Ezra Sihite – A photograph of three Cabinet ministers posing with a group of miniskirt-clad caddies at an East Jakarta golf course sparked public outrage after being splashed across the front page of the local newspaper Rakyat Merdeka on Monday.

The ministers have been accused of living a lavish lifestyle at a time when many Indonesians are preparing to pay more at the pump. The government's plan to cut fuel subsidies has inspired public outcry among the nation's poorer residents, who claim a raise in fuel prices will hit them hardest.

"We're discussing the fuel hike plan. The ministers should have been shown more sensitivity with the public's feelings," House of Representatives deputy speaker Pramono Anung said on Wednesday. "The public will see that the ministers, who are supposed to serve as the backbone of the state, fail to show empathy with the fuel hikes."

The ministers in question, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik and State Minister for the Acceleration of Development in Underdeveloped Regions Helmy Faisal, were also criticized by presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha on Tuesday, calling their behavior "indecent" and "unethical."

The photo was taken at the Royale Golf Course near Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in East Jakarta. (BeritaSatu/JG)

Nightmare zoo in Indonesia shaken by giraffe death

Associated Press - March 13, 2012

Trisnadi Marjan, Surabaya, Indonesia – The tigers are emaciated and the 180 pelicans packed so tightly they cannot unfurl their wings without hitting a neighbor. Last week, a giraffe died with a beachball-sized wad of plastic food wrappers in its belly.

That death has focused new attention on the scandalous conditions at Indonesia's largest zoo. Set up nearly a century ago in one the most biologically diverse corners of the planet, it once boasted the most impressive collection in Southeast Asia.

But today the Surabaya Zoo is a nightmare, plagued by uncontrolled breeding, a lack of funding for general animal welfare and even persistent suspicions that members of its own staff are involved in illegal wildlife trafficking.

Incredibly rare species, including Komodo dragons and critically endangered orangutans, sit in dank, unsanitary cages, filling up on peanuts tossed over the fence by giggling visitors.

"This is extremely tragic, but of course by no means surprising in Indonesia's zoos, given the appalling way they are managed on the whole," said Ian Singleton, a former zookeeper who now runs an orangutan conservation program on Sumatra island.

The zoo came under heavy fire two years ago following reports that 25 of its 4,000 animals were dying every month, almost all of them prematurely. They included an African lion, a Sumatran tiger and several crocodiles.

The government appointed an experienced zookeeper, Tony Sumampouw, to clean up the operation and he struggled, with some success, to bring the mortality rate down to about 15 per month.

But following last week's death of the 30-year-old giraffe "Kliwon" – who had for years been eating litter and trash thrown into its pen and was found with a 18-kilogram (40-pound) ball of plastic in its stomach – Sumampouw said he's all but given up.

Nothing short of a "total renovation" is needed, he said. "We need to either think about privatizing or transferring out some of the animals."

With entrance fees of less than $2, critics say there's not enough money to care for the animals, much less invest in improving the zoo's facilities.

One of the biggest problems is overcrowding. Whereas most zoos limit the number of animals born in captivity – taking into consideration how many can reasonably be cared for or exchanged with other zoos – the notion of "family planning" has not yet taken off here. Contraceptives are expensive and there are not adequate facilities to separate males and females. As result, species at the Surabaya zoo are bred to excess.

The 180 pelicans are kept in a pen the size of a volleyball court. Nearby, 16 tigers – 12 Sumatran and four Bengalese – are kept in a prison-like row of concrete cages. One white tiger, whose parents were donated by the Indian government nearly 20 years ago, is now covered by skin lesions.

Let out so rarely, she suffers from back complications that make it difficult to just stand up, let alone walk, zoo curator Sri Pentawati said. "There are too many tigers," she lamented. "We have a hard time rotating them out to get all the exercise they need."

Rahmat Shah – a well known big-game hunter with a museum in the city of Medan that is filled with rhinos, big cats and other animals he's shot around the world – currently heads Indonesia's National Zoo Association. He says none of the zoos run by the government are in good condition, but that Surabaya is especially troubled, due to a bitter internal rift.

Two men who each claimed to be the zoo's chief were fired several years ago, but their followers among the staff have continued the feud.

Police believe the poisoning death of a Javan warthog in January, found with traces of cyanide in its stomach, was linked to that conflict. "One side is always trying to discredit the other," said Ludvie Achmad, head of a local conservation agency.

Sumampouw acknowledged he has had little success in controlling the undisciplined staff. He said he believes some animals, including three young Komodos that disappeared last year, were stolen by caretakers and sold into the exotic pet trade. Zookeepers also have been accused of taking meat meant for the tigers and selling it in the local market.

[Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta contributed to this report.]

Depok mayor attempting to wean constituents off rice, at least for a day

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2012

Ulma Haryanto – Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail is never far from controversial policies. He has banned karaoke bars and obliged people to eat using their right hands.

The twice-elected mayor last month launched another campaign, much to the dismay of food vendors at Depok City Hall, called "One Day No Rice." "I have several reasons to back this campaign. Apart from the health aspects, this is also about food security," he said.

Since Feb. 14, food vendors at the Depok administration food court have been banned from serving rice on Tuesdays in a bid to support the campaign. Canteens and restaurants in the area complain that their profits are now down by half on Tuesdays.

During his tenure, Nur Mahmudi has issued infamous policies including obliging civil servants to design equipment to compost organic refuse, prohibiting the activities of the minority Ahmadiyah sect in Depok and as forbidding the sale of alcoholic drinks in hotels, cafes and karaoke bars.

University of Indonesia political analyst Ibramsyah said Nur Mahmudi's campaigns infringed on individual privacy. "It is up to individuals which hand they use and if they want to eat rice," Ibramsyah said. "They are capable of making those decisions themselves."

But when the president started to call for better food diversification and security, Nur Mahmudi said he felt he had to take it one step further. "I stopped eating rice seven months ago," he said. "Eighty percent of the average Indonesian diet is carbohydrates, of which more than 70 percent comes from rice."

He cited 1954 figures from the Agriculture Ministry showing that at the time, only 53 percent of Indonesians depended on rice. By 2010, that number had risen to as much as 95 percent. "The perception had become that if you want to eat, then you have to eat rice. Cassava, sago and tubers are just snacks," he said.

Nur Mahmudi said his administration was working with universities to find and promote alternatives to rice. "Each Indonesian on average consumes 139 kilograms of rice a year," Nur Mahmudi said. "We can create new opportunities if we are willing to spend one day not eating rice."

In Japan, the per capita consumption of rice is 60 kilograms per year, while in Malaysia it's 63 kilograms and in China it's 100 kilograms. Experts say the ideal amount is 60 kilograms.

Nur Mahmudi predicted that the Depok program could save 4.6 million tons of rice per year. "There is no need to import rice when we can easily substitute other products," he said.

A 2006 World Food Program survey on 341 districts and cities in 30 provinces in Indonesia found that people in half of the areas consumed fewer than 1,700 calories a day, well below the international standard of 2,100 for an average adult. In addition, up to 70 percent of the country's women and children are anemic, according to a 2004 Unicef study.

The problem is not so much a lack of food, but a lack of variety. Poor people tend to substitute protein-rich foods such as meat and eggs with rice. Last year, Oxfam also issued a warning to the country for its high dependency on rice, given the effects of climate change and the increasing price of rice.

Haryono, the head of research at the Agriculture Ministry, supports the mayor's campaign. "Indonesia has a large biodiversity, including in food sources. There are health benefits to consuming many types of food," he said.

He added that the "One Day No Rice" campaign should not be difficult to roll out because non-rice carbohydrate sources were widely available. "I believe educating people on the alternatives is important and that the campaign should be done gradually and become a national program," he said.

Haryono said the ministry was conducting a food diversification program based on local natural resources. "There are local species that are cheaper to produce with high nutritional content such as the moringa leaf," he said.

Haryono believes households should also take part in food security programs by cultivating their own food, especially those native to their area.

Titi Sekar Indah, a nutritionist at Jakarta's Gatot Subroto Army Hospital, said rice was one of the best sources of carbohydrates. "Cassava and tubers can cause indigestion and some people are also allergic to whey. Rice is the best because it is easily digested and absorbed by the body," she said.

However, Titi said, rice in the market today is highly processed and polished. "The husks are completely stripped away and the color is exceptionally white. The best rice is brown rice," she added. "But it is wrong to think that you can never be full if you don't eat rice."

Nutritionist Yulia Rima, on the other hand, believes that aside from empowering food diversification, the campaign should also introduce the concept of balanced consumption. "Practiced on a daily basis, people will not only consume a variety of nutrients, but also in balanced amounts," she said.

Nur Mahmudi himself said the "One Day No Rice" campaign was not meant to punish people, but to educate them. "I want people to look for creative alternatives to rice and to prove to themselves that it is OK to skip rice," he said. "People also have to see that it benefits themselves as well as the country."

Like his "eat and drink with your right hand" campaign, Nur Mahmudi says his latest campaign is part of his drive to "develop character."

New Order economic czar Widjojo passes away

Jakarta Post - March 9, 2012

Jakarta – The respected economist and senior New Order-era government official, Widjojo Nitisastro, died at 2.30 a.m. Friday at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta. He was 84.

Slamet Seno Adji, the National Development Planning Board's (Bappenas) secretary, said that Widjojo would be buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta. Prior to the burial, a wake will be held at Bappenas after the Friday prayers until 3:30 p.m., Antara news agency reported.

Widjojo, known as the main architect of the Indonesian economy at the beginning of the New Order in 1966, held numerous key positions in the New Order government under former President Soeharto, including chairman of Bappenas and coordinating minister of the economy, finance, and industry.

After Soeharto resigned in 1998, Widjojo continued to advice to subsequent presidents in an unofficial capacity.

Fuel price hikes

Police make arrests during clash-marred fuel protests

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Zaky Pawas, Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Vento Saudale & Natasia Christy Wahyuni – Police Mobile Brigade officers broke into an office of a student organization early on Thursday, beating its members and arresting three students as demonstration against proposed fuel price hikes continue to intensify.

Members of the Islamic Students' Association (HMI) were holding a protest against the impending price hike in Cikini, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday evening when officers from the brigade known as Brimob forcefully dispersed them.

"They aimed their rifles at us. They beat and chased us," said Alfian Ramadhani, the deputy secretary general of HMI's Jakarta and Banten chapter.

A group of officers then went to the organization's secretariat in Cilosari, Cikini, early on Thursday to search for the "masterminds" of the demonstration. "They ruined our office, beat our members and took three of members to Menteng Police station," Alfian said.

Police confirmed they searched the HMI's office, claiming the students had caused public disorder and chaos. "We have to disperse them and find out who was behind the demonstration. We have a law for that," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said.

He said the students had burned tires and closed down streets in Menteng. "We tried to talk to them, but they fought back. We had no choice but to bring them down. We arrested three students but released them," Rikwanto said.

Students staged rallies in several cities across the country on Thursday in reaction to the government's plan to increase the price of subsidized fuel by 33 percent in April.

In Bogor, a group of students threw rotten tomatoes at the Presidential Palace. Police arrested several students during the demonstration.

In Solo, students held a long march across the city, causing traffic jams, while in Denpasar, students staged a theatrical performance, accusing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of not listening to the people.

Several student organizations vowed to hold bigger rallies prior to the price increase.

The Indonesian Students National Consolidation (Konami) said representatives from 128 campuses in 21 provinces would came to Jakarta to take part in further demonstrations. "We will topple SBY-Boediono," Konami chairman Jati Pramestianto said.

Intelligence expert Wawan Purwanto said the protests would not emulate the students' movement that brought down former President Suharto in 1998. "There was dualism of leadership in 1998, but now the police and the military are solid under one command," he said.

However, Wawan also said that the rallies would cause chaos in several parts of the country.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and defense affairs, said the government would never prohibit students from demonstrating but urged them to do so peacefully.

"We know our students. They have to express themselves," the minister said. "However, I call on them to voice their aspirations in accordance with the law and social norms."

Indonesia's pricier petrol 'will lead to more riding motorcycles'

Investor Daily - March 14, 2012

Tri Listiyarini & Tito Summa Siahaan – Commuters will abandon their private cars and public transportation in favor of motorcylces once the government increases the price of subsidized fuel, a group of transportation experts say.

Danang Parikesit, the chairman of Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), said motorcycle sales growth could nearly double this year after the government increases the price of the widely-used subsidized fuel, Premium, by 33 percent in April.

He is figuring on a rise in sales of 15 percent this year. Indonesia last year recorded a 8.7 percent increase in motorcycle sales to 8.01 million units, a record high. Danang also predicted sales of small-engine cars to increase, but did not give any figures.

While the revelation was good for the motorbike industry, Danang expressed concern that "there will be a major shift" to motorcycles by those using public transportation and private cars.

"That is if the government does not make improvements in public transport services," he said. "We were worried big cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar, Medan and Bandung would get more crowded," Danang told Investor Daily.

The statement came as a leading economist reaffirmed the saving to public finances by the curbing of subsidy spending as Rp 57 trillion ($6.2 billion).

Aviliani, an economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), said the saving would be brought about by the government's policy of increasing the price of Premium from Rp 4,500 to Rp 6,000.

The saving would represent nearly one third of the Rp 190 trillion budget deficit the government is forecast to post this year.

On transport, data from the Indonesian National Police Traffic Corps shows last year there were 69 million motorbikes registered, compared to 59.8 million in 2010. Motorbikes made up 81 percent of the total vehicle population in Indonesia (including passenger cars, buses and commercial vehicles) last year.

Danang said the government must allocate at least 70 percent of the savings from raising the subsidized fuel price toward development in public transportation. Without such a policy, Danang said, the government is "egotistic" as it would only favor the wealthy without paying attention to the public's mobility needs.

Ahmad Muhibudin, a spokesman for Astra Honda Motor, the country's assembler and distributor of Honda motorcycles, disputed claims the price rise would prompt an increase in motorcycle sales, saying that the policy would in fact decrease consumer purchasing power.

However, he added: "We believe the government will do its best to minimize the negative impact of the price increase to consumption. We are still hoping that sales will remain strong."

AHM announced this week that it would spend Rp 3.1 trillion to build a new scooter factory, boosting its production capacity in the world's third- largest two-wheeler market.

AHM booked a 25 percent sales increase in motorbike sales to 4.27 million units last year but outpaced the growth in the Indonesian market. The company aims to sell 4.6 million to 4.8 million motorcycles this year.

Tensions rise over Indonesian fuel prices

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2012

Anita Rachman & Farouk Arnaz – In the run-up to the government's planned fuel price hike, the police are intensifying raids against hoarders, and three key labor organizations are warning of massive street protests.

The price of subsidized low-octane gasoline is set to rise 33 percent in April and fears of resulting inflation are beginning to see hoarding of fuel as well as other goods.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said on Monday that the police had arrested 596 people this year for involvement of 508 cases fuel hoarding totaling more than 1.5 million liters of fuel.

He said there had been cases of people hoarding diluted fuel, unsubsidized Pertamax gasoline and used lubricating oil and mixed oils. "There have been 97,750 trucks confiscated too," he said, in addition to more than 140 other vehicles used in the hoarding, ranging from motorcycles to canoes and barges.

In the past two weeks, state oil and gas company Pertamina has said that it has already noted a 17 percent increase in fuel sales. It is encouraging the public to report hoarders to the police or to Pertamina.

News reports have mentioned many goods becoming scarce in markets. Many traders have also already started to raise prices in anticipation of the inflation that may follow the increase in fuel prices.

Saud said the raids had turned up large quantities of hoarded fuel. "The largest number is linked to the hoarding of diesel, totaling 1,009,198 liters, and then Premium fuel with 545,587 liters, kerosene with 43,472 liters and crude kerosene 416,000 liters," he said.

Meanwhile, three major labor unions said they were ready to mobilize their members against the planned fuel price increases.

The Confederation of the All Indonesia Workers Unions (KSPSI), the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI) and the All Indonesia Labor Union Confederations (KSBI) are thought to have about 3.7 million members.

"We firmly reject the plan to raise fuel prices starting in April 2012. If the government pushes ahead with the price increase, then we will be ready to fight it, legally or through mass movements," KSPI president Said Iqbal said. He said higher fuel prices would cut into the purchasing power of workers and make their lives harder.

Iqbal said the first labor action against the plan would take place on March 21 with some 50,000 workers expected to hit the streets, gathering at the busy Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta and marching to the State Palace and then to the House of Representatives. He said a recent rise in minimum wage standards would be meaningless if fuel prices were increased.

Iqbal said that if the March 21 action was ignored, workers were ready to hold a general strike "paralyzing public facilities toll roads, airports and offices providing public services. We will hold a general strike."

Kasiran, who is with the KSPSI, said the protests against higher fuel prices would be bigger than anything seen in last year's labor strikes in Bekasi, which saw protesters occupying a toll road for hours.

Student protests against the fuel price plan were held in several cities on Monday.

In the South Sulawesi town of Palopo, hundreds of students rallied against the planned price increase. One participant had to be rushed to the hospital with burns on his face after protesters attempted to set a tire on fire as part of the protest.

Protests were also reported in Malang, East Java; in Kendari, South Sulawesi; and in Bandar Lampung, Lampung.

In Kendari, the protesters managed to get the local office of state Radio Republik Indonesia to broadcast their demands. They said that if fuel prices were increased, they would organize demonstrations demanding the resignations of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono.

Fuel price hike may increase poverty rate

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2012

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The nation's poverty rate may spike above the government's 2012 target due to the government's planned subsidized fuel-price increase, which may result in higher prices across the board.

Higher fuel prices might plunge 12.8 percent of the nation's population below the poverty line, compared with the government's target of between 11.5 and 12.5 percent as stated in the 2012 state budget, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said on Monday.

Instead, the government revised downward its targeted poverty rate at between 10.5 and 11.5 percent due to the planned "temporary direct assistance for the people" (BLSM) program.

The cash-aid program will allot Rp 150,000 for each low-income household for nine months after the fuel policy takes effect, according to the 2010 revised state budget draft.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono suggested the introduction of the cash- aid program to compensate the poor for the planned energy price hike, which would be distributed to 30 percent of the country's registered residents.

"According to the latest data, 18 million households will be eligible to be assisted under the program," Agus said after a hearing with House of Representatives Commission XI on finance in Jakarta on Monday. "The total amount of direct assistance is Rp 25.6 trillion."

The government has proposed numerous adjustments for its energy subsidy policies, including conditionally raising fuel prices without House approval. As for the electricity subsidy, the government has proposed a 3 percent hike per quarter as of the second quarter of this year.

The implementation of both of the energy subsidy adjustments has the potential to significantly raise inflation rates and, therefore, affect the purchasing power of the lower-class economy segment – a large portion of the country's demographics.

Agus said that other than the direct cash assistance program, the government was set to launch other compensation programs, such as the rice-for-the-poor program, scholarships and public transportation subsidies, to ease the impact of the planned fuel-price hike on the poor.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik previously said that the government planned to increase fuel prices Rp 1,500 per liter to Rp 6,000 per liter if the revised state budget draft was approved by the House.

Gadjah Mada University economist Anggito Abimanyu said the fuel-price hike should be only Rp 1,000 per liter if the government wanted to raise fuel prices. By doing this, the fuel price would stand at Rp 5,500 per liter.

"The impact of raising fuel prices by Rp 1,500 per liter will be too significant and I, therefore, believe the best policy is for the government to raise it by Rp 1,000 per liter," Anggito said.

"If fuel is raised Rp 1,500 per liter, then inflation could rise by 2 percent. On the other hand, if the price is raised only Rp 1,000 per liter, then the impact on inflation would be less than 2 percent," he added.

