Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Everybody is affected by the present global financial crisis. But not Indonesians Michael Hartono and brother R. Budi Hartono, owners of the country's second-largest cigarette company, who made it into the annual list of billionaires, as published by Forbes magazine.

Though the wealth of the Hartono brothers was trimmed from US$2 billion in 2008 to $1.7 billion in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, they jumped to 430th position on the 2009 Forbes World's Billionaires list from 605 last year.

Forbes magazine released the names of the world's 793 richest people on Wednesday, five of whom were Indonesian businessmen. Topping the list was computer czar and Microsoft Corporation founder Bill Gates, followed by property and casualty insurance company Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, both from the United States.

Besides owning clove cigarette company PT Djarum, Michael, 69, and Budi, 68, also own shares in Indonesia's largest bank – Bank Central Asia (BCA) – and the Grand Indonesia luxury shopping mall, office building and hotel complex.

The brothers have surpassed Singapore-based tycoon Sukanto Tanoto, 59, ranked 450th on the list with $1.6 billion in wealth.

Forbes listed Sukanto, owner of paper, construction and palm oil industries under the Raja Garuda Mas Group, as the richest man in Indonesia in 2008, with $3.8 billion in wealth.

"The cigarette business has shown greater resilience since the 1998 economic crisis, and the trend has continued to date. It can rely much on domestic consumption, at a time when the export- driven sector, such as commodities, has slowed down as global demand shrinks," said University of Indonesia economist Berly Martawardaya.

Forbes also listed Martua Sitorus, 49, owner of palm oil company Wilmar International Group, in 522nd place with $1.4 billion in wealth. The next Indonesian on the list is the 701st-ranked Peter Sondakh, 57, with $1 billion in interests in the telecommunications, retail and hotel businesses.

"It's a great thing that we still have Indonesian businessmen in the list, despite the crisis," said M.S. Hidayat, chairman of the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

This year, the world's billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23 percent in 12 months. The world now has 793 billionaires, down from 1,125 a year ago, Forbes reported.

Bill Gates lost $18 billion, but regained his title as the world's richest man, even as the world's richest are also a lot poorer, Forbes said.

Government quashes Bali bombers' books

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Farouk Arnaz, Muninggar Saraswati & AFP – Indonesia is cracking down on books written by the three Bali bombers executed last year in an apparent bid to prevent the spread of their message of violence, a terrorism expert said on Wednesday.

The writings of the three bombers – Amrozi, his elder brother Ali Ghufron and Imam Samudra – have been published in three books called the "Martyrs' Trilogy" by a small company, Ar Rahmah Media printing, owned by a son of an Islamic hard-liner once detained in Malaysia for allegedly conspiring to establish an Islamic state. The material was written while the three were on death row for their roles in the 2002 attacks that left 202 people dead.

Sydney Jones, senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, addressing a lunch with foreign journalists here, said the move marked government's first efforts to stem the spread of their violent Islamist messages. "For the first time there is actually real attention on the part of the Indonesian government to what's published and how it's distributed," she said.

Jones said the three men who faced the firing squad in December had been prolific writers and had often been quoted in media as calling for jihad, or holy war, against the west.

She said radical publishing houses had competed for their works. Jones said the government, through the state intelligence agency, had managed to delay the release of the three books for months, at one point buying up all the copies of an early printing.

The first of the books, written by Ali Ghufron, also known as Muklas, included an interpretation of the writer's dreams according to his understanding of Islam.

A second book by his younger brother Amrozi, chronicles the author's childhood in Lamongan, East Java Province.

Imam Samudra's book, the third in the series, outlines his conviction that what he and his colleagues did in Bali was justified.

The three books carry a foreword from Abu Jibril, an advisory member of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, or MMI, an umbrella organization for groups advocating the enforcement of Islamic Shariah law in Indonesia.

The owner of Ar Rahmah Media printing, Jibril Abdurrahman, who is the son of Abu Jibril, told the Jakarta Globe last night that the "Martyrs Trilogy" was going to have a second edition printed.

Abdurrahman said "a few people" urged them not to print a second run, but he declined to elaborate. "But we will still continue," he said.

37 prisoners in treason case moved to Java

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2009

Ambon – As many as 37 prisoners in a subversion case of the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) were moved from Ambon penitentiary to several jails in Java island Tuesday.

Chief of the Maluku Police Anti-Terror Detachment Adj. Snr. Comr. Imam Raharjanto said the decision to move the prisoners was made in preparation for an expected hostile situation when Ambon celebrates the RMS anniversary on April. 25.

"We used a Hercules plane to fly them to jails in Central Java and East Java. The plane was earlier used to fly mobile brigade officers here from Jakarta." Raharjanto said. Separately, Ambon penitentiary head Johanes Tangkudung denied that the transfer of the prisoners was connected with the RMS anniversary. "For a high-profile case like this one, it's better that the supervision is handed over to the bigger penitentiaries in Java."

Ba'asyir: Unregistered marriages out

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2009

Surakarta – Unregistered marriages must be stopped because they cause problems for both parties, radical cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir said recently to Antara.

"It's best if this practice is banned outright," Ba'asyir, of the Pondok Pesantren Al Mukmin (Islamic boarding school) in Central Java, said Monday.

"Nikah siri, or marriages not officially registered with the KUA, were recently deemed legal under religious law, but this can cause undue harm."

According to Ba'asyir, unofficial marriages are opted for because those involved want to keep their marriage a secret, a contradiction to the idea of marriage being a celebration known to all.

"One who doesn't want their marriage known is a coward. The state needs to immediately take action and stop this kind of arrangement," he said.

"If a man wants to practice polygamy, then he should have good intentions and treat his wives in a just manner," he added. If he is unable to do so, then he should not take more than one wife, Ba'asyir added.

Unregistered marriages are widespread in Indonesia's predominantly Muslim population because they are recognized by Islam. A recent survey found polygamy was a significant factor behind the country's rising divorce rate.

Actions, demos, protests...

Mudflow victims visit Bakrie's mother

Jakarta Globe - March 15, 2009

Ismira Lutfia – Victims of the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java Province, tried a new tack on Sunday in their efforts to claim full compensation by offering gifts to the mother of Aburizal Bakrie, the man whose corporate interests they blame for their plight.

"We came with good intentions to meet Mrs. Bakrie and we brought her some gifts," said Tumiran, a 71-year-old villager who led the group of displaced residents of Kedungbendo, Siring, Jatirejo and Ketapang in Sidoarjo district.

"We wanted to ask her to remind her sons to fulfil their obligations to us," Tumiran said, referring to compensation ordered by government decree that has yet to be paid to the victims.

About 20 people representing residents of four villages submerged in the mudflow went to the home of Roosniah Bakrie in Menteng, Central Jakarta, but failed to meet the matriarch of the politically influential family of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie.

Hot, toxic mud began to flow from a fissure in the earth close to an oil and gas drilling well run by Bakrie Group company PT Lapindo Brantas on May 29, 2006. Lapindo has been blamed by experts for the disaster, which left thousands of people homeless.

PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, a Lapindo subsidiary, was appointed to handle the compensation claims process and agreed to pay Rp 30 million ($2,520) in monthly installments to more than 6,000 victims at a meeting facilitated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in December.

But last month, the company said it could only pay the victims in monthly installments of Rp 15 million per family, citing financial difficulties.

A Bakrie family assistant, who remained behind the fence around the house when the villagers arrived, said Roosniah was not available.

They brought Roosniah 50 kilograms of fruit and vegetables as gifts. Villager Yoseph Amy said the assistant would not accept the gifts, so they left them in front of the gate. "We came with good intentions, but it's up to them to decide how to respond," he said.

The group then marched back to the nearby Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, or YLBHI, to assemble with about 200 other displaced residents.

The group, carrying banners bearing the name "Geppres" – short for the Movement to Support the Presidential Decree – then proceeded to the Proclamation Monument in Central Jakarta, where they held a rally.

Geppres refers to the 2007 presidential decree ordering Lapindo to immediately cover 20 percent of the value of the victims' property. Compensation for the remainder was due in May 2008.

About 1,000 mudflow victims in Jakarta plan to hold protest rallies this week in several locations, including outside the State Palace and the Bakrie Group's offices in Kuningan, South Jakarta for an indefinite period, said Sumitro, another leader of the group of villagers.

"We ask Minarak to compensate us according to the presidential decree," Sumitro said, adding that the victims have asked the president to directly handle the matter and for the government to cover the compensation payments, because Minarak had failed to meet its obligations.

"But Minarak must pay the compensation to the government once they have the money," Sumitro said. The mudflow victims were concerned, he said, that Minarak's disregard for the decree would set a bad precedent.

Some victims are planning to hold a rally in front of the State Palace this morning and perform a mass prayer. "We hope our prayers open up the palace walls so [the government] hears our sufferings," Sumitro said.

Protesting workers say elections will only benefit ruling class

Surya Karya Online - March 14, 2009

Jakarta – On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of workers from trade unions in Jakarta and the satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek), held a protest action opposing the 2009 elections saying that it will not benefit the ordinary people.

The protesters, most wearing red T-shirts and carrying red-and- white flags, began the demonstration by gathering at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta. Shouting anti-election slogans, they then moved off via Jl. Thamrin towards the State Palace.

Action spokesperson Toni said that the protest action represented a concrete expression by workers who see this year's elections as being the same as previous ones, which only benefited the ruling class and owners of capital.

"The experience of the 1999 and 2004 elections is something we can tangibly feel, that there has been not one meaningful change for the ordinary people coming out of these elections. It is only the owners of capital and their political party edifices that are able to take part in the elections, so like previous elections, the 2009 elections will not bring about any genuine change for the ordinary people", said Toni.

Looking at past realities and historical experience, the working class is declaring its opposition to and inviting the public to reject the 2009 elections. It is also calling for the building of a force to oppose the elections within a political vehicle, built independently by the people, with the aim of delegitimising the powers that are born out of these undemocratic elections and to clear a path towards a platform to take power.

Toni cited five reasons for opposing the elections: That the elections are dominated by the bourgeoisie or the owners of capital, only the political elite and the political parties that deceive the people are able to take part, also taking part are corruptors and human rights violators, the elections will not provide an opportunity for the people's movement and the 2009 elections are not the way to provide prosperity to the people.

Toni also said that neither the Labour Party or the Indonesian Workers and Employers Party, which are taking part in the 2009 elections, represent the interest of workers or the ordinary people, because both parties are largely defending the interests of those in power and the owners of capital.

As the protesters approached the State Palace, the group was intercepted by police who asked them not to use a loudspeaker if they plan to continue the demonstration in front of the State Palace.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Mudflow victims march for money

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2009

Putri Prameshwari – Hundreds of Sidoarjo mudflow victims staged a rally along Jakarta's main roads on Thursday, demanding the government settle compensation owed to them by PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya.

"We are demanding our rights," said Abdul Fatah, a field coordinator for the protesters. "And the government must settle this problem."

Minarak Lapindo Jaya is a subsidiary of PT Lapindo Brantas, which has been blamed for the Sidoarjo mudlfow, and was appointed to pay out land compensation to thousands of displaced people.

Fatah, along with some 150 displaced residents from Sidoarjo, East Java Province, walked from the Presidential Palace to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, about two kilometers south of the palace.

Carrying banners stating their disappointment in the government, the protesters walked, some barefoot, some carrying children on their shoulders, while yelling for the president to take responsibility.

"We will stay here [in the city] until President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agrees to help us settle the problem with Lapindo," Fatah said.

Hot, toxic mud began to flow from an earth fissure close to a gas exploration drilling well operated by PT Lapindo Brantas in May 2006. The company, owned by the family of Aburizal Bakrie, the government's chief welfare minister, has been blamed by experts for the disaster, which has left thousands homeless.

Wiwik, a Sidoarjo resident, said she and her friends had arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday. The women, she said, had spent the night at the office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras.

"The men are staying at the National Commission for Human Rights office," Wiwik said.

Fatah said 300 other displaced Sidoarjo residents would arrive in Jakarta on Friday, and they would stage another rally.

"We will not stop until we see a commitment from Yudhoyono to settle the compensation," he said.

This month, Minarak Lapindo Jaya's vice president Andi Darussalam said the company had transferred the first installment of Rp 15 million ($1,245) to each of the 6,006 victims' bank accounts. Andi also claimed Rp 100 billion had been transferred to a government bank account to be paid out to the victims.

The company had agreed to pay Rp 30 million in monthly installments to more than 6,000 family victims in a meeting facilitated by Yudhoyono in December. But in February, the company said it was only capable of paying the victims in monthly installments of Rp 15 million per family, citing financial difficulties.

Salatiga farmers protest over rent land

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2009

Jakarta – Farmers in Salatiga city, Central Java held a rally at Salatiga City Hall protesting the administration decision to allow an asbestos factory construction on a plot of land they used to rent for farming on Tuesday morning, kompas.com has reported.

Head of the farmers group Syamsudin said that with the decision the administration had left around 400 farmers, who had been farming at the rented 12.2 hectares plot of administation land, unable to make a living.

The farmers rallied holding posters and banners of protest in front of the mayor's office. They also brought a goat, which they offered a piece of asbestos during a theatrical performance.

Syamsudin said the farmers regretted the administration's one- sided decision to forbid them from farm on the land. (dre)

Aceh

Aceh grenade attack adds to province's pre-election woes

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2009

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – At least five people were injured when a grenade was thrown into a coffee shop owned by an Aceh Party leader in the city of Lhokseumawe, Aceh Province, on Wednesday evening, police officers and local residents said on Thursday.

"Two people riding a motorbike threw a grenade at the victims who were chatting and drinking coffee at the shop," Lhokseumawe district police chief Zulkifli said, adding that the police were still tracking down the culprits.

Experts have warned that tensions in the province surrounding the April 9 local and national legislative elections could deteriorate, potentially compromising Aceh's hard-won peace.

Police recently responded by dispatching additional Mobile Brigade officers there to help provide additional security.

The victims of Wednesday's attack were identified as Muhammad Raden, 32, who was rushed to the Lilawangsa Military Hospital in Lhokseumawe. Four others – Muhammad Amin Gadeng, 50, Asnawi, 30, Muhammad a.k.a Ombing, 37, and Syukri, 28 – were taken to the Kasih Ibu Hospital, also in Lhokseumawe.

Named Reintegrasi, or Reintegration, the coffee shop is owned by Efendi Sofyan, chairman of the Aceh Party's Panggoi branch. Muhammad a.k.a Ombing is local member of Aceh Transition Committee, or KPA, an organization set up to facilitate former Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, members' reintegration into society after the signing of the Helsinki agreement in 2005 to end the bloody struggle for independence by GAM members. The Aceh Party was founded by former GAM members.

An eyewitness identified as Razali said the victims were watching TV with their backs to the road in front of a wooden food stall at the time of the explosion. "I was at the corner of the shop when an explosion blasted out. I was very shocked because it happened so fast," he said.

Another witness said that rain and the speed of the incident prevent the people in the coffee shop from seeing the assailant. "I was drinking my coffee at that time when I heard an explosion and people were screaming because they were hurt by shrapnel from the explosion," he said.

The incident was the latest in a series of violent attacks ahead of the elections. In the past few months, Aceh Party offices and KPA members have been targeted in grenade attacks. And at least three Aceh Party and KPA members were shot dead in separate incidents last February. Police have so far failed to arrest the culprits.

Meanwhile, two businessmen, identified as Sofyan and Rusli, have been kidnapped by three armed men in Alue le Mirah village, said Rahman, a local resident speaking to journalists in Banda Aceh.

"They were measuring the land with some local residents when three armed men came and pointed their gun at them. The three people tied them up and took them into the forest," Rahman said.

West Papua

Papua police vows to chase after separatists group

Jakarta Post - March 15, 2009

Jakarta – Papua police chief Bagus Eko Danto reiterated on Sunday that local police would chase after members of the Papuan separatist group, the Free Papua Movement (TPN/OPM), following their destructive behavior towards security posts and civil society.

"We have already received the support of the Puncak Jaya regional administration and also local residents as their [OPM] behavior is criminal," Danto said, as quoted by Antara news.

He added that people in the locality have increasingly complained of unruly behavior by TPN/OPM members, including rape and livestock theft.

According to Danto, the search for TPN/OPM rebels would include group members involved in the Tinggi Nambut police post attack last January.

Separatist fighters had attacked a police post and made off with four firearms in a remote area in Puncak Jaya regency, Papua. (amr)

Separatist rebels kill Indonesian soldier

Associated Press - March 15, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesia's state news agency says separatists in the easternmost Papua province have killed a soldier.

Antara said Sunday that Free Papua Movement rebels opened fire on a remote military outpost on Saturday, killing an army private before setting a bridge on fire and fleeing. The report quoting police officials could not be independently verified.

Indonesia took over Papua from the Dutch in 1963. The region lies 2,050 miles (3,300 kilometers) east of the capital Jakarta and was brought under formal Indonesian rule in a vote by community leaders that was internationally dismissed as a sham.

The small, poorly armed movement still seeks independence, but it has been years since a government soldier was killed.

Trapped Aussies' Papua exit plan

The Australian - March 14, 2009

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Five Australians trapped in Papua are in a "race against time" to escape by charter plane before "arrogant" Indonesian prosecutors pounce to overturn their not- guilty verdict.

The five, who have been in prison, or under house arrest, since arriving illegally in the province six months ago, had their light aircraft re-impounded by prosecutors this week, just days after the Papua High Court ordered it returned and the group set free.

However, the plane's owner, charter operator William Scott- Bloxam, has several more on nearby Horn Island, off Cape York in northeastern Australia, and the group is preparing for a snatch- and-run mission "before the prosecution changes the goalposts again".

"We don't want to offend the Indonesian Government but the arrogance of the prosecutors has just been amazing," one of the five, passenger Keith Mortimer, told The Weekend Australian.

"There's nothing like it in the world. It was just a misdemeanour case, which should have been dealt with by immigration, but it went to the District Court, and then to the High Court, and I tell you what, if it ends up in the Supreme Court, we'll be stuck here for a minimum of seven years. It's that simple."

The five, whose passports remain confiscated, have set up camp in the tiny Merauke airport's arrivals lounge, declaring they cannot be re-arrested there since it is international space.

"We've got no status in this country," Mr Mortimer said. "We can't walk out into the street because we've got no visas. The moment we walk out there, they have every right to declare us illegal aliens."

Mr Mortimer insisted, however, that should Mr Scott-Bloxam succeed in having one of his other aircraft land, "Mate, as soon as we can get one of them here, we're on it and out. It landing has got nothing to do with our legal status, and once it arrives, we're straight on it. This is a race against time".

Mr Mortimer, along with Mr Scott-Bloxam and the latter's wife, Vera, as well as Hubert Hofer and Karen Burke, all aged in their 50s and early 60s, arrived by twin-engined light plane last September without visas or flight clearances.

Boycotting the elections is no Solution

Cenderawasih Pos - March 13, 2009

The call made during a rally by the National Action Committee of the West Papuan People during a demo at the office of the DPRP earlier this week, which included a call to boycott the election has provoked responses from a number of political parties.

Paskalis Kosay, deputy chairman of the West Papua branch of Golkar, described this as nothing more than an expression of the political dynamics in Papua and everyone is entitled to do that. "If there is a boycott that will just be local here in Papua. The organisation of the election is already very advanced and (a boycott) will have no effect, even for the parties themselves. It depends on people whether they want to boycott and they shouldn't disturb thse who want to vote." Furthermore, he said, boycotting the election won't guarantee that there will be a resolution of the Papuan question. The Papuan question is a national problem, he said.

As regards the calls being made for a referendum, Kosay said this was an expression of society's dissatisfaction with the way Otsus (Special Autonomy) is being implemented. "The rights of the indigenous people are not being properly accommodated as a result of which people haven't experienced any improvements in the their living conditions."

Yanni, chairman of the regional branch of Partai Bintang Reformasi (Star Reform Party) also thought that boycotting the election will change nothing in Papua. "It could even make things worse and be harmful for us," he (she?) said. "I therefore think it is better for people to use their vote which could be very important for Papua for the next 5 years."

As for having a referendum, Yanni said that it was necessary for the government and the legislature to correct themselves and decided how to do better so as to ensure that the people's aspirations about their conditions can be realised.

Dr John Manansang, chairman of Partai Nasional Benteng Kerakyatan Indonesia (National Fortress Party of the Indonesian People) described the call for a boycott as not being "very mature" but it was the right of anyone (not to vote). He said that during the next month, he hoped that people will think hard about where Papua is going. "This demands make us realise what we thing about Papua's future and to think about what best needs to be done for the welfare of the Papuan people."

But he nevertheless felt that a boycott was not a wise thing to do. He also wondered why peole were calling for a referendum. Otsus has been in force for eight years but people see it as a failure in that it has not answered the aspirations of the Papuan people. Although, he said, the annual Otsus budget had been going up every year, people dont see any changes in their living conditions.

"The Papuan people are not prosperous, instead things have got worse, and we should ask ourselves why this is," he said. If people want independence, the government and the DPRP will have to deal with this, and one way would be to persuade the candidates to struggle for the aspirations of the people.

