Indra Subagja, Jakarta – The University of Indonesia (UI) will not be giving permission for a concert event titled "Tribute to Munir" at its Depok campus in West Jakarta on February 20. Not surprisingly this has given rise to protests by the wife of the late Munir, Suciwati.

"Their reasons were brief, odd. Their reasons have no grounds, the event is political, what's political about it?", said Suciwati when contacted by telephone on Wednesday February 18.

The university has asked that the event be postponed until December 10, 2009. "They say its [too] close to the elections and security disturbance, this is in fact a humanitarian concert. Our event is very different", she explained.

Suciwati also plans to send a letter explaining the nature of the event to the University of Indonesia rectorate. "The thing that is saddening is this kind of behaviour by campus officials", she explained. (ndr/nrl)

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the report was "Suciwati protests banning of Munir event at UI".]

An inside peek into the world of Jakarta's illegal DVD trade

Jakarta Globe - February 15, 2009

Nivell Rayda – "Freddy" – who entered Jakarta's huge pirated video and later pirated DVD market more than 20 years ago – has experienced police raids several times. Yet, he's still in business.

Shedding new light on the depth of the market, how it works and why pirated DVD stores continue to flourish in Indonesia, Freddy told the Jakarta Globe over the weekend: "It's a lucrative business. As long as they are people buying, we'll continue to sell pirated DVDs."

Freddy claims to make Rp 300 million ($25,500) a month selling DVDs, adding that some of his friends even make more.

Freddy, not his real name, owns three stores in Jakarta and is very particular about their location. He prefers smaller, middle-class malls over the more elite retail areas, largely due to the demography of the buyers and "security."

"Places like ITCs [Indonesian Trade Centers, malls dedicated to small- and medium-sized enterprises] are the favorites," Freddy said. "They have many exits and the layouts of such malls are like labyrinths, enabling us to escape whenever the police raid the place. Usually we rely on the doorman or the security guards to alert us and we immediately stash our goods and shut down the stores."

There are a number ITCs throughout the capital, and each one can host up to 10,000 stores that sell a huge range of different products, enabling pirated-DVD outlets to be unobtrusive. The ITCs are also divided into hundreds of blocks of stores. Navigating through them can be disorienting.

One South Jakarta mall, categorized as an ITC, has an entirely separate section dedicated to pirated DVD stores, which can remain hidden to first-time visitors. Denny, a frequent buyer there, said he was once trapped in the section when the police arrived.

"They immediately cut off the section by closing down the metal gates and rolling doors," he said. "They also turned off the lights at the section entrance and put trash bins and scaffolding in the way to make it appear that this part of the building was not used or under construction.

"Inside, it was business as usual. My heart was racing. A sales girl told me that raids like that are frequent and that they never get caught. She even showed me a secret exit stairs for 'just in case' and continued to offer me DVDs."

Some people are not as fortunate. Police and the government brag about their achievements, boasting that more than four million illegal DVDs were confiscated last year and more than 100 sellers were prosecuted.

"Four million? The number is far more than that," Freddy said, indicating the raids would not put a dent in the market. "I say in Indonesia, there are at least a hundred times more."

The International Intellectual Property Alliance estimates that each year, the US music and film industry loses more than $205.2 million due to copyright piracy in Indonesia. The alliance ranks the country among the biggest offenders in the world and places it on a watch list year after year.

Pirated DVDs, Freddy said, can be categorized into certain groups based on their quality and origin. Low-end DVDs are recorded using a camera smuggled into movie theaters and the quality is usually amateurish. He sells those kinds only for movies that are currently, or yet to be screened, in Indonesian theaters.

"The people recording them are usually slackers wanting to get some quick money," he said. "You can take your recorded materials and send it to an agent. The agents pay you a fixed rate based on the popularity of the movie. If your materials are pornographic, you can get up to Rp 100 million. It pays to be the first. About one week after a movie is screened you can find the pirated version," he added.

For the higher-quality DVDs, people have to wait up to a month after a movie is released, Freddy said. "The pirates work with a local theater and copy the reels on to a DVD master, which is then duplicated," he said. "That's why the quality is better. For non-English movies, we usually import them. All they have to do is to sneak one master copy in and the movie is pirated."

Freddy said that the pirating business is as elaborate as the legitimate movie industry. "They have their so-called production house, they have translators of every language imaginable, they have factories, graphic designers, distributors, wholesalers," he said.

"We retailers never meet these people. It's a business that relies on secrecy, much like selling drugs. It's cutthroat, too. "Often, the pirated DVDs get pirated by amateurs. I guess that's karma," he said with a laugh.

Actions, demos, protests...

Students 'employ' police to trample US flags

Detik.com - February 18-19, 2009

Muhammad Taufiqqurahman, Jakarta – Students demonstrating against US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday February 19 'forced' police to help them trample on US flags. The police were left smiling resentfully.

Initially, around 25 students from the Indonesian Muslim Student Action Front (KAMMI) wanted to march towards the State Place in Central Jakarta. The action however met resistance from police who were on guard at the Indosat roundabout on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat.

A scuffle broke out between the students and police when they tried to break through the cordon, but after three attempts the students retreated six paces. As soon as the students retreated, police moved towards them. As a result, the uniformed boots of the police trampled on the US flags. "Huuuuu, at last we are getting some help", shouted the students happily.

Shouting through a small megaphone, action coordinator Sugeng Wiyono said, "They're our friends as well, apparently the police are on our side. They're helping out our action. The evidence being the police have just helped us to trample on US flags", shouted Wiyono.

Upon hearing this, the students clapped and applauded, while the contingent of police hurriedly retreated and picked up the flags which were then handed back to the students. The students then trampled on them again leaving police to recover the dirty and muddy flags. (Detik.com, 19/2/2009)

Students in Medan protest Clinton visit

Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – Scores of students from the University of North Sumatra held a demonstration near their campus on Thursday February 19 opposing Hillary Clinton's visit to Indonesia.

During the action, the student held a theatrical action in protest against the Indonesian government for failing to take a stand against US imperialism, including pressure in the economic field. The students also set fire to pictures of Clinton, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and US President Barack Obama.

In speeches, the students said that Clinton's visit to Indonesia was not just a state visit, but had hidden agendas such as studying weaknesses in the Indonesian economy.

Action coordinator Frans S. said the Indonesian government has failed to take a strong stand against US imperialism. "The meeting between SBY and [Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister] Hasan Wirayuda with Hillary Clinton signifies that the Indonesian government is still America's errand boy", said Frans. (Detik.com, 19/2/2009)

Anti-Clinton protesters hold sit-in action near Palace

Anwar Khumaini, Jakarta – Some 50 demonstrators protesting against the 2009 elections and the visit to Indonesia by Hillary Clinton were involved in a scuffle with police on February 18 during a sit-in that resulted in major traffic jams in the vicinity of the National Monument in Central Jakarta.

The scuffle broke out at around 4pm near the Constitutional Court when scores of students from the National University arrived and formed up in ranks preparing to head off for the State Palace.

The police however held that the students were taking up too much of the road and began pushing students on the outer edge in order to tighten up the crowd. They also asked that a car belonging to the protesters carrying a sound system not be taken on the rally to the Palace.

In response to what the demonstrators saw as repressive actions by police, they responded by trying to force the police back while hurling insults. They then held the sit-in action. (Detik.com, 18/2/2009)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski from three reports posted on the Detik.com news portal.]

Thousands of farmers protest bill on control of tobacco

Jakarta Post - February 19, 2009

Suherdjoko, Temanggung, Central Java – Thousands of farmers joined a rally Monday at a public park in Temanggung regency, Central Java, to protest a bill on the health impacts of tobacco products.

"If it's passed, the bill will result in huge losses for tobacco farmers. We will set up a team and send it to Jakarta to express our rejection of the bill," said Wisnubrata, secretary-general of the Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association's Temanggung branch.

Gathering from other regencies in the province, including Kendal and Magelang, as well as from Garut, West Java, the tobacco farmers also decried a recent edict by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) that banned smoking in public places.

They expressed their anger by smoking oversized cigarettes and deeply inhaling the smoke. Mubaroq, MUI's Temanggung chairman, claimed the edict was just a good call for people to avoid the habit.

Temanggung Regent Hasyim Affandi supported the farmers. "Go ahead to Jakarta. I've read the bill, it doesn't accommodate the farmers' interests. But the team should bring a proposal to counter the bill," he said.

House of Representatives member Suswono, who attended the rally, said the bill had actually been proposed by an NGO. "The bill is not prioritized for deliberation. When it gets discussed, we will ask for input from various parties," he said.

Farmers, activists protest land ownership

Jakarta Post - February 19, 2009

Palu – Hundreds of farmers and NGO activists in Toili district, Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, staged a rally Tuesday to demand ownership of their farms that they said were being claimed by PT Kurnia Luwuk Sejati (KLS).

Carrying banners demanding the return of their fields, they began their rally in front of the governor's office, then proceeded to the provincial legislative council, provincial police headquarters and the provincial office of the National Commission on Human Rights, before returning to the legislative council.

"We will spend the night here until our demands are fulfilled," said protester Muhammad Masykur.

The case began last September when KLS evicted the farmers from the disputed 275 hectares of land, arguing that it owned the property.

The farmers, however, claimed the land was theirs because the company, which initially granted concessions to 100 migrant families, later asked them to pay for the fields in installments, citing financial problems.

Students pelt 'Hillary' with shoes, blame US for violence in Gaza

Detik.com - February 18, 2009

Ari Saputra, Jakarta – At least 50 pairs of shoes were held up then after receiving a command from the action coordinator who shouted in a shrill voice "Destroy America", the shoes glided toward a photograph of Hillary Clinton's face.

The action in which Hillary Clinton's photograph was pelted with shoes was organised by demonstrators from the Student Movement for Liberation (Gema Pembebasan) in front of the State Place on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta on Wednesday February 18.

Gema Pembebasan also urged the government to remain on guard against US colonialist strategies under the guise of diplomacy.

According to Gema Pembebasan general secretary Erwin Permana, this diplomatic strategy is a new method the US is using to dominate the world. "The government mustn't be nonchalant. It must be on guard in order to escape from dependency on America, which is responsible for the violence and mass murder of people in the Gaza Strip", said Permana.

In addition to pelting Clinton's picture with shoes, the demonstrators also brought posters with US flags and the message "Hillary NO". There was only a minor police presence at the protest due to the small number of demonstrators. (nik/gah)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Massive public transportation rally cripples Bandarlampung

Jakarta Post - February 17, 2009

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Up to 2,500 public minivan and bus drivers staged a strike in Bandarlampung on Monday to protest a decree on fare cuts.

The rally, organized by the Bandarlampung branch of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), paralyzed public transportation in the city.

The drivers protested the Bandarlampung mayor's decree on a 20 percent fare cut, following a slew of recent fuel price cuts by the government.

Thousands of passengers, including students, civil servants and private sector employees, were left stranded, forcing the local police to deploy trucks to transport them.

The Bandarlampung municipal administration also operated six buses to transport passengers for free, in addition to the government-owned Damri buses already in operation earlier.

Despite the emergency measures, however, many passengers were still stranded, with the number of vehicles nowhere near adequate for the amount of commuters. Many people were forced to take ojek (motorcycle taxis) or walk.

In January, Bandarlampung Mayor Eddy Sutrisno issued a decree calling for public transportation fares to be slashed from Rp 2,500 (22 US cents) to Rp 2,000. Drivers claimed that with the new fares, they would not be able to make a profit.

"We have to pay Rp 100,000 per day for each vehicle. We won't get back that amount if the fare is set at Rp 2,000 per passenger," said Wardi, 30, a minivan driver plying the Tanjungkarang- Telukbetung route.

He added minivan owners did not care about their drivers' difficulties. "They ask us to pay them Rp 100,000 per day. If we get less, we have to make it up with our own money. That means I go home without any money," he said.

Organda's Bandarlampung head Mirwan Karim said the drivers would continue their strike until the mayor revoked the decree. "The mayor previously cut the fare to Rp 2,300, but has now cut it further to Rp 2,000," he said, urging the mayor to meet the drivers' demands.

However, Mayor Eddy called the demand irrational, saying the government had already cut fuel prices three times. "We reduced fuel prices based on two factors: falling world oil prices, and demand from the public," he said.

He added he would fight back against the drivers' action, and had ordered his subordinates not to hesitate in revoking operating licenses if drivers and Organda representatives did not want to apply the new fares.

"The decision to reduce the fare was taken in line with an assessment from the Bandarlampung Traffic Council. We did not do it arbitrarily," he said.

With regard to the rally, I.B. Ilham Malik, director of Bandarlampung University's City and Regional Studies, expressed concern over the plethora of minivans in the city, which he said caused each driver to earn less.

"The Rajabasa-Tanjungkarang route, for instance, covers a distance of only 7 kilometers. But it's served by 500 minivans. For all routes in the city, there are a total of 2,500 minivans and buses," he said.

Farmers protest MUI smoking edict, threatens election boycott

Detik.com - February 16, 2009

Parwito, Temanggung – Thousands of tobacco farmers throughout Central Java gathered at the Temanggung regency town square on Monday February 16 to hold a massive protest against the Indonesia Ulama Council (MUI) edict (fatwa) against smoking.

The protesters said that if there was no response to their protests, they would hold a campaign to boycott the elections (golput) and not pay taxes.

The demonstration began with a convoy that passed through all of the main areas and streets of Temanggung, after which they gathered at the town square and held speeches.

The action was supported by a number of organisations including the Central Java Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (APTI), the Temanggung regency APTI, Central Java the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI), the Kebumen Tobacco Farmers Group (KTFG), the Purworejo Tobacco Farmers Group (KTTP), the Temanggung branch of the Islamic mass organisation Muhammadiyah, the Temanggung branch of the Islamic mass organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, the Temanggung Market Traders Association (PPPT), the Kokar Joint Forum, the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI), the Indonesian Prosperous Labour Union (SBSI), the Klaten APTI, the Magelang APTI, the Wonosobo APTI, the Kendal APTI, the Boyolali APTI, the Semarang APTI, the Banjarnegara APTI and PEKAT.

"We are holding this action of concern and solidarity to oppose the MUI edict policy that states cigarettes are haram (forbidden under Islam) for children, mothers and in pubic places", said action coordinator Nurtanto Wisnu Broto when speaking with Detik.com.

In addition to rejecting the MUI edict on smoking, they also made five other demands including, among others, urging the government not to sign the to Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and to end the discussion on the enactment of the draft law on tackling the impact of tobacco on health. (asy/asy)

Notes:

Many Indonesians have a strong cultural affinity with smoking and the January 26 MUI edict against smoking has sparked widespread anger among Indonesian Muslims, many of which smoke. The MUI also issued a fatwa stating that it would be "a moral sin" to golput (abstain from voting) in the legislative and presidential elections this year. The MUI is known to support certain Islamic political parties which in past polls have performed poorly.

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]

Aceh

Women far better off in Aceh: Study

Jakarta Post - February 15, 2009

Jakarta – The quality of life for women in Aceh has greatly improved since the end of a three-decade separatist conflict and the 2004 tsunami, which ravaged the Islamic province, a study revealed Saturday.

"Women in Aceh now have better access to health and education and can become decision-makers in the family. The situation here is much better relative to other provinces," Jean D'Cunha, director of the UN Development Fund for Women's (UNIFEM) Regional Program for Southeast Asia, told a seminar in Jakarta at the announcement of the results of a study on gender issues in Aceh.

The study shows that Acehnese boys and girls have similar access to formal education, health services and socio-political participation unlike before the devastating disaster, thanks to the post-tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation programs.

D'Cunha said women currently make up 28 percent of candidates vying for seats in local legislatures in the April 9 general elections in Aceh.

"I am very pleased to note that, from the 1,054 legislative candidates in Aceh, more than 300 are women. This means women in Aceh have more chance [to get elected] than do women in any other province," she said.

The results of the study, sponsored by the UNIFEM, were published as Inong Aceh di Tanah Nusantara (Acehnese women in lands of the archipelago) and written by University of Indonesia sociologist Evelyn Suleeman.

"This book contains a lot of information about women in Aceh and it needs implementation," Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of the Agency for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (BRR) for Aceh and Nias, told the same forum.

The study also details cases of discrimination and abuse against Acehnese women. "We found some surprising data. For instance, Acehnese families prefer to enroll their boys at public schools and their girls at Islamic schools or Islamic boarding schools," Evelyn told The Jakarta Post after the seminar.

Although families assumed it was better for their daughters to attend Islamic schools, Evelyn said, problems often emerged after their girls graduated. "Many girls failed to get jobs because companies or offices prefer to have employees who graduated from state schools," she told the Post.

Other problems confronting Acehnese women include the fact that many consider domestic violence to be a "normal" practice. "This is really unacceptable, but it is the reality I found doing the research," Evelyn who researched the study over two months said.

Raihan Putry, head of the women's empowerment and child protection agency in the Aceh administration, said Acehnese women also faced problems with the patriarchic culture, as do women in other locales across Indonesia. "UNIFEM has funded Aceh's programs to promote gender equality throughout Aceh regencies," she said.

Concepts of equality and access are not so controversial but other words common elsewhere in the country provoke contention here. Some people in the province, especially Muslim clerics, oppose the use of the word "gender" to cite one example. "We have to change the term "gender" and use another term to avoid conflicts among clerics," Raihan said.