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Darmin Nasution has said that the government's plans on energy subsidies might result in a "one-time shock" inflation of up to 7.1 percent from 3.56 percent in February.

As subsidy cut looms, police keep special eye on protesters, hoarders

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2012

Bayu Marhaenjati & Hangga Brata – Police are bracing themselves for next month's planned fuel subsidy cut as demonstrations become a daily occurrence and speculators began piling up subsidized fuel to be sold later.

"We will secure gas stations and fuel distribution sites, and we will anticipate demonstrations to keep them from breaking the law," Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Untung S. Rajab said on Friday.

"For speculators, we have studied precisely people's daily consumption and how long they are allowed to store fuel."

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said officers would be deployed to inspect fuel stations to prevent them from hoarding subsidized fuels. "Particularly those who claim they have run out of Premium," he said, referring to the brand name of subsidized fuel sold by state oil company Pertamina.

"The other day we arrested people in Depok [south of Jakarta] who bought 3,400 liters of subsidized fuel in jerrycans to store in their houses. "Such cases are common [ahead of the hike] not only in Jakarta but also across Indonesia."

The government announced it would increase the price of subsidized fuel from to Rp 6,000 (66 cents) per liter from Rp 4,500 from April 1, as international oil prices have skyrocketed, putting a strain on the state budget.

Police in Cirebon, West Java, and Mamuju, West Sulawesi, said they were also ready to crack down on speculators and guard student protests, staging riot handling rehearsals at their respective cities.

Students across Indonesia have staged protests against the proposed hike since late last month, arguing the hike will have a domino effect on transportation costs and prices of goods and basic commodities.

In Semarang, Central Java, students from Diponegoro University stopped two gasoline trucks belonging to Pertamina on Friday in a protest against the government's policy. The students plastered posters calling for a stop to the plan on trucks' windshields and climbed on top of the vehicles while chanting slogans. They held the trucks captive for 15 minutes before allowing them to continue.

"We hijacked these gasoline trucks because it should be belong to the people," one of the students said. The trucks' drivers seemed anxious as many students smoked near the trucks.

In Bojonegoro, East Java, hundreds of students rallied in front of the local Regional Representatives Council (DPRD) office and also stopped a fuel truck. The students managed to occupy the truck for several minutes before police told them to disband.

In Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, students demanded that DPRD members come out and meet them. When none appeared, the students stormed the local DPRD building.

Demonstrations were also reported in Ambon, Maluku, on Friday.

[Additional reporting from Antara.]

Unions plan national strike on fuel price hike

Jakarta Post - March 9, 2012

Ridwan M. Sijabat, Jakarta – The central government's half-hearted and convoluted plan to raise fuel prices may soon come to a dramatic head.

Several labor unions are threatening to launch strikes and massive rallies across the nation on March 20 to oppose the plan, even as fuel vendors and transportation companies in several provinces have started to raise prices.

Hundreds of workers rallied in front of the Presidential Palace and the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday in initial attempts to foil government plans to raise fuel and power prices, which have been viewed as excessively burdensome.

However, the rallies were dampened by hundreds of riot police officers on scene at both locations.

In an attempt to reduce its swelling budget deficit amid soaring world oil prices and in a drive to increase efficiency, the government has pledged to raise fuel prices by Rp 1,500 (17 US cents) per liter in April.

Electricity rates will follow suit in May, as state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) purchases non-subsidized diesel to power its generators.

As a result of ballooning global oil prices, PLN decided to raise electricity rates by 10 percent to Rp 796 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). PLN's power production cost is Rp 1,100 per kWh, with the remainder subsidized by the government.

Officials previously said that the government would end up spending Rp 230.4 trillion on energy subsidies this year – up 36.7 percent when compared to the initial 2012 state budget – if the House of Representatives (DPR) approves its plan to raise fuel prices and electricity rates.

The government has estimated that it will spend Rp 137.4 trillion on fuel and gas subsidies in 2012, 11.1 percent more than previous estimates.

Even if the proposed rate increases are implemented, electricity subsidies would nevertheless skyrocket to Rp 93 trillion, up more than 200 percent from Rp 44 trillion as stipulated in the current state budget.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Indonesian Metal Workers Union (SPMI), Said Iqbal, said labor unions were still consolidating and making preparations to launch massive rallies nationwide to oppose the government's plan.

"The government and security authorities should not look down at us. Labor unions and workers will launch massive demonstrations starting on March 20 until the plan is withdrawn," Said told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Thursday.

Separately, Mathias Tambing, the chairman of the All-Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI); Mudhofir, the chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperity Trade Unions (KSBSI); and Husni Thamrin, chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI), each warned the government that raising fuel prices and basic power rates would have a terrible effect on their members' livelihood.

"We will hit the streets nationwide and occupy strategic state assets such as toll roads, government offices and gas stations if the government goes ahead with its plan to raise fuel prices," Mudhofir said.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, wide-ranging community groups staged joint rally against the plan.

The largest group was comprised of students from Makassar State University, who marched from their campus to a nearby flyover and then to the South Sulawesi Legislative Council building.

The action was marked by a small incident when some protesters, pushed by the crowd into the doors of the council building, shattered some glass panes. However, officials declined to respond and the protest continued peacefully.

Three legislators then came out to meet the protesters, who told the officials that they strongly opposed the plan to raise fuel prices on grounds that it would burden people, especially the poor. The students' statement was later faxed to the House of Representatives in Jakarta.

Separately, in several parts of Lampung, fuel prices have started to increase, even though the fuel price hike has not been announced by the government. Some retailers, for example, have raised premium fuel prices from Rp 6,000 per liter to Rp 8,000, far above the usual price of Rp 4,500 per liter.

While in Way Kanan and Prinsewu regencies, consumers have started a run on gas stations, buying large amounts of fuel for stockpiling. Asep, 40, a resident Bandar Lampung, said that his car stalled in Way Kanan when it ran out of gas.

"I could not get any gasoline as nearly all gas stations were closed due a lack of supplies. Ironically, retailers could still get gas in large quantities," he said on Thursday.

[Andi Hajramurni in Makassar and Oyos Saroso H.N. in Bandar Lampung contributed reporting.]

West Papua

HRW condemns conviction of Papua activists, government responds

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Erwida Maulia – New York-based Human Rights Watch has condemned the Indonesian government for allowing the conviction of five Papuan independence activists on Friday, saying the prosecutions went against constitutional freedom of expression.

The Jayapura District Court convicted five men and sentenced them to three years in prison for pro-independence statements made at the Third Papuan People's Congress in the subdistrict of Abepura last year in October.

The men are Selpius Bobii, a social media activist; August Sananay Kraar, a civil servant; Dominikus Sorabut, a filmmaker; Edison Waromi, a former political prisoner; and Forkorus Yaboisembut, a Papuan tribal leader.

A crackdown by security officers at the peaceful October protest left three dead and 90 others injured.

"Human Rights Watch takes no position on claims to self-determination in Papua," the group said on Friday in a press statement. "Consistent with international law, however, Human Rights Watch supports the right of everyone, including independence supporters, to express their political views peacefully without fear of arrest or other forms of reprisal."

The group suggested amending the nation's Criminal Code "to ensure that no one is prosecuted for treason for exercising their rights to peaceful protest protected under the Indonesian constitution and international law."

It also criticized the lack of sanctions on 17 police officers allegedly involved in the crackdown, saying they had only been given written warnings with no further action taken against them for possible misuse of force.

"Human Rights Watch renewed its call for the Indonesian government to release all political prisoners and allow human rights organizations and foreign journalists unimpeded access to Papua," it added.

Responding to the rebuke, presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told the Jakarta Globe that the central government would not intervene in the legal process in Papua, saying the convicts could appeal to a higher court if dissatisfied with the verdict.

He claimed freedom of speech did not apply to separatist activities, citing member states of the European Union that classify separatism as a form of terrorism. "Any expression of separatism in the EU is thus considered an act of terrorism," Teuku said.

He insisted that security officers proven guilty of the violent October crackdown had received proper sanctions, saying the termination of their employment was a sufficient social punishment because it denied them their right to income.

"That will be a good lesson for our other security officers to respect human rights, as it has now become part of our military curriculum," he said.

Papua has been the scene of a poorly armed and coordinated pro-independence movement since the 1960s. Secessionist sentiments have mounted in the face of human-rights abuses by Indonesian security forces, as well as anger among the local people that the central government is siphoning off the region's natural riches.

Indonesian court jails Papuan activists for treason

Agence France Presse - March 16, 2012

Levi Cunding – An Indonesian court on Friday sentenced five men to three years in jail in the restive Papua region for raising an outlawed separatist flag and declaring the region's independence.

The men had led a peaceful pro-independence celebration attended by 5,000 Papuans on October 19.

Papuans, mostly indigenous Melanesians, have long accused Indonesia's military of violating human rights in the region and complain that the bulk of earnings from its rich natural resources flow to Jakarta.

"All five defendants are found guilty of committing treason as stated in the criminal code. All aspects have been proven legally and convincingly," Judge Jack L. Oktovianus told the Jayapura district court. "We sentence them all to three years in prison."

The maximum sentence for treason is life in prison, but prosecutors had sought a five-year prison term. Among the defendants was Forkorus Yaboisembut, president of the Papuans' self-proclaimed state.

At least three people were killed and more than 90 injured during the pro- independence celebration. Local TV footage showed paramilitary police shooting into the crowd and beating participants with batons and bare fists after the men declared independence and raised the outlawed Papuan flag. Eight police officers involved in the shooting were let off with a warning.

Human rights groups denounced the court decision, saying it violates international laws and the Indonesian constitution, which guarantees freedom to protest.

"The imprisonment today of five peaceful political activists is a serious setback to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Indonesia, and violates Indonesia's obligations under international law," Amnesty International Indonesia campaigner Josef Benedict said in a statement.

"These five activists are prisoners of conscience – jailed solely for peacefully expressing their political views. They must be immediately and unconditionally released."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for the government to release all political prisoners and allow rights organisations and foreign journalists unimpeded access to the region, which is tightly-controlled by Jakarta.

"Throwing activists in prison on charges of treason will just reinforce Papuans' beliefs that the Indonesian government uses the law for political purposes," HRW Asia deputy director Elaine Pearson said in a statement.

"If the Indonesian government wants to make an example out of these people, then it should free them as a symbol of its commitment to free expression." In 1969, Indonesia took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony on the western half of New Guinea island, after a vote among a select group of Papuans widely seen as a sham.

More than 170 people are imprisoned in Indonesia for promoting separatism, most of them from Papua or the eastern Maluku islands, according to HRW.

Five jailed over West Papua independence push

Sydney Morning Herald - March 16, 2012

Michael Bachelard – Five activists fighting for an independent West Papua will immediately appeal their conviction and imprisonment on treason charges, handed down today.

The men, including Forkorus Yaboisembut, the man declared "president of the Federal Republic of West Papua" by representatives of the district's 200- plus tribes last October, were jailed yesterday for three years by Jayapura district court judge Jack Johanis Oktavianus.

The three year sentence was lighter than the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the charge of "makar" (translated as treason or subversion).

The chief prosecutor, Julius Teuf had called for sentences of five years for the men, who were caught in a bloody crackdown after a national Congress of tribes had unilaterally declared independence from Indonesia.

As well as Forkorus, the five jailed men include "Prime Minister" Edison Waromi, Agustinus Sanany Kraar, Selpius Bobii and Dominikus Sorbet.

However, their lawyer, Gustav Kawer, told Fairfax yesterday that the panel of judges in the case had ignored crucial evidence that the Congress was held in the open and with the knowledge of security forces.

The defendants had "even asked the Home Affairs Minister to be the keynote speaker," Mr Kawer said. "I don't know if the ministers replied to the letters or not. We submitted the letters as evidence that the congress wasn't held in secrecy."

The independence declaration came at the end of a congress of indigenous Papuans – only the third such meeting since 1961, when the western half of the island of New Guinea was still under Dutch control. But after the meeting had finished, police and army members began a violent crackdown in which six people were shot and killed and five arrested.

Muridan Widjojo, the author of Papua Road Map, said yesterday's conviction and sentence showed that Indonesia's legal system had still not adjusted to the introduction of democracy.

"What Forkorus and his friends did cannot be categorised as treason. There is no armed movement, there is no alternative government. What they did was just a symbolic thing," Widjojo said.

Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said the charges were politically motivated and urged the Indonesian government to order the men's release to show its commitment to free expression.

The executive of the Human Rights Law Centre in Melbourne, Philip Lynch, said the prosecution was "an affront to democracy and the rule of law." "With Indonesia due to front the UN Human Rights Council for a periodic review of its human rights record, the global community should call on the government to fully and faithfully live up to its international human rights obligations. The exercise of democratic rights and freedoms must be protected by law, not criminalised," he said.

Freeport mine resumes production

Agence France Presse - March 12, 2012

Timika – The Indonesian subsidiary of US mining giant McMoRan said on Monday it had resumed operations after a two-week suspension caused by fighting among workers.

Work was halted last month after employees complained that a deal struck in December – which ended a three-month strike over wages and conditions – was not being implemented properly my management, with some strikers not being paid.

The company closed the mine, saying some workers who participated in the strike had "engaged in acts of violence and intimidation against non- striking workers and supervisory personnel." Three workers were arrested by police over the violence.

But on Monday Freeport Indonesia spokesman Ramdani Sirait told AFP: "The workers' union and the company management agreed last week to mobilise all workers to return to work today." "Hopefully everything will go back to normal again," he added.

Freeport did not give details on what led to the latest agreement, but workers' union spokesman Virgo Solossa said: "Freeport had promised to give salary to those who had not received their pay."

However, Solossa defended the workers, telling AFP: "Those who didn't receive their salary were upset and took it out on their colleagues who received their pay. "We also want the three workers to be released as I'm afraid that if they are prosecuted, it could lead to another protest," he said.

The workers agreed to return to the mine in mid – December after negotiating a 37 percent increase their wages, which started at $1.50 an hour for unionised members and better conditions for contractors.

The company slashed production by 50 percent when 8,000 of Freeport's 23,000 workers went on strike last year. The strike at the mine triggered a spate of violence, with at least eight people killed in ambush attacks and clashes with police in the already troubled province.

Aceh

Densus 88 arrests five in connection with pre-election violence in Aceh

Jakarta Globe - March 11, 2012

Farouk Arnaz – The police's elite counterterrorism unit has arrested five people in Aceh and North Sumatra believed to be linked to a spate of politically motivated attacks in the lead-up to elections in Aceh next month.

A source from the unit, known as Densus 88, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that police were investigating whether the perpetrators' motives were political or whether they were linked to the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

"We're now interrogating these five individuals in Aceh," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We haven't determined yet whether to name them suspects or not."

While police have not officially confirmed the arrests, Comr. Gen. Sutarman, the National Police's chief of detectives, previously said that Densus 88 was indeed involved in "helping secure" the upcoming polls in Aceh.

"We've sent Densus 88 there to give [residents] a sense of security," he said in January. "We're also increasing the number of joint police-military patrols across the province."

Sutarman said the heightened security presence there, including the deployment of Densus 88, was in response to a series of shootings and firebombings by unknown perpetrators since last October.

"These attacks are being carried out by a certain group to disturb the people," he said. "They want to scare them in order to create an atmosphere of terror and disrupt the elections." The attacks began just weeks before the polls were initially to be held last November.

Nine people have been killed in the incidents since early December. In the latest incident, Lhokseumawe City Council Speaker Saifuddin Yunus was shot and injured in an ambush at his house early on Thursday by unknown gunmen.

The previous week, a car belonging to the campaign team of Governor Irwandi Yusuf was set on fire in East Aceh district. The vehicle only sustained minor damage, and the perpetrators remain at large.

While analysts suggest the violence is aimed at disrupting the elections, some local authorities say the shootings are purely criminal in nature and motivation.

Many local residents say the violence been taking place simply because many people still possess explosives and guns inherited from the time when the GAM was still fighting to break the province away from Indonesia.

The police have not made any arrests or uncovered the motives in any of the attacks, which mirror a series of politically motivated attacks that took place between late 2008 and April 2009.

Those events, prior to the 2009 legislative elections, targeted the offices and homes of politicians from several parties, but mainly those from the Aceh Party, which was founded by former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerillas.

The upcoming elections, which are slated for April 9 following a series of delays over political bickering, will see voters across the province turn out to pick a governor, four mayors and 13 district heads.

Five gamblers caned in Aceh, 15 more don't show

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2012

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Five men accused of gambling were caned six times each while hundreds of people watched in Aceh on Friday.

Aceh adopted partial Shariah law in 2001 as part of an autonomy agreement aimed at quelling separatist sentiment. The province's autonomous status made possible its legislature's decision to pass laws legalizing corporal punishments considered human rights abuses elsewhere, such as caning.

Friday's punishment meted out to the men is the first incident of caning this year. Putra Masduri, the head of the Langsa prosecutor's office, said the caning took place in Langsa, eastern Aceh, at 3:30p.m.

"The men were involved in various parts of the gambling operation," he said. "Some were writing down the winning [lottery] numbers and others were selling tickets."

The sentence for the five men was handed down earlier in the day by the Langsa Shariah court after they were found guilty of gambling. The defendants were not accompanied by a lawyer during the sentencing.

"The defendants were quick to accept the sentence because they wanted to get this over with quickly," Putra said. "They voiced regret for gambling and vowed it would not happen again." The five were arrested for gambling in January.

Another 15 people were scheduled to be caned on the same day, but did not turn up. Putra said that under Aceh's Shariah law, authorities are not allowed to detain suspects, so sentences are carried out quickly. This means that if those found guilty do not turn up for sentencing, there is not much the authorities can do.

"The 15 people are required to report to authorities next week and hopefully they will voluntarily come in to be sentenced and caned," Putra said.

Freedom of speech & expression

Spiritual group leader gets 4 years in jail for blasphemy, plans appeal

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2012

Hangga Brata, Klaten, Central Java – Andreas Guntur, the leader of Amanat Keagungan Ilahi, a spiritual group which draws upon certain verses of the Koran, was sentenced to a four-year jail sentence for blasphemy on Tuesday at the Klaten District Court.

Andreas's attorney Suwardi said he would appeal. He said the panel of judges rejected all of his client's defense and gave him the maximum possible sentence of four years in jail. "The defendant and the panel of judges still have a difference of opinion. AKI is still not considered a belief," Suwardi said.

According to a Web site maintained by AKI group members, AKI is not a religion but draws on divine inspiration allegedly received by founder R. Usman in 1969. The group's references to Koranic verses but rejection of conventional Islamic rituals has led it to be condemned by bodies such as the Indonesia Council of Ulema (MUI), which issued a fatwa against it in 2009.

The court trial was heavily guarded by Klaten Police to prevent any possible clashes as tens of Muslim activists attended the proceedings.

The supposed blasphemy was discovered last October when several Islamic mass organizations stormed Andreas's house after his neighbors complained about religious activities that Andreas performed with his colleagues in the house.

Local residents said Andreas would perform his activities until 3 a.m. and they would sometimes hear people cry. When the sect was disbanded, there were 23 people in Andreas's house.

Last month, an artist fell victim to hard-line religious organizations after he was attacked outside the headquarters of Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia's office in Yogyakarta.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo, an East Java-based artist and journalist who has published a number of opinion pieces in the Jakarta Globe, was attacked by dozens of MMI members. Bramantyo said the performance was intended to inspire people to fight against radicalism, anarchy, intimidation and violence by extremists.

The MMI, headed by convicted terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir before he was ousted in a power struggle, has filed blasphemy charges against Bramantyo and demanded that he apologize.