As for Martinus Werimon, chairman of the Papuan branch of Partai Merdeka (Independence Party) he said that the young people should take part in the election. Boycotting the elections won't solve anything, and could only make things worse. He said that he was one of the Team of 100 which met President Habibie in 1999, when they called for a boycott, but the elections went ahead anyway. In the event, we damaged our own interests because we did not help to decide which candidates to vote for. If we do the same thing again, it means that we are lacking in any wisdom. "We should call on all Papuans to take part in the elections and use their vote in favour of those Papuans who really want to fight for the aspirations of the Papuan people. If people want to abstain, that's okay if there are no candidates who they trust."

He said that the call for a referendum was an expression of feelings of dissatisfaction with Otsus. There have been so many corruption cases with no-one know how the money has been used while in some regions the military were present and intelligence operations were being conducted, all of which has been very upsetting many people.

[Item slightly abridged in translation. Comment: Whether or not a boycott is justified is for Papuan people to decide but the issue raised by demonstrators earlier this week has provoked a number of very interesting comments which highlight the depth of dissatisfaction felt among senior Papuans who have leading positions in the parties contesting the elections and which were reported at some length by Cenderawasih Pos. It will be interesting to see what the turnout will be on 9 April. Calling for a boycott could have repercussions for those making the call but a low turnout should make those who gain seats in the DPR and who becomes President in October recognise the need to respond to the Papuan call for dialogue which now has the support of Defence Minister Yuwono Sudarsono. TAPOL]

Aussies still stranded in West Papua

Australian Associated Press - March 13, 2009

Five Australians have spent a third day stranded at a West Papua airport as Indonesian prosecutors appeal against their release from jail.

William Scott-Bloxam, 62, his wife Vera, 54, and their three friends Karen Burke, 51, Hubert Hofer, 57, and Keith Mortimer, 60, have been stuck at Mopah airport since Wednesday.

They have been waiting for clearance to return home after winning an appeal against convictions for illegally entering Indonesia in a light plane last September.

The Merauke District Court on Tuesday announced the decision by the Jayapura High Court to overturn their convictions and to order their immediate deportation to Australia.

However, prosecutors have refused to process the paperwork for their departure, instead sending them notification of intention to appeal to Indonesia's highest court, the Supreme Court in Jakarta.

"It is now official, the prosecutor has lodged the notification of the Supreme Court appeal," said lawyer Efrem Fangohoy. "I have signed the notification letter today. This shouldn't delay their departure, but I don't know."

Prosecutors have 14 days to lodge the basis for their appeal, while defence lawyers can lodge a rebuttal at the same time. There is no deadline for a decision from the Supreme Court. Appeals can often drag on for years.

Their lawyers insist the group can leave Indonesia before a judgment from the Supreme Court.

However, prosecutors are refusing to release their plane from evidence, and the Jayapura court's original ruling stipulated that the group must leave aboard their own plane.

The group is seeking a document from the Jayapura court to authorise their departure on a plane other than their own, and have also sought intervention from the Australian government. In the meantime, they are staying at the airport with their luggage.

The five, from Cape York on Australia's northern tip, had planned after their successful appeal to make the one-hour journey back to Horn Island in the Torres Strait, where they had embarked on their ill-fated joy-ride.

Initially suspected of being foreign spies, they claimed they had only wanted to spend a long weekend in West Papua for a holiday, and mistakenly believed they could get visas on arrival. They were given permission to land the plane but were arrested upon disembarking.

In January, the District Court jailed Scott-Bloxam for three years and each of his passengers for two years.

There are strict restrictions placed on visiting Indonesia's western-most province, troubled by a low-level separatist insurgency since the 1960s.

TNI warns of more unrest among neglected Papuans

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Armed Foces Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso on Wednesday acknowledged that growing disappointment in Papua Province toward the central government that could potentially fan separatist movements and violent demonstrations.

"I believe the government has done its best to support development in Papua," Djoko told journalists in Jakarta. "But not all groups can receive the benefits [of the development] because of the complexity of the problems and budget constraints."

The military believes that separatist movements in Papua can be minimized by a better government approach to Papuan welfare, he said. Djoko also said the military would fully support the process of democracy in Indonesia, including in Papua, saying it would view any demonstration calling for independence as an act of freedom of speech.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the government would not use an "iron-fist" approach in dealing with separatists, but would always try a persuasive and soft approach through dialogues within communities. "I believe our police and military understand the situation and would tolerate any voice of dissatisfaction," Juwono said.

He said attempts to seek government attention had been made in recent years in Papua and other provinces, like Aceh and Maluku.

"We have to make sure [the Papuans] are on the same level as other Indonesians on Java Island and that they would get the same services from the government," Juwono said.

Separatism has been rife in the three provinces for decades. The government sealed a milestone peace agreement with the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, in 2005, but the Free Papua Movement, or OPM, has continued low-level armed resistance.

On Tuesday, two men were shot and stabbed to death and another two were badly injured after they were allegedly attacked by members of the OPM, in Puncak Jaya subdistrict.

The deceased, both motorcycle taxi drivers, were identified as Zainal, 25, and Solihan, 35. Their passengers, Lince Telenggen, 19, and Yogile Kiwo, 30, were left with serious injuries.

Djoko said the police would look into the cases because of the 2004 Military Law, which dictates that military involvement should be limited to cases where there are external threats, while home security issues are under the command of police. "If the police asks us to help, we would help them," he said.

Prosecutors hold up return of West Papua five

Australian Associated Press - March 12, 2009

Denpasar, Bali – Five Australians freed from jail in West Papua have appealed to the Australian Government for help, after Indonesian prosecutors refused to grant authority for them to return home, their lawyer says.

William Scott-Bloxam, 62, his wife Vera, 54, and their friends Karen Burke, 51, Hubert Hofer, 57, and Keith Mortimer, 60, were preparing to return home yesterday after winning an appeal against convictions for illegally entering Indonesia on a light plane last September.

The Merauke District Court on Tuesday announced the decision by the Jayapura High Court to overturn their convictions and to immediately order their deportation to Australia.

But the five were stuck yesterday at Mopah Airport in Merauke, West Papua, awaiting clearance from prosecutors, their lawyer Mohammad Rifan said.

"The prosecutor is causing a problem by ignoring the decision of the court, to free the five straight away and allow them to fly back to Australia," Mr Rifan said. "At this time, the plane is ready, but the five of them are staying in the international area at the Mopah airport."

The head of the Merauke District Prosecutor's Office, Sudirohusodo, said his office was seeking guidance about whether it could appeal against the decision to overturn the convictions.

"Today we sent a letter to the attorney-general, asking for guidance on a possible Supreme Court appeal and we're still waiting," he said.

But Mr Rifan said that under Indonesian law, the prosecutors could not appeal against the high court's decision, which released the defendants from jail and further legal action.

Papuans rally in call for a referendum

Cenderawasih Post - March 11, 2009

Several hundred Papuans, rallying in the name of the National Action Committee of the West Papuan People took to the streets in Jayapura on Wednesday, calling for a referendum on Papua's right to independence.

Among the crowd were students, elderly people and a number of women. They marched to the office of the DPRP, the Papuan regional council, in a rally led by Victor Yemo and Markus Yamo, coordinator from Manokwari.

They carried banners bearing the following: Review the 1969 Act of Free choice, Release all Political Prisoners Unconditionally, Special Autonomy is treachery and Referendum Now!

Leaflets distributed to the public said that the forthcoming elections were not a solution for Papua. The leaflets were emblazoned with the slogan: Freedom Yes, General Election No.

A representative from Bird's Head described Indonesia as the worst human rights violator of all. He said Special Autonomy (OTSUS) had brought no improvements.

A woman speaker spoke on behalf of the resistance army, TPN. She said they were fully committed to Papua's struggle for independence which, she was confident, would soon arrive.

One young speaker who said that he was from Timor Leste, said that Timor supports Papua's struggle.

Speakers also criticised the candidates in the 2009 elections because they would not change anything. They said that OTSUS had failed to protect the rights of the indigenous people of Papua in health and education, and were only sending more and more troops to Papua.

They criticised members of the DPRP for failing to improve the situation and said that they had caused many horizontal conflicts. There were also calls for the elections to be boycotted.

Speeches at the rally continued for three hours. As part of an action to condemn the political parties, six Golkar flags were pulled down and trampled underfoot, then left by the roadside.

Several of the speakers drew attention to Indonesia's presidents, saying that from the days of Suharto, through to Habibie and Megawati, conditions for Papua were very bad. It was only the presidency of Gus Dur that had come like a breath of fresh air and he alone had refrained from condemning the use of the Papuan flag.

After rallying at the office of the provincial goverment, a small delegation was able to meet John Ibo who heads the local government for ten minutes. After the meeting, the large crowd dispersed peacefully.

The chief of police of Jayapura, Roberth Djoenso, said that in preparation for the rally, two special units had been located to the area. The police had also conducted raids in Taman Imbi, Jayapura, Entrop South Jayapura on the evening before.

[Abridged translation by TAPOL.]

TNI says money problems behind separatism in Papua

Jakarta Post - March 11, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Djoko Susilo says the main reason for many Papuans wishing to separate from the Indonesian republic stems from a massive disparity in economic development between the provinces.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Indonesian Defense University on Wednesday, Djoko said the government had paid close attention to Papua by providing much-needed infrastructure and facilities. However, he said, the province had yet to see an even distribution of development projects.

"But I believe the population would not be as keen to separate from Indonesia if they improve their economy," Djoko told Antara state news agency.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said separatist protests could perhaps be understood to be calls for government to focus on the even distribution of aid.

"Such separatist actions may serve as a tool to inform us that aid has yet to reach the needy," he said. (ewd)

Police urged to investigate Timika shooting incident

Jakarta Post - March 11, 2009

Markus Makur, Timika – Hundreds of Kei tribal members staged a rally Tuesday at the Mimika Legislative Council to demand the police investigate a Jan. 25 shooting incident in which tribe member Simon Feder was killed.

"We demanded the National Police chief deploy a team to investigate the shooting two months ago. So far, the police have only questioned witnesses from the local police force. Nobody from the tribe was asked to testify," tribal head Piet Rafra told council members and Mimika Police chief Adj. Snr. Comr. Godhelp C. Masnembra.

He accused the police of shooting indiscriminately during a clash between police officers and tribesmen following a brawl at the Queen bar in Kampung Kodok, Kwamki Baru subdistrict, Mimika. Fader died at Mimika General Hospital from gunshot wounds to the abdomen.

"The case has been handled this past month without any coordination with the Kei tribe; the public wants to know the developments in the case," Rafra said, urging the legislative council to push the police to investigate the case.

Rally coordinator Jack Rahawarin claimed Feder was killed by a Mimika Police officer. "Police officers involved in the shooting should be punished. The suspects should be tried in an open trial," he said.

The protesters were welcomed by council member Maimun Madya and other councilors.

But police chief Masnembra fired back that the police were slow in investigating the case because witnesses from the Kei tribe had always rejected summons for questioning.

He added he would be happy to let the National Police take over the case. "Go tell it to the National Police over in Jakarta," he told the protesters.

Masnembra also said one of the eight guns sent to the police laboratory for ballistics tests indicated it was the one used to shoot the victim. "The suspected police officer has been transferred to the Papua Police for further investigations to complete the dossier," he added.

Police explore possible OPM link to two Papua murders

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2009

Putri Prameshwari – Two men were shot and stabbed to death and another two badly injured after they were allegedly attacked by members of the separatist Free Papua Movement, or OPM, in Puncak Jaya subdistrict, Papua Provincial Police Chief Bagus Eko Danto said on Tuesday.

The deceased, both motorcycle taxi drivers, were identified as Zainal, 25, and Solihan, 35. Their passengers, Lince Telenggen, 19, and Yogile Kiwo, 30, were left with serious injuries.

"We're trying to get more information from the survivors," Bagus said. "But it's hard to do because they're still badly injured."

The victims were being treated at the Mulia General Hospital.

Bagus said there were indications that the ambush was staged by OPM rebels under the leadership of Goliath Tabuni, from the Dani tribe.

Security forces believe Tabuni is responsible for a string of recent attacks. The latest alleged incident was a shooting in late February in which one man was injured.

In January, a group of 20 people believed to be members of the outlawed OPM attacked the Tingginambut Police station, also in Puncak Jaya subdistrict.

The group, armed with SS-1 assault rifles, stabbed the wife of an officer who happened to be at the station. Bagus said the police had launched an investigation.

The OPM is a rag-tag group of poorly equipped rebels with little organizational structure who have been waging a guerilla war against the Indonesian Armed Forces, or TNI, which they say is an occupying force responsible for gross human rights violations.

The provinces of Papua and West Papua are rich in natural resources, but most native Papuans live in extreme poverty.

Group says maternal mortality rates in Papua alarming

Radio New Zealand International - March 9, 2009

The Australia West Papua Association says dramatic statistics about infant and maternal mortality emerging from the Provincial Health Department in Indonesia's Papua are almost certainly wrong but highlight what is an alarming health issue.

Recent information released from the Department says that almost 40 percent of Papuan women die when giving birth with only 52 babies per 1,000 surviving birth.

But an article about health standards in Papua region published late last year by Australia's Medical Journal puts the maternal mortality rate at around 1 percent, and the infant mortality rate at up to 15 percent, with a further 3-5 percent of children dying before the age of five.

However the Association's Dr Anne Noonan says these rates are among the worst in the world.

"Those figures from the Australian Medical Journal are erring on the conservative which is... probably better to err on the conservative which is provable than exaggerate which then always leaves your whole question open to exaggeration. But they're still dreadful figures."

Dr Anne Noonan says the implementation of basic health services and acceptable sanitary condition could help address outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera in Papua region.

She says there's a direct link from treatable diseases and malnourishment to the alarming infant and mortality rates in the remote region.

"That's probably one of the reasons that kids are so run down. their mother's are anemic. Then you've got parasite infestations, mosquitoes, worms, all that sort of stuff. Then you've got the lack of vaccination and it all has a terrible pull-down effect on the mortality of the children."

Indonesia frees Australians after illegal flight - Lawyer

Agence France Presse - March 9, 2009

Merauke – Five Australians jailed for illegally entering Indonesia's sensitive Papua province by plane have been released after winning their appeal, their lawyer said Tuesday.

They will fly the plane home as soon as Tuesday after the high court ruled that they had received verbal permission to land from the control tower in Papua's Merauke district on Sept. 12, their lawyer said.

A lower court in January jailed them for up to three years. They had flown from Horn island off northeastern Australia on what they described as a sightseeing trip.

"They have all been freed since the high court accepted their appeal on March 5," lawyer Efrem Fangoihoy said. The court had yet to make its ruling public but the lawyer said he was expecting formal notification later Tuesday.

"The judges accepted our arguments that the pilot decided to land as the tower official gave verbal permission despite the pilot's explanation that they hadn't obtained landing permit documents," he said.

"The conversation between the pilot and the tower official in Merauke's airport had been recorded and we gave a copy to the court."

He said that even if they hadn't obtained clearance to land, the most the Indonesian authorities could do was deport them for not having visas.

The Australians – pilot William Scott-Bloxam and his wife, Vera, plus Hubert Hufer, Karen Burke and Keith Ronald Mortimer – are expected to leave Papua as soon as they receive formal notice of the court's decision.

A low-level separatist insurgency simmers in Papua and the province remains one of the most sensitive areas in the vast Indonesian archipelago.

Journalists are banned from visiting Papua without special permission and the military is accused of human rights violations there.

Labour/migrant workers

Government pledges no layoffs in state companies

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2009

Jakarta – The Office of State Enterprises (SOE) Minister pledges no layoffs by its companies this year although the global crisis is worsening.

"The ministry won't allow layoffs of SOE employees because we're optimistic the companies can survive the crisis," secretary to the SOE minister Said Didu said on Friday.

He said that the ministry had given out instructions to its enterprises to avoid layoffs and to seek other alternatives to them when problems arose. "The ministry has instructed SOEs to avoid layoffs but it's up to the companies to search for ways out on how to retain employees," he said.

He said that so far most SOEs have been performing well under the economic crisis despite the ministry's projection of six percent decline in net profits this year.

"If we pay attention to the companies performances, we're still projecting a profit this year although we are in the middle of a crisis and under [the ministry's] decreased profit projection," he said, adding that there was no need for layoffs if SOEs were still in black.

The government is concern that worker dismissal by SOEs may exacerbate the current wave of mass layoffs. Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) recorded 237,500 workers out of jobs between October and the first week of March.

Currently, there are 139 SOEs, employing around one million workers nationwide. SOEs have been the country's key economic backbone since the late 1998 Asian financial crisis.

Said said earlier the ministry was projecting Rp 70 trillion (US$5.88 billion) in profits this year, down by 6.6 percent compared to last year's Rp 75 trillion.

Falling commodity prices and overseas orders due to the worsening global financial conditions are the main factors behind the reduced projections for SOE profits.

State oil and gas company Pertamina is expected to be the largest contributor to overall SOE profits this year by contributing around Rp 20 trillion, followed by state telecommunications company PT Telkom, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and Bank Mandiri.

SOEs operational expenditures for this year have fallen to Rp 836 trillion from last year's Rp 962 trillion, reflecting the downturn.

On the other hand, SOE's capital expenditures this year are expected to rise by around Rp 23 trillion to Rp 152 trillion, reflecting increased budgets and positive investment decisions, partly to help cope with the negative impacts of the global crisis.

The worsening financial crisis has forced most SOEs to revise their production and revenue targets but without any plan to cut headcounts.

The nation's largest steel maker PT Krakatau Steel (KS) has already announced that its revenue would decrease by 16.8 percent this year but it would do its best to avoid layoffs even though the company was struggling with slowing demand.

Dede Rusli, the company's spokesman said earlier that KS would try to avoid layoffs affecting its 5.600 workers by cutting costs and re-scheduling working shifts.

He also said that the company has tried not to reduce employees' take home pay, but only to cut, among other things, health care, travel duty, overtime, and training incentives, in order to reduce costs.

Ailing state airline company PT Merpati Nusantara axed 1,300 of its 2,590 workers last August to help boost efficiency. The government stepped in to save Merpati with a Rp 350 billion cash injection.

Government urged to ratify workers convention

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2009

Anita Rachman – A coalition of non-governmental organizations and human rights groups is preparing a draft bill calling for the protection of migrant workers' rights in a bid to push the government into ratifying the 1990 United Nations Migrant Workers Convention, a labor activist said on Wednesday.

Wahyu Susilo, a member of the International NGO Platform on Migrant Workers Convention, said the government needed to ratify the convention to protect more than 6 million Indonesian overseas migrant workers and their families.

"Since 1998, the government has repeatedly promised to ratify the convention, but so far it has done nothing toward that end," he said.

Wahyu, who is also a policy analyst at Migrant Care, a local NGO, said the government managed to sign the convention only in September 2004, and has yet to ratify it. Signing a treaty or a convention represents a supportive gesture, while ratification requires a country to adopt new legal obligations.

Data from the coalition showed that the number of Indonesian migrant workers had steadily increased over the past eighteen years. In 1990, only 90,000 workers left Indonesia to work overseas, but by 2008 the figure had risen to 748,000 workers.

Despite the increase, Indonesia has yet to promulgate a law protecting migrant workers and their families. At present, the children of Indonesian overseas workers have no access to state educational assistance, and the workers themselves cannot claim insurance for occupational accidents.

"Migrant workers have contributed a lot to this country, especially from the remittances they send home," said Wahyu, adding that once the country ratifies the convention, it would be required to follow international standards to protect migrant workers.

Layoffs storm may hit harder than expected

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2009

A wave of layoffs in the manufacturing sector has struck the country hard. The Jakarta Post's Hans David and Faisal Maliki Baskoro visited industrial areas in Cilegon in Banten, Pulogadung district in East Jakarta, and Kerawang in West Java to get first hand reports over the level of hardship in these areas. Here are the stories:

The city of industry Cilegon in Banten has already felt the pinch from the worsening global economic downturn despite relatively less workers being directly affected.

Daily business in the city, which is home to some of the nation's largest industries, such as Indonesia's largest steel manufacturer PT Krakatau Steel, Australian steel giant Bluescope Steel, and Indonesian based petrochemical company Chandra Asri, is slower than the normal conditions pertaining before October.

Shopping centers, shops, and even banks appeared quiet and to be getting fewer customers. "This city, although it's a small one, usually gets crowded during the first week of the month," said Krakatau employee Anto.

"Most companies here have yet to discharge their workers, but the city's business activities are already declining. I could not imagine if companies here started to permanently discharge their workers. This city could fold up," he said.

Krakatau's 5,600 workers have been the heart of the economic engine of Cilegon for a long time. "During payday for Krakatau employees, the city is so crowded, but now, with the company reducing workers' benefits, the local economy is slowing down, said Anton.

Suyanto, a food vendor near heavy equipment company PT Sankyu International Indonesia, said customers had declined since several nearby factories started to 'house' their employees. "Usually it gets crowded during lunch, but now the workers eat their lunch at home," he said.

Industries in Cilegon have reduced production capacity to cope with the slowing demand, but are said to be still keeping the workers on their books until the April elections are over, to help the government to avoid disturbances or riots.

Many of the industries there are trying to survive by reducing production costs. The state-owned Krakatau company, for instance, has decided not to increase salaries or provide other incentives to its employees such as overtime and normal yearly bonus, as an alternative to layoffs.

"Krakatau is avoiding layoffs by reducing employee costs and re- scheduling working hours," said Krakatau spokesman Dede Rusli.

This move was followed by other companies there, such as Chandra Asri and Bluescope. "Chandra Asri is reducing its operations and has switched to doing maintenance while waiting for the economy to get better," said Bangun Siregar, a company worker.

