said the meeting was a customary for ceremonies such as a coronation or gerebeg religious festivals.
"This recent Pisowanan Agung strayed from the original meaning. The commoners are not asking for something but only listening to what the sultan has to say," he said. "Requesting something is conducted through the topo pepe."
In the topo pepe ritual, a commoner sits in Alun-alun Square in all kinds of weather, hoping the sultan grants them their request. "What they have in common is that both events are attended by many people," Pujaningrat said.
Reuters - October 29, 2008
Yogyakarta – The Sultan of Yogyakarta, a revered Indonesian royal who has long harbored political ambitions, told an audience of thousands made up of princes and commoners that he would run for president next year.
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, whom many Javanese regard as semi- divine, said he would address widespread unemployment and poverty if he won the election against incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"Fulfilling the call of the mother country, I am ready to be the president in 2009," the sultan, 62, told a crowd of about 200,000 who braved the rain to gather in Yogyakarta's main square to hear him speak, applauding enthusiastically.
Hamengkubuwono, who is also governor of Yogyakarta, is not the first Indonesian royal to dabble in politics. Some of his royal counterparts from the various kratons, or palaces, in Bali and elsewhere have joined political parties.
Some of his ancestors famously resisted the Dutch colonial powers, while his father served as vice president under the late president Suharto.
The royal family's support for independence from the Dutch helped to cement their popularity in Java, home to more than 58 percent of Indonesia's total population.
More recently, in 1998, the sultan's call for national unity at the height of Indonesia's political and economic crisis helped his political credentials. He remains popular in Java, the island with the most political clout.
But Hamengkubuwono may struggle to beat Yudhoyono, the current front-runner. A recent opinion poll put Yudhoyono's support at 32 percent, ahead of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri's 24 percent. The sultan had the support of about 4 percent, slightly behind Wiranto, Suharto's former army chief.
Born Bendoro Raden Mas Herjuno Darpito, the sultan inherited the title of "beholder of the universe" in 1989 on the death of his father, who famously used to sneak out of the palace in disguise to mingle and talk to ordinary people in the market.
The current sultan loves golf and is pro-business, but he still rules as a demigod over Yogyakarta, which is renowned for its art, culture, and large student population, and where palace staff traditionally walk in a crouching position in his presence.
[Writing by Olivia Rondonuwu and Sara Webb in Jakarta; editing by Roger Crabb.]
Jakarta Post - October 29, 2008
Abdul Khalik – The House of Representatives has moved closer to a compromise to unanimously pass the presidential election bill on Wednesday, after nine of 10 factions agreed on the minimum percentage of House seats a party or coalition must win to be able to nominate its own presidential candidate.
Chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party's (PKS) House faction Mahfudz Siddiq said all factions but the National Mandate Party (PAN) had agreed on a threshold of 20 percent of House seats or 25 percent of popular votes to contest the presidential election.
"The possibility of the House unanimously endorsing the bill is 90 percent," he said on the sidelines of an inter-faction meeting Tuesday night.
The other sticking point is whether the elected president and vice president should be allowed to retain executive posts at their respective political parties. Mahfudz said the decision on the matter would be made prior to the House plenary Wednesday.
Legislators had been unable to agree on any of three proposed thresholds. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party, which together control 234 of the House's 550 seats, said a party must occupy at least 25 percent of seats at the House to be able to nominate a presidential candidate.
The PKS demanded the threshold be set at 20 percent of House seats or 25 percent of popular votes cast in the legislative election, while other parties, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, opted for a lower threshold of 15 percent of House seats and 20 percent of popular votes.
"We want to make the presidential election simple and moderate," Mahfudz said.
Other legislators have said that if the threshold value is decided in a vote, many parties will return to their original, more extreme proposals, such as Golkar and the PDI-P's previous suggestion of 30 percent of House seats and many other smaller parties' proposals of 15 percent.
The PDI-P and the Golkar Party were the only parties that rejected an article requiring an elected president or vice president to resign from a party executive post.
The Golkar Party is now led by Vice President Jusuf Kalla. PDI-P leader Megawati Soekarnoputri did not relinquish her top post at the party when she served as the country's fourth president from 2001 and 2004.
Although political parties are not in favor of passing the bill in a vote, many factions have attempted to lobby support from other factions to endorse their proposals.
The Golkar and the PDI-P need one more major faction to ensure a majority in the vote.
The PDI-P is pushing for a high threshold to guarantee that only a maximum of three candidates can contest the presidential election. This would give Megawati a much better chance of winning the election in the first round.
With his only support coming from the Democratic Party, which has 57 seats at the House, President Yudhoyono needs to keep the threshold low to allow him to run for a second term without having to form a coalition with other parties.
Jakarta Post - October 29, 2008
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – The East Nusa Tenggara General Election Commission (KPUD) announced that at least 22 of the provinces 38 political parties have failed to meet the minimum quota of 30 percent women members.
KPUD's spokesman Djidon de Haan said Tuesday that KPUD lack the authority to punish the parties.
"People will give them social punishments," he said, adding the commission also found that only 1,088 out of 1,210 legislative candidates met the other requirements to run in the 2009 election.