'Nuisance' punks arrested in Mataram

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – Public order officers arrested several punks on Tuesday who were deemed to be causing a nuisance to citizens at several locations.

The authorities said the punks' activities caused a nuisance to public order and that they were deemed as "the scum of society" in a city that carried the motto of "The worshippers' city: progress and religion".

"The existence of the punk community has been annoying and we have received a lot of complaints from citizens. We have detained five of them, two boys and three girls," said Ibnu Salim, head of the public order police unit.

The five, aged between 16 and 24 years, were arrested at a crossroad in the city at around 8:45 a.m. local time. They fell asleep after having allegedly held a cocktail party the night before.

Dozens of punk youths have been arrested this year and then returned home for counseling. Ibnu said people have been complaining about punks' street singing and loitering at crossroads.

Punk subculture emerged in the UK, US and Australia in the mid-1970s. It includes a diverse array of ideologies and forms of expression, including fashion, visual arts, dance, literature and film, which grew out of punk rock.

In Indonesia, punks can be readily recognized with their untidy appearance, which is regarded as unfriendly toward the public. Punks in Mataram are alleged to be resorting to extortion in their street singing, which supposedly causes a nuisance to motorists.

"They are also prone to committing crime. When a vehicle user is not giving them money, they will scratch the car with the guitar or another blunt weapon," Ibnu said.

He said his unit was still establishing the size of the punk community in Mataram. He added it was difficult to uncover information about the community from an arrested punk because they would be tight-lipped on their friends' whereabouts.

The arrested punks, according to Ibnu, will be handed over to a social agency before being sent home. "Parents, village and district heads will be informed so that the kids will not fall back into such a kind of lifestyle," he said.

Issues of punks allegedly troubling the authorities have also surfaced in other areas.

In Aceh last year, local police arrested 60 punks that were accused of having made a false proposal in their organization of a punk rock concert in Banda Aceh. They were sent to a police school where they were said to have undergone education to change their social mindsets.

"It's very strange if they're treated like the mafia, big embezzlers or drug traffickers. Never forget that any mistake in responding to their behavior can ruin their future," legal expert Saifuddin Bantasyam said.

Mataram municipal officials said they would attempt to contain punk activities so that other youths would not follow suit.

Chaerul Anwar, a city official in charge of security, said the community of punks in the city had existed since 2010 and had since grown in both number and in location. "We sent home around a dozen punks to Bali and Java last year. Now those from Mataram and Sumbawa have been induced into the lifestyle."

Political parties & elections

PDI-P, PKS opt for closed-list system

Jakarta Post - March 16, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – With support from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has proposed that the 2014 legislative election apply the so-called closed-list system, to ensure parties nominate qualified candidates and to avoid the rampant money politics that plagued the last general election.

Lawmaker Arief Wibowo of the PDI-P faction, who chairs the House of Representatives' special committee deliberating the bill, said the closed- list was in fact consistent with the Constitution, which stipulated that only political parties can contend in the legislative elections.

"This means that political parties have a monopoly in determining their candidates who will contest the legislative elections," he said after a meeting between the special committee and the House leadership to discuss the four most crucial issues in the bill, here on Thursday.

He said the country should learn from the 1999 and 2004 legislative elections, which produced more qualified lawmakers than the current batch. "Despite their superior educational background, the current lawmakers produced by the open-list system in 2009 are less qualified and have brought more political troubles that have badly tarnished the House's image."

Gandjar Pranowo, another PDI-P lawmaker, criticized the open-list system, saying that it could be easily taken advantage of by profit-seeking politicians and brokers.

"It is a known fact that the winners in the 2009 election were those who had the money to buy votes while the candidates nominated by parties for their integrity, competence and strong political background lost the election because they had no money," he said.

Gandjar said that in the early years in office, most of the current lawmakers had abused their power to recoup money that they had lost during the run-up to the election.

"The involvement of many lawmakers in graft cases has something to do with their efforts to arrive at the financial break-even point," he said.

He also said the open-list system opened up an opportunity for candidates from the same party to compete with each other, while the Constitutional Court had not prepared a mechanism to settle electoral disputes stemming from legislative candidates nominated by the same party.

"We have proposed an ad-hoc trial in anticipation of such conflicts, but most factions rejected it," he added.

Gandjar, however, said that the closed-list system had its own weakness as it gave leeway to party elites to use their clout in nominating candidates who they had close relations with.

"But we can prevent this by staging an internal convention to seek qualified candidates with the highest level of integrity," he said.

Mardani, a member of the special committee from the PKS faction, said that his faction had opted to revert to the closed-list system in 2014 after rounds of political lobbying with the PDI-P, PPP and PKB factions. The New Order regime of president Soeharto was applied for more than 30 years.

"We are still struggling to convince other factions to accept the closed- list system as part of our efforts to uphold the parties' supremacy, and come up with candidates in future elections."

The Golkar Party and the Democratic Party, which both have a large number of members from the business community, have thrown their weight behind the open-list system.

Indonesian Civilized Circle (Lima) executive director Ray Rangkuty said the two systems had their own strengths and weaknesses, but the House should maintain the open-list system to produce qualified lawmakers.

"Political parties should be more selective by preparing a transparent mechanism to find qualified candidates. Campaigning should not be limited but all candidates are required to report their campaign funds to the General Elections Commission and they must be available for an independent audit and those who are found guilty of vote buying should be disqualified," he said.

SBY asks Muslim intellectuals to help secure 2014 election

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI) to help ensure that the upcoming 2014 elections are conducted fairly and without violence.

"The President has asked us to spread the idea of having quality elections, without violence and money politics, among our members," Nahat Fatah Natsir, ICMI chairman, told the press after meeting with Yudhoyono at the Presidential Office on Wednesday.

In the meeting, Nahat was accompanied by the deputy head of ICMI's advisory board Irman Gusman, head of expert board Hatta Rajasa, presidium member Sugiharto, secretary general Muhammad Taufiq, and deputy secretary general Endin Nasruddin.

During the 1.5-hour meeting, ICMI executives also invited Yudhoyono to attend the 2012 ICMI National Symposium and the establishment of the Indonesia Muslim Entrepreneur Union, both events scheduled to take place in May, Nahat said. (dic)

Pro-election groups in Yogya become more vocal

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – While the prolonged deliberation of the bill on Yogyakarta's special status (RUUK) at the House of Representatives is expected to come to an end by the middle of the year, pro-election groups that previously kept a low public profile are becoming more vocal.

These groups want to see the next governor and deputy governor of Yogyakarta democratically elected, in contrast to pro-appointment groups, which aim to continue the automatic appointment of the Sultan of Yogyakarta and the King of the Pakualaman principality as governor and deputy governor, respectively, out of respect for local traditions.

"Yogyakarta is part of the democratic NKRI (United Republic of Indonesia), so its governor and deputy governor must also be elected democratically," coordinator of pro-election group Pagar Betis (The Association of United Yogyakarta People for Democracy), M Ulin El Nuha, told The Jakarta Post Tuesday.

The group openly staged a peaceful rally around the Bunderan UGM traffic circle on Sunday. Some 500 people participated in the event under the theme "Preparedness rally for the NKRI, Yogya remains special without appointment". Yogya is the popular nickname of Yogyakarta.

Separately, the coordinator of the pro-appointment group, The Assistance Team for Yogyakarta RUUK, Achiel Suyanto, asked why the pro-election groups had only emerged now and not during the previous support stage for the RUUK. "There must be some group that coordinates them. I have found indications, but still do not have enough evidence," Achiel said.

He expressed his hope that the emergence of pro-election groups would not trigger conflict in the province, and suggested the groups take their aspirations to the House where deliberations over the RUUK had been going on.

Meanwhile, the director of Gadjah Mada University's Center for Peace and Security Studies (PSKP), Mohtar Masoed, said that the RUUK Yogyakarta was a political matter.

In politics, he said, people could not have everything they wanted. There should be compromise between the pro-election and pro-appointment groups. "Mass media can act as a mediating actor for the problem," he said.

Indonesia's contentious legislative threshold

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2012

Anita Rachman – This week, lawmakers representing the nine political factions in the House of Representatives will begin a series of meetings aimed at reaching a consensus on the long-running debate over the legislative threshold.

The goal is to have an agreement that would be passed by the House plenary as an amendment to the Legislative Elections Law by the end of the month, a full two years before the next polls.

But at least one member of the revisions working committee, lawmaker Akbar Faisal from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), is weary of what undue haste might produce. "This is an important law, don't rush it," he said. "If we can't reach a resolution, just go with the current law."

Percentage points

The lawmakers deliberating the amendments have been stuck on several points that will shape the next legislature, such as women's representation and campaign spending limitations.

But one issue reigns above the rest: the legislative threshold – the minimum percentage of votes a party must win nationwide to be represented in the legislature.

The current threshold figure of 2.5 percent allowed nine political parties to enter the House during the 2009 elections; too many, according to some of the bigger parties that want to up the stakes and "simplify" the composition of the House.

The Golkar Party and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the second and third largest parties in the House respectively, have argued that 5 percent is the ideal threshold. If that figure had been used during the 2009 elections, only six political parties would hold seats in the legislature today.

The largest party in the House, the ruling Democratic Party, is in a coalition with five other parties including three small ones, and is pushing for 4 percent.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a mid-sized party, is OK with 3 percent to 5 percent, while the smaller parties all maintain that the threshold should stay at 2.5 percent.

Fighting for 4 percent

By several accounts, the 4 percent figure appears to be the most feasible option. Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said in October that the government itself has proposed raising the threshold from 2.5 percent to 4 percent. The Democrats are confident the figure will serve as a "bridge" between the opposing factions.

In January, Syarifuddin Hasan, a member of the Democratic Party's advisory council, said a broad agreement for 4 percent was reached among parties in the ruling coalition's secretariat, since "all of them won at least 4 percent of the vote last time."

Using the 2009 election data, a 4 percent threshold would only eliminate Hanura, an opposition party that garnered 3.77 percent of the vote at the time. "We are ready to serve as a bridge. It looks like it's going in the 4 percent direction," said Democratic lawmaker Gede Pasek Suardika.

But nothing is final until the amendments are passed.

Hanura's Akbar told the Jakarta Globe that six parties – he declined to say which ones – met several weeks ago in a hotel to discuss the issue. The parties had agreed that "we are going to fight for 3 percent," he said.

Siti Zuhro, a political expert at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said, however, that 3 percent would be a hard sell to Golkar and PDI-P.

"They might agree on 4 percent, or 3.5 percent at the worst, but definitely not 3 [percent]. Especially when you read the map, because the government also wants 4," she said. "But I'm sure there will be a trade-off between political parties to reach an agreement."

Even in the event that the 4 percent threshold is passed, Siti said the eight parties that met that level in 2009 aren't necessarily safe in 2014, especially with the emergence of the new National Democrat Party (NasDem).

With NasDem – whose popularity is increasing, according to a new survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) – and the country's dynamic politics, Siti said a 4 percent threshold might only allow room for six political parties in the House.

Another battle

PDI-P's Arif Wibowo said his party was amenable to adjusting its stance on the threshold proposal, "but we are going to fight for the closed-list system," he added.

He was referring to the proportional representation system used in 2004, where citizens vote for the party, and the party decides who would get a seat in the legislature. In 2009, an open-list system was used, where people were allowed to vote for specific candidates and not just the parties.

PKS is also an advocate of the closed-list system, but the Democrats, United Development Party (PPP) and National Mandate Party (PAN) want to stick with the open-list format.

Golkar is pushing for a mixed-member proportional system, which could allocate seats for people to be voted into the legislature regardless of party.

Arif argued that the closed-list system was the only way to ensure the representation of women in the House would meet the 30 percent quota. At the moment, only 18 percent of House members are women.

"The closed system is simpler and easier," he said. "We will settle that issue, also the threshold figure. We have to compromise, not trade them off."

Deadlines

Initially, according to House Legislative Body chairman Ignatius Mulyono, the House wanted to pass the amendments 30 months before April 2014, when the next legislative elections will be held.

Since the House has missed that initial deadline, the working committee has set a June target instead, or 22 months before the elections.

"We have until June, but we have committed to finish it by the end of March," Ignatius said, adding that the nine political factions in the House were ready to negotiate and compromise to reach a resolution. "We are very optimistic about it," he added.

Golkar's Taufik Hidayat, the chairman of the working committee on the amendments, also said he was confident a consensus would be reached. "We are optimistic. There will be a point [where factions will eventually] compromise," he said.

Surveys & opinion polls

Golkar remains strong, amid increasing competition: LSI

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) found in its survey that the Golkar Party remained the strongest contender in the next general election and would likely garner 17.7 percent of the vote if a general election were to take place today.

The survey also found that the ruling Democratic Party, which won the 2009 general election, would trail in third position with 13.4 percent of the vote behind the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 13.6 percent of the votes.

LSI also predicted the surge of the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) which would come in fourth place in LSI's estimate with 5.9 percent of the vote, above the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party, both with 5.3 percent of the vote. The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) was in seventh position with 4.2 percent of the vote.

LSI executive director Dodi Ambardi attributed the rise of Golkar to voters' exposure to television talk shows on social and political issues, which have been very critical toward the ruling Democratic Party.

"Those who regularly watch talk shows will likely leave the Democratic Party and vote for the Golkar Party. Some respondents decided to change their preference because of the harsh criticism directed against the Democratic Party in talk shows," Dodi said on Sunday.

The LSI latest survey interviewed 2,418 respondents between Feb. 25 and March 5 in the country's 33 provinces. The survey was also to gauge the impact of television on voter preferences. Dodi said that 20.3 percent of respondents were between 41 and 55 years old and were considered as intellectually and politically mature.

LSI political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said that television political talk shows could also entice undecided voters into making their choices.

Burhanuddin said that the percentage of undecided voters had dropped from 29 percent in LSI's previous survey to 23 percent. "The reduction in the number of undecided voters corresponds to the growing support for Golkar. We believe that political talk shows have somehow motivated undecided voters to make their preference known, and the Democratic Party appears to be unattractive because of constant criticism it is receiving on the talk shows," he said.

The survey also found that in general the news media, both online and print, had little effect on influencing voters' preferences.

LSI conjectured that political ads, which had yet to be studied thoroughly by the pollster, played a greater role in shaping voter preferences toward political parties, particularly among those who were from lower educational backgrounds or were members of rural communities.

"Seventy-five percent of our respondents said that they had access to television. Most of them, or around 44 percent, preferred to watch sinetrons [soap operas] or movies, while only 32.5 percent watched the news or talk shows. We assumed that these voters gained their knowledge about political parties from ads. However, we must undertake a new study to confirm our assumption," Dodi said.

He added that the government's pro-poor programs, such as direct cash assistance (BLT) and school operational aid (BOS), in addition to the popularity of political leaders, could easily sway voter preferences toward certain political parties.

"Only 11 percent of our respondents regularly read newspapers and update their knowledge about politics or political leaders, while the rest prefer radio or the Internet" he said.

LSI's recent survey shows Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri; Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto; former vice president from the Golkar Party Jusuf Kalla and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie as the most popular presidential candidates.

Public majority against government plan to raise fuel price: Survey

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2012

Jakarta – A poll conducted by the Lingkaran Survei Indonesia (LSI) shows that at least 86.6 percent of 440 respondents opposed the government's plan to raise fuel prices.

Adjie Alfaraby, LSI's researcher, announced on Sunday that only 11.26 percent agreed with the policy that will commence in April, while 2.14 percent declined to vote.

"The majority of the respondents said that they were more against the government plan to raise the subsidized premium gasoline price rather than that other gas prices such as Pertamax, Pertamax plus or Solar gasoline. This is understandable because according to our survey, about 71.1 percent of our society have been using premium," Adjie said as quoted by kompas.com.

The government has confirmed that it will raise the price of subsidized premium gasoline by between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,500 per liter from the current price of Rp 4,500 (50 US cents) in April.

According to Adjie, the survey was conducted from March 5 to March 8 with 440 respondents that were picked randomly.

He added that previous polls conducted by the LSI also showed that a public majority was against the fuel price hike. The LSI poll conducted in 2004 showed that at least 82.3 percent respondents opposed the government policy to raise gasoline prices. About 75.1 percent respondents were also against the policy in the 2008 poll. (asa)

Media & journalism

Can you trust your news media?

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Ismira Lutfia – The increasing concentration of Indonesian media in the hands of just a dozen holding companies poses a threat to people's right to information that is free of political and business interests, a study has warned.

"Our research shows that the market is the winner," Shita Laksmi, a researcher from the nonprofit group Hivos Southeast Asia, said during a recent presentation of the research findings. "Citizens and their right to information have been reduced to just consumers and their choices," she added.

The study, carried out jointly by Hivos and the Center for Innovation, Policy and Governance, a research-based advisory group, and funded by the Ford Foundation, showed that despite the proliferation of media outlets across a broad range of platforms, a growing oligopoly in the industry was restricting people's access to diverse information.

The research was conducted between July and December 2011 using a mix of in-depth interviews and secondary data analyses. It aimed to shine a light on the political economy of the media industry and its ownership, changes in media business patterns that have been taking place and how those factors have affected access to media content.

The 12 media groups identified in the study were MNC Group; Kompas Gramedia Group; Jawa Pos; Mahaka Media Group; Elang Mahkota Teknologi; CT Corp.; Visi Media Asia; Media Group; MRA Media; Femina Group; Tempo Inti Media; and BeritaSatu Media Holdings, the parent company of the Jakarta Globe.

Three of these groups are affiliated with political parties. MNC Group, which has three free-to-air television stations, a pay-TV service and numerous online and print media outlets in its portfolio, is owned by Hary Tanoesoedibjo, a senior official with the National Democrat (NasDem) Party.

The newly established NasDem Party was founded by Surya Paloh, owner of news station Metro TV and the Media Indonesia daily newspaper, both of which fall under the Media Group.

Visi Media Asia, which has two terrestrial television stations, TV One and ANTV, is owned by Aburizal Bakrie, a business tycoon and chairman of the Golkar Party.

CT Corp. is owned by businessman Chairul Tanjung, who has close ties to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, although he has no known political affiliation. His business empire extends to the banking, hospitality and property industries, and a hypermarket chain.

The study said it was apparent that citizens were being left on the periphery of the media sector despite its rapid growth, as owners turned their media into money-making commodities.

"Relying on the industrial setting in order to ensure citizens' right to media will take us nowhere," the study concluded. "Citizens' right to engage in the media sector has to be fought for, instead of being welcomed and accommodated by the industry."

Another point raised was that despite the nature of the media as a public good, intervention by owners was common in the production of content, in keeping with their given business or political interests.

This was more evident in news reports, throwing the impartiality of the reporting into question and compromising the quality of the journalism, the study found.

Media analyst Ignatius Haryanto, who spoke at the presentation, said such intervention had given rise to news reporting that was not pertinent to public interests because it was crafted to serve the interests of the owners or their cronies.

Shita said, "The public has to understand that the news reports they see are not always true." She added that improving citizens' media literacy was one way to counter the impact of such reporting, allowing the public to better filter out homogenous, interest-laden information.

The research also found that national policies had failed to regulate the media as an industry and that existing policies were incapable of mitigating the excessively profit-driven logic of media companies, thus leading to the emergence of the oligopoly.

Ignatius said that since Indonesia's democratization, including press liberalization, began a decade ago, the development of the country's media had been marred by a "tug-of-war" between industry players, the government, media regulators and civil society.

"This will continue to happen in the domain of media regulation, in which there are loopholes to shape the policy-making process and to tailor the policies in accordance with each group's interests," he said.

He cited the ongoing Constitutional Court review of an article in the 2003 Broadcasting Law, which was sought by a coalition of media activists who have challenged a provision on cross-ownership of broadcasting stations.