He said that reducing operations usually means that there would be layoffs but he was safe for now, as the company still retained its employees, but as an expense. "The company is limiting overtime and yearly bonuses to push down employee costs," he said.

In other industrial areas, such as in Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta things are worst than in Cilegon. The areas are now occupied with deserted factories, empty parking lots and men just sitting around talking and dreaming of better days. There are a lot of people with no jobs hanging about.

"There used to be a lot of workers eating their lunch here," Djudjuk, a food stall owner said. "But ever since the crisis, there were less and less workers coming here. Daily profits plunged by more than 50 percent and I don't know if things could get any worse," she added.

Djudjuk then glanced quickly to her empty food stall, and the dusty wind blew, as she rubbed her eyes.

Life has also been hard for Ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers in the area after a lot of workers there have been discharged recently. "We used to earn around Rp 40,000 (US$3.3) per day but now we are very lucky to earn Rp 20,000," a seasoned driver, Harto, said.

The crisis has also affected the local economy surrounding the Karawang industrial zone on the outer skirts of Bekasi.

According to data from the Central Statistic Agency (BPS), there were around 11,000 workers in Karawang last year with around 5,700 of them working in the manufacturing sector within the industrial zone. However, thousands of these workers has been dismissed both temporarily and permanently since the crisis hit the area in November.

Upon entering the industrial zone, only a couple of motorcycles and cars were seen on its 5,000 square meters parking lot. There are less people around and therefore less vehicles too.

Most of the factories there have been put out of business, leaving only security guards at the front gate.

The wave of layoffs amidst the economic downturn has reportedly affected 237,500 workers nationwide between October and March, a total far exceeding previously released government reports.

Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairperson Sofyan Wanandi said on Wednesday that Apindo has collected data from its branches in all regions and found that the actual total for job layoffs due to the impact of the global economic downturn was far higher than the government's latest figure of about 30,000 workers.

Sofyan said the government's data did not fully record the actual layoff statistics. "I suppose it only records the layoff of permanent workers. The government did not receive data on daily and outsourced workers."

But there is wide speculation that the government is trying to keep the figures looking low in order to look good during the upcoming legislative and presidential elections.

Rights of dismissed workers violated

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2009

Faisal Maliki Baskoro – Siswanto, a resident of Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta, has had to switch jobs to become a motorcycle taxi driver to make ends meet after being sacked from his normal full-time job without a single penny of severance pay.

Prior to November, Siswanto worked hard eight hours a day for six days a week as a permanently employed worker for a plastics processing factory in the Pulo Gadung industrial area.

After the dismissal, he received not one cent of the severance package to which he was entitled despite the fact that his working contract was still valid. However he was told he was only being dismissed temporarily until the company's financial state could be improved, and the company says this means no entitlement to contractual severance pay.

Siswanto is among thousands of unfortunate workers who are failing to get their rights after a wave of layoffs has hit the country since the fourth quarter of last year.

The huge magnitude of the dismissals has rendered the government and labor unions seemingly incapable of ensuring whether companies discharging their workers have fulfilled the rights of dismissed workers, and complied with government regulations, or not.

As in the case of Siswanto, who under the rules is entitled to part of his basic salary during "temporary dismissal". "I am actually still under contract and should have received my basic monthly salary. However, this has not happened with my company. Me and my colleagues have decided to take this matter to court," he said.

Siswanto is not alone. There are around 100 workers from the same company that have been "temporarily dismissed" for months without receiving their monthly salaries.

Such breaches of the labor laws are likely to become more widespread as the economic crisis hits.

Subhan, a worker with a processing company in Serang, Banten, was recently been laid off without getting any severance pay because the company claimed it no longer had any money or other assets to cover workers' entitlements. "We have no other options. The company's assets could not be used to cover our benefits," he said.

Under the existing regulations, the company is required to provide a permanently discharged worker at least with severance and service pay. Under the 2003 Labor Law, workers receive severence pay based on the length of service they have already worked with the company. Someone who has worked for 24 years at a company is entitled to severance pay equal to 38 times their monthly salary.

Deny Syamsudin, an employee for a factory in Cilegon, Banten, is more fortunate as he still receives his salary by working in monthly rotation with his colleagues.

"Since the company decided to reduce production, I have been working alternate monthly shifts, taking turns with my other colleagues," he said. "With this system, we have to live two months with a one month salary, and sometimes the salary comes late," he said, but its better than having no job at all.

On March 11, some 100 workers from garment factory PT Inkosindo Sukses, located in the industrial zone in North Jakarta, staged a protest at the City Council in Central Jakarta, while laid-off workers from manufacturing company PT Mulia Industrindo staged their own rally at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta.

Inkosindo Employees Forum head Siti Nurul Alifah said the company, which produces apparel for internationally renowned brands, filed for bankruptcy in early January and laid off around 1,300 employees "without adequate severance pay".

Some 500 workers from Mulia Industrindo were fired without severance pay after staging a strike since last month. These problems may get worse before things improve.

Unions lay low when most needed

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2009

Faisal Maliki Baskoro – The country's seemingly militant labor unions, frequently opposed to any government-planned regulation on labor, has somehow run out of steam in ensuring workers get their rights during the recent hard times.

Fewer street protests by the unions, at least since January, have kept labor problems in Jakarta and other major cities out of the public's attention. Amid the worsening global economic crisis, even the unions seem to be tolerating the rising stream of layoffs by companies.

"We're not raising our voices the way we used to, because we understand the companies have no other choice in these hard times," Rekson Silaban, chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (KSBSI), told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. "We're already in a slump now, so there's no need to make things worse with street protests."

Rekson, who is also a commissioner at state pensions and workers' insurance firm PT Jamsostek, said unions should push for tax cuts for workers' retirement and severance pay, to ease their burden as well as that on the companies.

"There should also be a standard regulation requiring companies to announce bankruptcy three months prior to their official closing," he said. "Such measures will enable the government to inject funds if necessary, or give the workers sufficient time to plan for their future."

Such announcements are a standard regulation for companies in Europe and the United States, Rekson pointed out.

Maulana Bungaran, chairman of the National Independent Workers Union (SPMN), shared similar sentiments. "If we take to the streets to protest and go on strike, would it make things any different? Certainly not," he said.

"We have to act more wisely now, as more and more companies are collapsing during this crisis. "But whatever the situation, the workers must have their rights and welfare. Only this time, we probably need to think of alternative measures."

Maulana suggested that in order to ensure workers' welfare during the crisis, it was vital for the government to safeguard companies' rights in the first place.

"For instance, there are too many illegal fees collected by corrupt government officials," he said.

"If the government can do something to eradicate these practices, then the companies will have extra money to spend on their workers' welfare. Another measure we can take is to give the management rights on workers' social welfare funds to the unions. Under the union's management, it will be more transparent and the workers will receive their full rights."

The government recently announced measures to cushion labor- intensive industries from the worsening crisis through tax cuts for both companies and workers.

Measures to help blue-collar workers have already been rolled out. Workers with a maximum monthly salary of Rp 5 million working in the agricultural, fisheries and manufacturing sectors will receive an income tax reduction of 15 percent to help bolster their purchasing power.

With these efforts in place, the government also hopes to keep the labor unions happy. Indonesia is home to more than 1,000 unions, most of them run by activists rather than actual workers.

The activists usually exploit their union platforms for personal gain, including vying for top positions in political parties, state companies or government agencies.

The lack of action from the unions is also due to requests from law enforcement authorities to top union leaders to lie low during the upcoming general elections, over concerns of igniting conflicts and riots.

The government has also urged companies not to make any mass dismissals before the legislative elections in April 9, to avoid any possible backlash. In fact, most companies have been temporarily laying off their workers, but maintaining their salaries until the elections are over.

Total workers laid off reach over 200,000: Apindo

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2009

Alfian, Jakarta – The wave of layoffs amidst the economic downturn has affected 237,500 workers nationwide between October and March, far exceeds government reports.

"Ever since chairing Apindo, we have never experienced receiving so many such reports as in these days. Almost everyday we receive consultation requests concerning workers layoffs," Sofyan said on Wednesday.

As of the first week in March, Apindo recorded 100,000 workers being laid off in the textile and garment industry; 14,000 in the shoes sector; 40,000 in the automotive and spare parts industry; 30,000 in construction projects; 50,000 in palm oil plantations; and 3,500 in the pulp and paper industry.

Most of the workers currently being laid off are still either daily or outsourced workers rather than permanent staff. "Only about five to ten percent of them are permanent workers," Sofyan said, adding that most of the layoffs occurred between January and March this year.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno announced on Feb. 28 that the number of permanent layoffs had reached about 30,000 workers, with another 42,000 temporarily laid off during the first (incomplete) quarter of 2009 due to the negative impacts of the global economic crisis.

Apindo urged the government to immediately disburse the already agreed Rp 73 trillions (US$6,8 billion) stimulus package needed to maintain the economy running amid the hard times to reduce layoffs. "We urge the government not to wait until April to disburse the stimulus. The sooner the better," Sofyan said.

Haryadi Sukamdani, an executive at Apindo, added that actually only Rp 12.5 trillion of the stimulus would go to the real sector. "So, the real stimulus is not as big as what we think," he said.

The head of Apindo's Jakarta branch, Suprayitno, said that as of Feb. 28 in Jakarta alone the layoffs figure topped 35,000 workers. "Of the figure, about 10,000 are from the automotive sector; 15,000 from construction projects; 5,000 from the electronics industry and the rest from other sectors," Soeprayitno said.

Apindo urges regional administrations to help anticipate the effect of the global economic crisis. "Regional administrations must scrap regulations that cause high economic costs," Sofyan said.

On Wednesday, Apindo announced that the Supreme Court had ruled a verdict ordering the Jakarta Provincial Administration to scrap the Jakarta Governor Regulation NO. 82/2006. The regulation ordered businessmen in the Jakarta to provide workers with life insurance that also covered activities outside of their working hours.

The verdict was in favor of Apindo which challenged the regulation in 2006. According to Apindo, the regulation has created an overly high economic cost for businessmen who already provide their workers with social insurance (Jamsostek).

"We welcome the verdict and we hope that this verdict will help to avoid the implementation of other regulations that burden business sectors," Sofyan said.

He said similar regulations also existed in several other regions including in Serang, Tangerang, and Bogor regencies. Sofyan said Apindo expected they would also scrap such regulations.

Workers demand severance pay after firms go bankrupt

Jakarta Post - March 11, 2009

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – As the economic crisis takes firm hold in the city, hundreds of workers staged rallies Tuesday demanding their right to severance pay after losing their jobs.

Some 100 workers from garment factory PT Inkosindo Sukses, located in the industrial zone in North Jakarta, staged a protest at the City Council in Central Jakarta, while laid-off workers from manufacturing company PT Mulia Industrindo staged their own rally at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta.

She added the North Jakarta District Court had yet declare the firm bankrupt. "The management only gave us 20 percent of our pay. That's rubbish. Under the labor law, severance pay may not cut by percentages like that," Siti said.

Meanwhile, some 500 workers from Mulia Industrindo were fired without severance pay after staging a strike since last month.

Under the 2003 Labor Law, workers receive severance pay depending on how long they have worked at the company. Someone who has worked for 24 years at a company is entitled to pay that is 38 times their monthly salary.

Aliman A'at, head of the City Council's Commission B overseeing financial affairs, promised to follow up on the case.

An adviser for the group, Yusuf, said the company had operated for around 20 years, with some employees employed there for up to 15 years.

None of the companies' officials were available for comment Tuesday.

In January, the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) warned that up to 10,000 workers would be laid off between December 2008 and January 2009, with the International Labor Organization (ILO) predicting more than 170,000 Indonesians would lose their jobs this year.

Environment/natural disasters

Green issues not 'sexy' enough for political parties: Activists

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – Despite widespread claims that environmental issues featured prominently in their respective campaigns, political parties contesting the upcoming elections were more hot air than substance, an interparty dialogue in Jakarta was told on Wednesday.

"Parties say that environmental issues are important but these are just political talk only; there's still a lack of political will to back up the words," said Dr. Dodik Ridho Nurrochmat from the Forestry Department at the Bogor Agricultural University, or IPB.

Only nine of the 38 political parties invited to attend the WWF- organized dialogue on food security and water and energy supply attended the event, though all the major parties were represented.

Dodik, who specializes in forest policy and economics, said all political parties voiced the same opinions about the environment but they never showed the courage to come out with new strategies.

"If you go to Germany, we can distinguish which programs belong to which parties," he said. "But here, it is very difficult to link parties to programs."

He said there were plenty of politicians who claimed to have taken environmental stances but at the end of the day their policies did not reflect those claims. "How can they say that they support the environment while the law allows rampant mining," he said.

Arya Hadi Dharmawan, from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development Studies at IPB, said there were few parties that even discussed environmental issues in their campaigns.

"There is still little attention given to environment issues; it's not considered 'sexy' enough," he said. "There is one party [the National Awakening Party, or PKB] that has declared itself a 'green party' but that is still debatable."

He said future legislators would need to consider reforming the current state management, which has only led to ecological and ethical crises. "The next group of DPR [House of Representatives] members need to treat our natural resources and environment with more respect."

PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar said the green party slogan was difficult to sell to voters who were more interested in employment and other social issues. "We have to realize that people don't really relate to environmental issues," he said. "It makes you think twice about campaigning on such issues."

However, he said PKB was still committed to green issues, because while every party acknowledged the problems none were so far willing to do anything about them. "Look at Jakarta's annual floods for example," he said. "We go through this problem every year but there are still no solutions in place."

Rully Chairul Azwal, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, said environmental issues were not considered as "sexy" by parties because such issues were seen as long term, and thus lose out to far more short-term plans.

"Politics is often about preserving the party for another five years but that doesn't mean we don't know what's going on," he said.

"We need a road map that includes both the long-term and short- term plans." He said academics should also think about putting together five-year environmental programs instead of just stressing the long term effects of neglect.

Dodik said when talking to the lay people about environmental issues, it was important to use down-to-earth terms they could understand.

"Ordinary people don't want to hear about things like 'clean development mechanism,' it makes no sense to them," he said.

"But if we can connect the recent floods, forest fires or landslides to human activities, then people might more readily understand the importance of caring for the environment."

In attendance were the Golkar Party, People's Conscience Party, PKB, Prosperous Justice Party, Indonesia Youth Party, United Development Party, Democratic Party, PDI-P and the Indonesian Democratic Vanguard Party. J

rta Globe - March 12, 2009

Kafil Yamin – The mass flooding in greater Jakarta in February 2007 was, all puns aside, a watershed moment for the capital. With damage in the trillions of rupiah, hundreds of people killed, injured or sickened, and the floods of 2002 still a recent memory, the public had simply had enough.

"I almost spent the night in my car because I could not move at all – can you believe it? Why are all the roads inundated each time rain falls? What has the Jakarta administration done about this?"

The words of Santoso, who lives in Jatibaru, Central Jakarta, sum up the frustrations of millions as he reminisces bitterly about the 2007 floods.

The human and economic losses from those floods two years ago warrant the angry comments. At least 52 people died, hundreds more suffered ailments ranging from diarrhea to dengue fever and a staggering 340,000 were displaced. In the wake of the disaster, economic losses were tallied at Rp 8.8 trillion ($739 million), from damage to and destruction of houses, vehicles, office buildings, factories and markets.

Toll road operators alone suffered a loss of Rp 2 billion after they were forced to open their gates for free during the disaster to allow vehicles trapped along inundated roads to pass. The toll roads turned out to be the only way out for thousands of jammed cars, recalled Frans S. Sunito, director of PT Jasa Marga, the city's main toll road operator.

The World Health Organization said it was the worst flooding here in three centuries and the damage backs up that claim: At least 90,000 houses were partially submerged or washed away and the damage included 75 automotive and electronic factories, 561 textile factories, 2,100 furniture businesses, 40 traditional markets and 16,240 street vendor operations in five areas in Jakarta.

Has anything changed?

But the big question is this: Why was it allowed to happen?

In 2002, amid mass flooding in Jakarta that killed 25 and caused huge economic losses, an even worse calamity five years later was the last thing anyone imagined; after all, when the waters receded, hadn't there been those heartfelt, insistent government pledges to fix the problem? But what happened in 2007 showed they didn't fix the problem; even today officials still haven't implemented a proper system to prevent the city from flooding en masse.

The first five weeks of 2009 saw several areas of Jakarta inundated by floodwaters, leading to severe shortages of clean water.

Through Feb. 5, flooding forced at least 1,923 residents to leave their homes and live in refugee camps, according to public health official Tini Suryati, who works in Kampung Pulo, a camp for people fleeing the floods in South Jakarta.

"Many of them suffered from diarrhea, respiratory problems and skin irritations," Tini said, adding that most of the affected were women and children.

The National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, or BMG, says more floods are expected in the coming weeks – hardly a surprising forecast given Jakarta's annual climatic susceptibility to heavy rains, such as the downpour on Monday.

"Heavy rain will continue until May 1," said Endro Santoso, the agency's head of climate and air quality, who was forced to brief village heads and district chiefs across greater Jakarta on Feb. 1.

As floodwaters were rising in January – in West Jakarta they reached 1.5 meters – national and city government officials gave contradictory explanations as to why, ranging from choked-up canals to clogged underground sewers.

Back in December 2003, the head of the Jakarta Office of Public Works at the time, Ida Gusti Ketut Gede Suena, uttered the remarkable claim that dredging of the city's 13 rivers was 75 percent complete, which would go a long way in preventing future flooding. Suena also said his office had created new garbage dumping sites to prevent people from throwing their waste into the city's rivers, and assigned special officers to clean up the rivers.

But one year later, the story was somewhat different: Jakarta Vice Governor Prijanto said his administration and the central government had only "agreed" to dredge the city's 13 rivers.

Prijanto tried to explain away the failure to dredge the rivers for decades by saying it "needs a lot of money." He explained: "The planned dredging of the 13 rivers will be funded by the World Bank, which will account for $150 million in loans and $10 million in grants."

Promises, promises

More than four years later, the Jakarta administration still has not fulfilled the requirements needed to obtain the money. Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has predicted that the World Bank would release the money this month or in April. But even if the cash arrives today, the dredging would still not be completed until 2012, Prijanto said.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned rivers, as anyone who passes their banks or over their bridges can attest, are still heavily clogged with garbage. Amid the current rainy season, the current head of public works in Jakarta, Budi Widiantoro, said his office had prepared an early warning system, flood control operations and flood monitoring to prevent repeats of the 2002 and 2007 disasters.

"Jakartans do not have to worry. This time, we are well-prepared," he said.

Not surprisingly, their explanations contradict experts who point to the gradual disappearance of water catchment areas in greater Jakarta as the main reason for continual flooding, as more lands are covered with asphalt, revetment and concrete.

Luxurious resorts, shopping malls and housing complexes in the West Java provincial areas of Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi now encircle the capital and provide no empty space for rain to soak into the ground.

The water then accumulates in lower areas like Cipinang, Kramat Jati, and Pasar Minggu and drowns many parts of the capital before it flows into the Java Sea via the heavily-clogged Ciliwung river, said Pitoyo Subandrio, head of the Ciliwung- Cisadane management office in the Public Works Ministry.

The natural lakes of Sunter and Kelapa Gading, and pools in Pantai Indah Kapuk along Jakarta's northern coast, which used to absorb water and rainfall, have disappeared and been replaced by mansions and apartment towers, recreation areas and malls.

A recent study by the Limnology Research Center at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI, showed that out of 218 lakes in Jakarta and its outskirts at the beginning of the 1990s, only a quarter of them remain today.

District administrations and their legislative councils are the most responsible for such changes, Pitoyo said, "because they issue the building licenses, and building license are based on spatial planning."

The city's spatial planning strategy has been altered in order to accommodate business expansion at the cost of green space, said Nanang Roffandi Ahmad, executive director of the Indonesian Forest Concessionaires Association.

It's about money

Nanang said that in stark contrast to the Dutch colonial administration, Indonesian officials had adopted a "revenue-based" administrative strategy, which prioritized raising funds over managing environmental impact.

"This explains why construction continues in North Jakarta, which, based on [government] regulations, should remain as a green area," Nanang said. "An administration would only be considered successful if it were able to generate revenue, and most revenue comes from property tax and investments.

"In revenue-based administrations, every vacant space should be utilized to generate revenue. Empty lands are regarded as unproductive," he said.

Pam E. Minnigh, a Dutch expert on water issues and director of PILI Green Network, said the Dutch colonial administration designed Jakarta's drainage and flood control master plan for 100 years. However, in the years following independence, he said, Indonesian officials reduced it to a much shorter period of time – less than 25 years.

It was aggravated by a lack of coordination and communication among the Jakarta administration, central government institutions and city mayors, and between the city's public works office, PT Jasa Marga and the Directorate of Watery with the Ministry of Public Works.

The loss of vegetation in the upper catchments of the Ciliwung, Cisadane, Kali Sunter and Kali Angke waterways, coupled with the absence of an adequate flood control system such as dikes, water pumps and plungers, means piecemeal attempts to deal with the problem are likely to fail. Add to that mix continued illegal construction on environmentally high-value areas, especially lakes and swamps, and an overall solution is hard to find.

But an intriguing question remains: Why aren't the available canals and dikes enough to prevent flooding?

Kosasih Wirahadi Kusumah, environmental manager of the controversial Pantai Indah Kapuk city complex near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, pointed at the pumps in the canals.