The KPUD has received 48 letters from residents criticizing parties for their lack of women candidates in the upcoming election.
Some of the letters also alleged candidates' involvement in immoral deeds and criticized the recruitment system and the distribution of the candidates' number list. "We have sent letters to parties, asking them to answer people's questions," Djidon said.
Jakarta Post - October 29, 2008
Slamet Susanto and Tarko Sudiarno, Yogyakarta – After much speculation, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X announced Tuesday his bid for the presidency in 2009, at a meeting that drew together the country's nobility.
"By requesting guidance from the One God and based on sincere motivation to serve the Motherland, I hereby declare my readiness to become president in 2009," he said.
The crowd of 20,000 cheered the announcement, which comes after months of suspense over whether Hamengkubuwono would run. "From now on, we have to unite as a nation," Hamengkubuwono said before leaving the stage.
The statement was made during a pisowanan agung (great meeting) held in the city's Alun-alun Utara Square. In a press conference after the announcement, Hamengkubuwono said he was driven to serve and change the nation to create a compassionate society and boost Indonesia's global standing.
"I can't stand seeing the people suffer," he said. "Poverty and unemployment are increasing. Ten years of reform have not brought fundamental change."
He also said he wanted to change the Yogyakartan mind-set that held the sultan up as an unerring figure, into a more democratic one.
"As a sultan, I am no more noble than those 100 years ago. As a sultanate, Yogyakarta is part of the Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia and must support democratization," he said.
"A sultan must also accept criticism and follow democratic values. It is no problem if I lose the election. "It does not necessarily mean I have humiliated myself. On the other hand, I cannot be arrogant if I do win."
Hamengkubuwono admitted he had yet to decide on a political vehicle for his presidency, but was taking into consideration political developments after the legislative elections. He also deferred the choice of a running mate until after the polls in April.
It is unclear whether Hamengkubuwono must resign as Yogyakarta governor, pending the endorsement of the presidential election bill.
Hamengkubuwono is also chairman of the Yogyakarta branch of the Golkar Party, which has refrained from naming a presidential candidate before the legislative election, following its three- day meeting that ended Oct. 20.
During that meeting, however, several regional branches called on the party to name a presidential candidate to gauge the public's response.
In addition to Hamengkubuwono, other names being flouted included party chairman Jusuf Kalla, deputy chairman Agung Laksono, chief patron and media mogul Surya Paloh, former chairman Akbar Tandjung, and Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad.
The legislative election is set for April 9, next year while the presidential election will be held in the first week of July.
The Yogyakarta governor's father, the late Hamengkubuwono IX, served as vice president from 1973 to 1978 under former president Soeharto.
Those in attendance at Tuesday's meeting included film director Garin Nugroho and political observer Sukardi Rinakit. Singers Franky Sahilatua and Trie Utami, along with dozens of traditional dance troupes, provided the entertainment.
Jakarta Post - October 28, 2008
Jakarta – The Prosperous and Justice Party's (PKS) decision not to include President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on its list of presidential candidates will not hurt the President, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said here Monday.
Andi said Yudhoyono would remain focused on his duties until the end of his tenure next year. "It is the party's (PKS) internal affairs. They have their own plans," he said. "The President will stay focused on completing his duties."
On Sunday, the PKS published its list of eight candidates, one of whom will be nominated to run for the July 2009 election. Among the eight are People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid and PKS chairman Tifatul Sembiring.
Jakarta Post - October 25, 2008
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Less than six months before the 2009 legislative elections in April, the public still have no idea about when they will take place, according to a survey released Friday by the General Elections Commission (KPU).
Sixty-one percent of 2,500 voters involved in the survey said they did not know the elections would be held next April, with only 12 percent providing the right answer.
The survey, jointly conducted by the KPU, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and the Polling Center, sought to determine the public's perception about next year's elections, four months after the KPU began collecting the information.
The survey was conducted from August to September in 25 provinces across the country.
Yanti Sugarda from the Polling Center said 26 percent of respondents claimed they knew nothing about the elections, 54 percent had some information and only 2 percent were well- informed.
While most respondents admitted knowing little, they remained enthusiastic about taking part in the elections.
"Eighty four percent of respondents said they would participate in the legislative elections and 75 percent said they were ready to cast their votes in the presidential election. We have determined that one out of eight Indonesian people are interested in taking part," she said.
The respondents said the information they desired was about candidacy, where and when to vote, participating political parties, registration, districting, campaigns, voting procedures, how to mark the ballot paper, vote counting and how candidates are chosen.
"The people also need to know about the exact date of the elections," Yanti said. KPU member Endang Sulastri said the distribution of the survey results was not yet optimal.
"With all our shortcomings, we have been trying our best to publicize the information by cooperating with related stakeholders. We will use the results of this survey to intensify our efforts," Endang said.
Concerning the public's eagerness to vote, she said the survey showed the public strongly support the elections. "In fact, it boosts our spirit amid the perception that our people are very apathetic and prefer to abstain from voting."
She said the KPU was currently preparing television advertisements to be broadcast soon in a move to raise people's awareness of the elections.