Yanuar Nugroho, the lead researcher in the study, said the rejuvenation of public broadcasters would be important to counter the tendency of private TV stations to churn out content that was produced merely to boost ratings.

"It would be impossible for private broadcasters to create a healthy public sphere for citizen interaction. That can only be introduced by public broadcasters," he said.

B. Herry Priyono, a lecturer at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy, said that in addition to increasing the public's media literacy, there also needed to be an assessment of media members' professionalism.

"Journalism nowadays is considered merely a job instead of a commitment to deliver the people's voice," he said. "We need to reinvent that commitment."

Lack of unions in Indonesian media an 'absolute irony'

Jakarta Globe - March 15, 2012

Anita Rachman – The media have historically been some of the most tenacious advocates of workers' rights, yet in one of the ironies of an increasingly independent and privatized national press, media companies remain resistant to letting their journalists unionize.

"It's an absolute irony," said Abdul Manan, chairman of the Federation of Independent Media Workers Unions.

Data from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) indicate that of the hundreds of media companies across print, on line, radio and television platforms nationwide, only 30 outlets have established press unions.

The resistance stems from how media owners perceive the workers' unions. Most media bosses, Manan said, still take the conservative view that the presence of a union in their workplace would do more harm than good.

"Workers' unions have always been synonymous with demonstrations, protests or leftist movements," said Manan, who is the union chairman at Tempo.

He added that owners also tended to view unions as benefiting only the workers' interests, not those of the company. But this view does not entirely reflect reality, Manan said. "It's to solve issues together, for the sake of both sides," he said.

The reluctance to allow unions in the workplace has seen a few journalists in some media companies fired.

AJI's Winuranto Adhi, who often helps in union-busting cases, cited the case of Bambang Wisudo, who in 2006 was embroiled in a dispute with the Kompas management.

In 2010, there was a similar case involving a union worker at TV broadcaster Indosiar, and also at Suara Pembaruan, a sister publication of this newspaper, where some union workers found themselves among those retrenched in a restructurization.

The latest case is that of Luviana, a Metro TV assistant producer. Luviana alleges the news station stopped giving her daily assignments after she demanded fairer treatment and better pay for Metro TV employees. She also agitated for the establishment of a workers' union at Metro TV.

Winuranto said management sometimes used intimidation, suspension from daily tasks or forced retirement to stop journalists from unionizing or demanding unfulfilled basic rights.

But even among journalists, there is no consensus on the need for unions. Many identify themselves as professionals, Winuranto said, thus refusing to be categorized as laborers and steering clear of any involvement with union movements.

Luviana said others were often forced to accept "punishment" for being too critical of their own companies because they feared losing their jobs. She said that was what made it difficult galvanizing support from fellow workers to unionize.

After three years as union chairman at Tempo, Manan was confident both sides could benefit from such a system, citing one case in which journalists asked the union to request evaluation results that had been withheld. "The union became the bridge between the two sides," he said.

Manan said unions could also help address more substantial matters. "For example, the company can ask the union to communicate with workers when they have financial issues, like if they didn't make a profit last year and are unable to afford to give out any rais es," he said.

Women's rights

Sexual violence, workplace discrimination dominate Indonesian IWD rallies

Direct Action - March 16, 2012

James Balowski, Jakarta – Commemorating International Women's Day, activists and workers took to the streets across Indonesia on March 8 to demand equality and an end of sexual violence against women. Sexual harassment in the workplace and discriminatory laws were also a major theme at many rallies.

Sexual violence

Actions were also held to build up to IWD. On March 4 activists from the Free Women National Committee (KNPM) held a free speech forum at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in central Jakarta. Action spokesperson and KNPM national coordinator Dian Novita said that the government is neglecting cases of sexual violence and the state is therefore complicit in the rape of women. "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has neglected the resolution of rape cases; likewise the parliament has allowed sexual harassment against women to occur", Novita told Seruu.com.

According to the KNPM, there were 4845 cases of rape and sexual harassment against women in 1998-2010. More than three quarters were perpetrated by people close to the victim such as fathers, husbands, older brothers, uncles, grandfathers and boyfriends. "This makes us realise that even being with the people who are closest to us does not ensure that women can avoid incidents of sexual violence", she told Pelita Online.

The KNPM said rape and sexual harassment also take place in public places, the perpetrators including close relatives, public transport drivers, celebrities, government officials and politicians. According Jakarta Metro Jaya regional police, there has been an increase in rapes on city public transport, rising from around 60 cases in 2010 to 68 in 2011.

Novita said this is made worse by discriminatory laws. "In Article 285 of the Criminal Code, rape is defined only as forced sexual intercourse (the penetration of the sexual organs), nothing else, and because of this it creates difficulties in the prosecution of rape cases", Novita told Tribune News.

Tempo.com also reported that on March 6, activists from the Women's Justice Forum (FKP) – an alliance of around 30 women's groups including the KNPM – distributed around 500 stickers reading "Stop rape and sexual harassment" on buses and city public transport vehicles in east Jakarta, an area where many cases of sexual violence have occurred on public transport vehicles.

Workplace discrimination

IWD was commemorated in several major cities on March 8. Around 60 women from the West Java Regional Women's Committee (KPR) marked IWD in the West Java capital of Bandung with a rally at the governor's office calling for sexual equality and for the government to protect women from sexual violence. "There are still women who are being harassed. We demand safety wherever we may be", KPR chairperson Nurbetty told Detik.com. The KPR also called for an end to discrimination in the workplace and a 40% quota for women in all public offices.

In Lampung, South Sumatra, workers from the Independent Workers Union (SBM) protested against contract labour and outsourcing in solidarity with 53 workers dismissed by a local company for demanding higher wages. SBM member Ani Herningsih said violence and harassment against women had risen in her workplace. "We face a gender gap in education and remuneration, not to mention normative rights, such as menstrual leave and nursing rooms for breast-feeding mothers, which the company has not provided", Herningsih told the Jakarta Post.

Increase in violence

The Post reported that student groups in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar held several rallies that were joined by members of the Islamic Female Students' Association (Kohati) and the Anti-Discrimination People's Movement. The protesters criticised the weak protection offered to women, which had resulted in an increase in harassment, discrimination and violence, both domestically and publicly. Kohati members presented data from the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) showing a sharp increase in violence against women.

According to Komnas Perempuan, 119,107 cases of violence against women took place in 2011, up 13% from 2010. The commission documented 4335 cases of sexual harassment in 2011, of which 2937 occurred in public spaces including public transportation vehicles. The commission recorded 1751 sexual harassment cases in public spaces in 2010.

In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, Harian Orbit reported a demonstration by the Women's Liberation Struggle Front at the North Sumatra regional House of Representatives. Also taking up the theme of violence and sexual harassment, action coordinator Jumeida said that women are treated as second-class citizens, as shown by the state's failure to provide women with access to decent jobs.

The group also condemned a recent ban by the House of Representatives (DPR) on female staff members wearing "revealing" clothing, saying that it gives the impression that what women wear invites criminal acts. "Women's [self- ]expression should not be restricted", she said, adding that women's enemy is the capitalists who attempt to curb women's rights. Action coordinator Nurlela Lamasitudju told Detik News that the police often take cases of petty crimes to court, but when the victims are women or children, "Strangely the cases are not acted upon".

State complicit in rape

In Jakarta, activists from the FKP held a rally in front of the State Palace on March 8 with the theme "The state is complicit in the rape of women", which also took up the issue of sexual violence against women in the workplace.

FKP spokesperson Iswarini said that many women workers are victims of sexual violence at work. "Several said that they had to sleep with superiors if they wanted to be promoted, or there are even some whose underpants are examined to substantiate [if they are telling] the truth when they ask for menstrual leave", she told Republika Online.

Iswarini explained that many victims are afraid to speak out due to the prejudices of the system and that the real number of sexual harassment cases in the workplace is much higher. "There are many things that cause a [culture] of silence among victims of sexual violence, including the lack of impartiality in the legal system in Indonesia and our social outlook that still considers victims of sexual harassment as immoral or soiled goods", she said.

Iswarini said that the victims are raped several times: by the perpetrator, society, the victim's associates, religion, the police, the courts and the media. She said this demonstrates the state's failure to protect women, highlighting the Criminal Code definition of rape as an immoral act that disturbs social order and security, not as an attack on the integrity of a woman's body. "Regulations such as this ignore the importance of the mechanisms of protection, recovery and rehabilitation of the victims", said Iswarini.

Mini-brains, not miniskirts

The FKP also took up the DPR's miniskirt ban, one of the banners at the protest reading, "It's not the skirt that's mini, but your brain that's mini". "People still have a patriarchal thinking, believing that if a person wears revealing clothing they want to be raped. This is a patriarchal thinking that has to be exposed", Iswarini told the state news agencyAntara.

Earlier in the week, the DPR's household affairs committee issued a regulation banning female staff from wearing revealing attire, saying that the measure was taken to prevent immoral conduct. House speaker Marzuki Alie, from President Yudhoyono's ruling Democrat Party, said the ban would help prevent rape in society at large. "The DPR does not deal with miniskirts, but we know that many rapes and immoral cases occur because women dress inappropriately", he told the March 6 Jakarta Globe. House deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso from the Golkar Party concurred, saying lawmakers' secretaries and assistants should not "dress like they're going to the malls".

Marzuki's statement echoed those made by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo late last year in response to a series of violent rapes against female passengers on public transport vehicles. Bowo's comments attracted a storm of protest from women and rights activist for advising women against wearing "provocative" clothing in public.

"To this day there is a perspective that women's bodies are an invitation to sexual harassment in our society. One of the concrete examples of this is the statement by Marzuki Alie on miniskirts", said Iswarini. "It's not a woman's body that is at fault when cases of sexual harassment occur. We want to see a future where women can walk the streets in safety even though they are wearing a miniskirt."

Discriminatory laws

KRjogya.com reported that scores of women from the Indonesian Women's Movement – an alliance of local groups – gathered at the Abu Bakar parking area in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta before marching to the central post office calling for an end to sexual violence and opposing the government's plan to increase fuel prices in April.

Action coordinator Fatum Ade said that every year IWD is commemorated in many countries, including Indonesia, but women remain oppressed and experience injustice. She added that the quality of women's lives is increasingly constrained by discriminatory government policies. "Women are the ones who are most vulnerable to violence and injustice. Moreover, policies in a number of sectors, particularly the workplace, do not provide any support to women. Many companies do not permit leave for menstruation, pregnancy or giving birth. Sexual harassment in the work environment continues to take place", said Ade. "The capitalists take advantage of the situation to get women workers with low wages. They are also vulnerable to dismissal because women are not considered the main breadwinner", Ade told Suara Merdeka.

According to a survey released by Komnas Perempuan, official discrimination against women is on the rise, particularly in local government. The commission found 207 local government policies that disadvantaged women in 2011, mostly in the name of religion and morality, up from 154 in 2009.

The commission said that some policies were overtly discriminatory, while others constituted indirect discrimination by tending to disadvantage women disproportionately. Fifty-five by-laws criminalised women through provisions ostensibly designed to deal with prostitution, pornography and "immoral" meetings between unmarried persons of the opposite sex. There were also 23 policies that infringed on women's rights to self-expression by dictating modes of dress.

Opinions of conservative groups sought on gender equality bill

Jakarta Post - March 16, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – In a bizarre move, the House of Representatives Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs summoned conservative Muslim groups to seek their view on the gender equality bill.

Among the groups invited to the hearing on Thursday was Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), which predictably lashed out at the bill, saying that it could pose a threat to the concept of a family under Islamic tradition.

"The bill will give a legal foundation for women to leave domestic affairs to be more active in public life, and this will put families at stake because the divorce rate, for instance, will likely increase as women earn their own income," HTI's spokesperson, Iffah Ainur Rochman said.

Iffah said that equality between men and women could also end up being destructive to Muslim families because "women are obliged to prioritize and be obedient to their husbands".

She said that democracy should be blamed for discrimination against women because it was inconsistent with Islamic values.

"All those Western ideas of democracy, liberalism, and secularism have clearly disrespected women. We, therefore, urge any law in the country to made consistent with the Islamic teachings," Iffah said.

The commission also invited five other Islamic groups, including the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Muhammadiyah's women's organization Aisyiah, the Nahdlatul Ulama's women's organization Muslimat NU, the Federation of Indonesian Muslim Women (BMO-IWI) and the Indonesian Muslim Women Association (PUI).

Representatives from the groups, who were all women, uniformly criticized the bill, saying that it would contradict Islamic laws concerning inheritance, marriage, and the role of women as mothers and housewives.

"We must realize that Islam strictly orders the bigger chunk of an inheritance to be given to men. Our religion has also set different roles for men and women," senior MUI member Eneng Zubaedah said.

MUI deputy secretary-general Welya Safitri highlighted several controversial articles of the draft bill. She said that article 12 of the bill guarantees that everybody has the freedom to pick their spouses – regardless of faith.

"This is against the 1974 Marriage Law, which mandates that marriage is only possible for individuals of the same faith," she said. She also suggested the bill set out details on what rights should be accorded to men and women, based on Islamic values.

Activist Husmiati from the PUI said she supported the bill, but called on lawmakers to take into account the diversity of opinions within Islamic tradition and other cultures.

"The bill is important to guarantee women's rights in the country. However, there are some articles that need thorough consideration so that they will not overlap with other existing laws," she said.

Commission VIII chairperson Ida Fauziah, a member of the National Awakening Party (PKB), told The Jakarta Post that the deliberations over the bill were still in its early stages.

"We will invite other groups representing other religions in Indonesia, as well as experts and activists, for their opinions on the bill so it will not only concern Islam," she said. "We welcome all opinions, including from extremist groups, such as the HTI members, because they are also part of the country."

Ida said that inviting the conservative groups was important because Indonesia was a religious nation. "We cannot leave religion behind in any sector of this country's life," she said. (yps)

Komnas survey is bad news for women

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2012

Ismira Lutfia – Official discrimination against women is on the rise, particularly at the local government level, according to a survey released by the National Commission on Violence Against Women.

Komnas Perempuan, as the rights body is known, found 207 local government policies that disadvantaged women in 2011, mostly in the name of religion and morality. This figure is up from 154 in 2009.

Some policies were overtly discriminative, while others constituted indirect discrimination by tending to disproportionately disadvantage women compared to men, the group said.

"As many as 82 of the 207 regional policies were directly discriminative against women," a Komnas Perempuan member, Andy Yentriyani, said during a national consultation on enforcing women's constitutional rights on Monday.

Andy said 55 of the objectionable policies criminalized women through provisions ostensibly designed to deal with prostitution, pornography and "immoral" meetings between unmarried persons of the opposite sex.

There were also 23 policies that infringed on women's rights to self- expression by dictating modes of dress.

On the brighter side, Andy pointed to 44 government regulations that provided assistance to female victims of violence, eight against human trafficking and six relating to women's health and education.

The head of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas), a security think tank, Budi Susilo Supandji, said that discrimination in any form undermined national cohesion.

"A current challenge to national security is the problem with social justice," he said. "And if it can't be resolved then it will become a threat."

Abused women fear layoffs

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2012

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – The government has launched a guideline to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace, but many victims are still reluctant to file reports for various reasons, including the possibility of getting laid off.

The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) launched on Thursday "A Guideline for Employers on Prevention and Management of Sexual Harassment at Work Place" that stipulates instruments for principles of equality that have been adopted by the international community.

Apindo's head of women, small and medium enterprises and gender affairs division, Nina Tursinah, said that the majority of sexual harassment victims were female workers.

She said both employers and workers were responsible for promoting appropriate behavior at the workplace. "They must recognize the consequences if they neglect unacceptable behavior," she added.

The guideline was launched at a commemoration of International Women's Day. "It [harassment] can result in lower productivity and even lost business opportunities. This is why we should eliminate this," Nina said.

According to Apindo, the number of female workers in the country increased from 38.6 million in 2006 to 42.8 million in 2008, while the number of male employees reached 69 million in 2008 compared to 67 million in 2006.

The National Commission for Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) reported that there were 119,107 cases of violence against women in 2011, of which 4.35 percent, or 5,187 cases, took place in public places, including at the workplace.

Komnas Perempuan official Ninik Rahayu said that many sexual abuse victims did not dare to file reports or sue their abusers. "Many workers even neglect it [harassment] because they are really embarrassed or afraid of getting laid off by their employers," she said on Friday.

The absence of complaint desks at work places has worsened the situation as workers have nowhere to go to file reports.

Citing data from the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, Ninik said that 250 companies had implemented "non-discrimination" standard operating procedures. However, victims of sexual abuse at the workplace cannot fight for justice due to a lack of support and protection from their own companies.

"Gender bias against female victims is also still pervasive both during police investigations and in the courtroom. In many cases, the victims have to find witnesses and evidence themselves. It's difficult. As they are subordinates, many employees are afraid to report [abuse] to their superiors," she said.

The fact that Indonesia has ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence against Women and ILO Convention Number 111 on Discrimination is expected to raise awareness on the issue.

"It's very good. We all know that in reality we still have a lot to catch up on," said ILO deputy director Michiko Miyamoto. "The guideline is a good start to strengthen national legal framework for achieving equality. We have high expectations for Apindo to implement the guideline," she said.

Forms of sexual harassment

1. Physical abuse (unwanted physical contact that leads to sexual acts such as kissing, hugging, touching, including of certain body parts)

2. Verbal abuse (unwanted comments such as on private body parts or physical appearance, including sexual comments or jokes).

3. Non-verbal abuse (sexual body language or body movements, repeated suggestive looks, staring at certain body parts, finger signs, licking lips etc.)

4. Visual abuse (showing pornographic material such as pictures, posters, images, cartoons, screensavers etc., or sexually abusing others by sending email, short text message (SMS) or other modes of electronic communication)

5. Psychological or emotional abuse (repeated unwanted sexual advances, unwanted date requests, sexual humiliation and denunciation).

[Source: "A Guideline for Employers on Prevention and Management of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace".]

Women's Day event focuses on workplace harassment

Jakarta Globe - March 9, 2012

Dessy Sagita & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Sexual violence in the workplace aimed at women is just the tip of the iceberg because so few victims report incidents, a spokeswoman for the Women's Forum for Justice told a rally in front of the State Palace on Thursday.

Iswarini told attendees at the rally, which marked International Women's Day, that some women had been forced to have sex with their superiors to receive a promotion and others have been made to prove they were menstruating to be excused from work.

"Some have been forced to show their underwear when they asked for menstrual leave, but only a few reported it," she said. "I'm sure there are many more abuses because it's supported by an unfair system."

Iswarini lamented the false perception that a woman's body could incite sexual abuse that is held by such figures as House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, who has criticized women for wearing miniskirts. "Women's bodies are not to blame when incidents of sexual abuse happen," she said.

She said she hoped that staging a rally could help lead the public to the right perception on how to react to sexual violence against women. She said she would continue to campaign to encourage women to break their silence and to report sexual abuse so as to eradicate patriarchal perception on women.

Hundreds of women also demonstrated to commemorate the globally celebrated day in Bandung, where protestors demanded equal treatment and abolishment of discriminations at workplace.

"On this International Women's Day, female labors are demanding a change of condition so that people can get social security and welfare, equal treatment and no discrimination," said Dewi, the event's coordinator.

She told the audience it was time for women to lead the changes in every aspect of life and to fight for their rights. "Sexual abuse will not stop unless victims have the courage to report what happened to them," said Nina Tursinah of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).

Many women keep quiet about sexual abuse experiences because they are afraid to lose their jobs or out of embarrassment, she said.