"Actually the pumps are in good shape as they've only recently been purchased. But most of them are not functioning because they don't have enough fuel," he claimed, adding that local highway workers steal the fuel and sell it.

During field surveys to the flood-prone spots around the complex, which is known as PIK and has been blamed for exacerbating flooding on the airport toll road, he said he often found pumps did not have fuel in them.

"PT Jasa Marga always regularly supplies the pump operators with fuel, but the fuel is often unavailable when heavy rains come and canals overflow, which is when the pumps need to work."

Can anything be done?

Some city officials, academics and environmentalists are taking an increasingly fatalistic view of the problem. "It is impossible to make Jakarta totally free from floods," Fauzi said. "All we can do is to minimize the effects and avoid destruction."

Suranto, a mapping consultant at PT Alfa Tersia Konsultan, said, "There's nothing much we can do, unless we can move half of the government service centers to other places" to reduce the population intensity in Jakarta.

Greater Jakarta's most flood-prone areas include Cengkareng, Kali Deres and Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta; Kemang, Pasar Minggu and Tebet in South Jakarta; Menteng and Sawah Besar in Central Jakarta; Kelapa Gading and Penjaringan in North Jakarta; and Kramat Jati in East Jakarta, according to the BMG.

Pitoyo said the most pivotal flood controller was the Ciliwung River, which in the old days served the people's needs – transportation, fishing, washing and crop irrigation. "The only time the river overflowed and caused flooding was after extremely heavy rains," he said.

In the early 1920s, the Dutch colonial government built the West Canal to catch and channel overflowing water into the sea. The Dutch also built a vast tea plantation in the Puncak area of West Java, which was intended to produce tea, as well as catch rainfall and reduce the flow of water into the Ciliwung.

This old system sustained the Ciliwung for decades, but today Puncak is overcrowded with villas and large houses. Cibubur, which is next door to Puncak, hosts a vast housing and business complex, while the hilly Sentul area is filled with new buildings and rows of shops.

These lands can no longer absorb rainfall, which now flows straight into the Ciliwung. "The river, which has become the catchment area of last resort, is no longer able to hold all the incoming water, so it overflows and causes floods," Pitoyo said.

Garbage!

Adding insult to injury, growing local communities along the Ciliwung dump their waste into the river. Around 350,000 people live along the riverside, from Kampung Melayu to Manggarai, according to Pitoyo, and everyday they fling garbage into the river. Around 40 percent of the river's sediment is from rubbish and household waste.

District administrations make flood mitigation more complicated because they don't abide by spatial planning regulations. Housing complexes, shopping malls and factories now stand on former lakebeds.

Natural phenomenons also contribute to flooding, including the fact that the capital is sinking. Fauzi says Jakarta has sunk by around 40 centimeters in the past 18 years, while unofficial sources estimate it's now sinking between 4 and 10 centimeters a year.

Making matters worse, the city-owned drinking water company, Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum, is unable to provide water for Jakarta's big buildings, leaving them no other option than to extract their own from underground, causing the land around them to gradually sink.

Pitoyo said work continued to expand the West Canal to handle more floodwater. "We are in the final stages of construction. It should be ready by the end of this year," he said.

The West Canal stretches 17 kilometers from Manggarai in South Jakarta to Pantai Indah Kapuk in North Jakarta.

Plans to build the East Canal were first drafted in 1973 and there have been intermittent expansions during the years since due to budget constraints. A new planned phase cuts through the greater Jakarta rivers of Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Jatikramat, Cakung and Blencong. It will also cross 11 villages in East Jakarta and two villages in North Jakarta.

When completed, the East Canal will be able to channel water from all six rivers, Pitoyo said. Fauzi said he was confident that with the completion of the East Canal in 2012, Jakarta's flooding problem will be reduced by 40 percent.

"And if we can be 100 percent consistent in implementing the flood prevention master plan, by 2018 flooding in Jakarta will have been reduced by 75 percent," Fauzi told reporters in Jakarta on Feb. 12.

However, the Jakarta administration has acquired only 30 percent of the land for the East Canal, which presents another problem.

East Jakarta Mayor Koesnan Abdul Halim acknowledged that ongoing disputes between the government and local landowners on selling prices is hampering the project. "I now have 90 land certificates on my desk whose owners are waiting for payment, but we don't have the money," Koesnan said.

Why has the capital's airport road sunk by two meters since 1980?

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

On a gloomy Thursday in February last year, thousands of passengers who landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport found themselves stranded at the arrival terminals.

While they likely didn't consider themselves lucky at the time, they certainly were, because they at least were nearly where they wanted to be; thousands of potential travelers trying to head out of Jakarta could not get to the airport to catch their flights as the Sedyatmo Toll Road was under a meter of water.

Many expressed disbelief that a dedicated airport highway could be put out of commission by rain. Little did they know that the airport itself struggled to remain operational as its runways were flooded by 30 centimeters of water.

Airport, toll road and airline officials, as well as passengers, said they suffered losses ranging in the billions of rupiah. During the ordeal, one businessman failed to secure a Rp 1.2 billion ($101,000) deal because he couldn't fly to Batam Island to sign a contract.

TV news reports showed passengers venting about Jakarta's disastrous infrastructure problems. Attempts by Frans Sunito, president director of PT Jasa Marga, the state-owned toll road operator, to explain away the flooding only raised more questions.

"The Sedyatmo Toll Road is now two meters lower than its original position, so rainwater easily fills up and stagnates on it," Franz said at the time.

And why is the city's most vital toll road, constructed in 1980, two meters lower today? Apparently, the land on which it was built is sinking, which, combined with poor drainage in areas around the highway, including neglected canals and sewers that are now clogged, causes flooding.

Frans pointed the finger at big factories near the toll road, saying they extract excessive amounts of groundwater for their operations, which caused the land to sink. "That's why a policy is needed to limit water extraction," he said.

The toll road is equipped with large pumps to remove water, but the outside drainage system is not good enough to push it onward, so the water flows back onto the toll road, Frans said.

The blame doesn't stop there. Some environmentalists say the luxurious waterfront Pantai Indah Kapuk housing complex and business area near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which opened in 1984, is also a main source of flooding on the toll road.

The 831-hectare enclave, known as PIK, used to be a mangrove swamp that functioned as a buffer zone for incoming sea tides and a vital water catchment area in North Jakarta. The construction project faced widespread opposition from Kapuk residents, environmental organizations and even the Jakarta administration.

The Indonesian Forum for Environment, or Walhi, and former Environmental Minister Emil Salim were among those in the forefront of opposing the project.

"The conversion of the swamp area caused 6.6 million cubic meters of water to lose its 'parking place,'" said Slamet Daryoni, director of Walhi's Jakarta office.

Among their main concerns at the time was that the project developers raised the land surface of the area by three meters, turning it into a gigantic dam that blocks flowing rainwater from reaching the Java Sea. The developers also built dikes along the coast to protect the complex from high tides, further complicating problems.

The Sedyatmo Toll Road was never hit by floods before Pantai Indah Kapuk was built, but now it's the first to be inundated during heavy rains, says Adie Maulana, a Kapuk resident.

However, Kosasih Wirahadi Kusumah, environmental manager of PIK, said the accusations were baseless.

"The airport toll road is subject to flooding because it has inappropriate drainage," he said. "The long water ditches along the left and right sides of the toll road are only two meters wide. So they cannot keep the water from overflowing. But the toll road's water ditches in the PIK area are 75 meters wide."

When showed a map of the 2004 Jakarta Spatial Plan issued by the Jakarta administration, Kosasih denied allegations that the construction of PIK did not comply with the plan.

"If it didn't, then it never would have gotten a construction license," he said, adding that the PIK area used to be shrimp ponds belonging to fishermen, not mangrove swamp. "So it is nonporous land. If it was [porous], then people would not be able to keep water in the ponds."

He also refuted claims that PIK developers had raised the land surface in the area.

"How much cost do you think is needed to raise the land surface of 831 hectares? That would be a crazy idea for business," Kosasih said. "The truth is we raised the dikes along the Cengkareng Drain that cut through PIK by three meters to prevent flooding."

Various media reports over the years have linked businesswoman Siti Hadiyanti 'Tutut' Rukmana, the daughter of the late President Suharto, and some of his other business friends to the construction of PIK. Former officials and environmentalists say this connection enabled the controversial project to proceed.

"PIK is an example of Suharto's 'KKN' policy," Daryoni said, referring to the Indonesian acronym for corruption, collusion and nepotism.

The completion of the first phase of the PIK project paved the way for other construction of commercial buildings in North Jakarta despite warnings from environmental groups.

"Both Jakarta provincial and central government officials are aware that some areas of North Jakarta should be free from commercial construction" under the city spatial plan, said Marwan Batubara, a legislator in the Regional Representatives Council. "The Jakarta master plan and regulations clearly say that. But you see, construction continues until today.

"We still see unscrupulous alliances between corrupt officials and greedy businessmen. Don't talk about a comprehensive solution to flooding as long as we see this," he said, though he refused to elaborate.

Sometime this year, construction is expected to begin in North Jakarta on the Bukit Golf Mediterania, a Rp 2 trillion development located within the PIK area. The project includes thousands of luxury houses, office space, retail outlets, hotels, a golf course and the largest water park in Asia, said Firman Todi Sarlito, project officer for the development.

For his part, Frans asserts that Jasa Marga is working hard to prevent the toll road from being shut down again by rainwater, noting that a recently completed road works project had raised the highway by two meters.

But with construction intensifying in North Jakarta, even a higher-elevated highway may not be enough.

Lapindo dams may collapse any time, agency warns

Jakarta Post - March 11, 2009

Jakarta – The Sidoarjo Mud Mitigation Agency warned Tuesday that levees built to contain the massive mudflow pond in Sidoarjo, East Java, may collapse at any time after part of the inner circle dam gave way last week.

Agency spokesman Ahmad Zulkarnain said the Bakrie family- controlled PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, which was responsible for the dams, had not yet rebuilt the collapsed levee.

"It has been nine days, but Minarak has stopped supplying material," Ahmad said to tempointeraktif.com.

The news portal reported that mud had overflowed eastward and had completely filled the Glagaharum area.

With no more space in the pond, the mud moved westward and destroyed another dam.

"We cannot do anything. The inner circle dams are Minarak's responsibility," Ahmad said.

The mudflow disaster, which engulfed four villages and hundreds of hectares of farmland, displaced around 13,000 families from their homes.

It was fed by hot mud that began spewing from Lapindo's gas exploration site in May, 2006.

Women & gender

Shariah bylaws threaten gender equality: Scholar

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Ismira Lutfia – A scholar on Tuesday called on Islamic leaders, Muslim organizations, students and scholars to take responsibility for their part in supporting a spate of patriarchal laws that erode gender equality in Indonesia, a scholar said on Tuesday.

Syafi'i Anwar, who heads the International Center for Islam and Pluralism, addressed the implementation of Shariah-inspired bylaws by local administrations in Indonesian provinces and districts.

He told the opening of a two-day conference on gender equality and women's empowerment in Muslim societies that such bylaws reinforce outmoded values that placed women in a subordinate position and consigned them largely to domestic roles.

"This tendency to implement Shariah-based bylaws is often directly or indirectly supported by government policies formulated for pragmatic political reasons," Syafi'i said.

He added that regional government leaders tend to depend on moral arguments when imposing such laws and cite a failure of secular laws to address "moral decay."

He said 65 cities or regions in Indonesia have implemented some sort of Shariah-based bylaw, including ones that required Muslim women to wear veils or imposed curfews.

Examples of such rules include a regulation on prostitution issued by the government of Jakarta satellite city Tangerang in 2005. The bylaw banned women from being seen in public places after midnight and called for police to consider those who break the curfew to be prostitutes.

Though some of these bylaws have criminalized women, poor people or minority groups, some districts claim that crime rates in their areas have dropped significantly since the bylaws came into effect, Syafi'i said.

However, he said that implementation of similar bylaws is on the decline. "It seems that the Indonesian people, who are generally moderate in their religious practices, cannot accept such strict and exclusive regulations," Syafi'i said.

He said a 2008 global public opinion poll indicated large majorities in Muslim or Muslim-majority countries expressed desire for more gender equality, including 91 percent of the Indonesian population.

The head of the East and Southeast Asia regions of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, or Unifem, Jean D'Cunha, said during her opening remarks that about half a billion women are currently living in 45 countries with a Muslim-majority population and in about 30 more countries in which Muslims compose a significant minority of the population.

She said that pervasive stereotyping of Muslim men and women in those countries inappropriately imposed social, economic, cultural and political differences between Muslim men and women.

"We must reject this stereotype," D'Cunha said, adding that the religious foundations of Islam promoted equality and justice between men and women.

The UN Representative to Indonesia, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, said that Islam strongly influenced various aspects of life in many countries, including the way men and women interacted with each other.

"The general perception is that Muslim women are denied of a number of basic rights," Benlamlih said, adding that despite progress in Muslim countries toward equality, there was still room for improvement.

Arguing that Muslim women should not be granted their human rights was to wrongly argue that under Islam women were less than equal to men, Benlamlih said.

"We have to ensure that the voice of women's rights and gender equality advocates are not silenced," Benlamlih said.

Representation, poverty, violence protested

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2009 (abridged)

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Women across the world rallied for equal rights, protection against domestic violence and for greater awareness of growing poverty as they marked International Women's Day on Sunday.

Thousands of women staged rallies in Jakarta and other cities across the country such as Surabaya, Denpasar, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Makassar, and Manado, mainly calling for female legislative candidates to be given a fair chance in the upcoming elections.

Advocates for the occasion marched from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the Constitutional Court before winding up at the Presidential Palace.

They protested a recent ruling by the court which activists view as a blow to equal opportunities for women in parliament.

They demanded the government, the House of Representatives and the General Elections Commission issue regulations supporting a 30 percent participation rate for women in parliament.

"International Women's Day is very important as Indonesian women are facing a huge challenge ahead of us with the elections approaching soon," Masruchah, the secretary general of the Indonesian's Women Coalition for Equality and Justice, said.

Without support and determination, many women's activists believe the current 11 percent of seats of female members of the House would be unlikely to increase.

Women being beaten in record numbers, report states

Jakarta Globe - March 9, 2009

Ismira Lutfia – Indonesian woman are coming forward with allegations of domestic and economic violence and sexual harassment in record numbers, the National Commission on Violence Against Women said during the weekend.

The commission, or Komnas Perempuan, recorded 54,425 cases of such incidents against women in 2008, a 113 percent increase on 2007's figure of 25,522 cases.

Some 90 percent of the cases against women involved domestic violence and 52 percent of the total number of cases were considered "economic violence" – a category which included women being left economically vulnerable, financially neglected by their husbands or having their own economic opportunities stifled.

The victims were mainly girlfriends, wives or female domestic workers, with the bulk of the incidents occurring on Java Island, the commission said in its 2008 year-end review.

Also of concern were new figures that showed 784 of the total number of cases involved perpetrators from the Indonesian Armed Forces, or TNI, National Police officers, heads of districts, government officials, educators and even legislators.

The commission's review states that a legislator from the Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, initialled MM, who sexually harassed his secretary, initialled DF, as "the most sensational case in 2008."

On Aug. 24, the Honorary Council of the House of Representatives expelled PDI-P legislator Max Moein for sexually harassing his secretary, Desy Vidyawati.

The review said the victim had been harassed since 2005, which showed that sexual harassment could occur anywhere, including government institutions, and by anybody, including government officials.

"This breaks the myth that sexual violence is only carried out by less-educated people," the report states, adding that such cases often occurred when the perpetrators held more powerful positions than the victims.

The commission called on the government to improve its monitoring of public officials and educators' conduct toward their female subordinates, who were at risk of violence and sexual harassment.

"Starting with this year's report, we specifically included public officials as their own category among perpetrators," Azriana, the commission's recovery system development head, said, adding that this move was to enhance public awareness of the issue as the nation prepares to head into national elections.

Arimbi Heroepoetri, the commission's monitoring head, said the leap in recorded cases for 2008 was in part due to better access to information. "We had easier access to data from the courts, so there could have been more cases recorded because of that," Arimbi said, adding that the majority of the incidents recorded, 35,398 cases, were in Java.

Health & education

15,000 Indonesians die annually of drugs: Minister

Jakarta Post - March 15, 2009

Jakarta – Education and Sport Minister Adhyaksa Dault revealed Saturday evening that 15,000 Indonesians die of drug-related illnesses each year.

"That's not even accounting the growth of HIV/AIDS patients; a social tsunami in and of itself, since what we know is only the tip of the iceberg," Dault said, as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

He argued that the increasing number of drug abuse and people infected with HIV/AIDS were major issues facing all societal elements.

A concerted effort to quell the two problems is needed, Dault said, adding that cigarette smoking was one of the avenues that eventually lead to drug abuse. "School children are at the greatest risk, so self-preservation and surveillance by parents and family members is needed," he argued.

According to Southeast Sulawesi governor HB Paliudju, 71 HIV/AIDS cases were reported in Southeast Sulawesi in 2008. Most of those who suffered full blown AIDS were dead, he said.

"The number of HIV/AIDS cases in this region continues to increase from year to year, so all members of society need to work hand in hand with the regional administration in alleviating the problem," Paliudju said. (amr)

Corruption & graft

First KPK witness gunned down

Jakarta Globe - March 15, 2009

Arientha Primanita – A director of a state-owned company died in a hospital on Sunday after being gunned down the previous day in a well-executed, mafia-style hit in Tangerang, Banten Province.

The dead man, Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, 41, president director of PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran, or PRB, had appeared as a witness during an ongoing court case involving Ranendra Dangin, the former finance director of state-owned PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia, or RNI, which is the holding company of PRB. Ranendra has been detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, for corruption allegedly involving Rp 4.5 billion ($376,000).

KPK Deputy Chairman Haryono Umar told the Jakarta Globe he could not comment on the possibility that Nasrudin was executed because of his status, saying it was still too early to reach any conclusions, other than that it was the first recorded slaying of a KPK witness.

He said that Nasrudin had answered a summons to appear as a witness, but that he had not requested to be placed under the witness protection program.

Tangerang Police chief Sr. Cmr. Hamidin on Sunday confirmed that Nasrudin had been shot in the head through the window of his BMW vehicle by two men riding a Yamaha Scorpio motorcycle on Saturday afternoon. The father of two died in Gatot Subroto Hospital in Jakarta on Sunday afternoon.

Hamidin said the victim had played two holes of golf at the upscale Padang Golf Modernland (Modernland Golf Course) in Tangerang on Saturday afternoon, when he received a phone call. He then called his driver to tell him that he had to return to his office in Kuningan, South Jakarta, and told him where to meet him.

Just after he left the main gate, the men on the motorcycle, both wearing brown jackets and helmets, pulled alongside the BMW, Hamidin said. "The suspects pulled up to the left side of the car where Nasrudin sat on the left side in the back seat," Hamidin said. "One of the suspects fired two shots, which hit Nasrudin's left temple and his head." Hamidin said the gunmen then drove off toward Serang and escaped.

Budi Perbawa Aji, a spokesman for RNI, said Nasrudin was pronounced dead at 12:05 p.m. He is survived by his wife, Arinda, and two young children aged about 4 years old and 8 years old. "His body will be buried in Makassar, South Sulawesi, as it was his hometown," Budi said, without giving any more details.

RNI is a government-owned investment holding company primarily involved in agro business, the pharmaceutical industry and the supply of medical equipment.

Budi said that Nasrudin had been the director of PRB, a state- owned retail pharmacy company and micro-subsidiary of RNI, for six months. "He is known [for being] a nice person with a large number of friends," Budi said. "He used to associate with high- level officials."

Sources told the Jakarta Globe that Nasrudin was appointed president director of PRB for political reasons. He had not had a career at PRB prior to his appointment and did not have a pharmaceutical background. The same source first told the Globe that Nasrudin was a witness in the case against Ranendra Dangin.

The KPK detained Ranendra in January for alleged corruption involving the importation of sugar between 2001 to 2004. Both Budi and Hamidin refused to comment on the possibility that Nasrudin was murdered by hit men due to his status as a witness in the case.

The arrested, the indicted, the convicted

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2009

Nivell Rayda – On the surface, the halls of the great imposing compound are lavish and dignified, with imported marble walls and expensive leather sofas. Scratch the surface, however, and the place is tainted by extortion, bribery, shady deals and few outward signs of remorse. Welcome to the House of Representatives.

The House is repeatedly listed as among the most graft-ridden institutions in the country by the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, and independent anti-graft watchdogs Transparency International and Indonesia Corruption Watch.

The statistics speak for themselves: Six former or current lawmakers have been convicted by the Anti-Corruption Court in the past year, two are currently on trial and entire House commissions have been implicated in graft.

The court trials have given the public a glimpse into the depth of corruption in the House, seemingly showing that no political parties that hold seats are clean. The latest corruption case involving a lawmaker came only last week, when KPK officers arrested Abdul Hadi Djamal, a legislator from the National Mandate Party, or PAN. He allegedly received more than $90,000 in bribe money in relation to state airport and seaport projects in the eastern part of the country.

Lawmaker Sarjan Taher, sentenced in January to 4 years in prison for accepting Rp 5 billion ($420,000) in bribes from officials in South Sumatra Province in return for issuing a forest conversion permit, told the Anti-Corruption Court at his trial that graft is so common in the House it is almost mandatory.