Raihan said further Islamic law, sharia, could turn into a problem if it was implemented "improperly". "There is nothing wrong with the sharia laws. The problem is people still have different perceptions on this matter," Raihan said, adding that her agency is trying to resolve the problems. (naf)

West Papua

Protest mars opening of treason trial

Jakarta Post - February 19, 2009

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Around 300 supporters of a Papuan student activist facing trial for treason staged a rally at Jayapura District Court on Wednesday.

They demanded the court free Buchtar Tabuni, 29, deputy secretary of the Central Mountain Papua Indonesia Students Alliance (AMPTPI) of all charges. The protesters, led by Victor Yeimo, unfurled banners and shouted "Free Buchtar. none of the charges could implicate him."

The protests outside failed to disrupt the courtroom proceedings, where prosecutor Maskel Rambolangi read out the charges against the defendant.

Officers from the Jayapura Police's riot unit and the Papua Police's Mobile Brigade were on hand to provide security at the trial presided over by judge Manungku Prasetyo.

Buchtar was accompanied at the hearing by 25 of the 53 lawyers listed as his legal advisers.

AMPTPI secretary-general Mar-kus Haluk told reporters the rally was aimed at overseeing the treason trial, to ensure the judges were impartial in arbitrating the case. "In principle, Buchtar is not guilty of committing treason. He was only conveying his aspirations. Why was he accused of treason?" he said.

When Buchtar was arrested during a protest at the Waena Expo complex on Oct. 16 last year, Markus said he was just conveying his aspirations and the crowd was crying out for independence, referendum and a national dialogue, which was not new to the government and security forces in Indonesia, because Papuans frequently express them each time they hold demonstrations.

"We even shouted the same words in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, but why was Buchtar arrested for expressing them and later accused of treason?" Markus said.

He added his group would continue monitoring the case so it could be tried fairly and peacefully. "We don't wish to intervene; we want to actions that are against the law," he said.

Buchtar was arrested by police in Sentani on Dec. 3 last year, more than two months after he led the protest at the Waena Expo in Jayapura, which authorities deemed as subversive. If found guilty, Buchtar, who is also accused of instigation and resisting arrest, could face 20 years in prison.

Human rights/law

Criminal justice reform still unclear

Jakarta Post - February 21, 2009

Ad hoc judges have been introduced in human rights and corruption courts, but efforts to reform the criminal justice system in the country have so far proved unconvincing, an expert says.

Noted lawyer Luhut MP Pangaribuan said in his thesis that ad hoc judges as an instrument to build public trust within the concept of lay judges were not a model that honored the legitimate expectations of justice seekers.

He said the existing ad hoc judges did not follow the lead of lay judges, who worked in a collegial panel, as in the law mixed- bench tradition, or independently, as in the common law tradition.

The Japanese criminal court system, for example, has introduced a mixed court in which judges no longer hold the monopoly to determine punishment, while the public may participate in and contribute to a fairer court hearing.

Luhut proposed that ad hoc judges be given bigger roles and authority in accordance with the concept of lay judges. He also suggested that court hearings be split into two stages: fact- finding and punishment.

The thesis, titled "Lay judges in criminal courts: A theoretical study of the Indonesian criminal justice system", earned Luhut a doctorate from the University of Indonesia on Feb. 14.

Muchdi challenges prosecutors' appeal against verdict

Jakarta Globe - February 19, 2009

Heru Andriyanto – Muchdi Purwoprandjono, who was cleared last December of charges that he ordered the murder of prominent human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, on Wednesday demanded that the Supreme Court reject an appeal lodged by prosecutors seeking to overturn his acquittal.

Muchdi's lawyers went to the South Jakarta District Court to challenge the appeal, which they said was in violation of normal procedures.

According to Article 244 of the criminal procedures, "prosecutors are allowed to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court against all verdicts, but not an acquittal," said Wirawan Adnan, a lawyer for Muchdi.

Muchdi, who was accused of masterminding the murder on Sept. 7, 2004, was acquitted of all charges by the district court on Dec. 31, 2008, sparking outrage among local and international rights groups.

The panel of judges hearing the case said prosecutors had failed to prove any links between Muchdi, a former top intelligence official, and Pollycarpus Priyanto, a former Garuda pilot who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for the murder. Munir died on a Garuda flight to Amsterdam, after Pollycarpus administered a fatal dose of arsenic to his drink during a stopover in Singapore.

Prosecutors on Jan. 23 lodged an appeal against the verdict, arguing that the judges had ignored some key evidence and testimonies against the defendant.

In their appeal, prosecutors also cited several cases in which the Supreme Court considered appeals against acquittals by lower courts.

But Muchdi's lawyers challenged the use of the precedents, stating in their document that "it is equivalent to a request for the Supreme Court to continue violating the law." "We firmly demand that the Supreme Court reject the prosecutors' appeal," the 20- page document stated.

The Attorney General's Office, apparently anticipating the move, responded promptly. "The lawyers may have their own legal opinions," said Abdul Hakim Ritonga, deputy attorney general for general crimes. "But in our opinion, there is nothing in the prosecutors' appeal that has violated criminal procedures."

Prosecutors accused Muchdi of using his power as former deputy head of the State Intelligence Agency, or BIN, to orchestrate Munir's murder in a bid to avenge his ousting from the top post in the Army's feared Special Forces, or Kopassus.

Prosecutors said Muchdi was dismissed from the elite force in mid-1998 after Munir and rights group Kontras claimed that Kopassus was behind the abductions of 13 activists between 1997 and 1998.

Komnas-HAM accuses AGO of human rights injustices

Jakarta Globe - February 19, 2009

Nurfika Osman – The Attorney General's Office was responsible for worsening the injustices already done to human rights victims and their families through its repeated failure to resolve cases involving the Indonesian Armed Forces, the National Commission for Human Rights, or Komnas-HAM, said on Wednesday.

Saharuddin Daming, a Komnas-HAM commissioner, said that the AGO had failed to build successful prosecutions off of Komnas-HAM's investigations into the Semanggi I and II tragedies in Jakarta, the Talang Sari massacre in Lampung Province, the Tanjung Priok massacre, and widespread TNI abuses in Indonesian Papua and Aceh Province, as well as during the military occupation of East Timor.

"Our job," Saharuddin said of Komnas-HAM, "is to investigate the case together with the police," before handing the case off to the AGO for prosecution. The AGO, he said, is "where the problems occur."

According to the 2000 Law on Human Rights Courts, Komnas-HAM, the AGO, and the ad hoc Human Rights Court were to share responsibility for handling human rights cases, he said, with Komnas HAM conducting investigations, the AGO handling prosecutions and the court trying and deciding cases.

"Most people blame [Komnas HAM] for the unresolved cases," he said. "They should ask the attorney general to clear up these issues, as all the BAP [investigation reports] have been handed to them."

Ultimately, however, the problems with finding justice for human rights victims lay not only with the AGO, but with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Saharuddin said, suggesting that the former general had helped shelter TNI officials accused of human rights violations.

"For example," he said, "those who are responsible at the violence in East Timor in 1999 were Prabowo Subianto, Hendropriyono and Adam Damiri."

Prabowo, currently a presidential hopeful, is the former head of the Army's feared Special Forces, or Kopassus, as was Hendropriyono, who many activists have alleged was responsible for ordering the murder of leading human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib. Adam Damiri at one point led the military command overseeing East Timor.

A report released by the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship last year found that Indonesian Armed Forces and police personnel cooperated with and supported pro-Indonesia militias responsible for grave violence in East Timor.

The military was also accused of gross violations in the so- called Semanggi I incident, which left 17 civilians dead, including six university students. The shooting in Semanggi occurred when thousands of students staged rallies in front of Atma Jaya University protesting the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly from Nov. 10 to 13, 1998.

Komnas HAM, he said, also uncovered human rights violations by the military in Papua between 1963 to 2002. Mass arrests, detentions, murders, and disappearances of Acehnese during the long-running conflict between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh movement were also uncovered.

AGO spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan called some of Komnas HAM's reports, "incomplete," offering only that additional investigations were needed to look into the unresolved cases. He declined to comment, however, on which cases remained incomplete and any plans the AGO might have to reinvigorate investigations into some of the nation's darker periods.

House cannot wait for deliberation of humanitarian bill

Jakarta Post - February 19, 2009

Jakarta – House of Representatives lawmakers and human rights groups have mounted pressure on the government to submit a bill on accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the process has been underway for two years without clarity.

Golkar Party legislator Marzuki Darrusman said the bill should be endorsed in May or June, otherwise the House would no longer have time due to the hectic election schedule.

"With the legislative elections taking place in April 2009, current lawmakers will resume their legislative duties in May at the earliest," he said during a meeting organized by the Parliamentarian for Global Action (PGA) at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

"We will continue to work until September 2009." The meeting was attended by members of House's Commission I overseeing foreign affairs and Commission III on legal affairs, and activists from human rights groups – such as the Association of Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (IKOHI) and the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM).

PGA members Canadian Senator A. Raynell Andreychuk and Australian MP Melissa Park, and Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia John Holmes also spoke at the meeting.

ICC is the first permanent international criminal jurisdiction, mandated under the 2002 Rome Statute to investigate and adjudicate the most serious violations of human rights and international humanity law – constituting crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes.

The lawmakers and civil society organizations protested the government for dragging its feet in completing the draft bill and submitting it to the Hosue for deliberation.

"The bill is simple as it only contains several articles," a rights activist told the audience. "It's difficult to accept why it took the government so long to draw up the bill."

Director general of human rights at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry Harkristuti Harkrisnowo said the government had completed drafting the bill, including seeking consultation and verification. "The government missed the 2008 deadline and now the relevant ICC accession bill and its academic paper must be prioritized," she said.

Meeting attendees acknowledged the importance of the ICC as an international mechanism to fight impunity and prevent atrocities. "The bill is very important for Indonesia as it can be enforced to try perpetrators of human rights crimes in the future, particularly if the Indonesia human rights law fails to respond to serious crimes," National Awakening Party (PKB) politician Nursyahbani Katjasungkana told the meeting.

Commission I chairman Theo L. Sambuaga concurred. "Indonesia is a law-abiding nation with nothing to lose and intends to become an ICC member state," Golkar Party lawmaker Theo said.

Senator Reynell Andreychuk welcomed Indonesia's fresh commitment to supporting ICC. "Indonesia is the fourth most populated country and the largest Muslim-majority country in the world," he said.

"Indonesia's input into the ICC will reinforce the position of the majority of states in the world to promote the rule of law, justice and universal human rights."

Ambassador Holmes, who was a key-note speaker at the meeting, said the ICC jurisdiction was nonretroactive.

"It's designed to strengthen national legal systems, which maintain their primary responsibility in bring ing the perpetrators of the most serious crimes to justice," Holmes, who was involved in drafting and passing the Rome Statute in 1998, said.

Indonesian Military and National Police have reportedly opposed the bill for fear the legislation would be enforced against past human rights violations.

The Rome Statute was adopted and led to the establishment of ICC in July 1998. The court is based in The Hague, the Netherlands. At present, 139 countries have signed the Rome Statute and 108 as of January 2009 have become parties to it. However, several major powers, including the United States, have refused to be a party to the statute. (naf)

Human trafficking protocols ratified

Jakarta Globe - February 18, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea – Indonesia on Tuesday finally joined the official international campaign against the trafficking and smuggling of people by ratifying United Nations protocols that outlaw the practices.

The ratification by the House of Representatives means Indonesia is now a full supporter of ensuring migrants receive humane treatment and have full protection of their rights.

The measures were adopted by 10 House factions during a plenary session and are aimed at preventing and combating the trafficking and smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air, as well as promoting international cooperation to stop the practices.

Of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member-nations, only Thailand, the Philippines and now Indonesia have so far taken such action.

Under the protocols, migrants are also protected from criminal prosecution for having become clients of smuggling operations.

The protocols form part of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which the House finally ratified in December, nine years after the government signed it, giving Indonesia a stronger legal basis with which to fight organized crime.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta said in the plenary session that the ratification reflected the government's strong opposition to human trafficking and smuggling and would boost the country's image internationally.

He said the protocols would complement the already-existing laws on human trafficking, witness and victim protection and human protection, as well as the immigration bill now being deliberated by the legislature.

Daday Hudaya, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said that as an archipelago, Indonesia was particularly vulnerable to human smuggling, and that regional and international cooperation were therefore in the nation's interest.

"Indonesia is made up of a sprawling land mass," he said. "If it is not managed with an adequate security system, organized crime will stand to benefit."

House grills AG over Muchdi's acquittal in Munir murder case

Jakarta Post - February 17, 2009

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The AGO has come under fire for failing to build a strong case against a former top spy in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono, former deputy head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), was acquitted last year by the South Jakarta District Court of all charges of masterminding the 2004 murder of Munir.

Legislators said Monday the Attorney General's Office had failed to present important witnesses, including BIN official Budi Santoso, during Muchdi's trial.

Prosecutors also failed to defend the evidence and testimonies against the defendant, which were presented to them by key witnesses prior to the case going to court.

"Budi Santoso's testimony, which was important in proving Muchdi's involvement in the case, was among those that prosecutors failed to present before the court," legislator Gayus Lumbuun said Monday at a hearing between Attorney General Hendarman Supandji and the House of Representatives' legal affairs commission.

After serving at the BIN headquarters, Budi Santoso has now been posted to the Indonesian Embassy in Pakistan as an intelligence representative. Despite being summoned multiple times to appear and testify at Muchdi's trial, the elusive witness failed to show up.

However, in a written statement presented by prosecutors, Budi retracted his written testimony given to the police against his former boss. Later on, almost all witnesses in the case made similar retractions, claiming various reasons.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji told the House commission that his office had done all that it could do to bulwark the evidence and testimonies against the defendant.

However, he admitted that the sudden decisions by the witnesses to retract their written statements had weakened prosecutors' efforts to indict Muchdi.

Hendarman said he was similarly disappointed with the court's ruling, saying the judges had chosen to overlook several key pieces of evidence and legal facts that could have led to the suspect's conviction in the case. "That's why we filed an appeal with the Supreme Court in January to challenge the court verdict," he said.

Legislator Nursyahbani Katjasungkana of the National Awakening Party (PKB), who also attended the hearing, said she was quite pessimistic about the appeal, and accused prosecutors of dealing with the case "halfheartedly".

"This was made evident during the trial, when prosecutors only sought 15 years' imprisonment for Muchdi. It was much less than the sentence demanded for another defendant in this case, Polycarpus [Budihari Priyanto], who was jailed for 20 years for the murder," she said.

In response, Hendarman said the only reason prosecutors had demanded a more lenient sentence for Muchdi than for Polycarpus was because they had taken into consideration his services over the years to the nation while serving as a soldier.

"Muchdi once did the country a big favor. This is something that we as prosecutors had to consider, while Polycarpus' track records did not say the same thing," he said, adding the former BIN deputy chief had received 13 medal of honor from the state.

Komnas HAM establishes examination team

Jakarta Post - February 17, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has set up a public examination team to verify a court verdict acquitting former top spy Muchdi Purwopranjono of the murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

"We indirectly questioned the court's decision to exonerate the suspect in this case. We need to verify all evidence and the trial process in the case," Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim said Monday.

The South Jakarta District Court acquitted Muchdi last year, saying prosecutors had failed to present solid evidence the defendant had played a role in Munir's death.

Munir died from arsenic poisoning on board a Garuda flight from Singapore to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004.

Ifdhal said it was a controversial case and any decision related to it would have an impact on future human rights campaigns. "The results of the examination will only give a different perspective for judges and the judiciary, not influence their decision," he said.

The team comprises legal sociologist Soetandyo Wignjosoebroto, criminal expert Mudzakkir, lawyer Frans Hendra Winarta, public administration expert Fajroel Falaakh and rights expert M. Rudi Rizki. Komnas deputy chairman Ridha Saleh said the team had convened its first meeting on Feb. 13 and was expected to finish its work in two months' time.

Rights Commission forms team to examine Munir murder case

Detik.com - February 16, 2009

Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – In order to discover the truth behind the murder of human rights activist Munir, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has formed a public examination team. The team will analyse the December 31 verdict by the South Jakarta District Court that acquitted former State Intelligence Agency deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono of the murder.

"In accordance with the function, duties and authority mandated by Law Number 39/1999 on Human Rights, we have formed a public examination team to review the South Jakarta District Court's verdict", said Komnas HAM deputy chairperson M. Ridha Saleh at his office on Jl. Latuharhari in the Menteng area of Central Jakarta on Monday February 16.

According to Saleh, the public examination panel of judges will be comprised of individuals who have a high level of competence in the area of criminal law, human rights law and criminal procedural law. The examination panel will be made up of five people: Soetandyo Wigjosoebroto, Mudzakkir, Frans Hendra Winarta, Fajroel Falaakh and M. Rudi Rizki.

The public examination panel of judges is scheduled to carry out their duties between mid February and April. Komnas HAM will then convey the results to the public and judicial institutions. "It is hoped that the results of the public examination can be used as a partner to the [Supreme] court [appeal] hearing (amicus curiae) in the context of heading towards a credible judicial process", explained Saleh.

Komnas HAM chairperson Ifdhal Kasim meanwhile conceded that the results of the public examination will be limited to making recommendations and will not influence the judicial process in the Supreme Court, bearing in mind that the Munir case is currently at the appeals stage. Komnas HAM itself has the highest respect for and will safeguard judicial independence.

"So the results will not in fact influence the appeal verdict later on. It is aimed more at providing an opinion from a third party, the aim of which is to provide input for the Supreme Court", he explained.