The KPU has allocated Rp 15 billion to promote the results publicly, including the publication of lists of legislative candidates and eligible voters.
| Armed forces/defense |
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Surabaya – Army Chief Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo has asked the newly appointed chief of the Brawijaya Military Command, Maj. Gen. Suwarno, to secure all assets in the province belonging to the Indonesian Military (TNI).
"I am asking the new general to keep his eyes on TNI's assets in the province and renew all documents according to the official procedure," he said in his address at the transfer ceremony where Suwarno succeeded Maj. Gen. Bambang Suranto on Wednesday.
All military assets in the province should be protected and utilized for the military command's mission and its personnel's social welfare, Agustadi said.
"Through a standard documentation and true administrative procedure, all the assets will be protected and maintained to avoid any misuse in the future."
Separately, Effendy Choirie, a National Awakening Party (PKB) legislator from East Java and member of the House of Representatives' special committee on disputed land issues, called on the military command to give back many plots of land in the province it unilaterally took from people.
He accused the military command of being sly for registering many plots of lands in Surabaya and other areas in the province with the Finance Ministry and National Agrarian Agency. The military took the land from the people without providing compensation, he said.
"If the military command considers itself a part of the people, all the land it has taken by force or without compensation should be given back to the people."
TNI should stop running businesses and hand over all of its business assets to the government to be more professional, he said.
"Besides the fact that the military businesses have only benefited the military elite, the military cannot focus on improving its professionalism since it has been involved in practical politics in the past and is still running its businesses in numerous sectors having no links with the military," he said.
He said his committee would hold a hearing with the government team assigned to take over the TNI businesses to discuss the fate of the land.
TNI Commander Gen. Djoko Santoso said his side would hand over all business units, except the cooperatives found beneficial for servicemen, to the government team.
Agustadi said he was optimistic that Suwarno had the leadership required to complete his main tasks well, adding that promotion was not a present but a mandate. He said he would be accountable and improve the military command's professionalism to maintain security and political stability in the province.
Suwarno was appointed as the new chief of the military command early this month. He replaces Bambang, who was promoted as new chief of the Army school of staff (Seskoad) in Bandung, West Java. Suwarno previously worked as the chief of the presidential bodyguard squad (Paspampres) in Jakarta.
Suwarno was born to a farmer family in Purworejo, Central Java, in 1955. He began his military career in the Army's cavalry battalions and later spent much of his time in the cavalry, security and UN peace missions overseas.
After completing his job as chief of the Military Resort072 in Central Java in 2005, he assumed his new job as chief of the Army's cavalry education and training command in 2006. He was promoted as the chief of the presidential bodyguard squad in October 2007.
| Economy & investment |
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Jakarta – The Jakarta stock exchange's main index rose 5.4 percent on Thursday as the rupiah gained against the dollar, showing signs of life following a heavy battering for most of the week.
The Composite Index added 60.24 points to close at 1,173.86, in what Bloomberg said was the steepest daily increase since Oct. 14. However, the index is still down by 57 percent from January levels.
The rise was also in line with regional trends, with interest rate cuts in major economies lifting market confidence previously gripped by fears of a global economic recession.
Among the gainers were Bank Mandiri and Bank Danamon, the largest and fourth largest lenders by assets. Mandiri shares advanced 9.2 percent to close at Rp 1,300, while Danamon's jumped 10 percent to Rp 2,200.
Bank Central Asia (BCA) shares climbed Rp 200, or 9.1 percent, to Rp 2,400. Mandiri and BCA have reported promising third quarter financial reports, with the former booking 24.4 percent growth in nine-month net profits from a year earlier, and the latter 19 percent.
Shares in state coal miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) also enjoyed a hefty rise, climbing 9.6 percent to Rp 4,575. State gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) shares rose 9.9 percent to close at Rp 1,220.
PT International Nickel Indonesia (INCO), the country's largest nickel miner, saw its shares jump 9.9 percent to close at Rp 1,450, while shares in PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) rose 9.8 percent to 1,010. Shares in tin producer PT Timah advanced 9.1 percent to close Rp 1,080.
Bloomberg also reported that shares in PT Gudang Garam, the country's second largest cigarette maker, rose 8.6 percent to Rp 3,800, snapping a six-day 35 percent slump. The company said its nine-month profit rose 23 percent after it raised prices and introduced new brands.
On the currency market, the rupiah rose the most in more than two years after rate cuts in the United States, China and Taiwan boosted stocks and gave investors more confidence in emerging- market assets.
The local currency climbed 2.1 percent to 10,675 against the dollar as of 4:28 p.m., compared with 10,900 on Wednesday, Bloomberg said. The gain is the largest since May 17, 2006.
The rupiah weakened to more than 11,000 per dollar earlier this week, prompting the government to introduce a set of policies to boost foreign exchange reserves and confidence in the currency.
They include requiring state companies to place their foreign reserves, including export proceeds, in domestic banks.
The government may also exercise currency swap arrangements with the central banks of China, South Korea and Japan to bolster its foreign exchange reserves. The arrangements amount to US$12 billion.
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2008
Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The rupiah continued its slide Wednesday against the US dollar, with the market unresponsive to the government's newly launched set of fiscal policies, waiting for them to take effect.