"In the House, it is common to accept money from someone in exchange for a favor," said Sarjan, a member of the Democratic Party. "My integrity faltered in the face of such rampant practices. If I didn't take the money, my friends [in the House] would question why, accusing me of [secretly] taking all the money for myself." Sarjan admitted to distributing between Rp 20 million and Rp 500 million to all 21 members of House Commission IV, which oversees forestry issues, while he kept Rp 350 million for himself.

Despite the pressing national issues being discussed in the House, such as the budgets of ministries, strategic planning and state projects, lawmakers still find time to interfere with government tenders by supporting certain companies to win bids in exchange for kickbacks.

During the ongoing trial of a Reform Star Party, or PBR, lawmaker, Bulyan Royan, the court revealed that as soon as the Ministry of Transportation announced a plan to purchase 20 patrol boats, 13 lawmakers immediately sent the ministry letters of support for certain companies. This was even before the House had approved the budget and the official tender was announced.

Bulyan allegedly received Rp 3.4 billion in kickbacks from five companies that later shared the lucrative tender.

Influential House members apparently set prices for everything including passing a bill or a favorable amendment, the approval of a government budget and confirming important government positions, according to the KPK and court testimonies.

Lawmaker Agus Condro from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, told the KPK that he and 41 lawmakers received at least Rp 500 million to vote for senior economist Miranda Goeltom in her bid to become central bank deputy governor in 2004.

If proven true, the case is a reflection of the blatant misuse of power by legislators. The ICW said the House is more powerful now than it was during the Suharto era and should be stripped of some of its powers.

"The House should only be allowed to inspect a ministry's budget in a general sense," said Adnan Topan Husodo, a political analyst for the watchdog. "Right now, they are able to inspect all the way through each program's budget. Lawmakers use this power to target government projects or extort companies for kickbacks by threatening to revoke the project's budget."

With so many lawmakers arrested or under suspicion, the ICW said there have been several attempts to curb the KPK's powers, including an attempt to reduce its budget and stalling the passage of a bill establishing a permanent anti-corruption court, which would handle all of the KPK's legal cases.

In January, the House rejected the KPK's plan to build its own detention facility and recruit more staff. Currently, the KPK holds all of its suspects in police detention facilities, which has enabled suspects to pay for more comfortable treatment.

With only around 300 investigators and prosecutors, the KPK has problems investigating the more than 2,000 public complaints lodged with the commission every year, particularly those outside Jakarta. The KPK's budget of Rp 188 billion was finally approved by the Ministry of Finance but, ironically and embarrassingly, without the House's approval.

In 2007, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Anti-Corruption Court was unconstitutional and ordered the House to pass a new law to make the court permanent by Dec. 19, 2009. Otherwise, the court would have to disband. "With so many of their friends [at the House] arrested for graft, lawmakers have a vested interest in seeing the Anti-Corruption Court terminated," Adnan said.

Last month, all 38 political parties contesting the April 9 legislative elections signed a declaration at the KPK headquarters pledging to put corruption eradication at the top of their political agenda.

"If they are really committed to fighting corruption, they should expedite the deliberation process and pass the bill before their term ends," Adnan said.

Noor Adenan Razak - National Mandate Party, or PAN

Sentenced to three years in prison on May 8, 2008, for accepting more than Rp 1.5 billion ($124,500) in bribe money from two officials at the Nuclear Energy Supervisory Agency. The court found that in return for the money, Noor Adenan approved the agency's request for an additional Rp 35 billion for its 2004 budget.

Saleh Djasit - Golkar Party

Sentenced on Aug. 28, 2008, to four years in prison for appointing PT Istana Sarana Raya to provide Riau Province with 20 fire engines, worth more than Rp 20 billion, without a tender process in 2003. Saleh was Riau's governor at the time.

Al-Amin Nasution - United Development Party, or PPP

Sentenced on Jan. 5, 2009, to eight years jail for two separate cases. He took Rp 2.2 billion in bribes to issue a forest conversion permit in Bintan district, Riau Islands Province, in 2008, and was convicted of extorting two winners of a Ministry of Forestry tender to provide forest surveying equipment in 2008. He got another Rp 1.8 billion in the extortion.

Hamka Yandhu & Anthony Zeidra Abidin - Golkar Party

Sentenced on Jan. 7, 2009, to 3 years and 4-and-a-half-years in prison respectively. They got Rp 31.5 billion in bribes from Bank Indonesia in 2003 and distributed the money to all 52 members of House Commission XI for an amendment to the central bank law and endorsement in a dispute between the bank and the Ministry of Finance over state bailout funds.

Bulyan Royan - Reform Star Party, or PBR

Arrested on July 1, 2008, Bulyan is now on trial for allegedly receiving more than Rp 3.3 billion from five companies in return for naming them winners in a Ministry of Transportation tender to provide 20 patrol boats in 2008.

Sarjan Taher - Democratic Party

Sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on Jan. 28, 2009, for accepting Rp 5 billion in 2006-07. The money was later channeled to all 21 members of House Commission IV, overseeing forestry, to expedite the conversion of a protected forest in South Sumatra Province into the Tanjung Api-Api seaport.

Yusuf Erwin Faishal - National Awakening Party, or PKB

Arrested on July 16, 2008. Now on trial for allegedly cooperating with Sarjan Taher in distributing the Rp 5 billion to other lawmakers. Also charged with taking Rp 125 million and 220,000 Singapore dollars from two business-men for naming their firm, PT Masaro Radiokom, provider of a radio system for the Ministry of Forestry without tender in 2007.

Abdul Hadi Djamal - PAN

Arrested on March 2, 2009, for allegedly receiving $90,000 and Rp 54 million from a businessman in connection with the Transportation Ministry's plan to build several seaports and airports in the eastern part of the country. Abdul Hadi is still under investigation by the Corruption Eradication Commission.

Agus Condro - Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P

On Aug. 7, 2008, admitted to Corruption Eradication Commission that he and 40 other lawmakers of House Commission XI received between Rp 300 million and Rp 1 billion in relation to economist Miranda Goeltom's appointment as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor in 2004. KPK is still investigating; no other suspect has been named.

Islam/religion

West Lombok forbids Ahmadiyah refugees return home

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2009

Jakarta – West Lombok regency has decided forbid members of the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect, who have been living in uncertainty at a refugee center in West Nusa Tenggara for three years, to return to their home citing security reason.

Basirun Anwat, spokesman of the regency, told tempointeraktif.com Saturday that the decision was made during a meeting attended the regency secretary, local leaders forum and the sect members on Thursday. "To ensure security, they are not allowed to go home," he said.

Basirun also said that Ahmadiyah members were still allowed to work on their home farm and that the regency were going to discuss buying their land so they can move elsewhere.

Last month, 68 Ahmadiyah members of 17 families decided to risk going from the Transito building in Mataram back to their homes in Ketapang hamlet, Gegerung village, Lingsar district, West Lombok regency, on March 14.

At least 160 Ahmadiyah members from 33 families were driven from their homes after hard-line Muslims attacked them and destroyed their homes and belongings in early February 2006.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) previously issued an edict calling the Ahmadiyah heretical. The edict was seized upon by other hard-line Muslims to attack the sect's followers elsewhere, including in West Java. (dre)

Elections/political parties

Candidates struggle to meet hidden costs

Jakarta Post - March 15, 2009

Mariani Dewi, Jakarta – Twenty-five days before the legislative election takes place, the candidates have been doing everything possible to win over voters.

But with more than 500,000 candidates competing for 560 seats in the House of Representatives (DPR), 132 seats on the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and more than 16,000 seats at the provincial, regency and municipal level, the battle is hard and can be very expensive.

In Riau, a candidate was recently caught selling ecstasy. Another, in Bali, was involved in illegal logging. In Banten, one wannabe stole palm fruit, while a desperate candidate in Jakarta was caught red-handed stealing a motorcycle. All sung in chorus that they did it to fund their campaigning.

Effendi Gazali, a political communications expert, said such a level of competition has never been seen before and that money politics were rampant.

"The competition is already at abnormal level. If one candidate comes with money, our public will expect other candidates to give money too. So there is a system that are done by a small group of people which make others have to follow the same platform – that is the platform of distributing money.

"Of course it is effective to talk and listen to the people, but the candidates need more time, better equipment and good communication skills. So some just distribute money," Effendi said.

Eva Sundari, a legislator who is running for a second term, feels it. "This is the bloodiest election I've ever seen. I think I won't join the next election if this is the way. It is so different now," she said on the road for her campaign.

Campaigning from dawn to dusk to visit five places a day is no longer enough to win over the masses.

"In 2004, people were happy enough when I visited and listen to them. Now they always ask for money or gifts. I have made it clear that I will not give any money but the pressure forces me to give some communal gifts like chairs and plaited mats for the village office," she said.

"But the hard part is not the physical but financial. My savings are almost gone now – considering I have planned my expenses and paced my campaign," she said.

She has allocated Rp 500 million (US$42,000) for her campaign and has used them up three weeks before voting day.

"I have to slow the expenses down. I do not want to be out of steam at the last minute. But it certainly will be over the budget and dig deep into my pocket. Another candidate I know has spent the terrifying amount of Rp 1 billion," she said.

The unexpected expenses, on top of the communal gifts, have come in the form of big posters and t-shirts.

"I only printed 200 posters. Actually I printed much less because I knew banners were not efficient and I wanted to reach the voters personally. But apparently when I came to my constituent and my supporters demanded my poster to match other candidates. They said it was necessary to help them campaign for me," she said.

"Giving t-shirts is apparently another unexpected crucial weapon. So many other parties are handing out t-shirts that even my supporters feel that it was a must for me to give them too," she said.

She said the new system has made the competition harder. "Now everyone goes campaigning. In the past only people at the top of the list did so. Some take the easy way out by handing out money but it has changed people's mentality. Now all they expect is money," she said.

Most candidates have to cover these costs themselves. "We do not depend on posters and banners because they are expensive and do not have a huge impact because people are sick of them. They would prefer the candidates to come directly to them and we have a lot of cadets who have access to local leaders so we do not have to use money," The Prosperous Justice Party's head of general elections Muhammad Razikun said.

"The funding for the candidates comes from themselves and their supporters and party. But the largest amount comes from the supporters," Razikun said.

Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Soetrisno Bachir said the party was better prepared as they have used a voting system since 2006 so they do not have many internal conflicts and had come out with tactics.

"Everyday they should sleep over at local houses, not their own houses. They must go around. The party (PAN) helps with advertising and attributes," he said.

Overall, parties, big and small, have a long list of candidates for each constituency, something Effendi cited as another source of unnecessary competition.

"Realistically they [the party] may not even gain more than two seats but they have a long list of candidates. They can be vote gatherers but it has made the competition so fierce, not only between different parties but also within parties," Effendi said.

He suggested that a higher minimum electoral or parliamentary threshold for political parties to participate in elections is needed.

"People can setup their own parties but when it comes to election time, the entry threshold should be high so we can reduce unnecessary competition among the candidates and sort out unqualified candidates," he said.

"There should also be strict oversight of the source and use of campaign funds. If a party breaks the regulations, they should be barred from election. Now it is not even possible because we have so many parties and we do not have the system. It should be a long national discussion," he said.

Handouts kick off Indonesian election campaign

Sydney Morning Herald - March 14, 2009

Tom Allard, Jakarta – For many Indonesian villagers, the first signs that an election is around the corner are the posters, colourful flags and bunting affixed to every structure in their neighbourhood.

The second is a visit from a party official offering money, food and other benefits in exchange for their votes.

For the family of Sumarna and Hani, a young couple from Cikalong Kulon village in West Java, it was an offer of free health insurance that swayed them to sign up for Gerindra, the party of former Soeharto-era general Prabowo Subianto.

"So I gave them a copy of my identity card and now I'm a member. That's it," Sumarna said. Gerindra signed up 15 members of the family in all, giving them a T-shirt and 5000 rupiah (65 cents) as well for their support.

It's a strategy that explains how Mr Prabowo's fledgling party has managed to recruit 11 million members in just a year. But it also points to a wider phenomena in Indonesia: money politics that extends from small handouts to poor villagers to a slew of bribery and corruption scandals that have hit the national legislature.

In nearby Cisarandi village, it's the PKS, the Islamic party that prides itself on its anti-corruption credentials, that has been handing out the goodies. In this case, bags of rice and sugar have been handed out at one quarter the cost an Indonesian would pay at the market.

Suhendi, a social worker who regularly visits the village, says that, as the election date draws nearer, the gifts and disbursements will become more frequent and larger. "It is a form of compensation for the people from political parties who always abandon them after being elected," Suhendi said.

From Monday, the election campaign formally begins for Indonesia's house of representatives before polling day on April 9. It is a huge exercise in democracy, Indonesia-style. More than 170 million voters will choose from almost 12,000 candidates from 38 political parties contesting 560 seats.

The house of representatives, or Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, is an important law-making body but the election results will also have a critical bearing on an even bigger race to be held later in the year, the presidency.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat is polling best with about 25 per cent support. Next is the Democratic Party of Struggle or PDI-P, the party of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the former president famous for not returning John Howard's calls.

Golkar, Soeharto's political vehicle and the party of vice- president Jusuf Kalla, is trailing in third.

Even so, as much as a quarter of Indonesia's voters are undecided, which is why the campaign – and the doling out of largesse by parties – is so important. What concerns anti- corruption advocates is that the parliament, at the apex of Indonesia's money politics, will remain populated by members angling for their personal interests rather than that of the public they serve.

"It's very costly to get into the DPR. People tend to invest a lot of money of their own, or they have a lot of money invested in them by donors," said Frenky Simanjuntak, manager of policy and research at Transparency International. "When they are in parliament, they have the need to recoup or pay back that investment."

Kevin O'Rourke, a political analyst in Jakarta and author of the Reformasi newsletter, sees the money politics in Indonesia as one aspect of the "patronage legacy" from the long dictatorship of Soeharto that ended barely a decade ago. Still, he said Indonesia is improving.

A change to the electoral law means that voters can now choose individuals rather than just a pre-determined list of party candidates. That means politicians in the new legislature should be more accountable to voters, O'Rourke argued.

Kacung Maridjan, a political analyst at the Airlangga University, sees it differently. He told the Jakarta Post that the new system means that aspiring politicians are turning their attention away from bribing party bosses to now directly "buy" as many votes as possible from constituents.

In the current parliament, nine DPR members have been arrested for corruption. The latest, earlier this month, was Abdul Hadi Jamal, who was caught accepting $140,000 in exchange for his support in awarding construction projects to a businessman. He confessed it's not the first time he has taken a large bribe.

Adnan Topan Husodo from Indonesian Corruption Watch, a non- government group, said the nine arrests are just the "tip of the iceberg". He points to the case where the former central bank governor and other officials were sentenced to prison terms for bribing 52 DPR members.

Yet only two of the DPR members who took the bribes have been arrested. Among those implicated but have not been sanctioned are two members of President Yudhoyono's cabinet. (With Karuni Rompies)

SBY's party to seek stronger coalition

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2009

Jakarta – The Democratic Party remains seemingly unperturbed about a possible coalition between the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party.

"We are optimistic and will approach other parties to form a new coalition, which will be bigger and stronger than the possible PDI-P-Golkar coalition," Democratic Party deputy chairman Anas Urbaningrum said Friday.

He added his party would continue to "coalesce" with other parties currently backing the current administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "We hope Golkar is still in the coalition with us," Anas added.

On Thursday, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri held a rare talk with Vice President and Golkar chairman Jusuf Kalla over lunch to explore the possibility of forming a coalition between the country's two largest parties, in an opening salvo aimed at denting Yudhoyono's bid for a second term in office. Anas dismissed the Megawati-Kalla talks as a "normal" meeting, reiterating his party had no cause for concern.

The meeting came at a time when the latest opinion polls showed the PDI-P and Golkar slipping in popularity against the Democratic Party.

Political analysts say the Democratic Party should court prominent mid-sized parties to counter the possible PDI-P-Golkar alliance.

"A coalition between Golkar and the PDI-P would spell serious danger for the Democratic Party, especially if those parties can attract Islamic-based parties," said Paramadina University political expert Bima Arya Sugianto.

He added Islamic parties such as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and the United Development Party (PPP) boasted significant voter bases, with the PKS, for instance, renowned for its loyal and militant supporters.

"The Democratic party should be more active in approaching Islamic parties, otherwise it risks losing the elections," he said.

The meeting between Megawati and Kalla resulted in the signing of a five-point agreement on shared goals that called for, among other things, the building of a strong government and presidency with strong backing from the parliament.

Both Megawati and Kalla hinted the meeting could pave the way for a formal coalition that would lead to the formation of a strong government after the April 9 legislative elections. However, the two party leaders admitted the meeting did not touch on the delicate issue of whether they would pair up for the July presidential election.

But Bima was doubtful the meeting would end with the establishment of a strong coalition. "I think the meeting was only a political entertainment event for the public. We can't expect too much from it."

The University of Indonesia's Boni Hargens agreed, saying Kalla had staged the meeting as part of his strategy to cow the Democratic Party. "The meeting will also intimidate some mid-sized parties that plan to join a coalition with the Democratic Party for the presidential poll," he said, adding most parties tended to join strong and promising coalitions. (naf)

Campaign methods fool voters: Experts

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2009

Jakarta – Election hopefuls are pulling the wool over the public's eyes with their outdated campaign methods, a communications expert said Friday.

"The blatant campaign methods using large banners laden with symbols treats the would-be voters as if they are passive consumers willing to buy any candidate displayed in election shop windows," Sahid University director M. Yuwana Mardjuka told The Jakarta Post during a national symposium on communication sciences.

Flashy campaign banners and posters bearing candidates' pictures have mushroomed across the country as the legislative and presidential polls draw near, with the campaign period kicking off next Monday.

More than 12,000 candidates from 38 parties are vying for 550 seats at the House of Representatives.

Yuwana said candidates were underestimating and undermining voters' ability to be critical. "Voters are in fact very critical. They see politicians using money in their game, so they expect to earn money by joining that game. In fact, the would-be voters use the campaign communications processes as bargaining grounds for this," he said.

He added candidates should use fewer symbols and promote more their individual achievements if they wished to smarten up their campaign methods. "Most of the campaigners overshadow themselves with party symbols or famous faces such as that of [founding president] Sukarno or religious figures."

Yuwana dubbed those campaign strategies instant communication methods, designed to achieve nothing more than win the elections.

University of Indonesia (UI) communication sciences lecturer Billy Sarwono said political parties and candidates failed in getting their messages across to the public.

"Research by UI shows most people, especially lower-income ones, merely acknowledge the candidates' faces and slogans, but are unaware of the their ideologies," she said. She added the passive culture of listening and not voicing thoughts articulately still prevailed here.

"We are taught merely to listen, not to read or voice our opinions," she said, adding that good political communications remained far removed from local cultures.

"The teaching of political communication using methods such as debates is still not a priority." Billy added the political elite and leaders also lacked communication skills. Even our leaders often communicate poorly among themselves, leaving us confused," she said.

Yuwana said many politicians still applied outdated communications methods commonly used in the period when freedom of expression was curtailed. (dis)

Students apathetic to politics

Jakarta Globe - March 15, 2009

Bandung – University students are often regarded as future leaders but they are jaded in the face of the political climate in the lead-up to next month's legislative elections, an election observer said over the weekend.

"University students seem to have no spirit this year, whereas many of them were very active and critical in the lead-up to the 2004 legislative general elections," national political analyst Arya Bima told a seminar on political education at the Bandung Institute of Technology, or ITB.

Arya Bima said at the seminar, themed "Indonesia in the Future," that he was critical of the silent attitude of university students who he said should be active future assets of the nation.

The lack of student participation in politics could be caused by two things, Arya said. First, he said, students these days are hedonistic and pragmatic individuals, so any concerns about politics have faded away. Second, he added, was that students may have been contaminated by the forces of political parties.

"Many political parties have given certain facilities to university students. Because of this, the students become passive and are afraid of criticizing the parties," Arya said.

The students should play a more active role as distributors of information on this year's election to the ordinary people, he said. "There are many legislative candidates trying to grab legislative seats, but information on them is inadequate," Arya said.

Students could help by holding meetings with candidates in discussion forums. (Antara)

Kalla, Megawati pledge to build strong government

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Jusuf Kalla and Megawati Soekarnoputri, the heads of the country's two biggest political parties, met Thursday to explore a possible coalition in the presidential election.

No coalition deal was reached at the much-awaited summit, but Vice President and Golkar Party chairman Kalla signed an agreement with former president and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati, aimed at building a strong government that would enjoy majority support from the House of Representatives.

"Today is our preliminary meeting. There will be follow-up meetings aimed at intensifying communication between the two parties," Megawati told a joint press conference after the 30- minute talk at a guest house in Central Jakarta.

The post-Soeharto era has been marked by political instability, with the government always short of majority support from the House.

Kalla was accompanied by Golkar chief adviser Surya Paloh, while Megawati was accompanied by her husband and PDI-P chief adviser Taufik Kiemas. The four had lunch at the same table.

The two leaders admitted the meeting did not touch on the delicate issue of the presidential poll. "We enjoyed a great meal together, but the matter of the presidential and vice presidential candidates did not come up," Megawati said.

The agreement reached at the meeting issued five points to improve the country's economy and ensure free and fair legislative elections on April 9. "If Golkar and the PDI-P have an accord for peaceful and fair elections, the people will of course follow in our steps," Kalla said.