Kasim added that the aim of the public examination is based on a desire to discover aspects of material truth. In order to do this, the team will analyse the case starting from the investigation process, the prosecution, the court hearings and the South Jakarta District Court panel of judges' interpretation of the verdict on the Munir case.

"We will provide all shades of colour from the perspective of human rights, whether or not justice was fulfilled, whether or not the rights of the suspects and victims were fulfilled. So our entire focus can be seen from the perspective of human rights", he added.

Whether or not the results of the examination will later be used by other judicial institutions or the Supreme Court, continued Saleh, rests entirely with the judiciary itself. "We only want to examine it from the human rights perspectives cited earlier", he said in conclusion. (zal/ndr)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Labour/migrant workers

Domestic workers ask for national day, more days off

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – In a rare day off from housekeeping and childcare Sunday, maids emerged from the domestic sphere to gather at the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle, Central Jakarta, to rally for their rights.

Organized by the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT), some 300 people, including 100 domestic workers, staged a rally to mark Feb. 15, a day the group has proclaimed National Domestic Workers Day.

Protesters carried cardboard posters depicting a maid on her knees at her employers feet, with words: "PRT are not allowed outside the house". PRT is short for pekerja rumah tangga (domestic workers). The protesters also staged a short play about the daily life of a house maid.

The protestors demanded employers acknowledge their job as a profession and give them rights such as getting the day off on official holidays.

"Who calls themselves pembantu (helper) here?" a protester asked the crowd of domestic workers. "We should stop calling ourselves pembantu. We are workers! If all we do is help out people all the time, when do we receive our rights?" she asked, earning cheers from the crowd.

Protesters also demanded the government pass a Domestic Worker's Protection Law and officially make Feb. 15 a national holiday for domestic workers.

In Indonesia, most middle-class families employ maids to perform domestic chores and childcare, but not all acknowledge their rights.

The Jala PRT estimated in 2008 that more than 4 million people are employed as domestic workers, including one million child maids.

However, despite this widespread use, Indonesia does not view the job as a profession. It is not recognized under Indonesia's Labor Law. As some workers live with the employing family, the job remains in the private business of the family, outside of the sphere of labour laws and public scrutiny.

Domestic workers face many problems. They receive very low pay for very heavy work loads. Salaries can start from as low as Rp 200,000. Lita said that sometimes employers keep their workers salary by delaying their payment and often reduce the salary as they like.

There is also no fixed workload, resulting in long working hours. Domestic workers generally work for between 12 and 16 hours a day, they do not have weekly holidays and have very few opportunities to socialize outside their workplace.

The lack of regulation and legal protection makes domestic workers prone to exploitation and abuse.

On Feb. 15. eight years ago, domestic workers took the streets of Surabaya to protest the fatal abuse of Sunarsih, a local child maid. Sunarsih died Feb. 12, 2001 at the age of 14.

The Jala PRT has recorded 412 cases of domestic worker abuse between 2000 and 2007. In July last year, a housewife with a history of mental illness allegedly beat her maid to death in South Kedoya, West Jakarta.

In August 2007, two maids from Lampung, working for a family in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, were beaten, scalded with hot water and locked in a cabinet for drinking the milk of their employer's children. In the same month, an employer in Bengkulu abused a domestic worker who was 13, by placing a hot iron on her skin.

Lita said that they aim to change people's perception of domestic workers, by making employers see the job as a profession. "We want people to be aware of this movement and to acknowledge the rights of domestic workers," Lita said.

Lita said that ideally, domestic workers should be covered by the 2003 Labor Law. She however said that this would take a very long time. Meanwhile, she said, legal protection for domestic workers is crucially needed. That is why the group is pushing for a domestic worker's protection law.

The State Minister for Women's Empowerment is currently drafting a Domestic Worker's Protection bill. The government is planning to submit the draft in 2010.

The advocacy group, however, wants the law to be considered earlier. The Jala PRT will submit their draft of a domestic worker's protection law to the House of Representatives at the end of this month. "We are aiming to have the law deliberated this year,"

Lita said that legal protection for domestic workers was crucially needed to stop the abuse of domestic workers.

Trade unions being weakened by increasing use of contract labour

Kompas - February 16, 2009

Jakarta – The increasing use of contract labour is undermining the strength of national trade unions and making it difficult for workers to struggle for decent working conditions.

Labour contract systems are now in effect in almost all business sectors. In general, contract workers are only employed on a two-year contract, which can be extended by a year before they are then dismissed. This situation is making workers reluctant to join trade unions.

These among other problems were raised during a Confederation of Prosperity Labor Unions (K-SBSI) national coordination meeting in Jakarta on Sunday February 15, which was attended by 488 people from throughout Indonesia.

The meeting was opened by Labour and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno and attended by Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) chairperson Djimanto, the deputy head of the Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL) Leopold, and a representative from the United States Embassy in Jakarta.

K-SBSI Advisory Council Chairperson Mukhtar Pakpahan said Law Number 13/2003 on Labour – which allows for contract labour – is one of the reasons for the decline in workers' interest in joining a trade union. "Yet, by joining a trade union, workers can collectively struggle for decent working conditions," he said.

According to K-SBSI President Rekson Silaban, the national coordinating meeting was held specifically to formulate the K- SBSI's strategy to strengthen the labour movement. The final goal being to create a labour contract system that is more transparent so that if there are violations, trade unions at the workplace level can challenge them.

Department of Labour and Transmigration data for 2007 cited that there are a total of 22,275 companies, with 2,114,774 workers, which provide jobs to other companies. In addition to this, there are 1,540 contract labour companies that employ 78,918 workers and 1,082 labour service provider companies that employ 114,566 workers.

Suparno explained that the weakening of trade union strength has not just been occurring in the K-SBSI. A similar trend has been taking place in other trade unions. "This is reflected by the minimal participation of workers in trade unions", he said.

Out of the 112 million people in the work force nationally, 60 million are employed in the informal sector and 37 million in the formal sector. Out of the 37 million employed in the formal sector, only 4 million are registered as members of a trade union. (ham)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Environment/natural disasters

Firms blamed for river pollution

Jakarta Post - February 23, 2009

Multa Fidrus, Banten – Thousands of industrial firms in Banten province are believed to be causing environmental damage which has triggered unpredictable weather cycles.

Based on a recent study conducted by the Banten Environment Care Foundation (Yapelh), some 4,013 industrial firms contribute a great deal to land, air and water pollution.

"More than that, the polluted land, air and water has become the main source of various kinds of diseases the local residents have suffered from so far," Uyus Setia Bakti, director of Yapelh, said Saturday.

He said that only a handful of industrial firms have undergone the legally required environmental impact analyses (Amdal) or have equipped their factories with waste treatment facilities.

"I think there will be a time when we will no longer be able to get clean water or air," he said.

According to Yapelh, the heavy metal contents in the water flowing through the Cisadane river had exceeded 400 ug/nm per 24 hours; a safe level is no more than 230 ug/nm per 24 hours.

"It means that the river has been heavily polluted by industrial waste and such a condition is very dangerous for health," he said, adding that most of the firms had violated a ministerial decree on the environmentally tolerable limits.

The Banten provincial administrations has officially called on industrial firms to abide by a 1999 government regulation on pollution control and a 2001 regulation on water quality management and water pollution control.

The call was made after is was determined that many firms were disposing of their untreated waste into rivers and the sea.

Last year the Banten Environmental Body (BLHD) caught at least five firms dumping dangerous waste into rivers. The five firms were red and black listed.

BLHD head Karimil Fatah said the condition of several rivers including the Cisadane, Cidurian, Ciujung, Cimanceuri in Banten was worrying – it is not safe for residents to use the water.

"The water can only be used during the rainy season but during the dry, the water turns blackish and smelly," he said.

Similarly, Aris Mundandar, head of the agency's pollution control department said that, "almost all water flowing through all rivers in Banten is heavily polluted. It means it can't be consumed." Head of the Tangerang municipal Environmental Body, Erwin Mustika, said the local administration would monitor waste management systems at 100 firms. "We have been preparing a team to do the task,' he said.

In response to the Banten administration reports that say industrial firms great contributors to the environmental damage, Juanda Usman, the secretary of local Employers' Association (Apindo) said only industrial firms that did not follow the procedures could be declared as contributors to the environmental damage.

"Following the procedures means that the firm posses Ipal and Amdal. If all firms followed the procedures, environmental damage would not happen," he said, adding that the administration must be more assertive towards violating firms.

He said if the administration is assertive, it would not let industrial firms violate the rules and procedures.

Indonesia opens peatland forests for palm oil

Associated Press - February 18, 2009

Zakki Hakim – Indonesia has lifted a yearlong moratorium on the use of peatland forests by palm oil companies, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said Wednesday, angering environmental groups who say the decision will contribute to global warming.

The government will start issuing permits – which have been withheld since December 2007 – immediately in areas that meet certain criteria on the depth of the pt, mineral quality and other issues, said Ahmad Manggabarani, without elaborating.

Indonesia is the third-highest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China and the United States, largely because much of the palm oil on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is planted on carbon-rich peatland that must be drained rst, releasing millions more tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

Manggabarani said the decision to start reissuing permits was based on the desire to increase productivity of palm oil, which is used for cooking, cosmetics and as a cleaner-burning biofuel. The country is already the world's top producer of the commodity.

"We are disappointed," said Bustar Maitar, a Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner. "We had hoped after a year, the freeze would be permanent."

Victims plead for government help over Lapindo compensation

Jakarta Globe - February 17, 2009

Amir Tejo – Tired of waiting for PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya to pay for the damage to their property, thousands of Lapindo mudflow victims in Sidoarjo, East Java Province, staged yet another protest in the province's capital of Surabaya on Monday. They asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to set an ultimatum for the company to settle their obligation and that the government provide bailout funds to pay for the massive damage inflicted on the residents.

"This issue can easily be resolved if President Yudhoyono is willing to instruct Lapindo to pay the remaining 80 percent of the compensation it owes Sidoarjo residents," said Agus Harianto, a representative of mudflow victims, after a meeting with newly- installed East Java Governor Sukarwo and his deputy, Saifullah Yusuf.

PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, owned by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, the coordinating minister for people's welfare, was appointed to deal with the compensation claims. PT Lapindo Brantas, another Bakrie company, has been blamed for causing the destructive mudflow though it has consistently denied wrongdoing.

During a meeting facilitated by Yudhoyono in December, Minarak Lapindo Jaya agreed to pay Rp 30 million ($2,550) in monthly installments, starting January 2009. However, the company told the victims last week that the current economic crisis had made it impossible for them to honor its promise.

Toxic mud began flowing from a fissure close to Lapindo's Banjar Panji I oil and gas well near Sidoarjo on May 29, 2006. Since then, more than 600 hectares of villages, industrial and agricultural land has been submerged and thousands left homeless. During a visit to the province last year, Yudhoyono instructed Lapindo to pay 20 percent of the total money owed within ten weeks and the company obliged.

"[Direct instruction] worked at the time, so there is no reason why it will not work [if Yudhoyono chooses to]," Agus said.

The victims also urged the government to set bailout funds to settle the damage, using the victims' assets as collateral. The debts would then be an issue between the government and Lapindo Brantas.

"The residents do not want to deal with PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya anymore," said Suwito, coordinator of the Presidential Decree Supporting Movement. "They always renege on their agreement. They ignored the 2007 presidential decree No. 14 instructing payment, let alone [an] agreement."

The victims also said that if their demand for a bailout fund was fulfilled, they preferred government agencies to act as the paying agent. If the government failed to meet their demands, the displaced victims threatened to boycott the legislative elections on April 9.

"What's the use of choosing a leader if they can't even solve this problem?" Suwito said.

In response to the demands, Sukarwo said he would relay their concerns to Yudhoyono. "I get the gist of the issue. I will report the two demands to the president," Sukarwo said.

However, Sukarwo reminded the victims that even if the central government had the funds to bailout the payment, the decision also had to be made in the House of Representatives.

Activists denounce plan to allow palm oil firms in peatlands

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Environmental activists have mounted a challenge against the government's plan to allow palm oil companies to set up plantations in the country's remaining peatlands.

Greenpeace Southeast Asia says the plan runs counter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's promise to halve emissions from the forestry sector by 2009. The President made the pledge during the climate change conference in Bali in 2007 and at the G7 summit in Hokkaido, Japan, last year.

"Opening up peatlands would cause huge carbon emissions into the atmosphere that can't be compensated for, including by oil palm trees," Greenpeace forest campaigner Yuyun Indradi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He called on Yudhoyono to take action to halt the conversion of peatlands, or risk the failure of efforts to tackle climate change.

"The government needs to protect the remaining peatlands and forests if we are to slow down climate change and protect the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities and biodiversity," he said.

The government has promised to cut emissions, including from the forestry sector, by 50 percent in 2009, 75 percent in 2012, and 95 percent in 2025.

The National Action Plan on mitigation and adaptation on climate change revealed the country's agriculture sector contributed up to 96.42 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2005.

The Agriculture Ministry said it would issue a decree this year allowing businesses to open up peatlands for oil palm plantations, as part of efforts to boost the country's crude palm oil (CPO) production.

Ecosys, a European-based institute dealing with energy, carbon and biofuel issues, estimates that peatlands planted with oil palms would emit about 0.46 kilograms of CO2 per megajoule (MJ).

Indonesia has about 20 million hectares of dense, black tropical peat swamps that are natural carbon storage sinks.

Fitrian Ardiansyah, head of WWF Indonesia's climate change and energy program, said the government should prioritize exploiting millions of hectares of idle land if it wanted to expand the CPO business.

"We currently have more than 7 million hectares of idle land. Why does the government not utilize this before opening up forests or peatlands?" he said.

Demand for CPO has risen globally, spurred on by the development of the biofuel industry.

However, scientists warn the use of crop-based biofuels could speed up rather than slow down global warming, by fueling the destruction of rainforests.

Once heralded as the answer to oil, biofuels have become increasingly controversial because of their impact on food prices and the amount of energy it takes to produce them.

They may also be responsible for pumping far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than they could possibly save as a replacement for fossil fuels, according to a study released Saturday.

"If we run our cars on biofuels produced in the tropics, chances will be good that we are effectively burning rainforests in our gas tanks," Holly Gibbs, of Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment, was quoted as saying by AFP.

Gibbs studied satellite photos of the tropics from 1980 to 2000, and found that half of new farmland came from intact rainforests, with another 30 percent from disturbed forests.

"When trees are cut down to make room for new farmland, they are usually burned, sending their stored carbon into the atmosphere as CO2," Gibbs said.

For high-yield crops like sugarcane, it would take 40 to 120 years to pay back this carbon debt.

For lower yield crops like corn or soybeans, it would take 300 to 1,500 years, she told reporters at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"Biofuels have caused alarm because of how quickly production has been growing: global ethanol production increased by four times and biodiesel by 10 times between 2000 and 2007," she said.

"Moreover, agricultural subsidies in Indonesia and in the United States are providing added incentives to increase production of these crops."

Gibbs estimated that anywhere from a third to two-thirds of recent deforestation could be as a result of the increased demand for biofuels, but added an increased demand for food and feed also played a major role.

Much of the expansion of cropland in response to growing demand and rising prices is occurring in the tropics, where there is an abundance of arable land and an ideal growing climate for biofuel crops like sugarcane, soybeans and oil palms.

Women & gender

Women candidates may lose self-confidence

Jakarta Post - February 21, 2009

Jakarta – The new election system and the massive campaigns of some prominent politicians may have caused women legislative candidates to lose their confidence before struggling to participate in the polls.

Chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) Muslimin Nasution said Friday that confidence was all women needed to win legislative seats.

"I see these women losing their confidence now, just like in the previous elections," Muslimin said during the National Gathering of Indonesian Women Intellectuals themed "Boosting Womens' Opportunities in the National Leadership Democracy System" in Jakarta.

Organized by ICMI, the event which will last until Saturday, features about 50 women intellectuals from across the country.

Muslimin said women still had the opportunity to win legislative seats, but the new election mechanism depended on many votes.

"Now, many people are tired with parties, current legislators and many policies which are against the public interest. Voters need a change and women can bring a change for a new beginning for Indonesian government," he said.

"We are facing tense conditions with an unpredictable political situation now. Women legislators can bring more peace and relief."

He challenged the idea that the new system would deprive women of their chance to win more votes. "I think women can secure more than 20 percent of the vote and probably the election results will not so different from the previous polls," he added.

However, Marwah Daud Ibrahim, a woman legislative candidate, rose to the challenge. According to her, women candidates have to take on many difficulties to compete with men candidates.

"This is the reality; men have been involved in politics since a long time ago, while politics is a new thing for women. Women look like kindergarten kids and men are like university students," Marwah said.

Marwah, however, is quite sure that women could compete with men in the polls. "Today women are different from the women in the last decade. Now they are smarter and braver," she said.

Aida Vitayala, a gender expert from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said that most women legislative candidates are newcomers and are little known.

"Besides, there are still many problems, such as lack of budget and the unequal domestic burden between women and men," Aida said A number of ICMI female members will contest the April 9 legislative elections under the banners of the Golkar Party, the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate party (PAN). (naf)

House seats for women could decline

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Female legislative candidates and activists remain pessimistic that their representation at the House of Representatives could drop drastically.

The concern stems from the fact that the state seems unwilling to guarantee an increase in House seats for women, while, political parties have been stripped of any internal mechanism to ensure more female legislators represent them, politicians say.