The rupiah fell to Rp 11,025 per dollar at 5:15 p.m. in Jakarta, from Rp 10,900 at 4:19 p.m. on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.
"The policies will take time (to turn market sentiment around), but they did spark positive sentiment early on," said Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Danareksa Research Institute head of research. "I think the (government's) moves are good; we'll just wait for the implementation."
During morning trading, the rupiah climbed to Rp 10,400 per dollar, but lost steam later on. "The rupiah can't rebound in a day. There's no one-day cure for (market) sentiment," Purbaya said.
He added the government should implement its policies, including buying back government bonds and ordering state-run companies to place their foreign reserves – including export proceeds – in local banks, to help boost the rupiah.
"If the implementation works, the sentiment will change," he said, calling the 10 policies "far more realistic" than the 10 unveiled by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Oct. 6.
The earlier policies included maintaining economic growth at above 6 percent and doing business as usual, which economists deemed unrealistic and unapplicable.
The new policies were announced Tuesday by the government, in a bid to bolster foreign reserves and prop up the rupiah. They include the exercising of currency swap agreements with the central banks of China, South Korea and Japan, if needed.
Purbaya said if the government and the central bank started to buy back government bonds, market sentiment would rise.
Currency analyst Farial Anwar, however, said the policies were good but did not address the main problems. "There are two problems: Free capital flow and free currency traders," he said. "The government is supposed to limit the flow of hot money entering the country and the sales of dollars."
By adopting a capital control, Farial went on, the government could manage the flow of investment-oriented money, or hot money, into and out of Indonesia.
Jakarta Post - October 29, 2008
Veeramalla Anjaiah, Jakarta – With concern setting in about the declining rupiah and share prices, there is good news yet: Indonesia next year will be much more stable than regional peers India, Malaysia and Thailand, a Hong Kong-based political risk consultancy said Monday.
"Indonesia is much more stable today than it was when the regional financial crisis hit in 1997-98. The coming election campaign is likely to see the present government return, with (President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) winning the presidency and keeping Jusuf Kalla as his vice president," the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) said in a report, whose executive summary is available on PERC's website.
Following a massive crackdown on alleged terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah in recent years, coupled with improving social conditions, Indonesia seems almost guaranteed of stability. But the threat of terrorism is still a factor, PERC warned.
"There is still a possibility of more terrorist incidents, but overall social conditions are more stable now than at any time in a decade," it said.
PERC assessed 16 countries in its Asian Risk Prospects – 2009 on factors such as the risk of racial and communal tensions, struggle for power, the threat posed by social activism, and vulnerability to policy changes by other governments.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, rated as the fourth least stable country in the region, with a score of six on a scale of 10, in which zero represents the best socio-political conditions and 10 the highest risk.
South Asian behemoth India topped the table with the highest political and social risk, scoring 6.87, mainly because of internal and external instability. PERC cited fears over Pakistan, a major player in the global war on terror.
Thailand is pegged to be the next least stable country in Southeast Asia next year, scoring 6.28, as the current political mayhem and the separatist violence looks set to run into 2009.
Surprisingly, Malaysia, which escaped much of the wrath of the 1997 financial crisis, will be the third least stable in the region, with the report noting the political wranglings were aggravating racial and religious tensions.
"The status quo is changing in ways that will see a stronger political opposition than in the past and UMNO (the ruling party) forced to share more power with non-Malay groups," the report said.
But these three countries could be relatively immune to the global financial fallout.
"India, Thailand and Malaysia are not so much vulnerable to negative fallout from the global financial crisis as they are to factors that are mainly internal," Robert Broadfoot, PERC managing director, told Reuters on Tuesday.
| Analysis & opinion |
Jakarta Post Editorial - November 1, 2008
For centuries Jakarta has been plagued by floods because of its geographical position. For centuries the rainy season has begun in the same month every year. And for centuries Jakarta residents and local authorities have prepared themselves for the annual deluge long before the rainy season sweeps the city, of course.
But to the disbelief of many, as disclosed by a City senior official, Fauzi Bowo's administration started flood preparations only after the rains started pouring down upon this city.
There is an Indonesia saying, Sedia payung sebelum hujan, which means, "Prepare your umbrella before it rains". But Jakarta authorities apparently only started to look for where they left their umbrella once the rising waters reached their ankles.
Budi Widiantoro, deputy head of the city's Public Works Agency, said recently the agency would dredge 16 sections of river across the city to minimize the impact of this season's floods. Unfortunately, these projects will only start this month and be completed by December.
Budi's remark gives the impression that flooding is hardly a problem for Jakarta. Rain will pour down only after the local government has fully prepared for the annual natural phenomenon.
Jakarta's administration has not taken other meaningful preventive measures either, such as cleaning out the smaller canals along roadways, usually clogged with all sorts of debris.
We are all aware that the annual flooding is unavoidable: The city's efforts cannot completely prevent, only mitigate, the consequences of the deluges that often spark massive losses affecting both individuals and public property.
Still, we do hope taxpayers' money allocated for the programs designed to mitigate floods will not be turned into pointless projects thanks to a sluggish city bureaucracy.
So we regret that flood-mitigating projects such as river dredging and smaller canal clean-ups have not started even though residents are already beginning to feel the effects of the season's first downpours.