Both leaders said their respective parties had their own regulations for selecting presidential candidates. "The PDI-P will hold a working meeting before July's presidential polls to pick a vice presidential nominee," Megawati said.

The PDI-P, the staunchest critic of the current administration backed by Golkar, is the first party to nominate its presidential candidate, naming Megawati for the post.

Kalla, with rock-bottom ratings in most polls, expressed his readiness last month to contest the presidency, after receiving support from Golkar's 33 provincial branches. "We're still awaiting the results of an internal survey," Kalla said when asked whether his candidacy was backed by his party.

Golkar and the PDI-P set up a so-called nationality coalition during the 2004 presidential election. Megawati and her running mate Hasyim Muzadi lost in the second round of the vote to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Kalla, both former members of her Cabinet.

Speculation is rife that Kalla and Megawati are seeking to join forces against Yudhoyono, who has announced his bid for reelection. PDI-P secretary-general Anung Pramono said the executive boards of the two parties would soon discuss details of the meeting.

"The PDI-P and Golkar have much experience working together in regional legislative polls, and have won many of them," he said. "If the two parties can work together, I'm sure we can set up a strong government in the future."

Recent surveys list Yudhoyono's Democratic Party as the most popular, ahead of the PDI-P and Golkar. The election law allows only parties or a coalition of parties that secure 20 percent of the vote or 25 percent of House seats to contest the presidential election.

Wasted votes to rise in April elections, small parties protest

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2009

Jakarta – The upcoming elections will see millions of wasted votes because many small and new parties are likely to fail in their bids to meet the new electoral threshold.

Hadar N. Gumay, executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), said Thursday that wasted votes would exceed the 19 million votes squandered in the 2004 polls, when only 24 parties were contesting the elections.

"I think the number of wasted votes will rise sharply due to the new electoral threshold mechanism," he said.

The threshold system requires that a party win at least 2.5 percent of the 550 seats up for grabs at the House of Representatives to ensure representation. Parties that fail to attain the 2.5 percent threshold will lose all their votes, even if some of their individual candidates win in their respective constituencies.

A total of 38 national parties and six local parties will contest the April 9 elections. The Constitutional Court previously turned down a motion for a judicial review of the threshold.

Members of small and new parties, however, have also expressed their concern about the wasted votes.

"The government should have thought about the implications before they issued the regulation, because we predicted there would be many wasted votes in this election," said Restianto, secretary- general of the Patriot Party, one of the smaller parties contesting this year's polls.

He added the regulation would disappoint voters if their favored parties failed to win House seats.

Restianto estimated the number of wasted votes could reach more than 20 million. "This system is not fair, and it has frightened the smaller parties," he claimed.

Ericson Hutabarat, a legislative candidate from the Labor Party, said many small and new parties would get votes that would ultimately turn out to be useless. In fact, those small and minor parties will gain more votes during this election, he said.

"There is a significant decline in the popularity ratings of several big parties, based on recent surveys, meaning many voters have changed their minds about their favorite party, and we have the chance to net their votes," Ericson said.

He expressed disappointment over the electoral threshold system, saying the government had "manipulated the public" through the use of this regulation.

"The government is inconsistent," he pointed out. "It wants to limit the number of parties in the country, but it forgets about regulations that allow people to establish parties."

Cetro's Hadar said the electoral threshold system was not entirely without its benefits, but added it would be better if the number of wasted votes could be kept to a minimum.

"Even though the mechanism will restrict the number of parties and the number of legislators, it will teach people to be smart in selecting parties," he said. (naf)

Candidates desperately seek funding to win legislative seats

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The arrest of House of Representatives lawmaker Abdul Hadi Djamal for accepting a "bribe" to finance his election campaign has highlighted the lack of supervision of fund-raising activities.

Teten Masduki from Transparency International Indonesia said corruption in campaign activities begins as early as the selection process for legislative candidates, who have to pay for their nomination.

"Financial pressure is felt more by the candidates now, because apart from financing their own campaigns they have to buy party approval for their candidacy," he said.

The Constitutional Court ruling which introduced the open election system, where the candidate with the most votes wins the seat, has exacerbated the situation as the onus has been shifted onto individual candidates to garner support for their election campaigns.

Teten said many candidates have gone down every avenue trying to secure campaign funds, including misusing public money and accepting bribes.

Abdul was arrested last week after accepting US$90,000 and Rp 54 million from businessman Hontjo Kurniawan to ensure his company PT Kurnia Jaya Wirabhakti won the contract for the development of piers and airports in eastern Indonesia.

The money was handed over through non-active Transportation Ministry staff Darmawati Dareho. Hontjo's lawyer Erman Umar said his client gave the money to Abdul as a campaign donation and in return Abdul agreed to stand up for Hontjo's interest wherever he could.

The National Mandate Party immediately dismissed Abdul following the arrest. Abdul is the eighth politician arrested for alleged bribery in the past year.

Zainal Arifin Mochtar from Gadjah Mada University's Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat) said the Constitutional Court ruling contributed to an increase in corruption. "But don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the ruling. It is the supervision of campaign fund-raising that needs improvement," he said.

The 2008 law on legislative elections says campaign funds can only be traced back as far as the political parties, but individual candidates do not need to report donations.

"Previously, candidates had to contribute to the party campaign fund but the current system allows them to keep the money for themselves," he said.

He said this ruling increased the likelihood of funding being obtained by any means possible. He also criticized the "unlimited" authority of the lawmakers, saying the checks and balance mechanism needed strengthening.

Zainal urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to indiscriminately crack down on corruption in the legislative power. "We can see that the commission has managed to expose corruption, not eradicate it," he said.

He said there were many corruption cases that remained beyond the reach of the KPK. The Bank Indonesia graft case, for example, has only managed to nab 2 lawmakers, despite 50 House commission members allegedly received a part of Rp 31.5 billion.

Parties differ over impact of campaign ads on voters

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2009

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Major parties are set to spend huge amounts of money on ads ahead of the upcoming elections, but they remain divided over how much this will help them to win votes.

For the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), media advertising plays a small role in boosting a party's image. To increase support for a political group, much depends on what it has done for the public in real life, the Islamic party added.

"Political advertising could make people more familiar with our party, but to be able to win more votes requires hard work that brings real improvements for our people," PKS secretary-general Anis Matta told a discussion Thursday. "Without hard work, media advertising doesn't mean that much."

But he added his party would still advertise in print and electronic media prior to the April 9 legislative elections, despite its limited funds. "Our budget for media advertising is very limited. To date, we have only allocated Rp 26 billion for it," Anis said.

He admitted it was difficult for the PKS to campaign frequently through TV spots. However, the Golkar Party said TV ads had significantly influenced the public and earned the party increased support during elections.

"Media advertisements, especially those on television and radio, have been proven to penetrate more effectively into the heart of the public, far beyond what thousands of open meetings and banners can do," Golkar campaign team head Burhanuddin Napitupulu said during the same discussion.

Citing the outcome of a Golkar internal survey, he said media advertisements had managed to boost the party's haul of votes in the 2004 elections by 15 to 20 percent.

However, Burhanuddin refused to reveal the amount of funding Golkar had allocated for media ads during the upcoming legislative elections.

"But one thing's for sure: Golkar is not running out of money to advertise in the media, but we do try to be more careful this time by deliberating advertising concepts that are more in line with Golkar's image," he said.

In the 2004 elections, it was widely reported that Golkar, the country's biggest party, spent Rp 21.5 billion on media advertising.

Nielsen Media Research recorded that some Rp 2.2 trillion went into advertisement spending in the political and government category last year. This was a significant increase of almost 90 percent compared to the Rp 1.3 trillion spent in 2007.

Analysts say a party may have to allot between Rp 120 billion and Rp 130 billion to be able to massively persuade potential voters through media ads.

That would explain why only a handful of the major political parties can afford to campaign through nationwide media ads, with most parties strapped for such large amounts of cash.

Of the 38 political parties contesting next month's legislative elections, only a third can afford to campaign massively through the media, especially television. The rest have had to resort to cheaper advertisements in local newspapers.

SBY lead at risk as poll rivals talk

The Australian - March 12, 2009

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – The growing rift in the Indonesian leadership is heading for chasm proportions, with an election strategy meeting today between Vice-President Jusuf Kalla and former president Megawati Sukarnoputri in a central Jakarta restaurant.

The talks will come as new data shows President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pulling well ahead of his bitter rival Ms Megawati as preferred leader – but only if he keeps Mr Kalla as his deputy in the coming poll.

The data suggests a Yudhoyono-Kalla leadership ticket could sneak over the line in the presidential elections in July, eliminating the need for a run-off vote in October.

But the parliamentary polls next month remain the subject of frantic coalition negotiations, with control of the house and support for a strong presidential nomination at stake.

Mr Yudhoyono's Democratic Party stands to win 21.5 per cent of seats in the 560-seat legislative assembly, according to the data released yesterday.

That would put the Democrats over the 20 per cent threshold to nominate a presidential ticket in their own right, rather than having to rely on a coalition such as the one with Golkar that produced the Yudhoyono-Kalla team in 2004.

The data, which showed almost 23 per cent of voters still undecided, had Ms Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle achieving 15.6 per cent in the house and Mr Kalla's Golkar winning 14.3 per cent.

Discussions about a potential coalition deal between the two will be high on the menu at today's meal. However the feast will come at a price, researchers warned.

"If they (Ms Megawati and Mr Kalla) go for a coalition, this needs to be calculated as a significant political conspiracy," said one of the researchers, Sunny Tanuwidjaja.

Analyst Syamsuddin Haris said that the more energetically Mr Kalla manoeuvred, the more he would reduce the number of votes going to Mr Yudhoyono.

Police told to bump up election security in unstable provinces

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The Indonesian police should be on alert for possible elections-related conflict in regions that have witnessed "particularly bitter" local election disputes or regions that have proposed new administration divisions, an analyst suggested on Wednesday.

The National Police headquarters recently dispatched more than 600 Mobile Brigade, or Brimob, officers to Papua, Maluku and Aceh provinces, all of which have experienced internal conflicts in the past.

The additional officers are stationed in the regions until Oct. 20, the scheduled inauguration day for the newly-elected president and vice president, as police predict possible tensions in those regions.

Sidney Jones, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group's Asia Program, said police should pay particular attention to East Java and North Maluku provinces, where there have been disputes in gubernatorial elections.

"These regions in particular deserve a lot of attention because of the possible leftover conflicts," she said on Wednesday, but added that any disputes there would be unlikely to spur widespread violence.

The East Java gubernatorial elections fell into dispute after candidate Khofifah Indar Parawansa lost to Sukarwo by a slim margin. After months of legal rows in the Constitutional Court, Sukarwo was named the East Java governor, to the dismay of Khofifah's supporters.

In North Maluku, the gubernatorial elections were marred with violence on the streets. It took more than a year before the elected winner of the elections was announced.

Apart from those two regions, Jones mentioned Tapanuli, a regency in North Sumatra which has demanded that it become its own province.

Tapanuli was thrust into the national spotlight recently when supporters of a new breakaway province mobbed North Sumatra council chairman and Golkar councillor Abdul Aziz Angkat during a violent protest. Abdul died shortly thereafter.

Jones said the region was worth monitoring, as the Tapanuli issue had religious overtones that could potentially lead to broader communal conflict.

Many people had assumed that Christian politicians were the driving force for the establishment of a Tapanuli province, Jones said. Radical groups such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia had then seized upon those religious tensions, she said.

Jones lamented the fact that this year's elections would likely have fewer monitors – both international and domestic. Monitors, she said, are crucial to maintaining public trust and granting legitimacy to the electoral process.

Some small parties have raised concerns over their inability to deploy their own monitors for the election-related activities, Jones said.

Disputes over such processes had incited the problems in East Java and North Maluku, she added. However, Jones believed that technical issues would not influence the result of the elections.

Splits in Golkar for all to see as election approaches

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Sally Piri – Golkar Party leaders remain at odds with one another over whether or not the party should nominate its own presidential candidate, with senior party members exchanging barbs once again on Wednesday.

Muladi, a member of Golkar's central board, said on Wednesday that Golkar could indeed remain in a coalition with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. His comments, however, came just a day after the manager of Golkar's campaign team, Burhanuddin Napitupulu, said the coalition between the two parties was as good as over.

"Burnap is not consistent in what he says," sniped Muladi, referring to Burhanuddin Napitupulu. "It's meaningless."

Far from being at the end of their run together, the coalition may very well have its best days ahead, Muladi said after attending the launching of the Indonesian Defense University at the State Palace.

"It's still open," Muladi said of the chances of the two parties sticking together. "The coalition between the Democratic Party and Golkar can move into a new era of opportunity," Muladi said.

Echoing the refrain of many party leaders, he said Golkar's decision regarding who to nominate as its presidential candidate would have to wait for the party's special national leaders' meeting held after the legislative elections on April 9.

Golkar chairman, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, has repeatedly voiced his willingness to split from Yudhoyono and run for president himself.

Muladi, however, claimed that hardly constituted the party's final word on the matter, saying Golkar was continuing to solicit input from regional and local party members regarding their preferences as to whom Golkar should nominate. He added that while many representatives from the party's regional branches had voiced their support for a Kalla presidential bid, the party's district branches also deserved a hearing.

"Now people may only focus on SBY-JK, but in the future it might be SBY and someone else," he said referring to Yudhoyono and Kalla. He added that Yudhoyono could pair with anyone from Golkar, specifically mentioning House of Representatives Chairman Agung Laksono and erstwhile party chief Akbar Tandjung as potential candidates to round out a Yudhoyono ticket.

Lest his own views not be clear enough, Muladi offered that he personally would prefer the Golkar and the Democratic Party coalition holds through the July presidential election, citing their shared ideologies and programs for developing the country.

Separately, senior Democratic Party figure and presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that Burhanuddin's remarks about the end of the Democrat-Golkar era did not represent the views of all Golkar members. Andi stressed that the two parties may very well stick together. And regardless of what happens on April 9, Yudhoyono and Kalla would honor their commitment to serve out their current term, which ends in October, he said.

The Yudhoyono-Kalla ticket took home more than 60 percent of the votes in the 2004 run-off presidential election.

Civil society accuses parties of falsifying funds

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – A nongovernmental organization on Wednesday called on the General Elections Commission, or KPU, and election watchers to investigate the campaign account details that political parties have submitted to the commission.

According to Ray Rangkuti, chairman of the Indonesian Civil Society Circle, or Lima, not one political party had submitted its true bank account details.

"None of the political parties submitted their real campaign fund reports," Ray said. "They reported some of the campaign funds in the bank account but did not reveal the majority of their funding," he said.

"The Election Law and the new campaign funding regulation order political parties to submit their opening balance along with its sources at least seven days before the public campaign starts and report the entire cash flow during the campaign – at the latest, three days after the campaign period is over," he said.

According to the opening balance of campaign accounts from all political parties, the Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra, tops the list of the biggest account balance with Rp 15.6 billion ($1.3 million), followed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party with Rp 7.02 billion, the Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, with Rp. 6.088 billion, and the People's Conscience Party, or Hanura, with Rp 5 billion.

However, a report by AC Nielsen recently said that some political parties have spent Rp 30 billion on campaigning. Some parties have already embarked on massive television advertising campaigns.

"It clearly means that the parties did not put all of their funds or donations into the bank account. Consequently, they don't have to report it," Ray said. "Their balances do not reflect the reality. There are so many advertising campaigns, banners, posters and other advertisements related to the campaign. It must cost a lot of money. So they must be joking if the highest balance is less than Rp 16 billion," he said.

Wirdyaningsih, a member of the Elections Supervisory Board, or Bawaslu, said the board was now investigating whether there were donations that were not reported by the parties.

"We are in the process of investigating whether political parties deposited all of their campaign budget into their bank account," she said.

"We are coordinating with the Press Council to reveal what political parties are spending on advertising," she said. "This could be an early indicator of whether they have reported all of their donations or not."

Ray said political parties that did not deposit all donations into their bank accounts were violating the Election Law.

"The requirement is not only to submit the bank account number, but also to report the original balance and its cash flow."

He urged the General Elections Commission, or KPU, and Bawaslu to be strict with parties that did not honestly report their cash flow. "The KPU and Bawaslu should disqualify them from the upcoming election," he said.

Abdul Aziz, a member of the KPU, said the commission had not yet made any decision regarding political parties that had not submitted their bank account details at the regional level.

Survey finds 80% apathetic, unsure of eligibility to vote

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea – The results of a recent survey jointly conducted by four polling institutions, unveiled on Wednesday, show a remarkable level of apathy among voters less than one month before the legislative elections, with almost 80 percent unconcerned as to whether they were on the final voter list.

The majority of those polled had not found it necessary to check whether they were on the final list of voters and thereby eligible to vote in the April 9 legislative elections and the ensuing presidential elections in July.

The poll was conducted by the state Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI; the private think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS; the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information, or LP3ES; and the Center for Political Research of the state University of Indonesia, or Puskapol UI; from Feb. 9 to Feb. 20 and questioned 2,957 people in 33 provinces.

The survey revealed that only 18 percent of those questioned had taken time to visit their neighborhood's administrative office to check whether they had been registered to vote. Most surveyed also said that governmental officials had never bothered to visit their homes to check their details.

"Officials never check the voter list directly against people's residences, while the people themselves are passive. This has revealed the need for an improved system to prepare the voters list," said Sri Budi Eko Wardani, director of Puskapol UI.

The General Elections Commission, or KPU, announced a final list in October, but had to revise it after reports that many voters had been omitted. Earlier this year, the KPU said that the voters list needed further revision and asked the government to issue a regulation-in-lieu-of-law, or perpu, providing them with a legal basis for the revision.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued the perpu last month for the legislative and presidential election to allow the KPU to amend the flawed voter registration process.

Abdul Aziz, the KPU member overseeing logistics procurement, said last week the commission had only finished reviewing the voter lists for 20 provinces and was still calculating the changes in the other 13 provinces. He predicted that there would be about 200,000 additional voters compared to the previous data.

The survey also showed that less than a month before the legislative elections, almost 40 percent of those questioned did not know the exact polling date.

Although 69 percent of those questioned aired optimism that the upcoming election would bring change to the country, the majority had no inkling as to which candidate or party their vote would go to.

Wardani said that few respondents had decided on their preferred candidate, speculating that it was likely due to the confusion caused by the large number of political parties and candidates running in the elections.

"It also shows that only a few legislative candidates actually meet with the people in their regions to introduce their programs and goals," she said.

The last legislative and presidential elections in 2004 saw a 67.57 percent turnout and analysts have warned that poor voter education and confusion about political parties and candidates, as well as the change of voting methods to allow marking, may reduce that figure this year.

In the 2004 elections only puncturing of the ballot papers was allowed.

Many polling stations vulnerable, police say

Jakarta Post - March 11, 2009

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – More than a third of the nation's 530,000 polling stations, including those in Aceh, are vulnerable to security threats or election fraud in the upcoming elections, police warn.

Law enforcement agencies have placed all polling stations in Aceh on a top-priority security list following a series of violent incidents believed to be linked with the elections. "More than 300,000 polling stations are classified as safe, while the rest are vulnerable," National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said at a meeting with chief editors of print and electronic media at the force's headquarters Tuesday.

The police, according to Bambang, have made security arrangements to help administer peaceful, free and fair elections across the country on April 9.

In any polling station identified as vulnerable, two guards will monitor that area during the voting period.

A group of two police officers and eight civilian guards will maintain security in two neighboring polling stations if there is a risk of security breakdown.

Normally just two police officers and 10 civilian guards team up to protect four polling stations between them.

Bambang said police were aware not only of possible security threats but also vote rigging and other forms of election violations in remote areas, where the presence of law enforcement is reduced.

He said the police would continue to keep an eye on Aceh despite the fact peace has returned to the area after 40 years of conflict.

Unlike in other provinces, Aceh will see six local parties contesting local legislative seats against 38 national parties.

Bambang did not specifically identify Papua, where a low-key separatist movement has in the past launched sporadic attacks, as part of the vulnerable regions.

Papuan rebels recently attacked a police post in the remote village of Tingginambut in the highland regency of Puncak Jaya.

National Police security and intelligence chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said more police personnel would be deployed to secure vulnerable polling stations.

"Vulnerable regions do not necessarily have to be high in crime, but could also present geographical challenges," Saleh said.

He said the regions would need assistance from police officers to protect polling stations from possible disturbances and election fraud.

The police have also cautioned polling stations in areas prone to communal conflicts.

During the meeting with the chief editors, Bambang asked for the national mass media to refrain impartial in the election process for the sake of peace and security.

"When political tension heats up it will be our responsibility to calm it down," Bambang said.

He said, however, the police had no intention of restricting press freedom or to intervene in the domestic affairs of the media. "Please stay critical as that is what the mass media is for," he said.

The national media recently won a fight at the Constitutional Court for press freedom after the House of Representatives and the government tried to pass a bill restricting media coverage during the election.

A group of chief editors representing the national media demanded a judicial review of the 2008 legislative election law which called for media groups failing to cover the election equally to be charged.

Kalla secures more support ahead of July polls

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – With the Golkar Party still deliberating who it will choose as its presidential candidates, chairman Jusuf Kalla continues to secure support from regional party branches.

Kalla, also Indonesia's Vice President, spent the long weekend on the campaign trail through the provinces of West Kalimantan, Bangka Belitung, Bengkulu and Lampung in a bid to garner backing for his presidential bid.