The Constitutional Court's ruling to scrap Article 214 of the 2008 Legislative Elections Law – which allowed parties to determine their representatives in legislative bodies based on a hierarchical system of seat distribution, rather than giving seats to candidates who win the most votes – has been deemed a huge blow for female candidates.

Political parties are now afraid that making an internal ruling to allocate women one of every three seats could violate the law.

Ratna Batara Munti, a legislative candidate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the number of women at the next House could fall far below the 11 percent attained in the last elections in 2004.

"The political gender gap remains wide. It has worsened because no party has set an internal policy to ensure women get 30 percent of House seats," she told The Jakarta Post.

"Unfortunately, the government has no political will to give women more chances at the House," said Ratna, a former women's activist now contesting the East Java VII electoral district that comprises Pacitan, Ponogoro, Trenggalek, Magetan and Ngawi.

Legislative elections will be held on April 9, with more than 12,000 candidates vying for 560 House seats. The total is an increase from the current 550 seats, 11 percent of which are occupied by women.

The highest occurrence of women at the House was during the 1987-1992 period, when women occupied 13 percent or 65 seats, before dipping to 9 percent in the 1999-2004 period.

Golkar, the country's largest party, said it could not make a special exception for women, for fear of violating the law.

"Golkar has a policy of giving a seat to a female candidate, if a female and male candidate win the same number of votes. It is our way of respecting women," said Golkar member Firman Soebagyo. "But we can't go as far as awarding one seat for women out of every three seats won in electoral districts. That violates the law."

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has given up on efforts to issue a ruling requiring parties to award women 30 percent of their House seats, after its request for a government regulation-in-lieu-of law (perppu) was rejected.

Health & education

2.3 million abortions in Indonesia each year

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Jakarta – An average of 2.3 million women, 30 percent of whom are teenagers, report having abortions in Indonesian each year, according to a report released by an NGO on Monday.

"Unwanted pregnancy among teenagers is increasing by a rate of between 150,000 and 200,000 cases annually, Luh Putu Ikha Widani of the We Love Teenagers (Kisara) Bali said, as quoted by kompas.com.

She said the survey, which was conducted in nine major cities in Indonesia, found 37,000 cases of unwanted pregnancies, 27 per cent of which had occurred out of wedlock. Around 12.5 per cent of the total number of cases occurred among students.

"If we carefully observe the phenomenon, unwanted pregnancy among teenagers is actually caused by an accumulation of factors such as poor access to proper information on reproductive health and widespread myths," she added.

Ikha Widani argued that efforts needed to be made to provide correct information to teenagers, especially since "28.5 percent of teenagers today are sexually active." (amr)

Corruption & graft

AGO blasted for being open to negotiation with graft suspects

Jakarta Globe - February 21, 2009

Heru Andriyanto – An anti-graft group on Friday accused the Attorney General's Office of being willing to negotiate with corruption suspects after the AGO declared publicly that suspects who return stolen money would not be detained during an investigation.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch, or ICW, said the controversial policy was counterproductive to the country's anti-graft campaign because it would allow suspects to negotiate and could possibly result in the dropping of their case.

"In our records, there are several cases in which suspects returned the stolen money and their cases have still not been brought to trial," said Febri Diansyah, a law researcher with the group.

Putting graft suspects in detention is an important part of the campaign as it could serve as "shock therapy" to corrupt officials, he said, citing the reason the office's controversial policy must be revoked.

In an official statement, the group urged the AGO to follow the lead of the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, which detains suspects immediately after accusations of graft have been officially filed.

Whether or not a suspect is detained should not depend on the repayment of stolen funds, as the Criminal Code has clear regulations about that, the ICW said.

A suspect may avoid detention if law enforcers are convinced that he or she will not repeat the crime, destroy evidence or flee justice. "Never negotiate with graft suspects and revoke the policy that offers preferential treatment to them," the group told the AGO.

Marwan Effendy, deputy attorney general for special crimes, said the AGO office would not change its mind regarding the treatment of suspects.

"What makes ICW think they have the right to tell us what to do?" Marwan told reporters on Friday. He said the policy of letting suspects go free applied only to those who were involved in corruption cases "by accident."

"For instance, a suspect in bad loan case who is unable to repay. If he somehow managed to repay the debt during the investigation, we would consider letting him go free," said the prosecutor.

Even if the suspect is not detained during the investigation, the legal proceedings against him continue, he said, citing an article of the 1999 anti-graft law which indicates that returning stolen assets doesn't blot out the crime.

"But for those who committed a 'pure crime,' such as stealing state money or launching bogus projects with state funding, they will be detained," he said.

MUI objects to inclusion in graft list

Jakarta Globe - February 20, 2009

Anita Rachman & Heru Andriyanto – The Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, is demanding a public apology from Transparency International Indonesia following the publication of survey results that indicated the council was one of the most graft- ridden institutions in the country.

The survey, whose results were published in January, was aimed at determining which government agencies were perceived by the general population to be the most corrupt, TII said.

However, the MUI said that the anticorruption group had oversaturated media outlets with the report, causing the public to interpret the survey results as facts rather than a reflection of public perception. Amidhan, chairman of the MUI, also said that the methodology used in the survey was unclear and biased.

The council should not have been included in the survey at all because it was not a government agency, he said. "We demand that TII take back what it said about the council," Amidhan said. "The MUI wants a public apology."

The police topped the list of the most graft-ridden state institutions in the survey, followed by the Traffic and Public Transportation Office of the Ministry of Transportation, the municipal governments, the National Land Agency and state-run port operator PT Pelindo.

Amidhan said that if TII really wanted to find out any indications of corruption within the council, it should have investigated the Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics, or LP POM, which he claimed was the only body within the MUI that handled considerable amounts of money.

LP POM is in charge of determining whether the business practices of companies that specialize in manufacturing food products, medicines and cosmetics, follow standards set by Islamic law. Companies that meet the standards are given halal certificates by the institute.

"LP POM wasn't even mentioned in the report," he said. "Anyway, even if they had looked into LP POM, they wouldn't have found anything."

Muhammad Nadratuzzaman Hosen, director of LP POM, corroborated Amidhan's claim, saying the anticorruption group had failed to look into his institute in their survey. "The claims made by TII were not based on anything substantial," he said.

Amidhan said that regional branches of the MUI had urged senior leaders to issue a response to the results published by TII.

The council would wait for two weeks for a response from TII, he said, adding that the MUI's Commission for Law and Mediation would explore the possibility of undertaking legal action in case the council received no response.

Rizki Sri Wibowo, TII vice general secretary, said that his group was still discussing MUI's claim, and that they expect to come up with a statement on Friday. He refused to comment further on the matter.

AGO's graft policy criticized as 'soft'

Jakarta Globe - February 18, 2009

Heru Andriyanto – Corruption suspects may avoid detention while being investigated by the Attorney General's Office if they return misappropriated funds under a controversial policy focusing on the recovery of state assets, a senior prosecutor said on Tuesday.

The AGO has been criticized for adopting a soft approach toward graft suspects by dropping cases or allowing suspects to remain free during investigations.

"The handling of corruption cases should optimize the recovery of state money," said Marwan Effendy, deputy attorney general for special crimes. "Our policy is to let corruption suspects go free during an investigation if they return stolen state funds."

He said that the repayment of stolen money would not halt legal proceedings, because according to the anticorruption law, passed in 1999, cases are not dropped even if the stolen assets are returned.

A recent case involving businessman Tan Kian provides an example of this policy. Tan is suspected of misappropriating $13 million from state-run insurance firm PT Asabri to build the Plaza Mutiara office building in Jakarta, of which he maintains sole ownership. Although he was first identified as a suspect last year, prosecutors decided not to detain him after he repaid $13 million in full. Two other suspects have since been convicted and each sentenced to four years in jail in the case, but Tan remains a suspect.

Marwan said that Attorney General Hendarman Supadji had told all chief provincial prosecutors to focus on the recovery of stolen assets in graft cases.

Under national anticorruption laws, the failure to repay stolen assets is punishable by additional jail time. "But many convicts choose to serve additional time rather than repay, because the sentences are too soft," Marwan said.

Judges commonly extend jail terms for officials convicted of corruption by three to six months if they fail to repay stolen assets, due to a lack of firm guidelines on how much jail terms should be extended in relation to the amount of unpaid stolen funds.

According to an AGO document, prosecutors last year handled more than 1,100 corruption cases and recovered Rp 8.9 trillion ($747 million) in cash and Rp 2.8 trillion in assets.

The AGO's policy is potentially unfair, however, because the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, places all graft suspects in custody before their trials, said a leading antigraft campaigner.

"The soft approach marks a big difference between the AGO and KPK," said Danang Widoyoko, coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch.

Islam/religion

MUI raps seller of 'tickets to heaven'

Jakarta Globe - February 18, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – A man from the East Java town of Blitar says he will continue to sell "tickets to heaven" for Rp 4 million ($336), despite the Indonesia Council of Ulema, or MUI, alleging that the man's teachings are a "deviation."

"I only teach [people] how to find a peaceful life. I accept people from different backgrounds and religions," said Suliyani, 62, challenging the MUI to meet him to discuss his teachings.

Speaking to Metro TV, Suliyani, 62, said he would continue to seek and accept more followers to add to his 250 current students if the MUI did not take the time to discuss the issue. He said that the payments for his courses were compensation for guiding followers, who were having problems in their lives.

"A ticket to heaven may not be the correct term, but I always assure my followers that I will pay the money back if they do not find peace in their lives within a year," he said.

Ahmad Su'udi, MUI secretary in Blitar, said that Suliyani's teachings were a deviation because of the fees he charged his followers. "We will question him about his teachings after we gather enough material," he said.

Another group the MUI deemed to be "deviant," the sect of Satrio Piningit Weteng Buwono in Jakarta, allegedly practiced group sex rituals. Jakarta Police named its leader, Agus Imam Solichin, as a suspect for blasphemy.

Halal product bill harmful to people, say PDS lawmakers

Jakarta Post - February 17, 2009

Jakarta – The bill on halal product assurance, now being deliberated at the House of Representatives, discriminates against non-Muslims and has serious impacts for people who consume items unacceptable under the bill, legislators said Monday.

"We are afraid the bill will bring serious problems for people, such as with the pornography law," legislator Tiurlan Basaria Hutagaol, from the Christian-based Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), said on the sidelines of a House hearing with the Religious Affairs Ministry.

Article 31 of the bill allows "people to take part in helping supervise" the enforcement of the law. This stipulation could lead to acts of vigilantism against those selling products without halal labels on them, Basaria said.

She added only a few experts understood the matter, while most Muslims, especially hard-liners, would support the bill simply because it was the proper religious thing to do.

"We also have to think about the implications in the field. This bill will have negative implications, especially for non-Muslims," she said.

"Many non-Muslims run food stalls selling pork and dog meat. What will happen to them? Indonesia is a big country and has many tribes, religions and customs. The bill will also hurt some ethnic cultures that use pig and dog meat in their rituals."

Basaria added the issue of halal (permissible under Islam) was a religious matter and should not be regulated by the state. She also said the government needed to be concerned with Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Stefanos Amolo, another PDS legislator, also expressed his disappointment over the bill, which adopts Islamic sharia law.

"Sharia is only for Muslims. How about Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. What about ethnic groups like Bataks, Balinese and those from West and East Nusa Tenggara? They will suffer from this bill," he said.

He pointed out the bill prioritized the interests of Muslims while ignoring the needs of other groups.

Under the bill, all food, drinks, cosmetics, and chemical, biological or biologically engineered products must be declared permissible under sharia law before being allowed to go on sale to the public.

The bill also calls for a minimum prison sentence of eight years and/or a maximum fine of Rp 6 billion for the production and sale of food not labeled halal. The PDS suggested the government implement existing consumer protection law articles on halal products, rather than create a specific law for it.

However, Latifah, a legislator from the National Mandate Party (PAN), was upbeat about the bill.

"We've been waiting so long for this bill, and finally the House is deliberating it," she said. "The bill will protect Muslims because there is so much haram [forbidden] food in Indonesia today."

Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni also praised the bill. "This bill is so important for us, because Muslims are the majority in Indonesia. The people need this," he said.

After a three-year delay, the House began deliberating the bill in early February, less than two months before the April 9 legislative elections. Legislators plan to pass the bill before September this year.

The nationalist-based Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) expressed objections to some of the bill's contents. "I think it would be better for us to educate legislators with the contents, so they know about it and won't reject the bill," said a PDI-P legislator who declined to be named. (naf)

'Jaipong' artists slam PKS president

Jakarta Post - February 15, 2009

Indonesia – Jaipong artists slammed president of the Islamic- based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Tifatul Sembiring for his statement, which they said discredited the traditional West Java dance.

"We are not a generation who develops seni yang miring (degenerate arts) as stated by Sembiring," Mas Nanu Muda, coordinator of Jaipong Care Community, said in Bandung on Saturday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Nanu read the statement from the Jaipong artists, in which they demanded an apology from Tifatul Sembiring.

The controversy surrounding the Jaipong dance emerged after West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, a PKS activist, used the controversial anti-pornography law as a legal basis to forbid Jaipong dancers from wearing "sexy" costumes and executing "provocative" dance moves.

Equality in Muslim family law on the table

Jakarta Post - February 15, 2009

Ati Nurbaiti, Kuala Lumpur – Equality is necessary and possible in Muslim families, and not just so-called modern women demand such equality, women said Saturday at an international gathering in Kuala Lumpur.

Equality is necessary because "many aspects of current Muslim laws and practices are unjust", said Zainah Anwar, a leading activist in Malaysia and former head of the NGO Sisters in Islam, which hosted the Global Meeting for Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family.

Anwar, also the project director for the musawah (equality) meeting, said equality and justice in the family is made possible by the coming together of Islamic teachings, a human rights framework and constitutional guarantees of those human rights.

At a press conference after the event, she said the perception that such demands for justice are not made by "traditional" women in rural areas is "a myth". The meeting of some 250 delegates from 47 countries which opened Friday runs through Tuesday.

"We met with 2,000 women in rural areas and small towns, many of them single mothers," Anwar said. "It's easier to talk about equality with traditional women because they knew instantly what we were talking about. They question the idea of the protective husband, he is missing in action, lost in space," she said.

The gathering, Anwar said, was part of an evolving global movement which aimed to further Islamic principles of equality and justice.

The fact that the international talks could be held in Malaysia – known as a democracy but often considered "difficult" regarding Islamic issues, as one local journalist put it – "shows there is space in Malaysia to talk about Islam" and national policies, Anwar said.

Organizers decided to limit media access to just the opening and closing plenary sessions, keeping a close hold on the sensitive central aim of the global event: reform of Muslim family law.

Organizers on Friday launched the publication of Home Truths: A global report on equality in the Muslim family, documenting experiences from 30 countries including Indonesia. The report also describes developments in laws and policies in these countries as they relate to family law and women's rights.

In her keynote speech UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women Yakin Ertrk said that although she had found "impressive levels" of equality between men and women, "women continue to be subordinated and subjected to abuse."

Ertrk raised concerns over proposed regionally and religiously based frameworks on human rights, such as the "Islamic alternative" to the international Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to be put forward during the upcoming gathering of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

While some say such frameworks may be useful in enabling more enforcement of human rights, Ertrk said they should be "monitored closely by women's rights groups so their rights are not subordinated to the common good".

Ahead of the ASEAN summit later this month, chair of Indonesia's women's rights body Kamala Chandrakirana said Southeast Asian leaders should involve the voices of women. She said this would ensure that the ASEAN Human Rights Charter would "actually provide meaningful change" for women.

Among the speakers on Saturday was the scholar Amina Wadud, the woman imam from the United States, who has stirred up controversy for leading congressional prayers, a role commonly understood to be only filled by men. She said it was the "duty" of Muslims as responsible "human agents of Allah" to work toward the route to "partnership" as provided in the Koran, away from the domination of patriarchy.

Elections/political parties

Prabowo grilled over human rights abuses

Jakarta Globe - February 20, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto on Friday expressed optimism that his past human rights record while he was in the Army would not get in the way of his bid for the nation's top slot this year.

Prabowo, then a lieutenant general in the Kostrad elite army force, was dismissed from the military after the fall of his then father-in-law, Suharto, in 1998 after a military council found him guilty of involvement in the kidnappingG of pro-democracy activists during the New Order era.

Many have also accused him of having masterminded violent anti- Chinese riots early in 1998 and of serious human rights abuse while serving in East Timor, while the former Portuguese territory was under Indonesia, but none of the accusations have so far been proven in court.

"My conscience is clear, I took responsibility. I consider myself a fighter, I consider myself an officer," Prabowo, 57, told foreign journalists during a lunch of the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

He said that as government changes, actions could be interpreted differently. What would have been acceptable under one rule could become unacceptable under another government.

Prabowo, who usually shuns the press, said that he had assumed responsibility over the kidnapping of the pro-democracy activists but said once again that times had now changed. "You can see now that many of the kidnapping victims have become members of my party," Prabowo said.

Prabowo is a key patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra, and has said that he will be running for the presidency in the July election with a ticket of the party. He cited Pius Lustrilanang, Desmon Mahesa and Haryanto Taslam, who were once among the activists his men had kidnapped but are now active Gerindra members.

Prabowo said that after the fall of Suharto in May 1998, he was an easy target for his enemies. "I was 47 years old, a son-in-law of President Suharto and people saw me as his potential successor," he said.

In his presidential bid, Prabowo said that he had the financial support of his own brother, entrepreneur Hasyim Djojohadikusumo, who has become his main campaign financier.