Nina said employers should brief both management and employees on what sexual harassment is and what they should do if it happened to them and issue a warning and punishment on the perpetrators.

A survey of 22 countries by Reuters and Ipsos Global Advisory in 2010 showed that one in 10 workers experienced sexual harassment from their superiors. Indonesia does not have data on sexual harassment at workplace, but it is widely believed that the figure is high.

[Additional reporting from Antara.]

Government urged to provide protection for women

Jakarta Post - March 9, 2012

Andi Hajramurni and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Makassar/Bandung – Commemorating International Women's Day, activists and workers took to the streets across the country on Thursday to demand equal treatment for and an end of violence against women.

Various student groups in Makassar, South Sulawesi, held rallies in different places. Joining the rallies were members of the Islamic Female Students' Association (Kohati) and the Anti-Discrimination People's Movement.

They criticized the weak protection measures offered to women, which had resulted in a rise of harassment, discrimination and violence toward women, both domestically and publicly.

Kohati members, who rallied on Jl. Sultan Alauddin and the Andi Pangerang Petta Rani intersection, presented data from the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), which showed violence against women had increased threefold.

"The government should respond quickly by providing systematic protection to women so they are no longer subjected to violence and discrimination because, basically, men and women are on the same level," Herlina, one of the protesters, said.

She also urged women, however, to fulfill their existence and behave reasonably so as not to provoke exploitation and criminal acts toward themselves. The protesters distributed plastic flowers to passersby, as a symbol of peace and equality between women and men.

The Anti-Discrimination People's Movement denounces all forms of violence, sexual harassment and discrimination against women and urges the government to guarantee the safety and reproductive health of women, as well as ensuring female workers receive menstrual and maternity leave periods.

In Bandung, West Java, scores of female workers wearing white T-shirts and red caps gathered in front of the Gedung Sate Java gubernatorial office. They voiced their concern about the fate of women and female workers who do not receive equal treatment. They demanded a 40-percent quota for women in public positions due to the lack of women in influential political and economic posts.

Mandidi Workers Union member Ani Herningsih said violence and harassment against women had risen at her place of work. "We face a gender gap in education and remuneration, not to mention normative rights, such as menstrual leave and nursing rooms for breast-feeding mothers, which the company has not provided," Ani said on the sidelines of the rally.

The rally's participants voiced their objections to contractual and outsourcing working systems, and expressed their solidarity for the 53 workers dismissed unilaterally by PT Nestle in Panjang, Lampung, for demanding higher salaries.

In Medan, North Sumatra, dozens of demonstrators from the Women's Freedom Front held a peaceful rally at the Majestik traffic circle, demanding wider access for women to pursue their personal and professional development. They maintained discriminatory treatment was still a reality for a large number of women around the country, especially in the workplace.

Rally coordinator Jumeida told the crowd that women were still regarded as second-class citizens, especially in the workplace. She said women in the country had yet to secure equality with men, despite having the same rights.

"Women have not been given much access by the state so they are always trapped in domestic jobs. This is the proof that discrimination against women still exists in this country," Jumeida said.

The rally, which was also attended by a number of men, attracted public attention as they marched to the Majestik traffic circle. They later proceeded to the North Sumatra legislative office building.

[Apriadi Gunawan contributed to the reports from Medan.]

Environment & natural disasters

Loggers, miners leave Berau forest in shambles

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – As many as 1.6 million of Berau's 1.9 million hectares of forest has been damaged, including protected-forest areas, according to the district's forestry officials.

"It is in a bad way. It has become critical. You can see this from aerial photography," Rahmadi Pasarakan, who is in charge of forest management practices at Berau, said on Thursday.

Rahmadi released figures calculated from remote sensing data, adding that 774,000 hectares were "somewhat critical," 16,000 were "critical" and 36,000 in "very critical" condition.

The damage was blamed on timber concessionaires who were logging "at an extraordinary rate" and on coal mining activities. Neither group was meeting its obligation to restore the logged areas, he said.

"The data was obtained during a data collection program that is carried out every 15 years, called the Forest and Water Catchment Area Rehabilitation Planning Program. The finding was one of very severe forest degradation," Rahmadi said.

Rahmadi also said that a reforestation program would go into effect, starting with a tree-seedling propagation effort. The government will provide infrastructure and outreach services to help forest restoration, and step up efforts to prevent further destruction.

Environmental activists said the figures were in line with their yearly estimates of forest loss in East Kalimantan, amounting to 500,000 hectares.

"Much of the forest destruction occurs through illegal logging, forest burning and mining activities," said Isal Wardana, the director of the East Kalimantan branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

Health & education

Indonesia fails in maternal mortality reduction

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Indonesia could fail its Millenium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015, due to the slow progress in improving the country's family-planning program, a senior health official says.

Slamet Riyadi Yuwono, director general of nutrition and child and maternal health at the Health Ministry, said the maternal mortality rate in Indonesia remained too high and the government ought to do more work to improve community-based maternal care as well as providing access to contraception.

"Our target is still off-track. We may be able to reduce the number of post-natal deaths to 162 per 100,000 live births by 2015, but that is far higher than the 102 per 100,000 live births targeted in the MDG," he told journalists on the sidelines of a coordination meeting between the National Demography and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) and the Indonesian Military (TNI).

About 30 percent of maternal deaths are caused by obstetric hemorrhaging, making it the most common cause of maternal mortality.

"Women who give birth too often, bear children too young or have pregnancies too close together are at a higher risk of suffering from such obstetric problems," said Slamet.

He said improved family planning could decrease maternal mortality rates, as delayed childbearing, longer intervals between births and limited childbirth could protect women against any obstetric dangers.

"This is why we require all pregnant women who seek Jampersal coverage to partake of family planning, particularly long-term contraceptive care for those who already have two children because many obstetric problems are faced by women who already have two or more children," he said.

The government-funded Jampersal childbirth plan provides coverage for women who seek services at community health centers or use third-class facilities at hospitals during childbirth.

As of this year, the government requires Jampersal holders to join family- planning programs if they already have two children.

According to the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey (SDKI) in 2007, there were 228 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, making Indonesia the country with the highest maternal death rate in Southeast Asia.

"Reducing the maternal death rate to 102 per 100,000 live births is the most urgent consideration," said BKKBN chairman Sugiri Syarief.

To revitalize the stagnant family-planning program, the BKKBN has gone into partnership with the TNI to ensure that contraceptive care is available nationwide, including even the remotest parts of the country, such as cross-border provinces and the outermost islands.

Sonny Harry B. Harmadhi, head of the Institute of Demography at the University of Indonesia's School of Economics, said family planning had succeeded in reducing the average number of children born to a woman during her reproductive life to 2.5 in 2010, from between 5.5 and 6 in the early 1960s.

"However, challenges remain for people who want to access reproductive health care, especially the impoverished and those who reside in remote areas," he told The Jakarta Post.

The 2007 Health and Demographic Survey showed that one in every 10 pregnancies were unwanted or unplanned, caused among others things by poor access to contraceptive health care.

Citing the same survey, Sonny said 98 percent of women who had been married at least once and 99 percent of women who were currently married, as well as 95 percent of married men, had some knowledge of family planning or contraception.

The country's contraceptive prevalence rate, however, still hovers at around 61.7 percent only, due to a shortage in contraceptive-care services, he said.

Sonny said with only three years remaining for the government to meet its MDGs, it would be better if the government devised a new strategy.

"Looking at current trends, there needs to be more work done to reduce the maternal mortality rate to 102 per 100,000 live births by 2015. The most effective way to reduce it is to get more support from health workers during childbirths and have births conducted at health care facilities," he said.

PLN says power line danger claims are hot air

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2012

Vento Saudale – Finding itself under sustained criticism for the perceived health impacts of high voltage overhead power transmission lines, state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara has cited studies showing the fears are ill-founded.

PLN spokesman Agung Teguh Setiyoso said the overhead transmission lines posed no health threat to residents in their vicinity, even with voltage as high as 500 kilovolts.

"We have undertaken joint research with the University of Indonesia into the risks of high voltage transmission lines for the health of human beings. The finding was that there is no danger," Agung said, speaking in Pesisir Selatan district, near Padang, in West Sumatra.

"There is no need for the public to be afraid. Concerns about radiation from the power lines is only scaremongering."

The comments were delivered on Thursday during a public awareness meeting regarding a new 150 kilovolt power line running from Siguntur to Kambang in Bayang subdistrict.

Besides the research with the University of Indonesia, Agung said, PLN had also commissioned a study by the Bandung Institute of Technology, which had reached the same conclusion.

"There is no substance to the claims that cancer, lung problems and so on are caused by proximity to the transmission lines. If you hear something along those lines, don't let it influence you," he urged the gathered residents and leaders.

Concerns about the impacts of power lines have cropped up in places along various power grid routes, including recently in Bogor, West Java.

Residents living under 500 kilovolt lines there, such as Ending, 35, of Jampang Kalisuren village, said locals had suffered a variety of ailments that they attributed to the electromagnetic fields generated by the cabling overhead. Itchy skin, dizziness, cancer and even paralysis have been blamed on the PLN installations by those living in their vicinity.

However, it is not only health fears that bother residents but also financial losses, which are much less open to dispute. Once towers and power lines are erected, the market value of land they are on, or pass over, declines, something anticipated in the 1985 law on electrification, which mandates compensation.

On Wednesday, 16 Bogor area residents allowed themselves to be buried up to their necks to protest what they said was a failure by PLN to pay compensation for land traversed by transmission lines.

The protesters, supported by hundreds of people, said they would continue to repeat the action until the company paid them the compensation they said was their right by law. "We are going to struggle for our rights by every means available. And we have buried ourselves here to demand justice," said one of the protestors, Dadang Martadinata.

[Additional reporting from Antara.]

Children & domestic violence

Cleric accused of molesting 11 boys questioned by police for six hours

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2012

Bayu Marhaenjati – A popular Muslim cleric was questioned by the police on Monday about claims by 11 young men that he molested them years ago.

Despite the serious nature of the allegations, the cleric, identified only as H., had ignored other police summonses, saying his preaching schedule was too busy.

"He was questioned as a witness," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr Rikwanto said. "After [his deposition] is crosschecked, the information will be analyzed."

Riwanto said the police had already questioned the accusers and conducted psychological tests on seven who are still minors. "The others were not tested because they are adults," he said. "We will then determine whether the accused really did what he is reported to have done."

Adj. Sr. Comr. Helmy Santika, who heads the general affairs directorate for the Jakarta Police, said the cleric was cooperative and answered all of the police's questions.

"The questions were general in nature, and not detailed around the substance of the matter," Helmy said. He added that the cleric would be questioned again on Thursday.

H., who was accompanied by two lawyers, Hadi Sukrisno and Sandi Arifin, was questioned for more than six hours.

Eleven young men, now in their late teens or early 20s have reported the cleric for sexually abusing them when they were still minors. The boys were allegedly given "healing treatments" that included touching.

Speaking to reporters after his questioning, H. said he would leave the matter to the law. "For those who slandered us, may God give them success and guidance," he said.

Hadi, one of his lawyers, said that the questions asked were related to the deposition made by one of the plaintiffs. The alleged offenses took place about eight years ago but were only recently reported. The 11 claim that H. told them that he needed to touch them to remove evil spirits.

The Jakarta Police have been criticized for dragging their feet on the investigation, but have defended themselves by saying the sensitive nature of the allegations required careful handling.

Cleric still preaches despite sex scandal

Jakarta Post - March 9, 2012

Iman Mahditama – The schedule of noted cleric Hasan bin Jafar Assegaf appears to be still jam-packed with frequent sermons at various venues over the city, even after a handful of his disciples reported him to the police for sexual abuse in December last year.

The website of Nurul Musthofa, an Islamic congregation established by Hasan in 2000, reveals that he gave sermons on at least two occasions recently, namely in Cinere, Depok, on Friday night and at Al Makmur mosque in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, the following night.

His lawyer, Sandy Arifin, told reporters at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Thursday that the allegations and the legal case against Hasan had had little or no impact on Hasan's daily preaching activities.

"He's still going from place to place to preach and hold Koran recitals," Sandy said, adding that there had been no significant decline in the size of Hasan's congregation.

One of Hasan's routine sermons is conducted at the tomb of respected cleric Ahmad Alwi Al Haddad in Kalibata, South Jakarta, Sandy added.

On at least two occasions, Hasan has used his reportedly "tight schedule" as an excuse for not appearing for questioning in connection with the sexual abuse allegations.

The Jakarta Police summoned Hasan for questioning as a witness in the sexual abuse case on Thursday at 10 a.m., but he was a no-show on the day. Sandy said that Hasan was unable to turn up because his schedule was full for the day.

"It's not that [Hasan] didn't want to come. It's just that he had other previously scheduled activities with the members of his congregation," he said.

Hasan also failed to appear at the National Commission for Child Protection in mid-February. The commission summoned him after receiving reports of sexual abuse from victims.

According to Sandy, Hasan had voiced a willingness to visit the commission when he received the summons, "but his tight schedule just didn't enable him to do so".

Sandy said that Hasan had sent a formal letter to the Jakarta Police to request that his questioning be postponed until Monday next week. "I hope everything will be cleared up after Monday's questioning," he said, adding that Hasan would deny all the allegations.

Hasan's sexual abuse allegations first surfaced after reports appeared online, accusing him of sexually abusing his disciples, most of whom were underage boys.

Refugees & asylum seekers

Police arrest 72 asylum seekers attempting Australia crossing

Antara News - March 13, 2012

Sukabumi, West Java – More than 70 illegal immigrants attempting to make the 236 mile crossing from Indonesia's seaside village of Loji to Australia's Christmas Island were arrested by local police in a Sunday morning raid and ensuing manhunt, police said on Monday.

The immigrants, from Iran and Afghanistan, reportedly left Cisaru, Bogor by bus, arriving in Sukabumi at 5 a.m. Sunday. They allegedly planned to leave Indonesia from nearby Loji and sail to Christmas Island where they would seek asylum, said Adjunct Commissioner Afrizal, chief intelligence officer with the Sukabumi police.

Officers arrested 55 men, women and children in the initial raid, police said. Seventeen others were found hiding in forested and residential areas in the following days. Of the 72 illegal immigrants arrested, 19 were children. They are all being held at the Sukabumi resort police station.

"We plan to hand them over to the immigration office in Sukabumi," Afrizal said. Police are still investigating the case, he added.

Graft & corruption

Top KPK officials reject rumors of bias and rift

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Rizky Amelia – After firing three investigators for their alleged close ties to graft suspects, top officials at the nation's antigraft body are denying speculation that their organization lacks independence or is mired with internal divisions.

Busyro Muqoddas, the deputy head of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said the body's officers remain independent even though elite politicians frequently comment on their affairs or try to influence them. In fact, he said, KPK staff ignore not only attacks, but also public statements of support.

"We don't feel that we need to respond to statements of support from anyone because they're not relevant," he said. "A KPK officer's nature is honest, independent, transparent and finally accountable," he added. "If officers embody all four of these, they needn't be concerned whether they receive support."

Bambang Soesatyo, a lawmaker on House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, recently said the public should support the KPK to deal with a perceived rift in the antigraft body.

Greater concern about the KPK's independence and a possible internal rift has surfaced after it fired three investigators for their alleged close ties to high-profile graft suspects Muhammad Nazaruddin, Nunun Nurbaetie and Angelina Sondakh.

The investigators included Brig. Gen. Yurod Saleh and Comr. Afief Y. Miftach, both National Police officers, as well as Dwi Aries Sudarto, a prosecutor for the Attorney General's Office.

The KPK does not have its own investigators, instead relying on police officers and prosecutors. The body's dependence on the police is widely seen as a weakness because it means investigators might be more loyal to police generals with a different agenda.

But KPK deputy Bambang Widjojanto said differences in opinion among KPK officers do not indicate a problem with the functioning of the body. "Do you see any conflict on our faces?" he asked during a press conference on Thursday.

Lawmakers have urged KPK chief Abraham Samad to beware cloak-and-dagger tactics to nobble his team of graft busters.

"Abraham Samad had best be reminded that he must be very careful of corruptors," said Martin Hutabarat, another lawmaker in Commission III. "They will use all kinds of tactics to undermine the KPK, whether through cash, women, family and friendships."

[Additional reporting by Novianti Setuningsih.]

KPK split becoming public

Jakarta Post - March 15, 2012

Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The split within the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has worsened in recent days and could weaken its antigraft efforts in the future.

Only days after the dismissal of the KPK director of investigations, Brig. Gen. Yurod Saleh, who was alleged to have close ties with graft defendant M. Nazaruddin, reports emerged that four more investigators would be transferred back to their institutions. The four investigators are Hendy Kurniawan, Mochammad Irwan Susanto and Afief Miftach from the Attorney General's Office (AGO), and Dwi Aries Sudarto from the police.

The four investigators were reported to have refused to follow orders from KPK chairman Abraham Samad. Tensions rose after the four investigators were said to have sought support from deputy chairmen Bambang Widjojanto and Busyro Muqoddas.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi confirmed that a number of investigators complained to KPK leaders several days ago, but he denied the complaints were related to cracks within the KPK leadership. Johan said the meeting between investigators and KPK leaders was only to discuss work.

A source told The Jakarta Post that the KPK leadership was split into two camps, between Abraham and Zulkarnain on one side, and Bambang and Busyro on the other. Another KPK leader, Adnan Pandu Pradja, is currently receiving treatment for cancer.

The source said the spat between KPK members has gotten worse in recent days, as Abraham has often pulled rank when being told by investigators that he must follow proper procedures before naming a suspect.

Abraham was reported to have insisted on naming high-profile individuals as suspects quickly without building sufficiently strong cases against them, and instead putting the burden of prosecution on judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court.

Abraham, a little-known lawyer from South Sulawesi, was elected KPK chairman after a backroom deal was struck between the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), a move which was seen as an attempt to secure their own interests.

This is not the first time splits within the KPK leadership have become public. In a meeting between the KPK and the House's working group on the controversial Bank Century bailout case, Abraham said that he was ready to launch an investigation and name a suspect before turning to other KPK leaders to ask if they approved.

Febri Diansyah of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said the split within the KPK could deal a severe blow to the antigraft movement.

"This is a warning to the KPK and the public that visible internal rifts could pose a threat to the current fight against corruption," he said. "Certain parties could benefit from this infighting."

Febri also warned the KPK leadership not to be so authoritarian in managing the strategic institution. "The KPK does not work in an authoritarian manner. Do not pull rank no matter how superior or senior the person is," he said. "The five leaders and the rest must go back to collective, collegial leadership."

Lawmakers from the House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs said they would summon the KPK's leaders over the reported split.

"We want the KPK to clarify the rumor because it has obviously affected its performance. We also want the KPK to tell us whether or not it has returned four more investigators to the National Police, because if it's true, it does not portend well for our country," commission chief Benny Kabur Harman said.

Rhenald Kasali, the former KPK leadership selection committee member, said the committee recommended the best candidates, but the House decided differently. "We submitted a list of eight candidates, numbered from top to bottom. Unfortunately, they picked some from the bottom of the list."

Cracks within KPK

During a fit and proper test in 2011, Abraham told lawmakers that a good KPK chairman was not supposed to tell everything to the public like incumbent chairman Busyro Muqoddas.
A BlackBerry message claimed that KPK leaders were split over a plan to arrest Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng. Abraham reportedly issued a warrant to arrest both suspects in the SEA Games graft scandal, but KPK deputies Bambang and Busyro refused to sign the warrant.
In an open meeting between the House's working group on the controversial Bank Century bailout case and the KPK, Abraham said that he was ready to investigate the case and name a suspect while he told lawmakers that he did not know the other four leaders' stances.
Abraham pulled rank in naming former senior deputy governor Miranda Goeltom and Democratic Party lawmaker Angelina Sondakh suspects in two different high-profile bribery cases. Several KPK investigators and prosecutors criticized his move, which was followed by the return former director of investigation Yurod Saleh to the National Police.