"Pak Kalla's presidential bid has now secured 'official' support from all regencies in seven provinces. They have signed a letter of support to show their commitment," Kalla's close aide Muchlis Hasyim told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Those Golkar provincial branches are North Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, Bangka Belitung, Bengkulu and Lampung.

Muchlis said party branches in West Java had expressed support for Kalla but not yet made it official.

"Kalla is scheduled to visit Yogyakarta and Central Java this Saturday to meet with Golkar member after being invited by the provincial branches," he said. Golkar's Yogyakarta branch is known for its critical view of Kalla.

Before departing on his weekend campaign trip, Kalla met with United Development Party (PPP) leaders Saturday and agreed to build a political coalition if they collectively win a majority 51 percent of House of Representatives seats in the legislative election next month. He had earlier met with leaders of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Kalla is also scheduled to meet with Megawati Soekarnoputri, chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, to discuss a possible coalition for the presidential election.

Kalla announced his presidential bid last month after 33 Golkar provincial branch heads agreed to back him. Since then, Kalla has been actively arranging meetings with party supporters.

On Saturday, Kalla told Golkar members in the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak about his capabilities as a leader.

"I am proud to have always played a strong role in maintaining security. I believe I am capable of leading the country," Kalla said to state-news agency Antara.

"I was there when the country was in crisis, facing difficulties and dealing with upheavals. I helped us overcome those problems," he said.

Kalla was behind peace talks in Maluku, Poso in Central Sulawesi and Aceh.

Golkar's Pontianak city leader Gusti Hersan Aslirosa said Kalla was the best figure to lead the country in terms of security, peace and welfare.

In Lampung, Kalla also repeated statements about his readiness for contesting the presidential election. He urged party cadres in Bengkulu to prove wrong a recent prediction that Golkar would only win 2.5 percent of the vote in the legislative elections.

"Almost all Golkar regional leaders across the country have shifted their support behind, especially after a rival party predicted we would only secure 2.5 percent of the vote," he said, referring to a statement made by a Democratic Party politician.

Golkar's Bengkulu branch leader Kurnia Utama said all party offices in the province were out to help Kalla win the presidency. "We support Kalla for president voluntarily," Kurnia said.

Golkar is expected to announce the result of its survey after the April 9 legislative elections.

PKS set to establish coalition with nationalist party

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) favors forming a coalition with nationalist parties rather than other Islamic-based parties for the upcoming presidential election, a top PKS member says.

The PKS has predicted that Islamic-based parties will receive a similar amount of support as in previous elections, where they garnered less than 10 percent of the national vote.

"For us, the most likely option now is to build a coalition with parties aiming for different segments, like the nationalist parties," chairman of the PKS's winning team for legislative elections, M. Rozikum told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

"If we want to increase our votes, we would be better off joining the nationalists than merging with Islamic parties."

He said the PKS had approached major nationalist parties, including with the Golkar party, Democratic party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) about this prospect.

There are currently nine Islamic parties contesting the April elections, including PKS, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the Reform Star Party (PBR).

At a meeting with party members in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, PKS President Tifatul Sembiring said PKS would not be able to widen its support base without a coalition with a nationalist party.

"If the PKS relies only on the Islamic parties, we will not be strong in the elections. We need to set up coalitions with nationalist parties," he said to Antara news agency.

He said the party would invite leaders from nationalist parties to the PKS office to discuss the possibility of a merger.

Regional autonomy

Provincial governments influenced by businesses funds - analysts

Jakarta Globe - March 9, 2009

Nivell Rayda – Without any real supervision from the central government, regional autonomy had created several provinces with puppet governments, secretly controlled by political parties and big businesses, autonomy analysts warned on Monday.

In the reform era that followed the fall of President Suharto in 1998, the central government began to delegate its powers to the regions with the aim of ensuring more effective development.

Syarif Hidayat, a regional autonomy analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI, said on Monday that weak supervision had also allowed several provinces and districts to develop puppet governments of several political elites.

He was commenting on comments last week by former Home Affairs Minister Ryaas Rasyid, one of the architects of regional autonomy, who said autonomy had failed to create effective governments despite their authority growing stronger largely due to weak supervision by the central government.

"In these provinces, the winning political parties establish one of its own members in the governor or district head posts, not for their capacities as leaders but for reasons that would voice the parties' interests," Syarif said.

"When they do, all the policies benefit the party members in their businesses and political careers. In return, the DPRD [Regional Representatives Council] support all of the leaders' policies and ignore all irregularities in the provinces' budgets or evaluations from independent auditors."

In other provinces, such as West Sumatra and Riau Islands, there might be no true majority in the councils but, with a lack of experience in policy making and managing the economy, the governors and district heads became pawns for several political elites, the analyst said.

"The political elites are former governors, senior officials, party leaders and central government figures and they serve as patrons," Syarif said. "These people are the true leaders in these local governments, dictating policies and regulations in the provinces."

Erwizan Erman, a LIPI researcher, said local governments were also controlled by big businesses. "The local governments have access to policy making but no money, so they are easily controlled by businesses that have money and want access to policy making," he said.

Erwizan said that in the Bangka Belitung Province, a tin mining company is secretly controlling the local government there.

"By making huge donations to the governor, the mining company ensures that it retains an absolute monopoly over the mining industry there, eliminating all other competition looking to enter the area," he said.

The researcher said the government has overlooked the environmental damage caused by the company and suppressed criticism against the corporation.

Currently, the authority to supervise and evaluate local government lies with the Development Finance Comptroller, or BPKP.

However, Purwo said the BPKP findings are meaningless. "There are no sanctions. The central government should follow up the BPKP audits and findings and give them sanctions," he said. "I think by doing so, local governments will be more transparent."

Armed forces/defense

Military 90% better now than during Suharto days, Juwono says

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Defense Ministry and the military are committed to eliminating corruption and nepotism, and current management practices are 90 percent better than past methods, said Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono on Thursday.

The minister made the statement in response to a book written by Lt. Gen. Sintong Panjaitan, a former commander of the Army's Special Forces, which argued that Indonesia and the military were damaged by corruption and nepotism during former President Suharto's New Order era.

In his book "Perjalanan Seorang Prajurit Para Komando," (The Journey of an Army Commander) Sintong said he witnessed how the military's structure was compromised by nepotistic practices involving several officers close to Suharto's family.

Speaking to journalists at his office in Jakarta, Juwono admitted that corruption and nepotism were significant problems in both Indonesia and the country's military during the Suharto era, which ended in May 1998. Nepotism and corruption were mainly the result of Suharto's centralized power system, which lacked transparency and accountability.

But Juwono said that since the social unrest of 1998 that led to Suharto's downfall after more than three decades in power, all of the country's stakeholders – including the military – had ushered in a democratic system and established a more transparent and accountable bureaucracy.

The Defense Ministry and the military, he said, have designed a new military procurement system called billing center management, which effectively prevents soldiers from using personal connections to further their interests.

"There might be a small number of soldiers who still violate our regulations, but we are definitely now 90 percent better than we were before," Juwono said.

Most military leaders are now aware of the important role that professionalism plays in establishing a better future for Indonesia, Juwono said.

"That's why we really expect the government and the House of Representatives to soon endorse a new antigraft law," he said.

Sintong also urged politicians Wiranto and Prabowo Subianto – both set to run for president in the July election – to accept responsibility for the social unrest of 1998.

"As [former military] leaders, they should be held responsible. If they don't, they are not real leaders," Antara news agency quoted Sintong as saying.

Economy & investment

Ministry sounds warning on manufacturing growth

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2009

Muhamad Al Azhari & Janeman Latul – In yet another warning that Indonesia is far from being immune to the global economic turmoil, the government has once again cut its target for domestic manufacturing growth, on the back of lower expectations of overall economic growth, a senior official at the Industry Ministry said on Wednesday.

Agus Tjahajana, the ministry's secretary general, said manufacturing was expected to grow within the range of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent. That's lower than the range of between 3.6 percent and 4.6 percent predicated by Industry Minister Fahmi Idris at the House of Representatives on Dec. 15.

Manufacturing, excluding oil and gas, accounted for 16.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2008, with the sector growing by 3.7 percent last year.

"This revision is because of the lower overall economic growth forecast," Agus told the Jakarta Globe by telephone, adding that export-oriented manufacturing firms, in such sectors as textiles and footwear, were likely to bear the brunt of the global economic slump.

The government predicted economic growth of 4.5 percent for this year in the revised budget assumptions, adopted by the House on Feb. 24, down from 6 percent in earlier forecasts.

Minister Fahmi had said during a hearing with the House last year that it was expected that growth in the manufacturing industry would be lower than last year, due to the fact that export- oriented firms would have to work hard to retain their markets in the major importing countries, like the United States, Japan and the European nations, amid crumbling demand as a global recession set in.

To help the manufacturing sector survive the slump, Agus said determined efforts would be needed to stimulate the domestic market. "The government's fiscal stimulus package, including the income tax breaks for workers, should help strengthen consumer spending," he said.

The government is to roll out its Rp 73.3 trillion ($6 billion) fiscal stimulus package this month. It includes the extending of income tax breaks to those earning less than Rp 5 million a month.

It is hoped that those who benefit from the breaks will spend the extra money in their pockets on domestic products.

Agus also said that greater efforts would be needed to eradicate smuggling. The government is concerned that the domestic market will be flooded by imports from China and other exporting powerhouses as they lose markets due to slumping demand in the developed world.

Worst coming as crisis starts to pinch

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2009

Jakarta – More than 40,000 workers in Jakarta have lost their jobs so far this year, according to the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).

The worse has yet to come however, as a city official predicted another wave of layoffs would peak in May and June. "In that period a lot of order contracts end," Deded Sukandar, head of the city's manpower agency said Wednesday.

Data from Apindo Jakarta shows that, as of Feb. 28, more than 40,000 people became jobless in 2009, with the construction sector shedding 15,000 jobs, the automotive sector 10,000 and the electronics sector 5,000. The remaining layoffs were in the textile and retail industries.

Meanwhile, nationwide, the Association recorded that around 240,000 workers have lost their jobs so far this year.

"Layoffs in the automotive and electronics sector are quite high because of a high increase in the minimum wage in different sectors regionally," Chairman of the Jakarta Chapter of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) Soeprayitno said, as quoted by vivanews.com

The city administration has raised the 2009 provincial minimum wage (UMSP), giving workers in the capital slightly higher pay than those in the surrounding province, despite protests from companies suffering from the global economic crisis.

Under a gubernatorial regulation, the city administration raised workers wages from 2.5 percent to 11.5 percent higher than the province's minimum wage, depending on the sector the workers are employed in. This year's minimum wage in the province is Rp 1,069,865 (US$85).

Deded said Wednesday that Governor Fauzi Bowo signed the new regulation in early February. The regulation is retroactive and took effect on Jan. 1, 2009.

Deded claimed that no company objected to the increase after the policy was enacted. Companies had 14 days to object the decision.

He added that workers in the automotive sector have the highest minimum wages compared to other sectors, 11.5 percent higher than Jakarta's minimum wage.

Deded said that companies that failed to pay workers in line with the new regulation can be fined up to Rp 500 million as regulated under the 2003 labor law. "We have informed companies and they know this," he said.

The Jakarta chapter of Apindo warned earlier that massive layoffs would be inevitable should the administration insist on its plan to raise the provincial minimum wage (UMSP) for different sectors, saying that if it does decided to impose the plan, employers, especially in the automotive and electronics sectors, would be hard hit by the policy. The economic crisis has already forced four automotive companies to cut their production from three working shifts to two.

Deded, however, brushed off the automotive industry's concern saying "the automotive sector is a big scale industry with good management".

The association said that their figure was higher than the government's because some companies did not report the layoffs. According to Soeprayitna, only around 15,000 businesses report layoffs reported to the government. There are around 28,000 businesses in Jakarta.

The agency reported that around 530,000 workers became unemployed in 2007. Last year, the number rose to 560,000 workers. Deded said that 2009 would likely to see more layoffs, because of the ongoing economic crisis.

Analysis & opinion

Will the voters know the right boxes to tick?

Jakarta Globe - March 15, 2009

Hera Diani – Neither heat, humidity nor even a national holiday can deter the Indonesian voter, it seems. While most of the country was quietly observing the Prophet Muhammad's birthday last Monday, about 100 residents of the crowded Kampung Guji Baru slum in West Jakarta spent the day in an alley covered by a makeshift tarpaulin.

There was a method to their seeming madness. The locals were taking part in an election education program held by the Voter Education Network for the People, or JPPR, a private nongovernmental organization. The participants all appeared willing to vote, albeit not over-enthusiastically, but they remained confused about how to physically do so.

If this anecdotal sampling of one kampung in Jakarta is any indication, fears that tens of millions of ballots cast during the April 9 legislative elections will be thrown out for being incorrectly marked are not entirely justified. Even more worrying, the public may view voting as an ingrained authoritarian-esque obligation rather than a reformasi-era responsibility.

"I don't know who to vote for," exclaimed a housewife, looking bug- eyed at a large photocopied sample ballot. "This is such a long list of parties and candidates."

Around 171 million people are registered to vote for candidates running for national, provincial and local legislative seats next month, and in the presidential election in July, according to the General Elections Commission. Their choices, aside from determining which political parties will rise and fall, are yet another step in Indonesia's electoral evolution that began 10 years ago.

Daniel Zuchron from JPPR said confusion over marking ballots aside, voters were more sophisticated and intelligent after taking part in free national and local elections since June 1999. "Voters are smarter and more critical because they have been deceived a lot of times. It has been 10 years since the reform period began, but many people are disappointed. They feel that there is no change in their lives, economic-wise," he said.

These experiences, Zuchron said, have given rise to more pragmatic voters who will cast ballots for more familiar faces who they know and feel they will benefit from. "The benefit can be money, rapport, the sense that the candidates will give them hope for the better," he said.

Ray Rangkuti from the Civic Network for Indonesia, a political research group, said a sense of pragmatism, if not apathy, was seen in a series of provincial and district elections in 2008, during which voter turnout was only about 50 percent.

"I think the trend [of lower turnout] will continue. People are getting tired of voting; more and more people don't care," Rangkuti said. "Well, unless there is something exciting happening."

Sunny Tanuwidjaja, a researcher in the politics department of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, said surveys showed that people were willing to vote, but that they were more excited about voting in the presidential election than in legislative or local elections.

"People in the regions don't really care about local elections; they don't see them as significant," he said. "Perhaps their mind- set is still with the centralized government, although local administrations directly affect their lives more."

Tanuwidjaja said that based on several surveys, the primary reason people vote for certain candidates is their track record. They will vote for candidates who have proven themselves, as voters are becoming disillusioned by election campaign promises, "unless the incumbents are seen as failures," he said.

That perception could be critical, as election analysts have said that up to 52 percent of incumbents in the House of Representatives will be voted out on April 9.

However, Tanuwidjaja said factors like high-profile personalities, ethnicity and religion still influence voters, even if only indirectly. The popularity of Islam-based political parties has overall dropped in recent years despite the fact that Indonesian society has become somewhat more conservative, he said.

"It seems that people don't express their religiosity in politics. Maybe because Islamic parties are marred by internal conflicts," Tanuwidjaja said. "But religion still plays an important part in people's political expression, which is why some nationalist parties are more tolerant and accommodating of growing conservatism. The House's anti-pornography special committee, for example, was led by the Democratic Party," Tanuwidjaja said.

He said that while the public adopted an increasingly logical approach to voting, they still had limited information about candidates, their platforms and how to properly cast ballots. "The election pattern is complex, with the change in the mechanism of [directly] electing legislative candidates, for example, and the high number of political parties. People get confused," he said.

With 38 political parties running for the House, there are many choices, but critics say there are few differences among the parties as well as candidates. Both have been criticized for failing to develop party platforms and for not even presenting to voters a mission or program, with campaign ads only showing candidates' faces and empty slogans.

On the other hand, both Tanuwidjaja and Zuchron said that if candidates did publicize their campaign manifestos and party platforms, the abundance of information on complex issues could further confuse voters.

"In the end, people will vote for the candidates who they are most familiar with and those who frequently appear on advertisements. There should be more dialog or a better approach to reach voters," Zuchron said.

Then there's the issue of money politics. More than in any previous election campaign, candidates are handing out "gifts" ranging from cash to farm tools in hopes of wooing voters, given new rules that award seats to candidates who have won the most votes. However, candidates counter that voters are increasingly demanding money just for showing up at campaign rallies or even the polling stations.

"Most voters think that 'good' candidates are the people who can give them money," said Nursantia Nasution, an incumbent House candidate from the Prosperous Justice Party. "It's because we're in a [political] transition. Most voters don't really understand what their lawmakers do."

And what about first time voters? There are fears among analysts that they'll walk into the polling booths blind to the choices before them and what the big issues are. "Young, first-time voters, for example, are not given enough education," Zuchron said.

While first-timers comprise only about 10 percent of all registered voters, Tanuwidjaja said they could be significant in terms of influencing people to go vote or to support certain candidates as they were still "highly optimistic."

Tanuwidjaja said there was still room for improvement in attracting the ever elusive voter, including for parties to display a clearer stance on issues.

"They should be more daring in stating whether they are based on Pancasila, conservatism, capitalism, socialism and so on," he said. "Without a clearer stance, it will be confusing for them to translate their ideology into policy once they assume power."

DPR in Review: Do they deserve another chance?

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2009

With great hope and fanfare, the reform era that began in 1998 and the democratic elections in 1999 were intended to usher in a new climate of accountable government after decades of authoritarian rule. With the campaign period for the April 9 legislative elections starting on Monday, it's fair to ask how the current legislature has done its job and whether responsible government is, indeed, the order of the day.

In a package of stories kicking off our campaign coverage, the Jakarta Globe takes a look at the House or Representatives, or DPR, and how it has performed. House members and others look back at an institution that has been relentlessly tarred and feathered by corruption allegations, arrests, court trials and convictions.

"The 1999-2004 group was involved in the reform movement. There was a much stronger link with the aspirations of the people," two-term lawmaker Alvin Lie told the Jakarta Globe.

Sadly, the House is repeatedly listed as among the most graft- ridden institutions by the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, Transparency International and Indonesia Corruption Watch. Six former or current lawmakers have been convicted by the Anti- Corruption Court in the past year, two are currently on trial and entire House commissions have been implicated in graft.

But is the bad rap deserved? Media scrutiny of the House has tainted the entire legislature, even though analysts say it is pushing for internal reforms and has good members who don't take bribes.

Then there's the legislation itself, which critics say is often so badly written that the laws that emerge are not helpful to the public at large. For example, critics say the "whistle-blower" law passed in 2008 actually reduces protection for civil servants. "The systems and mechanisms in the DPR are not reformed yet," says Nursantia Nasution, of the Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS.

Will the crop of lawmakers that emerge triumphant in 2009 be able to accomplish that reform? Stay tuned.

How our lawmakers turned power into a game

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2009

Joe Cochrane – With his long, bushy hair and 1960s guitar rock ringtone on his Blackberry, it's not a stretch to say Alvin Lie has a little bit of jaman dulu, or the old days, in his soul.

But on the eve of official campaigning for the April 9 legislative elections, the two-term member of the House of Representatives reminisces back only 10 years, and does so with sadness. Lie, a senior member of the National Mandate Party, or PAN, first ran for office in 1999 amid the reform era that had swept former President Suharto from power only a year before.

He was one of many first-time politicians – idealistic, untainted, eager to serve the nation – who joined the ranks of the 1999-2004 House, also known as the DPR. But the current legislature that finishes its five-year term this year, Lie says, as diplomatically as possible, is "very different."

Ten years ago, he said, the House attempted to use its authority to wash away Suharto's culture of authoritarianism and corruption, but today more and more lawmakers use their authority to line their pockets.

"The 1999-2004 group was involved in the reform movement. There was a much stronger link with the aspirations of the people," Lie said. "There was a stronger moral and mental barrier not to be involved in [illegal] practices."

Today, it's fair to ask whether there's any barrier left, mental or otherwise. The House has been relentlessly tarred and feathered by bad press from corruption allegations, arrests, court trials and convictions of not only former and current lawmakers, but even entire legislative commissions.

"From the cases I've observed, all DPR functions involve bribery," said Teten Masduki, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia, "and they also have a say in the appointment of officials, commissions, and boards of directors of state-owned enterprises. During Suharto, corruption used to center around the president, but it's moved to the legislature."

Even in the face of such indictments, some of the very lawmakers who quite shamelessly line their pockets, or wink while their colleagues do so, lashed out at their detractors, including threatening to sue the rock band Slank in 2008 for "insulting the House's integrity" with its anticorruption song "Gosip Jalanan," which means "Word on the Street."

As if the legislature had any integrity, critics joked at the time. But there's the rub: The intense media scrutiny on the current House has tainted the entire legislature, even though analysts say it is pushing for internal reforms and has many good members who don't take bribes.

Marcus Mietzner, a former Jakarta-based political analyst who has extensively researched the House, said, "I think it's important not to repeat what you read in the papers every day – 'it's the most corrupt institution, it's lazy, it has not produced any quality laws.' It's hip to say that.

"I think it's important to put it in perspective, not only in relation to other institutions, but other countries," Mietzner said, noting Thailand and the Philippines. "Yes there's institutional corruption, but as far as effectiveness, it's done its oversight function, which is to keep a check on the government. Not fantastically well, but reasonably well."