The deputy chair of Jakarta's Legislative Council's Commission D for development, Muhayar Rustamudin, said the administration had managed to spend only about 50 percent of the funds allocated for flood mitigation – Rp 813 billion (US$76.69 million) all told – by mid-October.
It seems that the administration has not learned from its previous failures that any degree of precipitation causes problems in the capital. Small difficulties easily become gnarly problems, such as magnified traffic congestion after puddles, even ponds, dot roads across the city.
Governor Fauzi and his staff know full well that this problem has been brought on by poor maintenance of the drainage systems along the roads that facilitate the rainwater draining quickly into nearby rivers.
Perhaps the administration thinks it is no big deal, ignoring that water on the roads causes greater congestion, annoys and endangers motorists and causes asphalt to deteriorate more rapidly, raising road-maintenance costs.
We cannot brook the argument that bureaucratic procedures, including the tender process, need time. Tenders take time, but the real question is, why is the bureaucracy always several steps behind in their planning? Why not start the process earlier so these projects can finish before the advent of the rainy season?
We wonder why the tender for the river-dredging projects could not have been implemented earlier. Ideally such projects should have been finished now when the rains are beginning to pour down on the capital.
If the dredgings, slated to kick off early this month, get implemented without any hitches, they will finish in December when many fear floods are likely to have already inundated parts of the city. If that happens, such projects will miss the mark and fail to ease the misery of flood victims.
We hope the administration will work harder to complete all flood-related projects as soon as possible so they might significantly ease the impact of the floods.
No less important is the establishing of an early-warning system to prevent casualties, an effective evacuation system and better temporary shelters and accommodation for flood victims, usually numbering in the tens of thousands.
We also hope the city will go ahead with its longer-term flood- mitigation projects such as speeding up the development of the Eastern Flood Canal and relocating squatters living along river banks.
But we do not expect to see any such improvements in the near future. Most likely, city leaders will only blame Mother Nature when floods devastate this city in the coming months.
Jakarta Post Editorial - October 31, 2008
Preventing the sexual exploitation of children and protecting women's rights are societal duties of surpassing importance. There can be no qualms about that.
But where is the moral right, the disciples of the Pornography Bill, when a middle-aged religious figure weds a minor or polygamy is openly consented to?
Nietzsche said morality was the herd instinct of the individual. We laud morality, but reproach the "herd" – political parties, the congregation of conscientious housewives and the axis advocates claiming to save the children – who allowed the Pornography Bill to pass on Thursday in the tainted halls of our legislature.
Morals did not spur the passing of this bill – political convenience, we suspect, did. It was an act of unscrupulous voting to boost the moral credentials of parties fearful of losing their captive moral voice. Any bill motivated by expedience, like obscenity, is objectionable.
Our gravest concerns do not cease there. As it stands the bill represents many elements detrimental to a free society: moral dogma, censorship and vigilantism.
The definition of pornography remains a question of great debate in the exalted halls of justice throughout the world. We recall the opinion of US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who, in reviewing a 1964 case, said, "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it."
The definition as contained in the present Pornography Bill – "which violates the norms of societal morality/decency" – is dangerously ambiguous. Who defines the "moral code" of decency?
The ulemas who once forbade women from being president? The priest who speaks of principles but cannot live by them? Or the politician who serves the party's business interests and not the voters? How does such a definition take into account the evolving paradigms of social behavior?
Such vagueness opens the door for persecution as standards can be easily shifted to suit prevailing interests. What may be permissible here, may be prosecutable there.
One paramount test of law is its potential consistency in application. This bill will fail that test. Laws cannot be left to the eyes of the beholder.
In an age where freedom of information is fundamental to a thriving society, this bill festers in the stench of censorship. Written works and other forms of communication deemed inconsistent with the (ambiguous) set of definitions can be banned.
How sad that we now intend to emulate the Chinese government by proposing digital censorship with the alibi of restricting Internet porn. How easily we forget other societies who in their zealousness rejected the greatest works of humanity.
Cornerstones of modern literature such as D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn, James Joyce's Ulysses and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things were all banned for their "immoral" content.
Proponents of the bill brush aside these concerns as "exaggeration", but even without the bill we have already seen the innocuous book Adik Baru, Cara Menjelaskan Seks Kepada Anak (A New Sibling, How to Explain Sex to Children) wrongly labeled here as porn by the Attorney General's Office.
The great works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer were banished under carping politics, and we fear censorship is arising once again in a different guise. Perhaps the most worrying concern in the bill is the promotion of vigilantism by allowing the public to "prevent" the spread of pornography.
The use of the word pembinaan (education) in Article 21 on the role of society reeks of New Order dogma in which those very words were tantamount to indoctrination. Such acts of indoctrination, irrespective of the presiding rules of intervention, are akin to the invasion of privacy which can result in "morality police" inspecting the contents of your laptop.
Rarely do we reject a law once it has been passed. But this occasion requires serious contemplation of civic resistance by demanding a review through the Constitutional Court.
There are ways in which we can target the porn industry without violating the rights and freedoms of the individual. We must never forget that censorship only ultimately creates a society unable of exercising real discretion.