He said that if he became president, he would rein in the free market and bank on agriculture to alleviate poverty. The country needed "double digit growth" to free itself from the shackles of poverty, Prabowo said, adding that the current market-friendly government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had failed to reach that.

Prabowo also said he is still maintaining good relations with Suharto's family, despite his divorce from Suharto's daughter. "I have never denied that I am Suharto's man. He is the one who made me a lieutenant general."

Kalla ready to challenge SBY in polls

Jakarta Post - February 21, 2009

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla sent Friday a clearer signal of his preparedness to contest the presidential election that could put his party on a collision course with his boss Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Kalla's statement of readiness to compete with Yudhoyono in the July presidential election was a foregone conclusion as the two have so far gone through a love-hate relationship.

"Whatever [the position] will be, I'm ready as long as it's the best for the nation. Have I ever been unready when I'm backed?" he told a press conference at his office when asked to respond to his nomination as presidential candidate by Golkar Party provincial chapters.

Kalla, who also chairs Golkar, said it was the right of party chapters to decide who they wanted as presidential candidate. "The central board cannot decide on everything. That [his nomination] is the democratic right of the party chapters," he said.

But he said Golkar would only announce its presidential hopeful in its national meeting after the April 9 legislative elections. The party will shortlist a number of candidates next month.

On Thursday, 33 heads of party provincial chapters asked Kalla during a meeting at his official residence to allow the party to nominate its own presidential candidate.

Golkar West Java leader Uu Rukmana said Kalla supported this. The Golkar chairman said the party central board had no choice but to follow the unanimous decision. Representatives of North Maluku chapter also supported this.

Golkar stipulates each branch at provincial, municipal and regency level, as well as members of the central board and affiliated organizations, may vote to nominate the party presidential candidate.

Executive director of the polling institute Indo Barometer Mohammad Qodari said rising calls for Golkar to pick its own candidate was a sign of "a widening rift between Yudhoyono and Kalla".

He said many Golkar members were upset by Yudhoyono's reluctance to declare Kalla his run-ning mate during the Democratic Party national meeting earlier this month.

A close confidant of Kalla said President Yudhoyono had taken many key decisions without consulting his deputy Kalla, including the recent appointment of the new Pertamina president director, done while Kalla was overseas.

Kalla's stated readiness to take on Yudhoyono in the upcoming presidential election may widen the rift between them. But Kalla said the pair should carry on well together until the end of their tenure in October because they had been "elected by the people," and not by their respective parties.

Golkar senior figure Syamsul Mu'arif hailed Kalla's bid for the presidency, saying it would give party supporters a morale boost.

Young Golkar politician Yuddy Chrisnandi concurred, saying Kalla had proven his competence. "If Golkar is given the opportunity to lead the country, the poverty rate will drop by between 5 and 10 percent a year," he said.

The United Development Party (PPP) welcomed Kalla's readiness to run for the presidency, saying voters would have a lot of choices. "The more the merrier. There will be many national figures in store to lead the country," PPP secretary general Irgan Chairul Mahfiz told Antara news agency.

PKS to support Yudhoyono, Kalla

Jakarta Post - February 21, 2009

Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) will support the nomination of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla if the two decide to contest the election in July as a team.

"Why? PKS forecasts a gloomy economic development in the years to come," PKS deputy secretary general Zulkiflimansyah told a discussion Friday.

He added, however, the party would also support the nomination of government officials in charge of economic affairs and businesspeople as the country's future leaders.

Prominent figures such as Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, Director General of Tax Darmin Nasution, businessman Chairul Tanjung and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid are among the candidates, Zulkiflimansyah said.

He added that for PKS, it was the economic team's leader that would matter, rather than who would be the president and vice president.

Rivalry among candidates getting ugly

Jakarta Post - February 21, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Andi Yuliani Paris, a legislative candidate from the National Mandate Party (PAN), could not conceal her fear of losing votes after failing to provide cash or basic commodities as demanded by her "constituents" during the campaign.

The senior legislator began panicking as many supporters made "mistakes" in marking their ballots in trial polls, voting for other candidates listed above or below her name on the party's list of candidates. So she decided to use any strategy to win them back, even if she had to discredit her colleagues.

"I tell them 'I don't know the candidates [listed above and below me],'" Andi, former deputy of the House of Representatives' special committee dealing with the 2008 election law, said Friday.

But she felt she could do nothing to stop voters turning away from her as other candidates threw cash at them.

"Every time I meet people in my election district, they always talk about money. They are proud of naming candidates who have given them money and basic foods," she said. "But I refuse [to give] when they ask money from me. I tell them I am a poor candidate. So if you want to vote me, just do it."

Andi, a senior PAN member, is contesting a seat in an electoral district comprising 14 regencies across South Sulawesi.

A candidate from the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), who declined to be named, admitted that rivalry among hopefuls from the same parties was no longer healthy. "I tell my party supporters about my rival's weaknesses, as they do about me. It's because I don't have enough money to 'bribe' the voters," he said.

He added that to win against other Gerindra candidates as well as those from other parties, he planned to unveil the poor performances or corrupt practices of many legislators seeking reelection.

"And I believe that besides myself, many other candidates will try to corner the incumbent legislators running for reelection. The public has been made aware of their poor performance or corrupt behavior in the last five years," the candidate said.

He added all he had to do was "throw some fuel into the fire" by releasing to the media the details of corruption cases his rivals were involved in.

Experts say the ugly rivalry among candidates from the same parties is part of the fallout from the Constitution Court's ruling to give legislative seats to candidates who win the most votes.

In the past, seats were awarded to those sitting high on the party's list of candidates, regardless of how many votes they won. But that practice opened the way for nepotism and collusion, with party members close to the leaders being placed at the top of the lists.

The legislative elections will be held on April 9, with about 12,000 candidates from 38 parties vying for 560 House seats.

Under pressure from the tight competition and desperate for seats, candidates have become selfish by not promoting their parties or fellow party candidates, said Democratic Reform Party (PDP) candidate Noor Cholis.

"Candidates eyeing regency legislatures teach voters to only tick the column for their names. They don't care about promoting the party's other candidates for provincial and House seats," he said.

Andalas University legal expert Saldi Isra warned that conflicts among candidates from the same parties could loom large, both during the campaign and during vote counting.

He said the risk for conflicts was heightened by the fact that many regulations issued by the General Elections Commission (KPU) had opened loopholes that could become sources of conflict.

"There are many weaknesses in the regulations that could likely create conflicts. The unclear ruling on marking ballots, for instance, can cause polling staff to make mistakes in determining the validity of votes," he said.

"Another problem is that the Constitutional Court will not receive the complaints lodged by individual candidate, creating the possibility that many conflicts will be settled by muscle rather than law."

The court has said it would only handle conflicts presented by political parties.

Most Golkar branches want their own president

Jakarta Post - February 20, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Golkar looks likely to nominate a presidential candidate from within the party, after most regional members vowed to have a candidate of their own.

With Vice President and party chairman Jusuf Kalla giving his blessing to the move, many party officials are convinced Kalla's partnership with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may soon be over.

Leaders of the Golkar Party's provincial branches gathered Thursday at Kalla's residence, saying they had reached an agreement to press the party to pick its own candidate for the presidency.

Kalla invited 33 heads of the party's branches to his official residence, a day after the party's national meeting, to grant his approval of the branches' proposal, Kalla's inner circle said.

Senior Golkar member and close Kalla aide Firman Subagyo said the provincial branch leaders had met with Kalla to voice their demands that Golkar have its own presidential candidate.

"This is positive input, but not yet a binding decision," Firman told The Jakarta Post. "The final say will be made during the party's meeting after the legislative election."

Uu Rukmana, Golkar West Java chairman, said Kalla had supported the call for the party to name its own presidential candidate.

"He has agreed. He said 'It's your right.' And because all the provincial branches agree unanimously, the party's central board has no choice but to follow," he said. He added that after Kalla expressed his agreement, representatives from the North Maluku branch said they would nominate Kalla.

Golkar's regulations state that each branch at the provincial, municipal and regency level, as well as members of the central board and affiliated organizations, may vote to decide to nominate the party's presidential candidate.

If all regional branches support the proposal, then they are assured of winning the party vote. Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono agreed that regional branch unity indicated the party would nominate its own candidate, threatening to end the Yudhoyono-Kalla partnership.

"Actually, we've already begun selecting our own presidential candidates. We hope to get all candidate lists from the branches by March at the latest," he said.

Golkar advisory board chairman Surya Paloh has also asked the party to nominate its own candidate.

Mohammad Qodari, executive director of pollster Indo Barometer, said rising calls for the party to pick its own candidate showed there was dissatisfaction with the incumbent team of Yudhoyono and Kalla. "It's a strong sign that the rift between Yudhoyono and Kalla could widen," he said.

He added many Golkar members were upset with Yudhoyono's continued reluctance to officially declare Kalla his running mate, during the Democratic Party's national meeting earlier this month.

"That anger was stoked further after a Democratic Party executive 'insulted' Golkar by saying it would only get 2.5 percent of votes in the legislative elections," Qodari said.

PDI-P puts promises in ink

Jakarta Globe - February 20, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, says it is breaking new political ground by requiring all of its legislative candidates to stake their right to run again in 2014 on their ability to meet broad development targets if elected this year.

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, PDI-P's chairwoman, said during a press conference on Thursday that party members seeking elective office would have to sign a contract that committed them to ensuring affordable basic goods and services, providing millions of job opportunities and improving people's welfare. Failure to meet those goals would mean legislators would not be allowed to run in the 2014 legislative elections.

"The political contract would only be effective if the PDI-P controls the government and the House, meaning that it would happen if the 2009 to 214 president comes from the PDI-P and 30 percent of the House total seats are owned by the PDI-P," said Pramono Anung, the party's secretary general, who read the political contract on behalf of Megawati.

However, it was not clear as to what criteria the party would use to measure legislators' progress toward achieving the goals in the contract.

On the issue of providing affordable basic goods and services, for example, the contract only said that increases in "prices must be done in a way that it would not exceed increases in people's purchasing power," but offered no indication as to how this would be achieved.

Similarly, job creation would be measured by "the total number of jobs set up during the government's five-year tenure from 2009- 14." Whether this meant new jobs established or net job creation was left for observers to ponder.

Finally, the vague goal of "improving people's welfare" would be measured on the basis of changes in wealth inequality, and, Pramono said, on "the percentage of economic development," declining to provide further clarification.

The party did not provide set numerical performance measures for its members because "providing affordable basic necessities is linked to people's purchasing power," Megawati said.

"We couldn't say, for example, that a kilogram of chili peppers should be set at Rp 50, because the price would be considered expensive if people's purchasing power is low," she said.

The contract, PDI-P believes, is the first of its kind made by a political party in the country, and "is made to confirm the party's persistent struggle," it said in a statement. PDI-P believes "democracy can not be strong if it stands on a shaky economy," Pramono said.

"The 2009 election will be meaningful only if it leads to a change in the quality of life for the majority of Indonesians. This contract is a politically innovative way to find a solution."

PDI-P garnered 18.5 percent in the 2004 legislative elections, second only to the Golkar Party. PDI-P has endorsed more than 600 candidates for House seats this year.

Court verdict closes door on candidates from small parties

Jakarta Post - February 19, 2009

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The door has now been firmly closed shut by the Constitutional Court on candidates for the presidential elections who have no backing either from major political parties or from strong party coalitions.

After rejecting participation by possible independent candidates' for the presidential race through a court verdict issued on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court subsequently handed over a decision in the same spirit on Wednesday ruling on the minimum vote threshold that parties or coalitions of parties would have to secure in order to be able to name presidential candidates.

The ruling is stipulated in Article 9 of Law No. 42/2008 on presidential elections, which says: "Presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs are proposed by political parties or party coalitions contesting in elections that meet the requirement of gaining at least 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives or 25 percent of the valid votes cast in legislative elections prior to the presidential elections."

Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD said the article was not in conflict with the 1945 Constitution. "The plaintiffs' arguments are baseless," Mahfud said.

Among the plaintiffs were independent presidential hopeful Maj. Gen. (ret) Saurip Kadi, the Star Crescent Party (PBB), the People's Conscience Party, the Reform Democracy Party and the Labor Party.

The plaintiffs said Article 9 of the presidential elections law was "highly discriminatory", "unfair", and would "kill" many people's chances of running for the presidency. They said the article violated the Constitution as the latter did not provide any details over how many votes parties should have to gain in order to be able to name candidates.

"Article 9 shows the arrogance of the big parties winning the 2004 legislative elections. It doesn't provide opportunities for democratic changes in socio-political leadership nor does it offers alternatives for more varied candidate pairs," the plaintiffs said.

Government representatives said, however, that the threshold requirement was necessary so as to ensure the elected President and Vice President would have strong support from the people and the House.

The court ruled the requirement was a derived legal conclusion from the Constitution and not necessarily against it. It also rejected the argument that the threshold would lead to undemocratic elections, saying the parties eligible to name candidates would be those elected democratically by the people.

The court also handed down a verdict in the same hearing on the request of the Star Crescent Party for a judicial review of Article 3 (5) of the 2008 Law on legislative elections, maintaining that its rulings over different schedules for presidential and legislative elections were in line with the Constitution.

Three out of eight judges – Abdul Mukhtie Fadjar, Maruarar Siahaan and M. Akil Mochtar – voiced dissenting opinions. They said strong party support did not necessarily mean bigger votes for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

They cited the case of the 2004 presidential elections in which the incumbent president, backed by his Democratic Party, won over candidates backed by bigger parties like Megawati Soekarnoputri (backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) and Wiranto (backed by the Golkar Party).

Election observers denounce KPU move to fix polls

Jakarta Globe - February 19, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – Election observers and the head of the Constitutional Court on Wednesday condemned a General Elections Commission, or KPU, request that the government issue a government regulation-in-lieu-of-law, or Perpu, to change the way candidates can win House seats in the coming April 9 elections.

The Constitutional Court recently annulled an article in the Election Law that allowed candidates to be elected under a system in which the number of votes is divided into the number of legislative seats in a given electoral district. That result is known as a quota. A candidate who achieved 30 percent of the quota would win the election.

Constitutional Court President Mahfud MD said the KPU's plan to restore the quota system was wrong. "The plan has sparked confusion and stimulated unhealthy political problems that may hamper the election," Mahfud told reporters.

"A Constitutional Court verdict is final, as the court is the interpreter of the Constitution. "The court is a 'negative legislator' because its decisions are as strong as the law."

The court ruled that candidates who gained the most votes, regardless of the quota, would win the seat.

On Tuesday night, the KPU met Minister of Home Affairs Mardiyanto and lawmakers to discuss the possibility of a Perpu being issued to bring back the article that was annulled by the court. Mardiyanto said the government had agreed to issue the Perpu before March 6.

The KPU said the verdict was not sufficiently clear for it to implement. "The court decision on the majority vote is not clear," KPU member I Gusti Putu Artha said on Tuesday. "Do we have to use a district system or do we have to count the seats for each party first?"

Mahfud responded on Wednesday that the Constitutional Court's verdict was clear enough and that it was wrong for the KPU to interpret it differently.

"We clearly said that after the commission counts the total votes, it has to count the seats gained by each party," he said. "Afterward, the commission decides on the elected legislative candidate from each party."

Mahfud said the KPU should not overstep its specific areas of expertise. "KPU members don't understand the law and they should not try to interpret the court verdict based on their limited knowledge of the law," Mahfud said.

"If KPU members are careless in this case, they have to remember that there could be political and legal consequences. The political consequences may come from the lawmakers or the president himself."

Jeirry Sumampow, the national coordinator of Indonesian Voters Committee, or TEPI, said the KPU had been forced to ask the government to issue a Perpu to cover its mistakes. "This coming election will be prone to conflict if there are unclear regulations."

Golkar slipping in five regions

Jakarta Globe - February 19, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea – The Golkar Party admitted on Wednesday that it would have to work a lot harder for a strong showing in the April 9 national legislative elections.

Based on three surveys commissioned by Golkar, party members feared that they were losing popularity in five key provinces.

The surveys – conducted by Indo Barometer, the Indonesian Survey Institute and Poll Center – showed that Golkar had failed to make much-needed headway in Jakarta, East Java, Central Java, Central Kalimantan and Bali provinces.

The exact results of the surveys were not disclosed to journalists, however, and other, independent surveys have shown Golkar trailing nationally to the Democratic Party and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P.

Despite the fact that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party currently heads the government, Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono said the party would work harder to try to capitalize on the government's successes.

"Golkar Party should be reaping the results of the government's successful programs," he said after holding a meeting of Golkar leaders at the party's West Jakarta offices. "The government is a team comprising two parties."

Vice President Jusuf Kalla is Golkar's chairman, and the party's new TV ad campaign has tried to portray government successes as due to his position and Golkar's plurality of the legislature.

With only seven weeks remaining before the election, Agung said that Golkar remained strong in several regions, including on densely-populated Java Island.

Golkar secretary general Rully Chaerul Azwar said swing voters in Jakarta who had supported the party in 2004 no longer did, reflected in the party's decline in the capital. "In DKI Jakarta, voters are very critical," he said. "And there are many new voters who will make last-minute decisions."

However, Rully said he was optimistic that the intensive advertising campaign would boost the party's popularity by 5 percent nationally. Golkar is the largest party in the House of Representatives after winning 24 percent of the 2004 vote and securing 128 of the 550 seats.