[Source: The Jakarta Post]

Witness tells court how much Anas paid for her vote

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2012

Rizky Amelia – A second consecutive witness called by graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin has implicated Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum in wrongdoing, as the defendant continued to shift the focus of his own trial onto Anas.

Ismiyati Saidi, the former head of the party's branch office in Boalemo district, Gorontalo province, told the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Monday that Anas bribed his way to the post of party chairman at the Democrat caucus in Bandung in 2010.

"We were asked to sign an agreement that stated that if we voted for [Anas], we would get priority [treatment] and support in district elections," she said.

She also said that prior to the caucus, she and other regional party officials were coached at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta on how to vote for Anas in the caucus. Each representative also received Rp 15 million ($1,600), Ismiyati said.

Once in Bandung, she went on, Anas accommodated all of his prospective backers at the Topas Galeria Hotel and once again handed out payments of Rp 15 million. Ismiyati said that when the caucus finally began, she received $2,000 for the first round of voting. In the second round, she received $5,000.

She also claimed to have received a new BlackBerry cellphone from Anas's campaign team that was already pre-programmed with Anas's BlackBerry Messenger PIN.

The testimony echoes Nazaruddin's claims that Anas's camp lobbied the regional delegates intensively in the days leading up to the caucus and on voting day.

Nazaruddin, the former Democrat treasurer, previously estimated the total amount spent on getting Anas the chairman's post was Rp 80-100 billion, which he claimed came largely from kickbacks from rigging the tender for the construction of the Rp 1.2 trillion Hambalang sports center in Sentul, Bogor.

Nazaruddin has also accused Anas of complicity in bid-rigging in the contract to build an athletes' village for last year's Southeast Asian Games, which cost Rp 120 billion.

Ismiyati was the second witness called by the defense after Muhajidin Nurhasyim, Nazaruddin's younger brother, was called to the stand last week.

In his testimony, Nurhasyim also implicated Anas in wrongdoing, identifying him as playing a key role in laundering the embezzled funds from the Hambalang and athletes' village projects.

Speaking to reporters before Monday's hearing, Nazaruddin called out Anas on his earlier denial of any involvement in the graft cases.

"He said he should be hung from Monas if he was involved. Well then, he will definitely hang because he took [the money] from the projects," he said. "I can guarantee 100 percent that Anas was the one who arranged the Hambalang project and received the payoff from it. One hundred percent," Nazaruddin added.

Nazaruddin has consistently named Anas and Democrat legislator Angelina Sondakh as complicit in the athletes' village case. Angelina has already been named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

At Monday's hearing, Nazaruddin accused I Gede Pasek Suardika, the party's deputy chairman, of also taking a cut from the project.

Ex-lawmakers admit having 'informal meetings' with Miranda

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Jakarta – Dudhie Makmun Murod and Udju Juhaeri, former House members from Commission IX overseeing finance in 1999-2004, testified at Jakarta Corruption court on Wednesday that they had met with Miranda Swaray Goeltom before she was elected by the House as the deputy senior governor of Bank Indonesia in 2004.

Miranda, a professor in monetary economics at the University of Indonesia's School of Economics (FEUI), was recently named a suspect by the KPK due to her alleged involvement in a multi-billion rupiah vote-buying case during her election, in which traveler's checks worth Rp 20.85 billion (US$2.27 million) were distributed among the legislators. The case has so far seen 33 politicians being sentenced to jail.

Dudhie, a former lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) who was sentenced to two years for receiving gratuities to vote for Miranda, told the judges that Miranda had indeed invited him and his party colleagues on the commission for dinner in a restaurant at Hotel Dharmawangsa in South Jakarta.

"Yes, [PDI-P lawmakers] once met with Miranda Goeltom in a restaurant at Hotel Dharmawangsa. We were instructed by our party's head of faction at the House to attend the meeting," Dudhie said, describing the meeting as only an "informal chat" in which Miranda did not give instructions to them to vote for her for the central bank position. "However, we all understood that we had come there to show our support for Ibu Miranda," he added.

Insp. Gen (ret.) Udju Djuhaeri, a former lawmaker from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police faction who testified after Dudi, also admitted that he had met Miranda prior to her election.

"All four lawmakers from the TNI/National Police faction met with Miranda in a building in the Sudirman business district – I forget the place, but it was right in front of the Ratu Plaza shopping mall."

"The meeting lasted about 30-45 minutes. At that time [Miranda] said to us: 'If there's any banking term you do not understand, then you can ask me here,'" Udju told the court.

Despite the allegation of money politics that surrounds her election, Dudhie explained to the judges that Miranda was indeed the best candidate during the House's fit-and-proper test session, describing the FEUI economics professor as "way ahead of the other two candidates who were also grilled by the House".

Dudhie was referring to Budi Rochadi and Hartadi Sarwono, then senior officials of Bank Indonesia who were both trounced by Miranda. During the House's voting process, Miranda earned 41 votes while Budi and Hartadi only got 12 votes and one vote from the lawmakers, respectively. "Even without the money, Ibu Miranda would have been elected by us anyway," said Dudhie. (sat)

Party member says Anas handed out cash incentives

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2012

Jakarta – Only days after Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum declared that he was ready to suffer capital punishment if he was proven guilty of corruption, a local party head claimed that she received money from Anas' campaign team to swing her vote at the 2010 national congress in Bandung, West Java.

Ismiyati Saidi, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party's Gorontalo branch, testified at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday that she and several other local party leaders received Rp 15 million (US$1,635) in return for their voting in favor of Anas, who won the race after beating House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie and Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng.

"Members of the campaign team requested us to sign an agreement stating that local party leaders who voted for him [Anas] would be given priority in local elections," Ismiyati told the court at the trial of graft defendant M. Nazaruddin as quoted by kompas.com.

She later said that the first "payment" of money was distributed by members of Anas' campaign team to local party leaders at a briefing at the Sultan Hotel in Central Jakarta, just a few days before the start of the Bandung congress.

Ismiyati claimed that it was members of Anas' campaign team who distributed the money, later ordering them to vote for their candidate. Ismiyati said officials from the campaign team later gave her $2,000 during the congress' first round and another $5,000 in the second round.

Besides the cash, Ismiyati said that she also received a BlackBerry smartphone with Anas' cellular phone number stored in its contacts list.

Nazaruddin has alleged that Anas spent $6.9 million to win the party's chairmanship. According to Nazaruddin, the approximately $5 million that was spent by Anas in the race was raised from rigging the contract for the construction of the sports complex in Hambalang, West Java. Nazaruddin is a defendant in the Halambang graft case.

Anas posted on his Twitter feed late last week that he was ready to be hanged or face a firing squad at the National Monument (Monas) square if it was proved that he was corrupt.

"If I am [proven] corrupt in the athletes' village and Hambalang graft cases, even if it's only for Rp 1, I am willing to be shot dead or hanged at Monas. But what about the people who make these slanderous accusations?" Anas said on his feed, posted from his official Twitter account on Friday.

Anas' comments caused a stir in the blogosphere with pundits and politics buffs making mock of the statement. The statement was controversial not only because it was posted on the popular micro-blogging site but also because Anas had until recently spent most of his time on Twitter promoting traditional Indonesian food.

Later in the hearing, Nazaruddin challenged Anas to prove his innocence by taking the pocong oath (literally an oath to God, according to Muslim customary law). "I am ready to take the pocong oath. I am ready to testify that Anas accepted money from the Hambalang project," Nazarrudin said.

Graft defendant implicates budget committee

Suara Pembaruan - March 10, 2012

Novianti Setuningsih – A graft defendant testified that it is normal for members of the House of Representatives Budget Committee to ask for a "commitment fee" when deciding how much money to disburse for development projects.

In a trial surrounding the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry's regional projects at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Friday, I Nyoman Suisnaya said regional officials know how much they should give to lawmakers in order to get the funds they need.

Nyoman said that Sindu Malik, a former official believed to have served as a broker in the bribery scandal, asked for a 10 percent fee for lawmakers in regard to Rp 73.1 billion ($8 million) for development projects in four Papua districts under the ministry's Fund for the Acceleration of Infrastructure Development in Transmigration Areas (DPPIDT).

"The regional officials considered it too high. They [regional officials] are very experienced in dealing with lawmakers, so several of them wanted to ask Tamsil Linrung," Nyoman said, referring to the deputy head of the Budget Committee. "They said they usually gave only six percent."

Nyoman told the judges it was time that the public knew the corrupt practices of the committee. "Hopefully, the case will provide the public with insight that Banggar [Budget Committee] members did receive fees," he said.

Nyoman and Dadong Irbarelawan, a colleague at the ministry, are charged with receiving Rp 1.5 billion in kickbacks from a businesswoman, Dharnawati. The judges have found that the businesswoman had provided the bribe to get her company, Alam Jaya Papua, development projects in the four districts in Papua. She has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for providing the cash bribe.

Nyoman said the Rp 1.5 billion they received from Dharnawati was part of the 10 percent commitment fee, or Rp 7.3 billion, from the total projects. "Five percent was a commitment fee for the committee members," he said.

Earlier, Dadong testified at the same court that Muhaimin Iskandar, the manpower and transmigration minister, knew about the Rp 1.5 billion in "commitment fee" because they discussed the fee with him.

When Muhaimin testified in Dadong's trial on Feb. 20, he denied all guilt, claiming the key figures in the case were trying to shift the blame on him.

AGO sees no reason to charge prosecutors

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2012

Rangga Prakoso – The Attorney General's Office says it sees no wrongdoing in connection with bank accounts held by nine prosecutors that have aroused the suspicions of the money laundering watchdog.

Marwan Effendy, deputy attorney general for internal supervision, considered the amount of money in the accounts as normal and were considered too small for bribery or blackmail.

"An echelon-II prosecutor gets a salary of Rp 6 million [$660] per month but has Rp 10 million [in his account]. This doesn't mean the Rp 10 million comes from blackmail or bribery. It's not logical that an echelon-II [officia] would only recieve Rp 10 million via bribes," he said on Friday.

Marwan said what the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) deemed suspicious accounts were actually the result of additional income from businesses and selling family jewelry. "Maybe the PPATK saw the salaries of the nine prosecutors and suspected them," he said.

Marwan added that some of the money in the accounts was there before the prosecutors started working for the AGO."There were tens of millions, a hundred million and Rp 1 billion," he said.

Attorney General Basrief Arief instructed his staff to trace the sources of suspicious transactions in the bank accounts.

The deputy attorney general for special crimes, Andhi Nirwanto, said the task had been assigned to Marwan, "because it is the job and of the internal supervision division to investigate prosecutors and other staff."

Marwan said: "Based on my observation, the amounts are not that big. They're too small, relatively small." He also said that some of the prosecutors were working at the AGO while others worked at some of the district courts.

KPK against house plan to revise its enabling act

Suara Pembaruan - March 9, 2012

Novianti Setuningsih – The leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission has spoken out against plans by the legislature to revise its enabling act, which some fear is part of an effort to hobble its antigraft drive.

"So far the [enabling act] has served us well, so we see absolutely no urgent reason for the House of Representatives to revise it," said Busyro Muqoddas, deputy head of the body known as the KPK.

Speaking in Jakarta on Thursday, Busyro was cynical about plans for groups of lawmakers to undertake overseas fact-finding trips at public expense. "Of course, that's the House's right, especially Commission III, to go traveling around overseas. That's their right," he said.

A team of 10 lawmakers, headed by Tjatur Sapto Edy, the deputy head of the House commission that handles legal affairs, was intending to visit Australia to learn about the country's anti-corruption provisions. But Tjatur said on Wednesday that the trip would be to Hong Hong and South Korea, and "might take place next month."

Busyro's comments were bolstered by Deputy Justice Minister Denny Indrayana, who said the KPK itself ought to be consulted on whether revisions to its mandate were required.

"The KPK understands best whether its enabling act is still appropriate or not," Denny said. "Let's not go trying to change the KPK law, because that could open the door to moves that could weaken the KPK."

Denny went on to describe the revision plans as a setup – likening the graft busters to comic book crime fighters Batman, and the House members as trickster-enemies. He said that despite House members' purported goal to strengthen the KPK, they would actually undermine the organization.

"From experience, we know we should be very careful with the legislative process, because, there are many parties who wish the KPK to be weakened," the deputy minister said. "We had better not push the process in that direction [revisions] because the KPK will be caught in a Batman trap. Instead of strengthening the KPK, its law enforcement authority will be removed."

Denny, previously the secretary for the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, said that it was not the first time that House members had tried underhanded strategies to hobble the KPK.

"Back when the Anti-Corruption Court Law was being discussed, a similar move was tried, which was to remove the KPK's right to wiretap. Back then, the discussion went further toward removing the right to prosecute," Denny recalled.

House's plan to weaken KPK meets opposition

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Opposition has grown against a plan by the House of Representatives (DPR) to constrain the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which has sent a number of corrupt officials to prison.

The plan was seen as an attempt to hamper the eradication of deep-rooted corruption in many state institutions and bureaucracies.

"Given the fact that many legislators are in prison, the public sees this plan as an attempt to weaken the KPK," said former Constitutional Court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie on Friday.

He also criticized the House for proposing the revision. He suggested the initiative to revise the law should come from the government, as it has better resources to make more comprehensive preparations.

The intention to strip the KPK of some of its authority was revealed by Democratic Party legislator Benny Kabur Harman, who said the plan would be made by revising the law on the anticorruption body.

Fellow legislator Ruhut Sitompul said Friday that such revision would be unnecessary because the existing law provides the legal basis for the KPK to fulfill its responsibilities.

"The Democratic Party doesn't support the revision because we think the KPK has been doing a good job. Therefore, our faction will back up the KPK to maintain its authority to prevent, investigate and enforce the law against corruption," said Ruhut, the party's head of communications and information.

KPK chairman Abraham Samad questioned the House's motives behind the revision plan, saying the existing law was enough to legally support the KPK to carry out its mandate.

Echoing Abraham, Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana suggested lawmakers first discuss the issue with the KPK before moving forward with revision plans.

"Only the KPK alone really understands whether or not the existing law is sufficient. Should the law be revised, it must strengthen the anti-graft body," he said.

Benny earlier said the revision will help the KPK focus more on preventive measures rather than investigative ones.

"The KPK has too much authority, which has resulted in their poor performance. However, we don't mean to strip the KPK of its law enforcement authority. The discussion concerns the focus of the KPK in the future to only pursue mega-corruption and structural corruption and not at the individual level," Benny said recently.

Determined to boost the KPK's performance through a "well-revised" legal foundation, a team of 15 lawmakers from House Commission III departed to France last week to learn from France's anti-graft agency, which according to some legislators, such as Trimedya Panjaitan from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI-P), is unique and worth learning from.

Another team is scheduled to leave for Hong Kong to learn about Hong Kong's anti-graft agency.

Benny, however, said that the House was firmly resolved to revising the law because it would help the anti-graft body focus on accomplishing its main responsibility, which is to prevent corruption.

Lawmaker tells graft convicts to sue justice minister

Jakarta Globe - March 9, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A Golkar Party lawmaker called on graft convicts on Friday to sue the justice minister over his moratorium on sentence cuts for corruptors, which he said violated their rights.

"They [the justice minister and his deputy] are robbing the convicts of their independence with this wrong policy," Bambang Soesatyo said in a press statement.

The convicts, he said, should report Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin and his deputy, Denny Indrayana, to the police under Article 333 of the Criminal Code.

He quoted the article as saying that "anyone who intentionally takes away someone's independence or continues such deeds against the law will face a maximum of eight years in prison."

However, former Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, a lawyer for seven graft convicts who challenged Amir's policy in court, said the court cannot order Amir's and Denny's dismissal.

"The appointment and dismissal of a minister is the president's prerogative right and no one can intervene," he told beritasatu.com.

He said Amir and Denny cannot be charged with taking away anyone's independence because the graft convicts challenging the policy have already been released from prison.

Amir issued a decree last November that called for a moratorium on remissions for graft convicts in response to years of public criticism over the ease with which corruption suspects receive sentence cuts.

He enacted the policy shortly after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed him to replace then minister Patrialis Akbar, who had been criticized for being overly generous in cutting sentences.

The decree, which outlined stricter requirements for corruption suspects to receive the sentence reductions handed out on certain holidays, was welcomed by antigraft watchdogs.

But it did not please everyone, sparking uproar among lawmakers because it resulted in Paskah Suzetta, a former legislator and minister, being sent back to jail just moments after he secured his release with a remission.

Several members of House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, went so far as to boycott hearings with Amir. Seven graft convicts legally challenged the decree, and on Wednesday the Jakarta State Administrative Court ruled in their favor.

The court said imposing tighter requirements for remissions was "discriminative" and "violates existing laws and the principle of good governance."

Amir and Denny said they would appeal the verdict.

Yusril criticized this decision to appeal, calling them unprofessional for failing to honor an earlier promise to accept the court's ruling. "They [Amir and Denny] are not ordinary people," he said. "If they're unprofessional, what will happen to the people?"

The government, he said, will appear autocratic if it continues to pursue the moratorium. "This is a dictatorial government, turning a country of law into a dictatorial country," he said. "Their [moratorium] policy is going against the law and that's dangerous."

The Cabinet Secretariat defended the minister, saying Amir never promised not to appeal. The secretariat said that although Amir will still try to seek legal support for his moratorium policy, he will respect the court's decision for now and continue to grant remissions to corruptors.

Last month, members of the House of Representatives pushed for a formal inquiry into the moratorium. They presented their petition, required for the inquiry, to House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, who said he would present the motion at the next plenary session of the House. The petition was signed by 87 legislators from seven parties.

Hard-line & vigilante groups

Students, FPI in dispute over anti-FPI banners

Jakarta Post - March 16, 2012

Jakarta – Dozens of supporters of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) almost came to blows with a group of students in Pontianak, West Kalimantan over a banner rejecting the establishment of the FPI in the province.

The FPI supporters protested against the banner and asked the students to take it down. The police, who were already on the scene, were able to prevent violence breaking out. The police asked representatives from both sides to meet and discuss the issue.

West Kalimantan Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Mukson Munandar said on Thursday night that they were expecting backup from the National Police headquarters and the Central Java Police headquarters to prepare for any eventuality.

"We are waiting for mobile brigade personnel to help us contain the situation here," Mukson said as quoted by tempo.co. The backup was expected to arrive in the town on Friday.

The dispute between the students and FPI sympathizers followed an incident last month when four FPI leaders were barred from entering Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan, by thousands of locals. The locals argued that they did not want the FPI to open a branch in their town. (dic)

Dayaks continue call to disband FPI

Antara News - March 16, 2012

Hundreds of indigenous Dayak youths rallied in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Thursday to protest the police's removal of their banners calling for the disbanding of a hard-line Islamic group.

The protesters had put up the banners in the city on Wednesday morning as part of growing opposition in Kalimantan to the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). On Wednesday afternoon, police took the banners down and later that evening hosted a dialogue between Dayak and FPI representatives.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Mukson Munandar, the provincial police spokesman, said Thursday's protest was simply a flare-up of tensions and called on all sides not to let the dispute get out of hand.

The incident comes just a month after Dayaks in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, stormed the local airport to prevent an FPI delegation from arriving there. The FPI has long been decried by civil society groups for its vigilantism and violent actions.