Jakarta Post Editorial - October 31, 2008
The deadline for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to relinquish its businesses is only one year away. Yet discourse regarding all forms of military business that need to be taken over by the government have yet to be finalized, with proposals still on the table asking that military cooperatives be excluded from the list of targeted businesses.
The latest call for retaining military cooperatives was aired by TNI commander Gen. Djoko Santoso. Addressing the opening of a joint exercise of military cadets in Padang, West Sumatra, on Monday, the TNI chief said the cooperatives would not be business-oriented and would merely serve the soldiers' needs for basic commodities and simple money saving/lending services.
The idea of maintaining these cooperatives is noble indeed. But can anyone, including the TNI chief, guarantee that in the future the cooperatives will maintain their original objective – which is to serve the interests of the soldiers – and will not deviate from it or be manipulated for business purposes or for the interests of a very limited number of officers in the TNI leadership?
Global history, including Indonesia's, shows that obviously we cannot escape from such practices of deviation or manipulation.
One vivid example was the history of TNI's involvement in business itself. The idea of establishing military businesses was undoubtedly noble and patriotic as it was part of Indonesia's struggle to achieve independence from the Dutch.
The practice of smuggling Indonesia's raw agricultural products abroad and bartering them for arms and military equipment in the pre-independence era were, in a modern legal concept, illegal. But for a poor, occupied and still nonexistent country such as Indonesia, there was no other choice but to engage in such illegal activities.
The problem is that such illegal practices, in different forms and modes, continue until today – decades after Indonesia obtained its independence in 1945.
Another formidable example was the abused implementation of the military's dwi fungsi (dual role) concept. The concept, which was introduced in 1958 by the legendary Gen. Abdul Harris Nasution, was manipulated and misused by Soeharto and his New Order administration to maintain his grip on power for so long.
The above two examples should therefore be more than enough to illustrate how common our initially benevolent concepts or systems – especially those associated with power – are. Both also reveal that deviation from or manipulation of the initial concepts occurred due to a lack of checks-and-balances, transparency and accountability in the implementation of the concepts themselves.
The next question should then be how we citizens should respond to such a proposal (of allowing the military cooperatives to remain in existence).
It is basically not a difficult question to answer due to the nature of its good intentions. But upon observing our nation's poor examples of how good concepts or systems were manipulated, it then becomes a tough decision to say "yes" to the proposal.
The answer, however, would be "no" if we read through Law No. 34/2004 on the Indonesian Military, especially articles 49 and 50, which clearly stipulate that every TNI soldier deserves a proper income and a number of job-related allowances, including food and health allowances.
As all of the soldiers' salaries and allowances are covered by the state budget, it is therefore unreasonable to seek more "welfare" through military cooperatives.
Nonetheless, we may agree with the proposal, especially upon learning that the soldiers' current welfare is yet far from ideal. And it will be unwise for us to demand the soldiers to be professional while not providing them with a decent income.
Again, however, should we eventually allow the continued existence of military cooperatives, there must be a mechanism or system so as to prevent them from deviating from their original purpose.
And last but not least – the existence of these cooperatives must be on a temporary basis only. Once the soldiers' welfare reaches its ideal state, the only applicable, legal remuneration system should be the comprehensive one which is already stipulated in TNI's 2004 Law.
Otherwise, everything will go back to square one – (illegal) business as usual.
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Yansen, Queensland – In the observance of World Food Day on Oct. 16, attention was given to the effects of climate change and bioenergy on the poor. This theme emphasized the results from the High Level Conference on World Food Security in Rome (June 3-5, 2008), which focused on the challenges of climate change and bioenergy.
Food security undeniably remains the major concern of the modern era. According to the report from the High Level Conference, during the first three months of 2008, "international nominal prices of all major food commodities reached their highest levels in nearly 50 years while prices in real terms were the highest in nearly 30 years". The report also stated that food prices are likely to remain high in the next few years. Developing countries will certainly suffer the most.
It is also predicted that skyrocketing food prices will destroy about 800 million people who are already affected by chronic starvation. More people are believed to be having greater difficulty buying healthy food for their families. What is most worrying is that this could trigger social unrest across the developing world. Hence, the food crisis is becoming the main obstacle to global development and could risk global stability.
Climate change is believed to be one of the causes of the global food crisis. Unpredictable seasons and drought, which are linked to global warming, are the major causes of the decrease in agricultural production. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecasts that every temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius will cause China's and Bangladesh's food production to drop by about 30 percent by 2050.
Global climate change may not be the only cause of this. However, adaptation strategies to this problem have to be developed. Poor countries will suffer more because they are more vulnerable to natural problems. The majority of poor people are dependent on natural resources. Countries that lack development must be equipped with appropriate plans and policies to secure their future agricultural production.
Biofuel is also worsening the food problem. The soaring price of fuel and the need to react to climate change has favored the development of biofuel. Palm oil is one of the major energy crops planted in many developing countries, including Indonesia.
In their report in June 2008, anti-poverty group Oxfam International reiterated the threat of bioenergy development to food security. If more farmers stop planting food crops and farm oil palms instead, food stocks will certainly decrease and affect the supply of food.