Court rejects independent candidates for presidency

Jakarta Post - February 18, 2009

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Independent candidates have won a number of regional elections, but their quest to contest the presidential race has been halted by a legal obstacle, at least temporarily.

On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court voted against a judicial review of four articles in Law No. 42/2008 on the presidential election, which the plaintiffs said restricted citizens' political right to vie for the top executive post.

"The plaintiffs' arguments are groundless," court chief Mahfud M.D., presiding over the hearing, said as he read out the verdict. "[The Constitutional Court] declares that the plaintiffs' request entirely rejected."

The panel of judges said the four contested articles were in accordance with Article 6A(2) of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that presidential and vice presidential candidates be nominated by political parties or coalitions contesting the preceding legislative elections.

The plaintiffs – independent candidate M. Fadjroel Rachman and two people calling themselves only eligible voters, Mariana and Bob Febrian – said independents should be allowed to contest the presidential election, just as they were allowed to contest regional elections.

While Articles 1(4), 8 and 13 stipulate only parties have the right to name presidential candidates, Article 9 says in detail that parties who may do so are those that manage to secure a minimum of 20 percent of seats at the House of Representatives, or 25 percent of total valid votes nationally in the preceding legislative elections, set for April 9.

The court said the article on the threshold already provided a "clear ruling" on the privilege of parties to name candidates, and that it could not be interpreted any differently.

The plaintiffs earlier argued, citing an expert's opinion, that the article should not be interpreted in its original intent, and that it was affirmative rather than imperative.

They said the article was introduced during the amendment of the Constitution early in the reform era, when political parties began dominating the country's political system, and was thus aimed at preserving that domination.

Three of the court's eight judges – Abdul Mukhtie Fadjar, Maruarar Siahaan and M. Akil Mochtar – voiced dissenting opinions during the trial. Abdul said an amendment to the 1945 Constitution might be needed to allow independent candidates to contest presidential elections, while Maruarar and Akil said Article 6A(2) of the Constitution should be allowed to be interpreted differently.

Fadjroel said although he was disappointed with the court's ruling, the dissenting opinions of the three judges provided hope for independent candidates to contest the president elections in 2014 or 2019.

"Basically, I think not all the judges reject the idea of independent candidates; they only think it is, at present, unconstitutional," said Fadjroel, who chairs the Institute for Democracy and Prosperous Nation Studies. "Therefore our next struggle is to seek a fifth amendment to the Constitution."

The government hailed Tuesday's ruling as being in compliance with the Constitution. Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata said the Constitution had clearly awarded the privilege to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates to political parties.

"That's the spirit of the presidential election law," he said. He added the electoral threshold was aimed at forming a strong government that had adequate popular support.

Officials fiddle while election prep burns

Jakarta Globe - February 18, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – With legislative elections less than two months away, nothing is being done to correct shambolic final voter enrolment lists other than a frenzied game of finger pointing.

Andi Nurpati, a member of the embattled national General Elections Commission, or KPU, attempted on Tuesday to distance the commission from the original problems with the voter lists, saying all errors were the responsibility of the Election Supervisory Board, or Bawaslu.

Bawaslu responded by admitting partial blame, but accused the government of failing to disburse the funding it needed to verify the voter lists in a timely fashion.

Meanwhile, the KPU has given President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a week to issue a regulation in lieu of law, or Perpu, to order an immediate revision of the final voter lists, saying if he did not do so, it would issue a new regulation itself.

Andi said that if Bawaslu and the provincial Election Supervisory Committees, or Panwaslu, had worked efficiently before the announcement of the final voter lists, they would have discovered the lists were seriously flawed.

"It is the obligation of Bawaslu to cross-check the voter list data, from the preliminary voter lists, final voter lists and also the additional voter lists," Andi said. "If Bawaslu found unregistered eligible voters, they should have informed us earlier. I doubt whether it supervised the voter list data, which is also part of its responsibility."

Already under fire for delays in its poll preparations, the KPU was again lambasted amid accusations of incompetence last week after admitting to registering 128,000 extra voters in Papua and ordering an immediate halt to the printing of ballot papers for the province.

The discovery – and accusations of widespread voter fraud during the prolonged and controversial East Java gubernatorial election – prompted the KPU to revise and update the final voter rolls. "Some [provincial] Panwaslu reported to us and asked us to revise the voter lists, but Bawaslu remained silent," Andi said.

Bawaslu member Bambang Eka Cahya Widodo responded on Tuesday, saying it was not right for the KPU to blame Bawaslu.

"The problem with inaccurate voter lists is the late government budget," Bambang said. "The officials that update the data in the field could not work as they had no money to do so. The commission should be honest and say that the budget delay has hampered the updating of the voter lists."

Bambang said that some Panwaslus had found voter list inaccuracies on the preliminary voter lists and reported it to the KPU. "But they did not do anything after we reported the findings."

Local pols seek celebrity boost for campaigns

Jakarta Globe - February 17, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – British celebrity footballer David Beckham and US President Barack Obama have taken unexpected lead roles in the run-up to Indonesia's legislative elections in April.

"Even Beckham chooses No. 23" reads one election banner, with a photo of the superstar footballer. Beckham's jersey number is 23, which also happens to be the official ballot number for Golkar Party in the elections.

But he's not the only foreign personality to be dragged into the Indonesian political fray. One campaign banner for a Democratic Party candidate has him posing like Obama opposite a picture of the new US president.

Other candidates are leaning on the notoriety of celebrity children in campaign ads.

A Golkar candidate for the Jakarta legislative council, Prya Ramadhani, is trying to cash in on the fame of his celebrity teenage daughter, Nia Ramadhani, using her image on campaign banners. "Please give us your blessing so my father will be your representative on the Jakarta Council," the banner reads.

Gorontalo Council candidate Rafflyn Lamusu let his celebrity connection speak for itself. "Father of Cynthia Lamusu," a banner declares, referring to Rafflyn's daughter, who is a singer.

Deddy Mulyana, head of Padjajaran University's Department of Communications, said that while such ads might momentarily attract voters' attention, they not only lacked substance – they were passe. "I am sorry to say it, but such an ad technique is primitive," he said. "It's so yesterday."

Deddy said the poor quality of the campaign ads was due to the fact that parties picked candidates based on their financial resources, not political skills. He said that candidates should stop trying to attract voters by boasting, and instead court them by discussing the issues.

This strategy, however, was not the one chosen by the candidate who inexplicably posed next to a picture of a tiger in his campaign poster.

Voting simulation reveals ballot flaw

Jakarta Post - February 17, 2009

Wasti Atmodjo, Denpasar – A voting simulation held Sunday by the Denpasar General Elections Commission (KPUD) revealed a flaw that almost everyone – laymen and pundits alike – had already pointed out: the ballot is too large to enable a voter to process it quickly.

First-time voter Ni Made Adisti, 19, said the ballot was too big and featured too many political parties and candidates. "It contains too many choices," she said.

She admitted that processing the paper – opening, ticking on a party and candidate of choice, and folding it closed – took up far more time than she initially expected. Apart from this, she went on, she experienced no significant problems in completing the task.

"However, I can't even imagine how illiterate voters or the elderly would deal with this ballot. They're definitely going to have considerable problems in processing the paper," she said.

The KPUD's IGA Diah Yuniti said the commission had estimated each voter would need an average of four minutes to cast a vote. On the actual voting day, each voter will have to process four ballots.

"In the simulation, we saw many people take less than four minutes to process the ballot. However, there were a considerable number of voters who took longer than four minutes," she said.

The ballot's wieldy size is the inevitable result of the high number of political parties contesting the upcoming elections. In Bali alone, there are some 36 parties fielding almost 5,000 candidates.

Sunday's simulation was held at the community hall of Kertha Bhuwana hamlet in Denpasar.

"There are 325 registered voters in this hamlet. Denpasar has a total of 391,878 registered voters, and we will prepare 1,322 polling stations to accommodate them," said Denpasar KPUD head I Made Gede Ray Misno.

In the community hall, the local election committee had set up four voting booths, four ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia. Many registered voters came to the hall dressed in traditional Balinese dress, with several uniformed and plainclothes police officers monitoring the whole process.

"The simulation is aimed at compiling and identifying possible problems that we may face during the actual vote. That's why everything in the simulation is identical to that in the actual vote," Ray Misno said.

Expect SBY-JK to run again, experts say

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The Golkar Party will ultimately "tie the knot" with the Democratic Party in backing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in the presidential race, despite mounting calls within Golkar for an end to the coalition, experts say.

University of Indonesia political observer Ali Fachry expressed doubt over a possible Golkar move to form its own coalition to take on Yudhoyono. "[Yudhoyono and Kalla] are complementary. Each becomes fragile if they part ways," Fachry, a close acquaintance of Kalla's, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He said calls for a new coalition with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) or the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) were just "emotional statements" from individuals within Golkar.

"Coalitions with other parties are tentative plans, or the very last resort if Yudhoyono picks another running mate over Kalla," said Fachry, author of the book Kalla and Aceh Peace.

Asked whether Kalla stood a good chance of winning the presidency, Fachry said "No. In my personal view, Kalla doesn't have a strong chance in the presidential election if he breaks away from Yudhoyono."

Senior Golkar executive Priyo Budi Santoso said last week a coalition with the PDI-P or the PKS was possible. He added Golkar would name Kalla as its presidential hopeful, while picking a vice presidential candidate from another party.

Paramadina University political scientist Bima Arya Sugiarto said Kalla would require a powerful coalition to face off against Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party, whose popularity is on the rise.

"Yudhoyono is now at his peak. Only a very solid political machinery can defeat him in the election, and Golkar could take the lead," he said. "But the coalition should also seek a candidate other than Kalla to face Yudhoyono," he added, citing Kalla's low popularity ratings.

Bima also said the Democratic Party could abandon Kalla if the party won 20 percent of votes in the legislative elections.

Alfan Alfian from the Akbar Tandjung Institute said calls for Golkar to break from the Yudhoyono-led coalition reflected internal party strife.

"Golkar is in a dilemma over its reluctance to name Kalla as its presidential candidate. Nominating Kalla for the presidential post will also be detrimental for the party because he is far less popular than other candidates," he said.

Democrats and PKB say they will focus on agriculture sector

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Alfian, Jakarta – As it tries to ward off the fallout from the global recession, Indonesia's economy should focus more on developing the agriculture sector.

That was the message conveyed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB), when the two parties met Saturday with representatives from the business community to discuss the parties' respective economic policies.

The two, in separate discussions, said they would prioritize their economic policies in sectors that employed large numbers of people, including agriculture.

"Our main focus is on agriculture, fisheries and other industries absorbing a huge workforce. We will formulate policies to provide incentives, capital access and human resources to these sectors," said Democratic Party executive Mohammad Jafar Hafsah.

He was presenting his party's economic approach to business leaders from the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).

Jafar said the Democratic Party, if it took the most votes at the April 9 elections, would significantly raise spending in these sectors from the state budget.

"The proportion of spending in these sectors must be increased in the state budget," he said, but did not give details on the percentage of the increase.

The party also proposed expanding farmlands for rice paddies in a bid to secure the country's food security. It also said an intervention was needed to protect rice farmers from falling crop prices.

"The government needs to set the prices based on dried unhusked rice," said party chairman Hadi Utomo. His statement provoked questions about the impact of high rice prices on consumers.

However, Darwin Zahedy Saleh, head of the Democratic Party's economic division, said protecting rice prices would benefit everyone, because "some 50 percent of households in Indonesia were farming households".

"By protecting the price of dried unhusked rice, we're protecting public welfare in general. This means we can increase people's purchasing power," Darwin said.

A focus on agricultural development was also announced by the PKB. Eko Sandjojo, head of the PKB's economic team, said the party would provide easier access for farmers to capital resources. "The PKB will formulate regulations that provide incentives for banks to provide low-interest loans for our farmers," he said.

Saturday's discussions marked the second day of a three-day seminar organized by Apindo, featuring the six biggest parties based on the 2004 election results.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) presented their economic policies on Friday. Three other parties – the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – are to present their respective policies on Monday.

Apindo chairman Sofjan Wanandi said businesspeople needed more discussions with political parties in the future, as businesses sought certainty that any party winning the next elections would not abruptly change the economic policies of the current government, which is dominated by a coalition of the Democratic Party and Golkar. "We cannot expect the parties to explain their concrete programs in a two-hour discussion," Sofjan said.

"We understand they might be a bit cautious because they are afraid of losing votes. Thus we need further discussions for them to elaborate their policies by sector."

Forty-four percent of Balinese voters abstain

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Wasti Atmodjo, Jakarta – A simulation exercise held in Denpasar, Bali, over the weekend showed that 44 percent of eligible voters chose to abstain, an election committee member said.

The Denpasar General Elections Commission (KPUD) Chairman I Made Gede Ray Misno said 143 of a total of 325 eligible voters registered at 10 polling booths chose not to exercise their right to vote. He added that the number of botched voting papers was also high.

"Twenty-three percent of 182 legislature votes registered were void, 27 percent of the votes for provincial council members and 23 percent of the regional legislative council votes were also invalid," he said.

Wisno said the simulation results indicated that the Denpasar KPUD would need to step up its efforts to promote the elections and inform the public of proper voting procedures. (amr)

Suharto links still useful to parties

Jakarta Globe - February 15, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – It has been more than a decade since Suharto relinquished power, yet some political parties are still seeking political points through connections to the late former president, including the Indonesian Youth Party, which on Sunday named Suharto's grandson, Ari Sigit, one of its possible presidential candidates.

The new party, or PPI, said Ari, 38, had been nominated by party branches around the country.

"Ari Haryo Sigit, or Sri Sigit, will be the latest addition to our list of presidential candidates," said Akhmad Mujiyanto, party campaign team secretary.

Ari is not a member of any party, and none of the party's other possible presidential nominees belong to the PPI.

Ari was not on a previous list of 10 presidential candidates the party released last month. The party's national working meeting on Sunday aimed to arrive at a shortlist from the 10 names, but failed to do so.

Niko Silitonga, the party secretary general, explained that Ari represented his grandfather, who was able to bring a stable government to the country. "[The government of] Pak 'Harto was stable, while the current government is still shaky," he said, using a term of endearment for the former president's rule. "Upper-class people would not know the difference, but common people notice it. They think that life was better in the past."

In listing Ari among its presidential candidates, the PPI was accommodating the wishes of common people, Niko said, adding that Ari was considered to be a skillful leader in his own right.

Other presidential candidates on the party's list include President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono; Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X; former Army Special Forces chief and former son-in-law of Suharto, Prabowo Subianto; entrepreneur Sandiago Uno; and Bengkulu Governor Agus Rin.

Ahmad said the PPI expected to garner 7 percent to 8 percent of the votes in the April 9 legislative elections.

In the 2004 elections, the Justice and United Indonesia Party, or PKPI, named Suharto's daughter, Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana, as its presidential candidate.

However, not all parties are enchanted by the Suharto name. The Crescent Star Party, or PBB, said it was scared to nominate someone from the former dictator's family.

"That would be terrifying. As we can see, some political parties that had close relations with the Suharto family lost in the [2004] elections," said Ahmad Sumargono, who chairs the PBB's Jakarta branch.

He added that many Indonesians are aware that Suharto's New Order government has a tainted record.

Media/press freedom

Minister tries to play down bloggers' concerns over media law

Jakarta Globe - February 17, 2009

Ismira Lutfia – Local media and bloggers who transmit ideas electronically should not feel that their freedom of expression is under threat from the controversial 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Law, Communication and Information Technology Minister Muhammad Nuh said on Monday.

He added, however, that the media and bloggers only had the right to electronically publish the information that did not defame others or offend tribal affiliation, religion, race or societal group status, referred to collectively as SARA.

Nuh said any blog content conflicting with SARA could be interpreted as giving approval to ignite public unrest, but at the same time he encouraged blogging as a form of expression.

In December 2008, a group of bloggers and media rights advocates filed an application for judicial review of a clause in the law, known as the ITE law, with the Constitutional Court.

The clause allows the filing of defamation charges in cases involving electronically transmitted or distributed information, and permits a maximum sentence of six years imprisonment or a fine up to Rp 1 billion ($85,000) for anyone who transmits and distributes information considered to be defamatory.

Hendrayana, head of the Legal Aid Center for the Press, said court proceedings so far have included a preliminary hearing and a testimony from an information technology expert.

The group believed that the clause and its definitions lacked clarity and were therefore liable to multiple interpretations. It also argued that the law contravened the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.

During the second day of hearings on Thursday, Aswin Sasongko, the ministry's secretary general, said the ITE law was a "general prevention" provided by the state to its people. In his testimony, Aswin said the law guaranteed the people's constitutional rights, and as long as the public and the media fulfilled their responsibilities accordingly, there would be no need to feel threatened.

Nuh said applying for a judicial review was the people's right and that he appreciated such a move. However, he said it would be up to the Constitutional Court to decide the constitutionality of the law.

"The [judicial] review only tries to revoke the sanctions, but the rest the law itself is not problematic," Nuh said, adding that the penalty would also apply to those who transmit information that is used for blackmail.

"I think that's the essence of the law," Nuh said, adding that as the government institution in charge of the law, his office would follow the review's proceedings and would testify before the court.

Nuh said his office would respect whatever the decision is handed down by the court, even if it decides to revoke the law. "As a government institution, we respect and will comply with the court's decision and we will make adjustments to the law," Nuh said.

Leo Batubara, deputy chief of the Press Council, or DKP, said that 2008 saw three new laws that could pose a threat to press freedom, including the laws on elections, freedom of information and electronic information and transactions.