Just last month, after harsh criticism from lawmakers, the Attorney General's Office reversed a decision to reinstate two disgraced prosecutors allegedly involved in a graft case. But also last month, the House again set aside plans for an ad hoc tribunal to prosecute military personnel involved in the abduction and torture of student activists in 1997 and 1998. The House first took up the issue more than 10 years ago.

"They don't seem to have any sense of urgency," said Syamsuddin Haris, a senior political scientist at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI.

Television footage and newspaper photographs often show empty seats in the House chamber, or lawmakers who do bother to show up dozing off during sessions. But it's the headlines on corruption cases that draw the most attention – and public scorn.

According to analysts and lawmakers themselves, some unscrupulous members of the House are there solely to enrich themselves by taking envelopes for influence peddling.

However, in the vast majority of cases, lawmakers take bribes to recoup the hundreds of millions and even billions of rupiah they spend out of their own pockets just to win a seat in the House.

Unlike political systems in other countries, Indonesian candidates don't get funds from their political parties and must completely finance their own campaigns. This not only includes expenses for travel, advertising, organizing rallies and producing T-shirts and banners, but paying the party itself just to be selected to run for a seat.

In a disturbing pattern that has emerged in the current election season but wasn't seen much in 2004, individuals, and provincial civic and religious groups, are increasingly demanding "gifts" from candidates, ranging from cash to farming tools to bags of cement, in exchange for attending rallies and public dialogues. With political party lists gone and a new rule stating that candidates who garner the most votes win, money is flying around on the campaign trail like never before, according to candidates interviewed by the Jakarta Globe.

"We are trying to eradicate corruption, but the election system pushes us to be corrupt," said Eva Kusuma Sundari, an incumbent House member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P.

The country's major political parties don't seem too fussed, however. Under the campaign finance rules, which notably were approved by the current House, donations to individual candidates don't have to be reported to the General Elections Commission, or KPU, unlike those made directly to political parties.

That, coupled with new rules allowing larger donations by both individual citizens and companies, further opens the door to dirty money entering the 2009 elections campaign.

"Campaign finance is one of the weakest points in the Indonesian political system," said one Jakarta-based political observer, who asked not to be named. Mietzner added, "The whole issue of corruption in the legislature all points back to the issue of the party financing system. And that relates back to members of the legislature demanding envelopes."

Just as they did five years ago, members of the House's 2009-14 term who take their seats in October will need to find ways to recoup their expenses as well as pay off any loans they may have taken out during the campaign. Evidence suggests a direct connection between money envelopes and the attention paid to some legislation.

According to Sundari, legislation with political implications, or decisions by House commissions overseeing economic projects occurring in Jakarta, will attract more envelopes than a city post office.

"It depends on the commission and the bill. When the anti- pornography bill came up, no one offered me an envelope," she said. "For human rights bills, there are no envelopes," she said. "I'm only involved in human rights issues, so I never get an envelope, but I ask my colleagues and they say, 'Oh yes, I got this [envelope] on this issue.'"

The current House will also be remembered for increasingly allowing its bodies, such as the budget commission, to act unilaterally, putting up with back room deals by leaders of the major political parties, and failing to listen to demands from reformist lawmakers who want open voting on all legislation instead of endorsements by party factions.

Then there's the legislation itself, which critics say is oftentimes so badly written – most bills are packed with the particular interests of each political faction to avoid fights, even if articles contradict each other – that the laws which emerge are not helpful to the public at large. For example, the Constitutional Court has struck down five articles of the 2009 Election Law, and critics say the "whistle blower" law passed in 2008 actually reduces protection for civil servants and gives them less incentive to report graft cases.

While lawmakers and analysts point out that the majority of legislation is drafted by the central government, the House's multi-layered internal system of handling bills leaves them languishing for months or years.

"The systems and mechanisms in the DPR are not reformed yet," said Nursantia Nasution, a member of the Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, representing South Jakarta. "The [lawmakers] have only one office staff member and one expert staff member, so we cannot do things like the US Congress."

That's a good point. In the lawmakers' defense, the House's Secretariat General is all but impotent. It has a staff of 3,000 civil servants and a whopping 1,500 security guards, but only has 30 expert researchers to serve 550 legislators and 11 commissions. The secretariat staff is under the central government, yet it has control over the House's internal budget and is largely unanswerable to the House, according to lawmakers and analysts.

"The bureaucracy is controlling us," Sundari said. "We cannot expect [reform] from a bureaucracy that controls the budget of the DPR."

Analysts point out that House commissions overseeing major issues such as defense and energy do ask tough questions of and demand answers from government officials when they feel like it. (Last month, new PT Pertamina chief Karen Agustiawan was nearly brought to tears while testifying before House Commission VII.)

Tough-guy tactics aside, it remains to be seen whether the current House, which dissolves in September, can pull itself together and end on a high note. As Lie pointed out, many of the corruption cases involving lawmakers also implicated government officials, which "shows that the House, which is supposed to have oversight of the government, is in collusion with the government."

Still, there is optimism brewing about an internal reform plan known as Sustuk, which is raising hopes in the hallways of the House compound in Senayan.

The reform program rewrites internal rules so that House business, including budgets, would be decided via open voting during plenary sessions, which currently do little more than rubber stamp decisions made by the various commissions. All budget items would also be put before all House members, rather than made in private. Lawmakers would also be barred from giving and receiving gifts, both on the campaign trail and in the conduct of their duties.

The House has also begun hiring 1,000 expert researchers on contract to give commissions and legislators more capacity to handle bills and leave them less at the mercy of the government's desires. In a stab at campaign finance reform, the House also reinstated a policy whereby political parties that win legislative seats get Rp 1,000 for their coffers per vote they receive in the elections, rather than Rp 21 million ($1,743) per seat won, in hopes the additional money will be used to improve professionalism and recruit better candidates.

It remains to be seen, however, whether these reforms, and more radical ideas such as recruiting a brand-new secretariat from scratch, will change perceptions of the current House when it says goodbye in September.

Lately, though, those perceptions are more about receiving money, with candidates on the campaign trail viewed as walking ATM machines.

Some parties including the PKS are taking the unprecedented step of campaigning door to door, both to make a personal connection with voters and because people are less likely to ask for money from someone visiting their home.

"The issue of money is really a problem now," said Hadar N. Gumay, executive director of the Center for Electoral Reform. "It could depredate the quality of our elections."

For his part, Lie has handed out his cellphone number to his constituents in Semarang, Central Java Province, for the past 10 years, so they can call him directly with problems.

"People who have been served by their lawmakers will come out and vote for them," he said. "Those who have not will be more pragmatic in deciding who they vote for." Like how? "[By saying] 'Show me the money,'" he said.

Productive public servants or self-serving polemicists

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea – National legislatures come and go, but the outgoing House of Representatives will be long remembered for its handling of a series of bills and vital issues that critics say divided the country in some cases, protected its own political interests in others or failed to challenge powerful Suharto-era figures.

Certainly one of the most controversial and widely publicized pieces of legislation was one of the most recent: the anti- pornography bill, which dates to a 2001 fatwa against pornography by the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI.

There was a heated nationwide debate about the bill, particularly among middle-class intellectuals, both Muslim and non-Muslim.

Tens of thousands took part in demonstrations, dialogues and debates in support of and against its passage in the years following the fatwa, which prompted its withdrawal for further revision.

However, and with such little warning that it raised allegations of collusion, the bill was passed by the House in October 2008 and was later signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Opponents contend that the sudden re-emergence of the controversial bill – long in a limbo due to oftentimes polarizing debates – was a ploy by some political groups to score points with conservative Muslim voters ahead of this year's elections. The law itself is so vague and contradictory that senior police officials have admitted it is impossible to enforce, leading critics to wonder why lawmakers even bothered.

The answer – wooing Muslim voters – also applies to the March 2008 electronic information law, one aim of which was to block pornographic Web sites. While the House could have spent its time and energy on laws improving education standards or lowering infant mortality, lawmakers instead debated this bill, despite the fact that less than 2 percent of Indonesians use the Internet.

Hot on the anti-pornography law's heels, the House endorsed the Supreme Court bill in December. It was criticized for raising justices' retirement age from 65 to 70, which might hamper reforms in the corruption-ridden court.

Many were outraged by its speedy endorsement, while the Judicial Commission bill, which is linked to reforming the Supreme Court, continues to be ignored by lawmakers. "The House has a political interest in endorsing the Supreme Court bill," said Emerson Yuntho, coordinator of legal affairs for Indonesia Corruption Watch. "It will be used to secure the interests of parties or party members who have disputes in the court during the elections."

The House was also criticized after it ended its third session of 2008-09 on March 3 without passing legislation to establish a permanent anti-corruption court, an ad hoc body that handles all cases brought by the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK.

The Constitutional Court has ruled the House must pass a new law to make the court permanent by December 2009 or it will be disbanded. There are fears that legislators, who are increasingly being prosecuted by the KPK, will let the deadline pass. Nine former or current lawmakers have been arrested by the KPK (see story on A4).

Given the time and energy spent on politically charged bills, the House has been accused of lacking focus on other urgent matters, including issuing a recommendation for an ad hoc court to try Armed Forces personnel accused of abducting and torturing human rights activists in 1998.

However, the House has also had successes, including passing the new citizenship bill and the antidiscrimination bill, and endorsing important economic legislation, such as the new mining bill. The citizenship bill introduced dual citizenship for children with one non-Indonesian parent, while the antidiscrimination law provides more protections for indigenous cultural communities, minorities and citizens discriminated against because of their racial or ethnic origin.

Nonetheless, Bivitri Susanti, who chairs the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies, said the current House's track record showed that laws were passed based on political interests.

"Many polemics occurred in the deliberation because too many matters were put forward based on each party's interests in the 2009 elections," Bivitri said.

Poor member performance also affected the quality of the laws passed, House Speaker Agung Laksono admitted, pointing to articles in several laws that were struck down by the Constitutional Court. "There are 154 judicial review cases that have been filed with the court since 2003," Agung said.

In many cases, the reviews were filed because stakeholders believed certain articles violated the 1945 Constitution.

Sebastian Salang, chairman of the Forum of Citizens Concerned About the Indonesian Legislature, said only 15 percent of bills deliberated by the House were based on its five-year priority program.

"The rest are not set under the priority program. We call them 'invisible bills' because we don't know where they come from but they get priority," he said, citing dozens of autonomy bills aiming to create new provinces or districts, and the anti- pornography bill.

He also noted that the House spends up to Rp 2 billion ($168,000) to pass a single law, through expenses such as overseas research trips and hiring expert staff, which he said was very expensive.

Many observers expressed pessimism that vitally important bills, such as those on the Anti-Corruption Court and Judicial Commission, would be passed before the current House's term ends in September, because most lawmakers are focused on campaigning ahead of legislative elections on April 9.

Will the new House embrace a reform agenda and bring change we can believe in? One can only hope.

And the survey says...

Jakarta Post Editorial - March 12, 2009

The Democratic Party (PD) wins the most votes in the April parliamentary election, and its candidate, the incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, running with Jusuf Kalla of the Golkar Party, once again goes on to win the presidential election in July – in just one round. Indonesia will be led once again by the same set of leaders.

These are the predictions of the latest opinion polls for this year's national elections, organized by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as well as the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Institute of Economic and Social Studies and Development (LP3ES).

At a time when many surveys are being commissioned by political parties or presidential candidates, it's refreshing to find one that is free of political interests and is therefore reliable.

Still, many of the findings, including the Democratic Party lead and Yudhoyono's strong popularity, confirm what most other surveys have told us before.

Like earlier surveys, one must take this poll with a grain of salt. More than half of the 3,000 respondents said either that they had not made up their minds about which party to vote for, or that they may still change their minds on election day.

And, as appealing as the pairing of SBY-JK seems to some (there is no need to go to the runoff and save the nation a lot of money and trouble), it's not clear whether the pair will in fact run together again.

SBY will still win the most votes if paired with other candidates, but he will likely have to go to the second round, the outcome of which is anybody's guess.

One thing we can learn from this survey is that even with 38 political parties contesting the election, there seems to be a crystallization of votes towards the big three: The Democratic Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party.

The Islamists, like the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), are struggling with most other parties, and only eight parties look strong enough to make it into the House of Representatives.

The survey confirms the phenomenal rise of the Democratic Party, that was set up in 2003 as a vehicle for SBY's presidential bid in 2004. In a country where personality is more important than ideology or platforms, the Democratic Party is capitalizing on SBY's incumbency – but this also means the party rises and falls with his political fortunes.

Going by the survey, we don't expect any new parties to rise as prominently as the Democratic Party and PKS did in 2004. This would include the two nationalist parties led by retired Army generals Wiranto (of the Hanura Party) and Prabowo Subijanto (of the Gerindra Party) – the latter probably the most aggressive in terms of its TV advertising campaigns.

In the July presidential election, the poll comes up with only two names to note; SBY with 46 percent of the vote and Megawati Soekarnoputri of PDI-P with 17 percent.

The survey was conducted last month, just before Jusuf Kalla announced his intention to run for the number one slot. It's unclear how popular JK is among voters, but he is certainly a determining factor in his role as Vice President.

What the survey also does not indicate is how a pairing of Megawati Soekarnoputri-JK – now a possible combination – would affect SBY's reelection chances.

Who candidates partner with also decides their electoral chances, and the pairing will only take place after each party knows its own strengths following the April election.

A lot of things can still happen between now and April, and even more so between now and presidential election in July. Also, the state of the economy (heading south), will inevitably affect the way people vote.

Essentially, as interesting as the survey predictions seem, there are just too many variables to determine the winners at this stage.

So, sit back and watch the elections unfold in the coming weeks and months. Anything and everything is still possible. One thing is for sure: The outcome is very much in the hands of the people, and that is what democracy is all about.

The rise of the Democratic Party in scarcity of political plenty

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2009

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Denpasar – So much to choose from, so little choice. When Indonesians flock to the polls in the April 9 legislative elections, their ballots will in effect start shaping the presidential election.

The results of the most up-to-date poll released Wednesday by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta support what other pollsters have already indicated. The Democratic Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party are likely to overwhelm with up to half the total votes, with the former holding a significant advantage over the latter two.

All others are distant contenders, unlikely to pose notable resistance.

The particulars of the CSIS survey, conducted in association with the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES), the University of Indonesia and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), also indicate a basic rule of thumb in any election: Campaigns are not a collection of issues. They focus on a theme and personage.

In the absence of an identifiable theme, voters need a common figure as a focal point for their choice. As the CSIS data shows, nearly one-third of those who opted for the Democratic Party did so not because of the program, but because of the figure behind the party – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Similar numbers were also found from supporters of the PDI-P. The presence of chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri held twice the attraction of the party's political platform.

Even though voters will have the choice to directly select legislative candidates, voting behavior is predominantly determined by the party's national figure.

The trend is consistent. In the 2004 legislative elections, more than 50 percent of voters opted to select the party, even though they had the option of choosing an individual candidate.

A study by the Indonesia Survey Institute (LSI) last month found 44 percent of respondents tended to choose the party only, compared to 36 percent who chose candidates, and 12 percent who selected both. Hence the rarity of a Democratic Party or PDI-P candidate's poster without a montage of either Yudhoyono or Megawati in the background.

This probably explains the phenomenal rise of the Democratic Party and the decline of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Golkar.

The Democratic Party is the "new" PKS of the 2009 election, with likely projections suggesting it is riveting voters away from other parties, secular and nationalist alike, and quadrupling their returns.

Riding Yudhoyono's perceived public poise, the Democratic Party has succeeded where the PKS failed to consolidate support in rural areas.

The decision by Vice President Jusuf Kalla to now run as president may have been a consequence of internal political circumstance, but from a campaign strategy point of view, it was a key vote-saving move.

By promoting Kalla's visage, Golkar is galvanizing support for a tangible figure, and more importantly, stealing some of Yudhoyono's thunder by reminding voters that Kalla (and Golkar) too should be credited for the successes of the incumbent administration.

It has been the absence of electable choices, in sea of a dozen self-declared presidential candidates and three dozen parties, which has helped propagate the pro-Yudhoyono wave.

In politics, domestic and international, the prime entities naturally play a balancing role of swaying the balance of power from tipping toward the extremes.

In pre-World War I Europe, it was Britain who swayed the balance of power in the competing rivalries of France and Germany. In Indonesian politics, it is the established nationalist-secular parties who play that role.

The flamboyant displays of amicability between Golkar and the PDI-P are both a warning and strategic move against the emergence of the Democratic Party as a political powerhouse.

How serious this alliance will be ultimately lies not on Golkar's or the PDI-P's returns on April 9, but on the strength of the Democratic Party in the polls.

A second factor to take into account is Golkar itself. As a political creature, Golkar has always been in government. In fact, it probably does not know how to be the opposition. Expect the intrigue to continue.

Some have suggested that the most significant number in all polls has been the consistent high number of undecideds, and that half of those who responded for a certain party said their vote could change.

But late-deciding voters will want their vote to matter. Given the predominance of the Democratic Party, the PDI-P and Golkar in the public debate, it is safe to assume that their choice will be shaped by the prevailing discourse.

Will widening gap in polls help narrow economic divide?

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2009

Debnath Guharoy, Consultant – In a poll of 1,936 eligible voters conducted by Roy Morgan Research across four weeks and completed at the end of January, the incumbent president had garnered 46 percent of 'the votes' followed by Megawati Sukarnoputri with 25 percent.

In other words, that's a gap of over 20 percent between the top two contenders.

Sultan Hamengkubuwono's decision to throw his hat in the ring was received well by the electorate, catapulting him into third position with 9 percent.

Prabowo Subianto achieved a small improvement on previous polls, growing to 8 percent.

Yusuf Kalla and Wiranto continued to languish in the low 2s. Hidayat Nur Wahid and Gus Dur are at the 1 percent mark, with Surya Paloh and Din Syamsudin bringing up the tail of the top 10 hopefuls with less than 1 percent each.

The writing on the wall is obvious and uncomplicated. It would take events of epic proportions to radically change voting intentions between now and July.

In political circles, the focus from this point on is going to be on the required pairings for the presidential and vice- presidential ticket.

For Megawati Sukarnoputri, the Sultan does seem to be an obvious choice. Forces combined, they inch closer to SBY's commanding solus position.

No other pairing comes remotely close. In fact, a third party would be required to work the electorate to bring even that combination over the top.

Under the circumstances, the outcome of the legislative election in April does have a significant role to play in potentially influencing voters for the presidential election in July.

No wonder, SBY is waiting for the results of the April round before he announces his running mate. But even the most innocent of voters can be made to understand the need of a strong president for an equally strong voting bloc in the DPR, to bring about real change.

That need should be the focal point for all political debate at this juncture. Is it?

In the next four months, it is more than likely that the messages going out from the candidates and their parties will remain similar to what they are today in tone and content.

What we perhaps have not stopped to think about is the fact that all the potential presidential candidates hail from the Suharto years.

From my neutral adman-turned-researcher's perspective, the messages would have been almost amusing had they not all been such wasted opportunities to really communicate, to persuade with good reason.

They are almost uniform in their didactic style, their chest- thumping tone so similar to the 'smiling general' of yesteryear. But then, this comes as no surprise either because after all, it's barely been ten years since he left the stage.

Behind the scenes however, much has changed. Sadly, Indonesia has blindly followed the route almost all democracies take as par for the course.

It takes money, big money, to get elected. That money has got to come from somewhere and inevitably, it comes from the rich. The rich and powerful, an old combination of two words that go hand in hand, as if they were inseparable.

It actually doesn't take too long for even the naive to put two and two together, identify who is financing whom, or even who is financing several candidates. That's just the way it is.

While we are quick to condemn the humble traffic policeman in Jakarta for pocketing a bribe in the thousands of rupiah, we ignore the "contributions" made in the trillions to finance the ambitions of political leaders. Where do we expect the loyalties of our leaders to lie?

As in the rest of the world, Indonesia's decade of democracy has also seen the rich get richer, the unbelievable concentration of wealth continuing shamelessly.

In the richest, most powerful nation on earth, poverty is on the increase. An investigation conducted by the BBC estimated that a small handful of these people, a few thousand, have over US$20 trillion stashed away in the fifty 'tax havens' around the world.

What is a tax haven, if not a tax dodge? The biggest banks in the world have helped the richest people on the planet stash these ill-gotten gains away.

Today, every government is struggling to find the billions required to stimulate their spluttering economies.

Yet they are the same people, politicians and bureaucrats who have looked the other way, continue to do so, because 'haven' is a polite word that puts them beyond the reach of the laws they created.

It's no secret that these stashes of ill-gotten wealth could stimulate the global economic recovery required, all by themselves.

The only glimmer of hope for our democracies is the fact that Barack Obama was really financed by small donations from the average citizen, not big business.

For saying what he had said on the campaign trail, for now trying to deliver on his promises, the rich and the powerful are calling him names.

Among the insults thrown every day by the media they own, the dreaded word "socialist". They are now demonizing him, comparing him with Chavez and Morales, ignoring the fact that these two socialists were democratically elected by their countrymen.

It pains them that Communist China, the world's best performing economy, is crucial to their own salvation.

Let us hope that Indonesia's leaders, whoever they may be come July, are taking note.

The least they can do is acknowledge the everyday struggle of the people who will put them in power, not just those who finance their campaigns.