Unclear regional planning policies, including agricultural land policies, have made the problem worse. Oxfam therefore urged poor nations to think twice before jumping on the biofuel bandwagon. The hike in food prices is to blame for about 30 million people worldwide being dragged down into poverty. Therefore, appropriate steps must be taken to tackle the problem.
In the Indonesian context, the recent food crisis has to be used to the nation's benefit. The crisis has alerted this country to get back to basics: the agriculture-based nation. This spirit has to be shown in policies and actions that reflect a willingness to improve the agricultural sector.
On many occasions, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono emphasized the need to revitalize the country's agricultural sector. The President also popularized the term "sustainable green revolution". However, political discourse will not solve the problem. Action needs to be taken. The agricultural sector has undeniably become a marginal sector in the Indonesian economy. Since rice is the staple food of Indonesian people, a rice policy has to be prioritized. There are several steps that need to be considered.
First, to increase agricultural production, infrastructure has to be built and maintained. In the past decade, no new irrigation systems were built. This is an ironic because, in the main, the irrigation system will determine the success of agricultural development.
Second, the target for increasing agricultural production must be in line with the target to reduce poverty. Land reform, consequently, must be the main focus of agricultural revitalization. Reducing the number of landless farmers has to be prioritized.
Vietnam's success in becoming one of the rice export giants is a good example. Land reform in that country successfully reduced the number of landless farmers to 2 percent, compared with other Asian countries, including Indonesia, where the number stands at about 20 percent.
A people-oriented approach to agriculture has to be built up. Inviting investors to invest in the Indonesian agricultural sector, such as the rice estate concept, is not a bad approach. However, without a clear plan in hand, agricultural development will not solve the problem of poverty.
Third, the food export target has to be integrated with the domestic food security target. Export liberalization, without good management, will result in food insecurity. The target also has to be based on the foundation of increasing farmers' income.
Last but not the least, the government needs to be serious in preparing future human resources for the agricultural sector. It is sad to hear that fewer young people are interested in agriculture.
For many, agriculture is not a prospective career, or they even believe there is no future in this sector. The last entrance examination for state universities showed that 2,894 positions in university agricultural programs were not filled. Without willingness and initiatives to solve this problem, we will face a serious shortage of skills in agriculture in the future.
If the government really wants to secure the food supply for future generations, its only option is to address seriously the task of improving the agricultural sector.
[The writer is a lecturer at the School of Forestry, Agriculture Faculty, University of Bengkulu, and an Australian Leadership Award Scholar. He can be reached at yansen_for@yahoo.com.]
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2008
Ivana Prazic, Yogyakarta – "You married?" This frequently asked question is one of the most typical ways to break the ice when chit-chatting with everyone from a complete stranger next to you on a bus, a newly made acquaintance, or a shop assistant. Even for a foreign Ph.D. student at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta it did not take many weeks in the country to grasp the overarching socio-cultural importance of marriage in Indonesia.
From simple, day-to-day situations, to more complex personal relationships, marriage seems to be the one social institution to which the vast majority of Indonesians – regardless of differences in their respective ethnicities, religions, economic statuses, cultural backgrounds, levels of education or age – are fully dedicated.
Not merely a personal observation, the steadfastness of marriage in Indonesia was confirmed by research presented at the recent Conference on Marriage, Culture and Poverty in Southeast Asia (Aug. 21) at the Graduate School of the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta (ICRS).
Results of research conducted by G. Jones and B. Gubhaju (Asia Research Institute of the National University in Singapore) on "Trends in Age at Marriage in the Provinces of Indonesia," revealed that even though the, "age at marriage in Indonesia has been gradually rising over a number of decades", there is still a substantial number of "teenage marriages" in the country.
According to the research, "Indonesia falls squarely into the group of countries (formerly including virtually all of Asia, although more recently East Asia except for China, and much of Southeast Asia, has left the group) where marriage is universal", by which it is meant that, "fewer than 5 percent of women remain single by their late 40s".
The research revealed high figures in both teenage and "delayed" marriages (women who remain single until into their 30s). The study indicated problems in both categories: Whereas teenage marriages are often the result of arranged marriages or stem from premarital pregnancy, a woman not married in her 30s is burdened with the stigma of numerous, negative stereotypes.
Not surprisingly, there is considerable variation in age of marriage in Indonesia – urbanization and educational development are associated with the rising average in age of marriage.
Researchers have called for awareness among Indonesian family planners, not only at the provincial, but also at a national level. They have asked the authorities to take "both the marriage patterns and the issues associated with them" into consideration while designing family-planning policies. Indeed, given the severity of the problems related to both teenage and "delayed" marriages, their calls will hopefully not remain unheeded by governing bodies.
Indonesia's current Law on Marriage shows a conflicting relationship with both the institution and the politics of marriage in the country. The law, dating from 1974, complicates the (lawful) practice of marriage at numerous levels. For instance, according to the Law (Article 31), "the husband is the head of the family, whereas the wife represents the head of the household".
Does that imply that those families where decisions are mostly made by the wife, or where the wife is seen as the more dominant figure in the family, are "illegal"? Who would be the person in charge of passing such a judgment? Furthermore, the law (Article 34) designates the husband as the breadwinner of the family, and exhorts the wife to manage the household "at her best".