Armed forces/defense

Activists call on US to freeze help for Indonesia military

Agence France Presse - February 18, 2009

Jakarta – Activists said Wednesday that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should use her visit to Indonesia to urge the country's military to stop human rights abuses or risk losing US military assistance.

Clinton should abandon the "all-carrot, no stick approach" of former US President George W. Bush in engaging the Indonesian armed forces, or TNI, and make assistance conditional on reform, rights activists said in a letter.

"We urge Secretary of State Clinton to promote a forward-looking agenda when she visits Indonesia. Any military assistance should be contingent on human rights accountability and real reform," East Timor and Indonesia Action Network coordinator John Miller said in a statement.

"The TNI looks at US government actions. Statements promoting rights and reforms will be dismissed by the TNI unless US assistance is suspended until genuine progress has been made," said the letter, signed by the heads of almost 40 rights and civil society groups, mostly from the United States.

Senior officers allegedly behind gross human rights abuses during the 32-year regime of former dictator Suharto and the 24-year occupation of East Timor have gone unpunished and continue to have successful careers, it said.

The letter said the military also remains involved in illegal businesses such as logging, prostitution rings and protection rackets for foreign and local businesses.

Then-President Bush resumed military ties and arms sales to Indonesia in 2005 after a six-year embargo, arguing that the Muslim-majority nation was an essential partner in the campaign against terrorism.

Government extends credit to military amid shortage

Jakarta Globe - February 18, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – With the country preparing for elections and the military calling for a budget increase, the government has decided to accelerate the spending of 2004-09 state credit funds of about $1.2 billion on new weapons and equipment.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told reporters on Tuesday that he had discussed the plan on Monday night with the head of the National Development Planning Board, or Bappenas, Paskah Suzetta, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Military Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso.

"Bappenas said the expenditure is urgently needed to accelerate the export-credit process," Juwono said. "In the Defense Ministry, we have $1.22 billion in state credit funds for the 2004-09 period that should be spent this year." He added that the funds would be used to buy a variety of equipment including armored vehicles, aircraft from Poland, missiles for the Air Force and a submarine.

However, the government had also decided to review the procurement plans, particularly those related to weapons. For example, it was likely to buy only 40 armored vehicles, jointly produced by French company Renault and local manufacturer PT Pindad, though it had previously intended to buy 150.

"We are also reviewing the plan to buy a submarine from Russia, because now we also have offers from South Korea and Germany," Juwono said. Indonesia had earlier planned to buy Russian military equipment, including two submarines, on a $1 billion state credit line.

Indonesia has been trying to diversify its sources of weapons and military equipment since the US Congress introduced an embargo following violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 self- determination vote. The US Congress regarded the Indonesian military as playing a role in the escalating violence. The embargo was lifted in late 2005.

The military has asked the government for more funding to help cover its operating costs, citing its fuel budget shortage.

Juwono said the government was still calculating the proper amount of fuel needed by the Military. "Now the task is to convince Finance Minister Sri Mulyani and her staff that we urgently need additional fuel for operations, which we would not misuse as has occurred in the past," Juwono said.

Navy Chief Adm. Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno earlier said he was concerned that the Navy's operations, such as search and rescue efforts and disaster relief, would be halted because of fuel- budget shortfalls and an outstanding Rp 4 trillion ($336 million) debt to state oil and gas company PT Pertamina.

He said Pertamina had refused to supply additional fuel to the Navy until the debt was paid. During a formal hearing last week with House Commission I, which oversees defense, he also said the Navy had proposed that the government allocate Rp 533 billion for fuel supplies every three months.

But the 2009 defense budget provides only 16.8 percent of that amount. The budget shortfall presented serious risks, Tedjo said, and could result in an increase in illegal activities in the country's waters.

Military justice deadlock continues

Jakarta Globe - February 18, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono on Tuesday said that the government would first have to significantly enhance the welfare of its soldiers before his office could agree on a bill that would see police investigate members of the armed forces for civilian crimes.

Under the civilian system, Juwono said, settling legal disputes is costly. Not only would soldiers' poor pay mean they wouldn't receive justice, he said. It might also make them more likely to commit crimes in the first place.

"Not all of the poor are involved in criminal actions," Juwono said. "But we can find that in many cases, because people are poor, they are forced to engage in illegal actions."

Army officials have said that privates earn monthly salaries of around Rp 2 million ($168).

Talks between a House of Representatives special committee and the Defense Ministry on a military tribunal bill have been deadlocked for the past six months over the ministry's proposal that soldiers suspected of civilian criminal offenses be investigated by the military police, not their civilian counterparts.

In order to break the deadlock, National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim on Monday proposed that police ultimately be given the authority to conduct such investigations, but only after a two- to three-year transition period.

Juwono said he found that idea acceptable. "I agree [Ifdhal's] proposal that a transition time of two to three years be allowed for preparations," he said. Rivalries between police and soldiers have in the past years led to violent brawls, sometimes involving the use of firearms.

Committee member Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, from the National Awakening Faction said that all political factions in the House had already agreed on a 30-month transition period.

"So it's really strange if the defense minister said they need more transition time," she said, adding that budgeting concerns should be addressed to the House commission dealing with budget affairs, not to her commission. She also said that past legislation required soldiers to come under civil legal jurisdiction for any violation of the criminal code,

Soldiers have long enjoyed special legal privileges, which the proposed bill was aimed at helping to eliminate.

Komnas HAM backs TNI in tribunal issue

Jakarta Globe - February 17, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The National Human Rights Commission, or Komnas HAM, said on Monday that the House of Representatives would be wise to approve the request of the Indonesian Armed Forces, or TNI, to allow soldiers suspected of committing civilian crimes to be questioned by military police and subsequently face trial in a military court.

TNI spokesman Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen had earlier said that members of the military should be given special treatment under the law when suspected of civilian crimes, because they differed from ordinary people as they had to be willing to sacrifice their lives in defense of the country.

Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim, addressing the House of Representatives' Commission I, which oversees defense affairs, said that the Indonesian legal system gave members of the TNI a different legal standing compared to civilians. Civilian courts often hand down tougher sentences compared to military courts.

"To settle the dispute, [the House should] just meet the [TNI's] request," Ifdhal said. "It will only be valid for two to three years, after which soldiers can be questioned by the police, just like other citizens."

The military would prepare soldiers to face police questioning in the lead up to civil accountability, he said. "The soldiers would be trained to understand how the civilian Criminal Code works, and what role the police play in the whole process."

The House has been mired in a stalemate over the deliberation of the military tribunal bill. Only five out of 10 party factions have expressed support for the proposal, while four have rejected it.

The commission's chairman, Andreas Pareira, said that the dispute would likely be settled through voting in a plenary meeting. "Any input would be discussed in the House Committee's forum," Andreas said.

Legislators began working on the bill four years ago, and it has been controversial from the start.

In 2006, a yearlong impasse between the special committee and the Ministry of Defense forced President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to issue a statement saying his administration supported the bill's basic principles.

The drafting of the bill was stalled in June 2008 when the ministry proposed preserving the power of the Military Police to investigate soldiers alleged to have committed civilian crimes.

Soldiers have long enjoyed special privileges in the national legal system, and the proposed bill is aimed to give them the same legal standing as civilians.

The bill is seen as crucial to continuing stalled reforms within the controversial TNI, which has long been accused of committing gross human rights violations.

Foreign affairs

Obama eyes Indonesia as key United States ally

Agence France Presse - February 20, 2009

Washington – With its giant population and moderate brand of Islam, Indonesia is fast emerging as a cornerstone US ally for President Barack Obama's administration, observers say.

Obama spent four years of his childhood in Jakarta and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, took a nearly 6,000- kilometer detour there this week between Tokyo and Seoul on her first official visit abroad.

Clinton said the US was committed to building a "comprehensive partnership" with Indonesia. "Certainly Indonesia, being the largest Muslim nation in the world, the third- largest democracy, will play a leading role in the promotion of that shared future," Clinton said in Jakarta.

In November, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also appealed during a visit to Washington for a "strategic relationship" with the US.

While Indonesia was a Cold War ally of Washington, relations were held back for years by disputes over widespread human rights abuses under former dictator Suharto who fell in 1998.

Jonah Blank, the chief policy adviser on South and Southeast Asia for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Obama had a "golden opportunity" to make Indonesia a pivotal US ally.

"I think there is greater cause for optimism now than I think we've had at any other point since the founding of Indonesia as a modern nation-state," Blank told a Washington seminar.

"This is the first time that we have a president who can speak Bahasa Indonesia, who doesn't have to be told why Indonesia matters," he said.

Lt. Col. Desmond Walton, who handles Southeast Asia policy at the Pentagon, said the US relationship with Indonesia was "underdeveloped" considering the archipelago's vast size and economic potential.

"I think the trends are encouraging so that we can start to let this relationship really emerge into its rightful place as the key US relationship in Southeast Asia," Walton said.

Both Blank and Walton said they were speaking in a personal capacity.

In a study released Thursday, scholars John Haseman and Eduardo Lachica said elevating the relationship with Indonesia would contribute to the US goal of democracy in the Middle East.

"Helping Indonesia strengthen its democratic system is not only a worthy goal for America's democratic project, its success can give the project better footing elsewhere in the Muslim world," they wrote.

But Haseman acknowledged "there might be some jealousy" on the part of the Philippines and Thailand, smaller but long-standing US allies in the region.

The US Congress in late 2005 removed sanctions on military assistance to Indonesia, a sore point for the country's establishment.

Walton and Lachica recommended the Obama administration move further by encouraging Indonesian participation in international peacekeeping and easing remaining restrictions on US training for Indonesian forces.

They said the US was hindering trust through its blanket refusal to train some Indonesian units, arguing that human rights abuses were a matter of the past.

But T. Kumar of Amnesty International USA said Indonesia hasn't yet held military officers to account for past atrocities or put firm civilian control over the army.

"How best can the United States encourage democracy in Indonesia to take root? The first rule of thumb is to make sure (the military) is under control of the civilian government," he said.

Indonesia carried out a brutal 24-year occupation of East Timor, culminating in a bloody rampage by military-backed guerrillas that killed 1,400 people in 1999 when the territory voted to break away.

Some 15,000 people also died in Aceh in a three-decade separatist conflict that ended with a 2005 peace deal.

Hillary Clinton vows to bolster ties with Indonesia

Associated Press - February 19, 2009

Matthew Lee, Jakarta – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moved Wednesday to boost US ties with Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, and with its neighbors. She pledged a new American willingness to work with and listen to Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia.

Her message was received warmly by officials in Jakarta, the childhood home of President Barack Obama, although small and scattered protests were held in several cities. Some Islamic hard-liners set tires on fire, and others threw shoes at caricatures of Clinton.

She said her choice of Asia for her first overseas trip as Obama's top diplomat was "no accident" but was a sign of the new administration's desire for deeper relations with the continent on regional and global issues. She arrived from a stop in Japan and will head to South Korea and China today.

Clinton was particularly effusive about Indonesia, which she said deserved praise for its hard-won multiethnic democracy and efforts to fight terrorism while respecting human rights.

She announced plans to restart Peace Corps programs in Indonesia that were suspended in 1965 when volunteers were expelled after leftists accused them of espionage.

She said the two countries will cooperate on climate change, trade, education, regional security and other issues, and she indicated that more development aid was on the way.

"I bring greetings from President Obama, who has himself said and written about the importance of his time here as a young boy," Clinton said at a news conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda.

"It gave him an insight into not only this diverse and vibrant culture but also the capacity for people with different backgrounds to live harmoniously together," she said.

Wirajuda said Indonesia could be a powerful bridge to help the US reconnect with Muslims. Though most of Indonesia's 190 million Muslims practice a moderate form of the faith, public anger ran high over US policy in the Middle East and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years, fueling a small but increasingly vocal fundamentalist faction.

Clinton cheered as she wraps up Indonesia visit

Agence France Presse - February 19, 2009

Lachlan Carmichael, Jakarta – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was cheered Thursday as she visited a slum in Indonesia's teeming capital at the end of her first trip to a Muslim-majority country since President Barack Obama promised to mend fences with the Islamic world.

Crowds clapped and smiled as Clinton, wearing a navy blue suit, visited projects funded with US aid money in the Petojo area of central Jakarta on the second day of her trip to Obama's former hometown. She told a group of craftswomen she was "proud" of their work and patted children on the head, to the delight of locals.

Obama spent four years of his childhood in the upmarket Menteng area of central Jakarta in the late 1960s and is hugely popular in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country in the world.

Clinton said after her arrival on Wednesday that it was "no accident" she had come to the massive archipelago of 234 million people on her first trip abroad since taking office.

She met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono earlier Thursday and told journalists afterwards that Washington wanted Jakarta's "advice and counsel about how to reach out not only to the Muslim world but to Asia and beyond."

As a thriving democracy, Southeast Asia's largest economy and a moderate Muslim country, Indonesia was an obvious inclusion on her four-country swing through Asia, Clinton said.

Her first stop was Japan but Indonesia was second ahead of South Korea and regional powerhouse China, reflecting Obama's promise to reach out to the Muslim world and heal the rifts which opened under president George W. Bush.

Obama was known to his friends as Barry when he attended primary school in Jakarta from 1967 to 1971, after his American mother divorced his Kenyan father and married an Indonesian.

"Of course the personal relationship that President Obama has to Indonesia is very important to him," Clinton told reporters after meeting Yudhoyono, adding that his time here had helped to shape his world view.

By visiting Indonesia on her first trip abroad in her new job, Clinton said she wanted to show that the United States was not completely distracted by China and was ready to re-engage with Asia after years of neglect under Bush.

"I decided I wanted to come to Asia on my first trip because we concluded in the last several years we hadn't paid enough attention to many parts of Asia," she said. "Our interests aren't just focused on China."

She added that "when the United States is absent, people believe we are not interested – that creates a vacuum that destructive forces can fill."

A spokesman for Yudhoyono said Clinton had "praised the democratisation process in Indonesia, which is a model for Islam," referring to 10 years of reform since the ouster of dictator Suharto in 1998.

Clinton met Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda on Wednesday and said Indonesia – as a democratic and mainly Muslim country – would play a key role in the Obama administration's new commitment to "smart power."

"Certainly Indonesia, being the largest Muslim nation in the world, the third-largest democracy, will play a leading role in the promotion of that shared future," Clinton told a joint press conference.

The US looked forward to deepening cooperation with Indonesia on several "shared issues" such as the global economic crisis, climate change, security and human rights, she said. "Indonesia will be a good partner of the United States in reaching out to the Muslim world," Wirajuda said.

A spokesman said Wirajuda had asked the United States for a currency swap agreement and a standby loan facility to help it weather the global economic crisis, amid plunging demand for its commodities exports. Such assistance "will also bolster democracy not just in Indonesia but also in the region," he said.

Clinton also confirmed she would attend an international conference next month in Egypt to help rebuild Gaza after the Hamas-Israel war. She said Obama wanted to re-engage in the Middle East after the Bush administration had "not been as active in trying to bring the parties together."

Clinton left Indonesia on Thursday for Seoul, where the international effort to end North Korea's nuclear programme is expected to top her agenda.

Clinton arrives in Indonesia on reconciliation mission

Deutsche Presse Agentur - February 18, 2009

Jakarta – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday in a visit intended to demonstrate US determination to mend ties with the Islamic world. Security has been heightened in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, with armed soldiers and police on alert on major streets and at the Foreign Ministry building, where she was to meet her Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda.

The United States is Indonesia's second biggest export destination but Jakarta has been critical of some US policies under President Barack Obama's predecessor George W Bush, especially his decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

Clinton's stop in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, could be the prelude to a visit by Obama, who as a child went to school in Jakarta after her mother married an Indonesian man.

Many Indonesians are proud of Obama's Indonesian connection and hope that it would serve as an impetus for closer ties between the two nations.

"I think Indonesia is among the countries celebrating his victory most joyfully," Hariyadi Wiryawan, an international relations lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said in remarks published in Wednesday's edition of The Jakarta Post.

"This should be translated into something practical. How can we bridge the cultural divide between Islam and the West; between the US and Muslim countries. Indonesia can be a starting point that should not be ignored," he said.

Jakarta is Clinton's second stop after Japan. She will also travel to South Korea and China in her first foreign tour since she became secretary of state.

Clinton agreed with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone during the three-day visit in Tokyo to apply pressure on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme and work to prevent further nuclear proliferation.

The top US diplomat also discussed the importance of the world's two largest economies to take the initiative in recovering from the global financial crisis.

Indonesian Muslim leader snubs Clinton

Jakarta Post - February 18, 2009

An Indonesian Islamic leader rejected Wednesday an invitation to dine with Hillary Clinton, as she seeks to rebuild ties with the Muslim world on her first trip abroad as US secretary of state, Antara news agency reported.

The snub came as Clinton was set to arrive later Wednesday in the world's most populous Muslim country as part of a four-nation swing through Asia.

But her plans to open a new chapter with the Islamic world as promised by President Barack Obama received an early setback when local Muslim leader Din Syamsuddin, representing some 30 million Muslims, rejected her dinner invite.

"If it's only a dinner without a dialogue it won't be useful," the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Islamic organisation, told AFP.

He said he would prefer to attend an inter-faith meeting in Australia rather than waste time discussing local delicacies with the new US secretary of state. "That kind of meeting won't be effective," he said.

Obama spent part of his early childhood in Muslim-majority Indonesia and has promised rapprochement with the Islamic world after the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan under George W. Bush.