Freedom of religion & worship

Shiite followers from Madura live in fear

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2012

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Surabaya – At least 23 Shiite followers from Sampang, Madura, in East Java, have been forced to lead a nomadic life after an anti-Shiite group threatened to kill them and burn their homes.

The 22 followers and their Shiite community leader Tajul Muluk were evicted from Nangkernang hamlet, Karam Gayam village, Omben district, Sampang, after an arson attack on Dec. 29 last year.

They sometimes stay in Surabaya, Pasuruan and Malang and live off of donations. Two of Tajul's children cannot attend school due to the situation. Tajul's other followers, who were allowed to return home, said they were in a state of distress because they often received death threats.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post in Surabaya on Friday, Tajul said that his mother had also received threats from members of an anti-Shiite group that their homes would be burned when she returned to Nangkernang village to see her family. Members from the Omben Police station were still guarding the homes vacated by Tajul's relatives as of Friday.

The advocacy team from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) expressed in Surabaya on Thursday that the manner in which the judicial system had dealt with the arson attack and eviction cases against the Shiite minority community in Sampang regency, East Java, was discriminative.

Based on Kontras' findings, the Sampang regency and East Java provincial administrations have not taken action to resolve the issue. Intimidations and threats from anti-Shiite groups against Shiite followers still continue.

"What makes matters worse is that elements from the regional administration have not made any effort to solve the issue. Some officials have even been involved in the discrimination," said Surabaya Kontras coordinator Andy Irfan.

The police, added Andy, had only questioned suspect Musrika, who is not believed to be the main perpetrator in the vandalism and arson attack on Tajul's property.

Tajul, who was the victim of the arson attack and eviction in December, was questioned by the East Java Police on March 6 on charges of blasphemy and objectionable acts.

The Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) was also regarded as slow to respond to Surabaya Kontras' request that Tajul and 22 of his followers be included in the witness and victim protection program.

Andy Irfan said that besides being disappointed with the East Java Police's response to Tajul's dilemma, Kontras was also dissatisfied with the LPSK, which had failed to respond to the request to place Tajul in the protection scheme, despite that the request was made in January.

According to Andy, Tajul and his followers are entitled to LPSK protection, but the LPSK claim that it is still waiting for a plenary meeting before deciding on the matter. The LPSK questioned Tajul and his followers in mid-February, but has not taken action since.

Andy said that he would file for a request for the protection scheme to LPSK again, this time for Hani and Umi, Tajul's sister and mother, who would testify at the Sampang District Court on March 14.

According to Andy, there was a distinct possibility that the court trial would be disrupted by anti-Shiite groups, as the trial would hear defendant Musrikah, who allegedly vandalized and set fire to Tajul's house and religious school complex.

"We will send another request for the witness and victim protection scheme for both of them immediately," Andy said.

Sex & pornography

War against porn prompts criticism of government priorities

Jakarta Globe - March 15, 2012

Ezra Sihite & Dessy Sagita – A barrage of criticism and scorn continue to assail the president's recent establishment of an anti-pornography task force, with many saying on Wednesday that the government had lost sight of its priorities.

Pramono Anung, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said the task force's formation did not have any bearing on essential matters and that the focus of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration should be on corruption eradication, poverty reduction and the fight against drugs.

"It could be that after a while, there will be a task force on the prevention of falling in love," joked Pramono, a member of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

He said other task forces that had recently been set up appeared unable to improve the problems they were charged with tackling. "The government should have priorities. Pornography should not have been a first priority," Pramono said.

The difficulty of defining pornography in any reasonable manner and the already enacted anti-pornography law were two more reasons for the government to show restraint, he added.

Criticism of the initiative has not been limited to opposition political parties.

"The forming of the anti-pornography task force is not needed and not important because there are many other societal problems that need to be accorded more serious attention, such as corruption prevention, the empowerment of people in villages and isolated areas, poverty eradication, poor nutrition, [and] social conflicts," the Indonesian Coalition of Women said in a statement.

It said that despite the inclusion of 13 ministers and several other functionaries, the task force would not be able to work effectively because the law on which it would base its work was controversial and had, from the beginning, been rejected by many.

The coalition also said the task force was a waste of resources because the officials involved were set to receive additional allowances on top of their already high salaries.

Taufik Kiemas, the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), said there were too many task forces already and that efforts to fight pornography should be dealt by a minister, not a president.

"For me, I do not agree. Too many institutions [already] do not work," he said. According to Taufik, the establishment of the task force reflected a failure of the concerned ministers to fulfill their duties.

Arimbi Heroeputri, a member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), has already spoken out against the president's new task force as a reflection of misplaced priorities.

"We appreciate the good intention of the president and the establishment of the task force is within the authority of the president, but it seems that this is does not belong on the list of priorities for the present," Arimbi said.

Next in line, anti-porn task forces for provinces, regencies

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Jakarta – The government is set to create anti-pornography task forces at provincial and regency levels as an extension to the new anti-porn task force which was recently formed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"Of course, we will form [new task forces] in every province and regency," National anti-porn task force chairman Agung Laksono said on Tuesday.

Agung, who is also Coordinating People's Welfare Minister, said that the task forces at provincial and regency levels were needed as a follow-up to the establishment of the national task force.

He added that the national task force would report to the President, and the provincial and regency task forces would report to their respective leaders, be they governors or regents.

Agung added that he would leave the establishment of task forces in provinces and regencies to local leaders in accordance with the needs of their administrations. "Local task forces will report to those who form them," Agung said as quoted by tempo.co on Wednesday.

The Task Force for the Management and Prevention of Pornography, set up to implement the 2008 Pornography Law, was given authority to curb the distribution of pornography by presidential regulation as of March 2. Apart from Agung Laksono as the chairman, the President also appointed Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to run the body on a daily basis.

Critics have claimed that the task force is a waste of resources and the publicity surrounding its establishment might be seen as a ploy to divert public attention from the government's planned fuel-price hike scheduled to come into effect on April 1. (dmr)

Corruption, mafia... let's crack down on porn

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced the establishment of an antipornography task force on Tuesday, a move that critics pilloried as poor prioritization in a nation plagued with problems.

The Task Force for the Management and Prevention of Pornography, set up to implement the 2008 Pornography Law, was given a mandate to curb the distribution of pornography by presidential regulation as of March 2, the President said.

Yudhoyono appointed Coordinating People's Welfare Minister Agung Laksono to lead the task force, while tapping Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to run the body on a daily basis.

Agung was optimistic. "I hope that there will be no more pornographic material circulating in the country. For this reason, preventive measures are indeed important," Agung told reporters after the announcement.

However, a senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member was quick to denounce the task force, saying that Yudhoyono had lost sight of the pressing problems plaguing the nation.

"The [pornography] task force is unnecessary. There are more important problems that the government should pay attention to, such as the need to stamp out corruption," PDI-P member and House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung said.

Pramono said that other than wasting resources, the task force might be seen as a ploy to divert public attention from the government's planned fuel-price hike scheduled to come into effect on April 1.

Separately, Puan Maharani, the PDI-P's leader in the House, said that the task force would be ineffective. "We don't need to add one more useless task force."

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Mahfudz Siddiq, the chairman of House Commission I overseeing defense, agreed with Pramono and Puan, expressing concern that the administration was lighting false fires.

"We hope that this is not merely a tool to distract the public's attention from objecting to the planned fuel price hike. The President and members of the task force must prove that their intentions are sincere by, for instance, curbing the downloading of pornographic content nationwide," Mahfudz said.

He also challenged the task force to remove Indonesia from the list of pornography-crazed countries. According to a survey released by Google in February, Indonesia leads the world in visiting pornographic sites, outdoing China and Turkey.

"Let's see if the task force can remove Indonesia from the top of the list. This should be the standard by which the task force should be judged," he said.

Meanwhile, Andy Yentriyani from the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said she doubted that the task force could reduce pornography use in the long run. "Yudhoyono has set up too many task forces already, but we have seen little progress in the areas that they have been assigned to deal with," Andy said.

Late last year, Yudhoyono decided not to extend the term for the ad hoc Presidential Judicial Mafia Task Force, declining to provide a specific reason.

That task force was considered a success story for advocating for a defenseless worker who was framed by the police in a case allegedly initiated by a powerful business empire and for highlighting tax fraud allegedly committed by companies linked to Golkar Party chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie.

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam said in a statement that the formation of the task force was mandated by the Pornography Law and was legally based on a presidential regulation signed by Yudhoyono on March 2. (sat)

SBY puts porn back on agenda

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2012

Arienta Primanita, Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has formed a task force to implement the country's controversial Anti-Pornography Law, prompting an opposition lawmaker to suggest he is seeking to distract from growing anxiety over fuel price increases.

"The task force will work under the president and be responsible to the president and will serve as a coordinating institution, which will coordinate efforts to curb and handle pornography," the Cabinet Secretariat said on its Web site.

The body will also monitor the implementation of the law and develop education and cooperation in fighting pornography. The task force, formed by a presidential regulation on March 2, was revealed this week.

The 2008 pornography law bans "pictures, sketches, photos, writing, voice, sound, moving picture, animation, cartoons, conversation, gestures, or other communications shown in public with salacious content or sexual exploitation that violate the moral values of society."

Offenders face up to 15 years imprisonment. The maximum penalty for lending or downloading pornographic material is four years in jail or a Rp 2 billion ($218,000) fine.

On the task force, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali will serve as executive chairman and Agung Laksono, the coordinating minister for people's welfare, will act as chair.

Most members serve in the Cabinet, but the National Police chief, the Attorney General, the head of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the head of the Film Censorship Board (LSF) were also appointed.

The organization will oversee the activities of local anti-pornography branch offices at the provincial and district levels.

Mahfudz Siddiq, the chairman of House of Representatives Commission I, which oversees home affairs, deemed the establishment of the task force a good thing but pointed out it could only make recommendation to the president and had no authority to define or create policies.

"A task force would only be effective if three requirements are met," Mahfudz said on Tuesday. He cited them as the ability to produce policies, that it is consistent with the law and that it steadfastly upholds the law.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the task force would have a five-year tenure and annually report to the president. It is the latest in a series of institutions formed by the president. Others include the Judicial Mafia Eradication task force and the Committee on the National Economy.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), suspected that there was a link between the task force's formation and the upcoming planned fuel price increase in April.

She speculated that the team, which she said was a low priority for the government, was formed to please the Muslim lobby so that there would be less resistance to the price hike.

"The president should better concentrate on improving transparency and accountability so that the ethics of public policies are really targeted on the fulfilment of the people's fundamental rights, including on security," Eva said. But Agung denied the accusation, saying "this is not a effort to divert issues."

Arimbi Heroepoetri, a commissioner of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said the task force showed the president's misplaced priorities. Yudhoyono should focus on women's protection, she said She expressed concern that the pornography law was open to multiple interpretations and double standards.

SBY forms Indonesia's first anti-porn task force

Jakarta Globe - March 13, 2012

Erwida Maulia – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has formed Indonesia's first anti-pornography task force to oversee the enforcement of the country's controversial 2008 law banning the possession, distribution and manufacturing of pornographic materials.

The Cabinet Secretariat announced the new task force on its Web site. The anti-porn body was formed through a presidential regulation signed on March 2.

"The task force will work under the President and be responsible to the President, and will serve as a coordinating institution, which will coordinate efforts to curb and handle pornography," according to the Web site.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali will serve as executive chairman of the task force. Agung Laksono, coordinating minister for people's welfare, will act as the organization's chair. Other members include State Minister for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Linda Gumelar, Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsudin and Education and Culture Minister Muhammad Nuh.

The task force will oversee measures meant to curb the availability of pornography in Indonesia. The organization can also oversee the activities of local anti-pornography branch offices at the provincial and district levels.

Suspicions mount over anti-pornography task force

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Lawmakers are asking questions over the anti-pornography task force recently established by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, suspecting it may be a tool to distract the public from the fuel price hike plan.

"The task force is unnecessary because there are more important things that need our attention, the need to eradicate corruption for example," House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung told reporters on Tuesday. "The establishment of such a task force is a waste of time and will lead to other problems," he added.

Mahfud Siddiq, a lawmaker on the House's Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, said that he hoped the public would remain absolutely focused on the ongoing debates over the government's plans to raise fuel prices.

"We welcome the task force as an effort to fight against pornography. But, we hope that this is not merely a tool to distract the public's attention from their objections to the fuel price hike plan. The President and members of the task force must prove that their intentions are sincere by, for instance, reducing the downloading of pornographic content nationwide," Mahfud from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said.

In an attempt to combat pornography, the President has formed a task force whose main duty is to enhance coordination among state bodies in their efforts to tackle and prevent pornography distribution, which continues to be rampant across the archipelago.

People's Welfare Coordinating Minister Agung Laksono has been appointed to lead the task force, while Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali will be serving as the day-to-day leader.

Members of the task force include Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring and Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin. (swd)

Agriculture & food security

East Kalimantan permits threaten rice bowl

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2012

Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, Samarinda, East Kalimantan – Land issues and mine permits are threatening to scuttle a government plan to turn East Kalimantan into a center for national food production, the regional government has warned.

East Kalimantan Governor Awang Farouk Ishak, who last year said his province had 280,000 hectares of land ready for a food estate, now says overlapping land titles and mining permits could jeopardize the plan.

"This will of course become a hindrance," Awang said. "Let's say we want to plant a certain commodity, but after it is checked, it turns out a mining permit has already been issued for the land."

He said that many of the overlapping land claims and mining permit areas were in the same municipality and four districts as most of the 280,000 hectares of land designated for the food estate: Kutai Kartanegara, East and West Kutai and Samarinda.

"The district head and mayors should have known about this and should have immediately settled the problem so that this does not hinder the development that has been planned," Awang said.

He added that there were already 14 other firms ready to work with the provincial government to build the food estate. He cited Miwon, Solaria, Bosowa, and Trans Corp. among them.

"We are asking that these overlapping land claims be settled soon so that this program can proceed smoothly and food resilience nationally can be reached," Awang said.

The national food estate program was launched by Agriculture Minister Suswono in East Kalimantan's Bulungan district in October. The government has earmarked Rp 9 trillion ($981 million) in 2012 for the project to plant various staple crops such as rice, corn and soy.

In December, State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said three state companies would team up to open 100,000 new hectares for rice fields in East Kalimantan, in a bid to achieve the government's target of a 10 million-ton rice surplus by 2014.

Dahlan named the three companies as fertilizer maker Pupuk Sriwidjaja (Pusri) and state farming companies Pertani and Sang Hyang Seri. The new rice fields, he added, were expected to contribute one million tons of dry unhusked rice in 2013.

Dahlan later said that should East Kalimantan prove unable or not ready to host the food estate, other regions would be considered. "East Kalimantan is preparing now. But if it turns out East Kalimantan is not ready, we can move on to other parts," Dahlan said in January.

The minister said the government had designated the provinces of East Kalimantan and Papua to become centers of Indonesia's food production.

Rice dependence, malnutrition tied to farm decline

Jakarta Globe - March 14, 2012

Dessy Sagita – Most Indonesians may be employed in the agricultural sector, but dwindling investment in the field and lack of government attention has led to a food crisis and widespread malnutrition, experts said on Tuesday.

Katinka M. Weinberger, director of the UN Center for Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture, said the problem was investment funding was moving out of agriculture.

Yet with only a bit more funding, more could be done to educate farmers about the latest developments in agricultural technology, she said. "There are a lot of new technologies in agriculture, but the problem is how to communicate this to the people who need them," she said.

Around 70 percent of Indonesians are employed in or dependent on the agricultural sector. The vast majority are smallholders with an average of 0.3 hectares of land.

Hasil Sembiring, director of the Indonesian Center for Food Crops Research and Development, said the small plot sizes prevented farmers from cultivating crops other than rice, in turn leading to poor nutrition habits.

"With land this small, what else are they going to farm?" he said. In Vietnam and Thailand, smallholding average four hectares. "Besides the limited land size, we also need to address infrastructure problems, such as the fact that 52 percent of irrigation channels in Indonesia are not working," he said.

Hasil said the average Indonesian's consumption of 139 kilograms of rice a year needed to be reduced. Weinberger blamed this heavy dependence on rice for the prevalence of poor nutrition throughout the country. Making it worse, she went on, was the widespread poverty that prevented many families from buying other staple foods or eating a more balanced diet.

She predicted that Indonesia would have to double its current agricultural output by 2025 to meet the nutritional needs of the fast-growing population. "But it's not just a question of higher yield," she said. "Indonesia must also produce better-quality food crop."

Hasil warned that the country's economic performance could be undermined if the core problems in the agricultural sector were not seriously addressed. "Let's be realistic: We often call ourselves a rich country, but when it comes to agriculture we are truly poor," he said.

He urged the government to instate land reforms to allow more farmland to be dedicated to growing food crops. "If we don't do this immediately, Indonesian farmers will continue to be the poorest in Asia," he said.

Land disputes & evictions

MPR warns government on agrarian conflicts

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2012

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Mataram – The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) warned the government that agrarian conflicts could turn into a conflagration that could foster social unrest in the next few years.

The deputy speaker for the MPR, Hajriyanto Y. Thohari, said that the recent clashes in Mesuji, Lampung and Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, were proof that land disputes could turn deadly.

"We've received reports that many local governments have handed over and sold lands controlled by indigenous people to corporations. These people were not given enough compensation and the land was sold cheaply to the companies. This will end up in tragedies similar to the one in Mesuji or Bima if no action is taken," he said in his keynote speech to open a seminar on agrarian conflict over the weekend.

Hajriyanto of the Golkar Party said the House of Representatives had received reports on 1,760 land conflicts, most of which were filed in 2011 with no resolution being reached. He said that bloody clashes in Mesuji and Bima were an indication that people were disappointed with the way the government handled the land dispute.

"The people's ownership of land has been limited to 2 hectares per family while corporations are allowed to occupy land with no limits at least for 90 years according to the 2008 Investment Law. Moreover, it is easy for the government to deploy security personnel to guard the interests of business people," he said.

Hajriyanto said the MPR had sent an official letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, asking the government to implement the MPR Decree No. IX/2001 on land reform and natural resources management and amend the 1960 AgrarianLaw.

Lawmakers Akhmad Muqowwam and M. Nurdin, respectively of the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said agrarian conflicts were triggered by 36 land-related laws, all of which stood for the interests of the business community.

Muqowwam said that the government has been reluctant to amend the agrarian law simply because the land issue had become more complicated in recent years.

"The 36 laws, which include regulations on the environment, forestry, investment, mineral resources, water resources and mining in protected forests, are overlapping and also conflict with each other because land has been treated as commodity while its social function has been ignored," he said.

Nurdin called for what he termed a revolution in agrarian law. He said that the government should immediately amend a number of laws, including Agrarian Law No. 5/1960. Nurdin also called for limiting the size of land controlled by private companies.

Legislation & parliament

Sexy-outfit ban seen as ploy by some lawmakers

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2012

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The proposed sexy-outfit ban might be a tactic from the House of Representatives' secretariat general to force a new plan: a uniform project.

Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) investigation division coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi said the House of Representatives' Household Affairs Committee (BURT) was only targeting lawmakers' assistants and civil servants in the building with the ban.

"The miniskirt ban will affect assistants of lawmakers. I'm suspicious the [ban] is just a trick to allocate a state budget revision for new uniforms for civil servants, expert staff and personal assistants in the House secretariat general," Uchok said.

If that is true, he added, the new regulation would be the House's ticket to feast on the state budget for something that is not important.

Uchok called the ban discriminative because Indonesia was a multicultural country. Lawmakers should understand that the parliament building is the people's building and that any citizen had the right to go there in outfits that suit their taste, he said.

The miniskirt ban also violates women's rights and is disrespectful to the country's culture, he added.