According to the same article, either spouse neglect his or her obligations, a formal complaint may be submitted to the authorities. Should it be understood then, that a family in which the wife is the breadwinner is basically an outlaw family? Which department, exactly, is in charge of enforcing this law?
In addition, the law (Article 6) specifies that the youngest age for legal marriage is 16 for women and 19 for men. However, official consent of both parents must be provided for couples under 21. Given the laws regarding early marriage, it should be no wonder that Jones and Gubhaju's research found the percentage of early marriages in Indonesia remains very high.
There have been some attempts to change the current legislation on marriage. It seems that there are quite a few who find the letter of the current Law on Marriage rather problematic, if not outright discriminatory.
Among those striving to amend the problematic nature of the law are the activists of the center for Women's Studies at the State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga in Yogyakarta. Perhaps the Center's most important long-term projects are the various initiatives aimed at amending this law.
The theoretical framework underlying the Center's efforts is based on Islamic feminist frameworks, which allow for the recontextualization of the Koran and Hadith in a way that stresses the importance of protecting the rights of women and children. The center also emphasizes the need to bring Indonesia's marriage-related legislation in line with various international human rights conventions.
[The writer is a PhD. candidate at the Indonesian Consortium for Inter-religious Studies at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. She can be reached at iprazic@gmail.com.]
Jakarta Post Editorial - October 28, 2008
Eighty years ago today a group of young men and women from far- flung islands assembled in Jakarta to pledge that they would be united under one motherland called Indonesia, one nation called Indonesia and one language – Bahasa Indonesia.
This was a tall order considering the fact that Indonesia as a country did not exist on that historic Oct. 28, 1928. This archipelago of thousands of islands which the young men and women wanted to call their homeland was known internationally as the Dutch East Indies, a colony governed from the Netherlands.
Besides, how do you construct one nation out of a collection of tiny nations, made up of people of different races, ethnicities, cultures and traditions, as well as religions?
And how do you convince people who speak hundreds of different languages and dialects to agree on one national language?
But look at where Sumpah Pemuda, as the pledge is called, has gotten us.
Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945 and gained international recognition as a sovereign state in 1949.
In spite of its many troubles, including violent rebellions rooted in its diversity, Indonesia has remained as one independent state. It is also the proclaimed motherland of most of its people.
Bahasa Indonesia, rooted in Malay rather than the language spoken by the dominant ethnic Javanese, is the archipelago's lingua franca.
When it comes to nationhood, enough of a majority of its 240 million people still feel a sense of belonging to Indonesia.
But one nation we are probably not – at least not until everyone is on board.
Indonesia remains sharply divided along many of its components. It is largely governed along racial, ethnic and religious lines, and now also class divisions, though thankfully not language divisions. Altough not written in our constitution, it is widely assumed that a non-Javanese can never be president of this republic, and a non-Muslim has even less of a chance of taking over the number one job in the country.
For decades, Jakarta and the larger Java have been the recipient of the lion's share of the cake, including public investment funds, to the consternation of the people living in other regions. Only now are we beginning to address this issue – which has been the source of many armed rebellions – through greater decentralization and more regional autonomy.
Many small racial and ethnic groups feel they are being marginalized by the nation-building process. And one study shows that many local languages are disappearing fast, and with them generations of history, culture and tradition.
Recently minority religious communities have been feeling the squeeze as the dominant Muslims have been flexing their political muscle, such as with the introduction of sharia (Islamic law) in place of the national law in various regions.
Very soon the House of Representatives will pass a law on pornography which non-Muslim regions such as Bali and North Sulawesi have rejected because it will negate their traditions, cultures and artistic expressions.
One can look at these developments in Indonesia with apprehension because minority groups are losing out to the power of the majority, but one can also look at this as symptoms of a nation still very much in the making – and certainly learning through trial and error to live as one.
What is certain is that since 1998 we have agreed that the way forward in building this nation is through democracy – not so much the one-man-one-vote system of democracy as the homegrown version of using deliberation to reach a consensus. This will certainly be more challenging and time-consuming in reaching decisions, but given Indonesia's complex diversity, some decisions simply cannot be based on a majority rule.
At 80, if we take Sumpah Pemuda as the turning point, Indonesia is still a relatively young nation struggling to remain as one. Its diversity has probably contributed more to its ugly tensions and violent conflicts rather than acting as a source of strength.
Indonesia is young compared to China, which has more than 5,000 years of history of its own civilization. The success of Beijing Olympics 2008, in which China played a good host and won the most medals, attests to the greatness of the nation.
Still 80 years is a good start for this emerging nation, bound not only by a common history of four centuries of Dutch colonialism, but also and more importantly, committed to a common destiny and goal as set out by our founding fathers, which is a just and prosperous Indonesia.
Today, as we mark Sumpah Pemuda, we should not only renew our commitment to stay as one nation, but also renew our commitment to make sure that everybody, without exception, shares in the rise and fall of this nation, irrespective of race, ethnicity, culture, language, religion and gender.
Only then can we truly declare ourselves as one nation.