"We have a responsibility to speak out and to work with the Muslim world on behalf of positive change and to enlist the help of Muslims around the world against the extremists," Clinton told students at Tokyo University on Tuesday.

Economy & investment

Indonesia and Australia go for comprehensive deal

Jakarta Post - February 20, 2009

Endy M. Bayuni, Sydney – Australia wants a better investment climate and Indonesia wants assistance with its own production capacity. The two countries have now agreed that both items, along with trade liberalization, would go into the economic agreement that they are working on.

The trade ministers of the two countries concluded on Thursday another round of their meeting to set up a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), which they said would be built into the FTA that will be signed later this month between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia and New Zealand in Thailand.

During their joint press conference, Minister Mari Pangestu of Indonesia underlined the importance of capacity building. She called it a key component of the future agreement to ensure that the benefits of a better investment climate would also accrue to the recipient country.

She specifically mentioned Indonesia's agriculture sector as one potential area where Australia could help in return for the opening up of the dairy and beef sectors to Australian investors. Her Australian counterpart Simon Crean underlined the importance of creating the right environment for Australian investors.

"Investment is the new trade," he said, pointing at the fact that investment could lead to better access to the global supply chain as well as to markets. Indonesia is Australia's fourth largest trading partner in ASEAN, a rank that prompted Crean to describe a trade relationship that is "underdone"

Two-way trade in 2007/8 reached A$10.3 billion, according to Australian official figures. Australian investment in Indonesia was valued at A$3.4 billion at the end of 2007.

Neither minister was willing to put a time frame on when the comprehensive economic agreement would be signed, in spite of the numerous meetings they have had in the past year.

Crean however agreed that moving toward more free trade would be the best course to lift countries out of the current economic risis. "Protectionism only invites retaliatory action."

Addressing concerns at home about the possible negative impact on Indonesia's own industry, Mari said the two countries have agreed to put the sensitive sectors as the last to be liberalized under the free trade agreement. Indonesia's dairy and beef sector, she said, would only be liberalized between 2017 and 2020.

The meeting to discuss the bilateral free trade agreement also involved the business community from both sides.

The trade meeting preceded the Australia-Indonesia Conference which was opened later on Thursday evening by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. A total of 120 people, 60 from each side, are taking part in the conference which winds up Saturday.

Indonesia central bank governor reiterates support for rupiah

Reuters - February 20, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesia's central bank will support the rupiah currency and may "add more ammunition" to contain the volatility, the central bank governor said on Friday, reiterating earlier comments as the currency weakened.

"The dollar is strengthening against many currencies. The problem is that this is definitely a global movement. We will surely be cautious so that our rupiah will not be too volatile," Boediono said.

"We will use the instruments that we have to contain the volatility. We will use the ammunition that we have and if necessary, we will add the ammunition." He did not elaborate.

Several Asian currencies fell to multi-month lows against a broadly firmer dollar in trading driven by worries over the banking sector in Europe and broader fears about global growth.

The Indonesian currency is the second-worst performing currency in Asia after the South Korean won, which has fallen around 16 percent.

The rupiah moved in tight ranges around 12,000 per dollar, with the central bank suspected of selling dollars in the market to support the rupiah, which has lost around 9 percent against the dollar so far this year.

The country's foreign exchange reserves had fallen to $50.87 billion by the end of January, down from around $57 billion in September. (Reporting by Muklis Ali; Writing by Tyagita Silka; Editing by Sara Webb)

Exporters to get helping hand to cope with demand slump

Jakarta Post - February 19, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesian exporters, especially labor-intensive ones, may get some much-needed support – in the form of relief on debt payments and capital expenditure subsidies – to help them cope with rapidly weakening global demand.

The Coordinating Ministry for the Economy will soon hold a three-way meeting with the central bank and representatives of export intensive companies, which are seriously affected by falling demand in exports due to the global crisis.

"The coordinating minister along with Bank Indonesia will summon all of the exporters whose businesses are severely affected by the crisis," a deputy to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Edy Putra, said on Wednesday.

The country is being hit by the global economic downturn, with exports nose-diving by 20 percent in December last year from a year earlier as overseas demand shrinks.

Despite this, Indonesia still managed to increase the value of full-year exports by around 20 percent in 2008 with US$136.76 billion of exports up on the $114.1 billion recorded in the previous year.

But the outlook for exports for 2009 is already bleak and seems to be getting much more gloomy with January non oil exports plummeting by around 46 percent. Economists have predicted that the impacts of the global economic crisis would reach its peak in Indonesia by mid-2009.

"We are worried that the decline in exports would eventually affect the banking sector, that is why we also invited BI to attend. During the meeting, the government will try to find solutions for exporters' liquidity problems to avoid risks of defaulting on credits," Edy said.

"The assistance can be in the form of some relief for debt payments, training for dismissed employees, tariff protection measures and capital expenditure subsidies," Eddy said. Full details on these measures are not yet formulated. he said.

The weakening rupiah rate against the US dollar also makes it more difficult for exporters to repay their export credits to the banks.

"We are now studying which sectors are suffering the worst impact from the global crisis. There are many factors such as declining demand for certain commodities or probably their buyers are collapsing as well. On the supply side, there could be a massive rise in production costs because of the weakening rupiah," Eddy said.

Edy suggested that sectors using dollars for their capital expenditure but earning their income in rupiah were the most severely affected while other sectors, such as the automotive sector, were only at the stage of 'having a headache'. "Some of these affected sectors include textiles, plastics, chemicals and steel. I think we can use the metaphor of being in 'intensive care' for the steel sectors," he said.

Edy said that the government would not use some of the budget in the proposed stimulus plan to bail out the exporters.

"Stimulus is only a temporary solution. We want it to be sustainable," he said. "Basically, there are three instruments that the government can use to solve these kind of issues. They are the fiscal, monetary and regulation instruments, for this we are utilizing our regulatory instruments."

The government set up Rp 71.3 trillion ($6.31 billion) for the stimulus package last month to stimulate the economy during the crisis. This is still subject to House of Representatives' approval. The package was originally valued at only Rp 27.5 trillion.

The stimulus focuses on tax savings with a value of Rp 43 trillion, around Rp 13.3 trillion for waived taxes and import duties for businesses and certain households, as well as subsidies and government spending of Rp 15 trillion to help businesses. (hdt)

Growth hit hard by global slowdown

Jakarta Post - February 17, 2009

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The economy grew the slowest in two years in the fourth quarter of 2008 as the global economic slowdown slashed commodity prices and export demand.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Monday that the economy expanded 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from a year earlier, slower than the annualized growth rate of 6.4 percent booked in the previous quarter.

Worse still, on a quarterly basis, the economy contracted by 3.6 percent in quarter four from the previous quarter, although BPS head Rusman Heriawan added that a similar contraction had occurred in the same period in the last two years.

"This was not surprising as the economy usually contracts in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, as industrial output slows and harvest time ends. But the crisis made the contraction (in 2008's fourth quarter) deeper."

Indonesia's exports have been falling victim to the global economic downturn, which started to hit in the last three to four months of 2008. Economists also predicted that investment – another driver of economic growth – would start to be harder to come by this year amidst a worldwide liquidity shortage, tending to slow growth down.

However, BPS echoed government optimism that economic growth this year would not fall below 4.5 percent, saying that despite the fourth quarter contraction, the economy expanded by a respectable 6.1 percent last year, while many countries suffered from recession.

"Indonesia was far better off than other countries that had stronger trade relations with the US, Japan, and Western European countries. Even Malaysia and Singapore had a deeper economic fall," said Rusman.

With export and foreign investment set to be hit hard by the deepening global conditions, Indonesia's economic growth would partly rely on how effectively the government implemented budget allocations. "The economy will depend on effective government spending and private consumption," Rusman said.

Of last years' 6.1 percent economic growth, government spending contributed 0.8 percent to the growth in gross domestic product, and private consumption 3.1 percent.

Danareksa Research Institute chief researcher Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said that if the government repeated a similar spending pattern to that of last year, then the economy "would be in trouble".

"Historically, government spending has never been significant. But now the government should push spending to stimulate the economy."

"All this time, the economy has been crippled. The fiscal side is not contributing as much as it should. The economy grew mainly because of the monetary side; as interest rates went down, consumption and investment went up," he said.

While expecting the economy to expand at 4.8 percent this year, Purbaya said that if the government failed in stimulating the economy, Indonesia "might see a contraction in the third quarter this year".

Indonesia's fourth quartar GDP growth misses forecasts

Reuters - February 16, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy grew 5.2 percent in the final quarter of 2008, the slowest annual pace since mid 2006, and is expected to cool further, raising the spectre of deeper interest rate cuts and higher budget spending.

The economy and jobs are among the key issues for many Indonesians this year as the world's fourth most populous country holds parliamentary elections in April and presidential elections in July.

Analysts had expected annual growth in the final three months of the year to slow to 5.7 percent from 6.1 percent in the third quarter and the authorities forecast a further slowdown to 4-5 percent growth this year.

Still, Southeast Asia's biggest economy has outperformed many of its regional peers in the face of the global financial crisis and the authorities are keen to maintain solid growth in the election year.

The central bank has signalled readiness to cut interest rates further after it trimmed its main rate by 125 basis points since December and the government has proposed a 71 trillion rupiah ($6.1 billion) stimulus package.

"The weaker growth in the final quarter was mainly attributable to the slump in exports growth as the global economy slowed," said Joanna Tan, an economist at Forecast PTE Ltd in Singapore.

"Going forward, while the April elections and subsequently July presidential elections could bring about some support in domestic demand, we do not expect a big boost in consumption with the overarching factors of risk aversion and growth risks still taking precedence," Tan added.

The rupiah was largely unchanged at 11,785 per dollar at 0652 GMT after the GDP announcement, while the Indonesia Composite Index, the stock market benchmark, was also little moved, up 0.36 percent after the announcement.

The statistics bureau also reported a quarter-on-quarter contraction of 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter, against a forecast of a 2.62 percent economic contraction in a Reuters poll. The quarter on quarter growth is not seasonally adjusted.

Full year growth came in at 6.1 percent, in line with analysts' forecast of 6.12 percent, and still about the 6.0 percent rate, which analysts say is needed to reduce unemployment in Indonesia.

Under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who won Indonesia's first direct presidential election in 2004, the economy has experienced its strongest growth in more than a decade.

But economists warn that the global downturn that has crimped demand for Indonesia's key commodities such as palm oil, coal, tin and rubber.

They say that while Indonesia is less reliant on exports than some other Asian countries, millions of Indonesians work in export-related sectors and the spectre of big job losses is a major concern for the government ahead of the April 9 general election and July 8 presidential election.

[Reporting by Adriana Nina Kusuma; Writing by Dicky Kristanto; Editing by Ed Davies.]

Indonesian GDP growth probably slowed to two-year low

Bloomberg - February 16, 2009

Arijit Ghosh and Michael Munoz – Indonesia's economy, Southeast Asia's biggest, probably expanded at the slowest pace in more than two years in the fourth quarter as exports slumped.

Gross domestic product grew 5.7 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31 from a year earlier, after gaining 6.1 percent in the preceding quarter, according to the median forecast of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Central Statistics Bureau will release the data after 1:30 p.m. today.

The nation's overseas sales plunged 20 percent in December as the deepening global recession cut demand for Indonesia's rubber, electronics and oil. Slowing economic expansion adds pressure on the central bank to cut borrowing costs further to boost consumer spending as the government forecasts growth in exports will slow to a nine-year low of 1 percent in 2009.

"The actual magnitude of the slowdown may help decide how fast and how far further policy makers are prepared to cut," said Helmi Arman, an economist with PT Bank Danamon Indonesia.

"Investment growth is also likely to have slowed as the quarter saw cement-consumption growth easing, and commercial-vehicle sales dropping substantially."

The rupiah has dropped more than 6 percent this year to 11,863 against the dollar, making it the worst-performing currency after the South Korean won among Asia's 10 most-traded currencies outside Japan.

The central bank may cut its policy rate to 7.25 percent from 8.25 percent by year-end to help boost consumption, said Lim Su Sian, an economist with DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore.

"In this environment, you need to use whatever you have in your arsenal," Lim said. "Still, there are concerns about employment outlook and income, things rate cuts can't offset."

Palm oil

PT Excelcomindo Pratama, Indonesia's third-largest mobile-phone company, said its revenue from the country's palm-oil producing regions may decline by as much as 10 percent because of a fall in exports of the commodity. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of the edible oil.

"Our revenue will be hit quite significantly in those areas," Excelcomindo's President Director Hasnul Suhaimi said in an interview last week. "We expect there will be an impact in textile- and shoe-producing areas as well."

Indonesia's new-car sales fell for the first time in almost two years in January as slowing economic growth and higher loan rates last year damped demand.

Local consumption, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, expanded 4.7 percent in the final quarter of 2008, according to the economists' forecasts. That would be the slowest pace of growth since March 2007.

Exports plunge

Exports grew 4 percent last quarter, according to the median forecast of seven economists, the slowest pace since the three months ended June 2004. Overseas sales posted the biggest drop in more than seven years in December.

"Headwinds are growing given the deteriorating growth outlook for Indonesia's main trading partners," said Prakriti Sofat, an economist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Singapore. Indonesia's $433 billion economy may expand as little as 3.8 percent this year, she said.

Japan's economy, Indonesia's biggest export market, shrank at an annual 12.7 percent pace in the fourth quarter, the most since the 1974 oil crisis, the Cabinet Office said today.

The economy in Indonesia, Asia's third-most populated nation, expanded 6.1 percent last year, slowing from 6.3 percent growth in 2007, according to the median forecast of 13 economists in the Bloomberg survey.

Government stimulus

To boost employment and consumer demand, the government plans a 71.3 trillion-rupiah ($6 billion) stimulus package. That includes a plan to give tax breaks that will save individuals and companies 43 trillion rupiah in payments this year.

The government said it will also spend 15 trillion rupiah on discounts for electricity tariffs and public works, adding to a previous plan to outlay 12.5 trillion rupiah on a stimulus package meant to subsidize taxes and duties.

Jakarta tells civil servants to 'buy Indonesian'

Agence France Presse - February 16, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesian civil servants will be ordered to buy locally made products for everything from clothes to movies under rules intended to boost demand amid the global economic crisis, a senior official said Monday.

"This is an effort for coping with the global financial crisis, to prevent our country from being dominated by imported products," Fauzi Aziz, director of small and medium enterprises at the industry ministry, said.

The new rules, which include sanctions for non-compliance, were being prepared by the industry and trade ministries on the direction of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and hoped to be in force by March, he said.

Government workers would be required to buy locally made food, drinks, shoes, clothes, "accessories," and films and music, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe daily.

The trade, industry and administrative reform ministries would "join forces" to enforce the rules, Aziz said, without explaining how the country would police the shopping behavior of its roughly four million civil servants.

Exports fell 21% in December from the year before to $8.69 billion, the steepest drop in seven years, the national statistics agency said earlier this month.

Indonesia's government has also revised down its economic growth forecast for the year to 4.7% from an earlier 6.2%.

Campaign to bolster local products intensifies

Jakarta Post - February 16, 2009

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The government is intensifying efforts to bolster the domestic market, already boosted by the introduction of import restrictions.

As part of such efforts, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said Sunday the government was finalizing a regulation that would mandate the use of local products by, for instance, civil servants.

He said the decree would serve as an auxiliary regulation to a presidential instruction on the guidance of local product consumption, still being drafted and aimed at helping local industries cope with the fallout from the global economic downturn.

"There has to be a joint decree to oblige, for instance, civil servants to wear locally produced shoes," he said on the sidelines of a four-day footwear, leather and leather products exhibition, held at the Jakarta Convention Center over the weekend.

The planned presidential instruction will urge government and administrative institutions to use local products and services in their procurements using state budgets.

Fahmi said the decree, expected to be issued by the end of this month, would involve himself, State Minister for Administrative Reforms Taufik Effendi, National Education Minister Bambang Soedibyo and Home Minister Mardiyanto.

"I will talk with Pak Taufik next week to formulate this decree; how to require civil servants to wear locally made shoes," he said. "Besides the administrative reforms minister, I will talk with the education minister and the home minister too."

Fahmi added the decree would not only regulate locally produced shoes, but also other products.

The government has made several attempts in an effort to help domestic industries survive the crisis, especially those losing their overseas markets because of shrinking global demand.

As a result, local industries are now having to rely more on the domestic market, which is currently 70 percent controlled by local products.

Late last year, the Trade Ministry issued a ministry regulation to control imports in five key categories, namely food and beverages, textiles and garments, footwear, electronics and children's toys.

Under that ministry regulation, imports of goods in these categories may only enter the Indonesian market through Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra, Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Tanjung Emas Port in Semarang, Central Java, Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, and Soekarno-Hatta Port in Makassar, South Sulawesi, as well as all international airports, while imports of food and beverages may also enter through Dumai Port in Riau.

Imports through ports other than those highlighted in the regulation will be declared illegal.

Also, imports of goods in these categories will have to undergo a pre-shipment inspection at origin ports before being delivered to the country.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, who also attended the weekend exhibition, said the regulation had successfully curbed illegal imports.

"Local garment, electronics and shoe manufacturers tell me they have begun to see an increase in domestic demand for their products," she said. "For instance, demand for local electronics has increased by 20 percent since the issuance of the regulation."

Echoing Mari, Indonesian Textile Association (API) chairman Benny Soetrisno also said at the exhibition that demand for locally produced textiles had jumped by 10 percent.