"Take Papuans, for example," Uchok said. "They always wear koteka [penis gourds]. How can you ban Papuans wearing koteka from entering the DPR? It seems to me that the DPR leaders have dirty minds and they need to be straightened out"

The House of Representatives' unit in charge of creating the regulation is struggling to set the definition of "proper clothing." "It just has to be proper according to general standards," said Jaka Dwi Winarko, the spokesman for the House secretariat general.

Yogyakarta's Queen Hemas also questioned the plan in a visit to the House on Wednesday. "I am surprised that with all their work [lawmakers] have the time to regulate the size of people's skirts," she said.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari highlighted countries like Saudi Arabia, where cases of rape, particularly against Indonesian maids, are rampant despite strict clothing regulations. Conversely, in Scandinavian countries, where clothing is not regulated, there are few such incidents. "The real problem is with men. Don't treat women like sexual objects," she said.

[Additional reporting by DPA and AFP.]

Poor attendance of MPs raises concerns

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2012

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Of a total of 51 commission members, only eight attended a hearing with the National Commission on Human Rights and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency.

The meeting on Friday at the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs and laws, human rights and security, discussed budget issues.

A similar view was also heard at the commission's meeting room, where only 12 legislators were present during a hearing with Attorney General Basrief Arief the day before.

Eight legislators attended a hearing with the National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo in the afternoon and only four stayed for an evening session with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK).

Lawmakers' declining professionalism has raised concerns from the House's Ethics Council, which called on House factions to discipline their members for not attending meetings.

"Factions are authorized [by respective political parties] to discipline their members. Therefore, we hope that they will require their lawmakers to abide by working hours at the House," Ethics Council chief M. Prakosa said on Friday.

Surprisingly, the House's Speaker Marzuki Alie defended lawmakers' bad attitude, saying they did not have to attend every meeting.

"It's okay for lawmakers to skip some sessions such as discussions or hearings because they will get updated later [by their assistant]. But, they are not allowed to skip House sessions," Marzuki said.

He said that leaders of all commissions at the House should arrange schedules to give lawmakers a chance to attend meeting.

"The poor attendance at Commission III was apparently because many legislators were leaving for France to collect input for revisions in the law. The leaders should have arranged the schedules prior to the trip to avoid too many legislators skipping sessions," Marzuki said.

Nevertheless, Marzuki said he had no power to force fellow lawmakers to be disciplined.

"I am troubled with this bad habit, but I don't have the authority to force lawmakers to regularly come to work or to be punctual because I am not their superior, therefore I don't have the authority to force them to regularly come to work," he said.

It has become public knowledge that lawmakers often skip House meetings, despite having their signatures in the attendance list. To stop such habits, the House leadership has intended to buy fingerprint scanners worth around Rp 300 million (US$33,000) to ensure lawmakers' attendance.

"Lawmakers will be no longer be able to ask their secretaries or staffs to sign the attendance list on their behalf, just as some have been doing. Instead, they must come to work because the scanners will require their fingerprints," he said.

Jakarta & urban life

Prabowo, Megawati throw support behind Solo mayor for next Jakarta governor

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Ezra Sihite – Top Indonesian politicians Prabowo Subianto and Megawati Soekarnoputri have agreed to back the mayor of the Central Java town of Solo, Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, in the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial race.

Prabowo, the founder of Gerindra Party, and Megawati, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the former president of Indonesia, met on Thursday afternoon in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, to discuss the issue.

They came out with an agreement to nominate Jokowi for the next Jakarta governor, the secretary-general of Gerindra, Ahmad Muzani, told journalists in Jakarta on Friday.

"We've seen that Solo, a city with dynamic residents, has good administration and environment. The leader listens to the aspirations of the people and the people tell the leader their aspirations," Ahmad said.

"He [Jokowi] has well developed the [local traditional] markets. The city has good transportation and he has managed to turn it into a tourist city. In our opinion, Jakarta has been facing problems [Solo] once dealt with."

Ahmad added Gerindra and PDI-P had to declare their candidate because the deadline for registration is on Monday.

Neither Gerindra nor PDI-P has officially declared their support for Jokowi, but the Thursday meeting between Prabowo and Megawati will very likely cancel intentions to support the incumbent Jakarta governor, Fauzi Bowo, for his re-election bid, as was previously voiced by other senior politicians from the two parties.

The Democratic Party, which had earlier hinted support for Fauzi, has also not yet officially declared support for a candidate. Fauzi has only secured backing from the National Mandate Party.

Another major party in the Jakarta Council, the Golkar Party, has said it will nominate South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin for the top Jakarta post.

Aside from Fauzi, Alex and Jokowi, independent candidates Faisal Basri, an economist, and Hendardji Soepandji, a retired Army general, have declared their bid for the Jakarta gubernatorial election on July 11. (BeritaSatu/JG)

End of the road? Phasing out Jakarta's bajajs

Jakarta Globe - March 11, 2012

Catriona Richards – In a year's time, Jakarta's orange bajajs – those three-wheeled, smoke-belching buggies of banged-up steel – will be banished from the city's streets for good.

Drivers of the so-called "red bajajs" will be forced to pay up for the cleaner blue model, or move on. It's good news for air quality in the polluted city, but a sad farewell for drivers who have lived their lives through the windshields of these iconic vehicles.

After decades serving the public, fleets of red bajajs are now being pulled from the streets by the Jakarta Transportation Agency as part of a plan to rid the city of the polluting menace by 2013. In the past month, red bajajs have already been unceremoniously loaded onto the backs of trucks and taken to a crusher in Pulogebang, North Jakarta. The agency claims to be holding up its end of the bargain by taking the old red bajajs off the streets, but takes no responsibility for the next step of the transition, blaming the tax office for slowing the process by charging a 45 percent "luxury goods" tax on blue bajajs, powered by compressed natural gas (CNG).

Nobody, it seems, is paying attention to the protests of the drivers themselves, caught in the middle of the administration's dream and their own everyday reality.

Working harder

A red bajaj driver who has been transporting passengers around Central Jakarta for 20 years says he's definitely worried about the change. Sukir, a man in his late 60s, already works 12 hours a day to pay the rent on his bajaj and send some money back to his family in Berebes, Central Java.

He hurries to his feet when approached by potential customers, abandoning his bowl of mie ayam and brushing the oily cracker crumbs from the back seat. A bowl of noodles is a cheap meal in these parts – in fact, without a side of white rice, it is not considered a meal at all.

"Where to?" Sukir asks, shy to negotiate a price before knowing what route he has to take. Bajajs are banned from entering main roads like Jalan Jenderal Sudirman or the grand boulevard running past Taman Suropati in Central Jakarta. But everywhere else, they are free to cut across four lanes of peak-hour traffic, or maneuver their way through quiet backstreets and alleyways.

As his bajaj cranks to life, Sukir steers away from the towering Matraman mosque and out onto the main street, one bare foot resting near the handlebars. His voice rises to a shout as the engine shudders noisily and the vehicle's steel shell begins to rattle in its frame, held together by knots of plastic string.

"I work from 5 in the morning to 5 at night," he says. "Next year, when the red bajajs are banned, I will have to work even harder." Sukir pays Rp 45,000 ($4.95) a day to rent his bajaj from a man he has never met – he just hands the money over to a clerk at the rental agency. A tank of fuel for the day costs Rp 50,000, and anything left over from the day's takings is sent home to his family. On an average day, with one customer an hour paying just over Rp 10,000 for a short trip to the market or train station, he takes home around Rp 30,000. The new bajajs, Sukir says, cost more than Rp 100,000 a day to rent. Short of taking passengers 24 hours a day, he's not sure he can make the payment. Steam rises from the rain-soaked streets as Sukir rounds the corner toward Cikini station.

Place in history

Parked along the zebra-striped curb are rows of Metro Mini public buses, banged together in the same dimpled, orange panels as the old bajajs. The Metro Mini and the bajaj are two of a kind, and as much a part of the Central Jakarta landscape as the old Dutch architecture, lush parks and wide streets.

The bajaj has been a familiar feature of the area since the 1970s, when it was introduced to replace the old becak, or pedicab. Exported to Indonesia by India's Bajaj Auto company, the vehicle was seen as a modern alternative, offering passengers shelter from the elements under a canvas roof, and giving drivers' legs a break from pedaling. But long after the gasoline-guzzling, two-stroke variety was banned from India's major cities, the old-school bajaj continues to shuttle its way around the streets of Central Jakarta, leaving a trail of noxious fumes.

The near future

Careering down Cikini's main drag, a row of colonial-era shopfronts loom into view, leaning into the street with their hooded rooftops. Sukir loops back toward the station and stops outside a stall selling freshly cut flowers. Even then, he is reluctant to set a fare for the trip. "It's up to you," he says.

At Cikini station, commuters are huddled under the eaves inspecting wicker baskets and handicrafts to avoid the rain. The new, blue bajajs are lined up there alongside the red. The drivers haggle for customers, promising a sheltered ride.

A family of three approaches the first blue bajaj in line, but rejects the suggested fare as "too expensive." With a grin, the driver admits that after switching from red to blue he sometimes charges an extra Rp 2,000 or so, to make up for the difference in rent.

The next customer, a student from the University of Indonesia, is happy to pay the fare. "If I have a choice, I'll take a blue bajaj," says student Audia Medina, 20. "It's not as shaky and not as noisy, either. The drivers are just the same. The only difference is the bajaj."

Another blue bajaj screeches to a halt outside the station, a stereo in the back seat pumping dangdut music, the Indonesian lyrics wailing over an Indian-style beat. Driver Dasuki flings open the door to reveal a "welcome" sticker fastened to the vehicle's clean interior.

Taking off down the street, he only has to make himself heard over the music, not the sound of the engine. "Passengers prefer the new bajajs," he says, turning down the stereo. "They are clean, safe and comfortable."

Dasuki, a man in his late 30s, has been driving bajajs almost as long as Sukir, a total of 18 years. Previously the driver of a red bajaj, he switched to blue just a few years ago and is glad he did. He now works only half a day, from 3:30 in the afternoon until late at night, and pays Rp 70,000 in rent for the vehicle to a friend from his hometown of Indramayu, West Java. A full day, he says, costs Rp 110,000. With natural gas costing only Rp 15,000 for half a day's work, he makes Rp 50,000 or more daily, to send to his wife and two children back home.

Dasuki takes pride in his vehicle. Aside from the stereo, he has added multi-colored stickers to the blue body, a string of silver beads along the windshield and a total of five rear-view mirrors. "Look," he says, pointing to a plastic packet dangling in the back. "I even have air freshener."

Dasuki says he charges fares according to the distance of the journey and the estimated wealth of the passenger – that means a discount for children and the elderly, and a premium for foreigners and office workers.

At this rate, he has paid the school fees for his eldest daughter all the way up to senior high school. She has already been offered a scholarship to study science in Bogor, Dasuki says, but the living costs will be too high for him to support her there.

Nevertheless, the future looks bright for Dasuki. Until the change comes next year, his blue bajaj gives him an advantage over the older vehicles, as passengers choose a smooth, quiet ride over a noisy, bumpy one.

But for drivers like Sukir, who are afraid of going into debt with the new vehicles, it's still a rocky road ahead.

[Arnie Widodo contributed to this story.]

Political hobnob frenzy as Jakarta election deadline draws near

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2012

Andreas D. Arditya, Jakarta – As the electoral situation is apparently becoming increasingly volatile with only one pair of candidate hopefuls having surfaced, political parties and politicians are in high gear looking for coalition partners and running mates for the Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Thursday saw Lt. Gen. (ret.) Nono Sampono, the former commander of the Presidential Security Force, jump ship to join South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin as a pair backed by a coalition group led by the Golkar Party, which has seven seats at the City Council, to run in the election. Golkar is now partners with the United Development Party (PPP), which controls seven seats, and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) with four seats.

Nono was previously one of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) gubernatorial hopefuls, also winning support from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

PDI-P is the third-largest party in the Council with 11 seats, while Gerindra has a far more mediocre standing with only six.

Gerindra was quick to respond to Nono's move, announcing Friday it intended to support incumbent Governor Fauzi Bowo. Gerindra local branch chairman Muhammad Taufik said that they regretted Nono's decision.

"We think it is unwise to support out-of-town candidates; we need those who understand Jakarta. We have many of them here," Taufik said, referring to Alex's candidacy.

Taufik said the move to support Fauzi was also based on signals by other nationalist parties' apparently intent on supporting the incumbent. "PDI-P has been approaching Fauzi. I know the National Mandate Party [PAN] has done the same as well," he said.

To be able to name a candidate pair to run in the election, political parties or a coalition of political parties should have garnered more than 15 percent of the vote during the 2009 Legislative Election or have more than 15 seats in the Council.

The PDI-P has yet to decide who to endorse in the election, but has said that Surakarta Mayor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was among the strongest candidates. The PDI-P cadre is among those praised by the public as an ideal candidate because he is considered to have successfully managed Surakarta and its people for the last five years.

Jokowi is also apparently on the move. He was reported to have contacted noted entrepreneur Sandiaga Uno, talking over the chances for them to pair up in the election. "I have yet to meet him. I contacted him by telephone this morning," he said in Surakarta, Central Java.

Jokowi said that the PDI-P had yet to decide upon his running mate, but communication with Sandiaga was approved by the party.

PAN chairman, Hatta Rajasa, said separately on Friday that the party had yet to make up its mind in the Jakarta election. "We have yet to decide our stance," he said in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Amid the movement by mediocre parties, two heavyweight parties have yet to name their pairs.

The Democratic Party, the largest in the capital with 32 seats on the Council, is likely to support incumbent Fauzi, while 18-seat Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has named its local branch advisory board chairman, Triwisaksana, as a candidate.

The PKS has hinted at the possibility of pairing Triwisaksana with Fauzi. In 2007, the PKS admitted defeat in the capital's first-ever direct gubernatorial election after going against a massive 19-party coalition. Coalition-backed Fauzi won with 57 percent of the 3.1 million votes cast while PKS candidate Adang Daradjatun gathered 43 percent.

The Jakarta General Elections Commission will accept the registration of political party-backed candidates between March 13 and 19, with the polling day set for July 11.

[Khairul Saleh in Palembang and Kusumasari Ayuningtyas in Surakarta contributed to this article.]

Fauzi's bid teetering as Golkar pushes on

Jakarta Globe - March 9, 2012

Arientha Primanita & Robertus Wardi – The lineup for July's gubernatorial election in Jakarta came into sharper focus on Thursday, but the picture was bleak for incumbent Fauzi Bowo, who is still without party support.

The Golkar Party, which said earlier this week that it would nominate either South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin or legislator Tantowi Yahya, announced on Thursday that it would back the former.

"We've decided to go with Alex," said Agung Laksono, the Golkar deputy chairman. He said Alex was the best choice because he also had the support of the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), which would automatically qualify him to run.

Parties or coalitions must have at least 15 seats in the 94-seat City Council in order to nominate a gubernatorial candidate. Golkar has seven, the same as the Islamic-based PPP, while the Christian-based PDS has four, giving them a combined 18 seats.

Priya Ramadhani, the head of Golkar's Jakarta branch, told the Jakarta Globe that Alex's running mate would be Nono Sampono, a retired Army general.

"From his track record in the military, he has what it takes to be deputy governor," Priya said. "He's the kind of person we need to develop Jakarta and make it a safe city."

Nono, a former commander of the presidential guard, had previously been linked to a gubernatorial bid with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), but Priya said there was no plan for Golkar and the PDI-P to join forces for the polls in July.

The Alex-Nono ticket was agreed on at a high-level meeting on Wednesday night that was attended by Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie, secretary general Idrus Marham and Priya.

Priya, who is related to Aburizal by marriage, had previously been expected to stand for governor himself. However, he said he would cede the nomination to "the more capable candidate." "For the good of the people of Jakarta, I'm willingly stepping back," he said.

While Alex's bid is just taking off, the man he intends to replace still has no political party backing after the PDI-P announced on Thursday that it would not nominate Fauzi.

Prasetyo Edi Marsudi, deputy chairman of PDI-P's Jakarta branch, said the party was not looking for a "just so-so candidate." He said based on Fauzi's performance over the past five years and his lack of major improvements to the capital, the PDI-P would not be supporting him.

Prasetyo cited in particular Fauzi's handling of the city's worsening traffic situation and his shelving of a monorail project as among his principal failures.

"We would rather nominate someone from inside the party, but in a coalition with other parties because we don't have enough seats to go it alone," he said.

The PDI-P has 11 seats on the City Council. Only the Democratic Party (with 32 seats) and the Prosperous Justice Party (also known as the PKS, with 18) have enough to nominate candidates on their own. Prasetyo said it appeared that Fauzi himself was trying to get on the PKS ticket.

He added that the PDI-P would announce its pick on Monday, when it is widely expected to go with Joko Widodo, the popular mayor of Solo, Central Java.

For its part, the PKS has already said that Triwisaksana, the City Council deputy speaker, would be on its ticket, but has not yet decided whether he will run for governor or deputy governor.

[With reporting from Suara Pembaruan.]

FBR gives full support to Nachrowi's bid

Jakarta Post - March 9, 2012

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – The hard-line Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) says it will support Nachrowi Ramli in his bid to become a candidate for Jakarta governor despite it remaining unknown if the retired Army general will be officially endorsed by the Democratic Party.

"Yes, we have recently decided to give our solid support to him," FBR chairman Lutfi Hakim told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Lutfi said the decision had been made as the FBR considers Nachrowi, who also chairs the Betawi Consultative Forum (Bamus), to be the gubernatorial-hopeful to have the closest "emotional relationship" with the FBR, which currently has 350 branches across Greater Jakarta and is arguably one of the city's biggest organizations. The Jakarta gubernatorial elections will be held in July.

Claiming to have secured endorsement from the Democratic Party's Jakarta chapter, Nachrowi, however, has yet to receive official endorsement from the party's highest executive board, allegedly because of the ongoing internal party strife.

Armed forces & defense

NGOs claim Sukhoi jet deal was brokered

Jakarta Post - March 15, 2012

Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – Rights watchdogs say that the Indonesian government used a broker to buy Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia, despite claims to the contrary from the Russian Embassy in Jakarta.

Several NGOs have alleged that there were irregularities in the purchase of the jets, including the unauthorized involvement of a third party, which were not allowed in government-to-government contracts.

The organizations, which included Imparsial, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), the Institute for Defense and Peace Studies (IDSPS) and the People's Advocacy and Policy Research Institute (Elsam), also alleged that there were price mark-ups in the sale.

Al Araf of human rights watchdog Imparsial claimed that he had official documents stating that a company, PT Trimarga Rekatama, brokered the deal. "Air Force chief [Marshall Imam Suffaat] stated that there was a third party in the contract. So the government should stop denying the fact," Al Araf said on Wednesday.

Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Jakarta said that the purchase of the jets did not involve a third party.

"The contract drafting and signing process was carried out by the authorized representatives of Indonesia's Ministry of Defense and the Rosoboronexport, the embassy said in a press statement.

"Any information that some 'third side' took part in drafting the contract, and increasing the price of the jets, is not true," the statement continued.

The Defense Ministry signed a contract to purchase the fighters with JSC Rosoboronexport, Russia's state-owned company that has been authorized as the sole source for Russian-made weapon systems, on Dec. 29. According to the US$470 million contract, the first two jets ordered would arrive in Indonesia in 2012, three others in 2013 and a final jet in 2014.

Imam said that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had nothing to do with PT Trimarga Rekatama and has only been dealing with Rosoboronexport. Imam, however, did not deny the fact that PT Trimarga helped Rosoboronexport with its paperwork.

"Rosoboron has appointed Trimarga to help it in the customs office, exposure, and presentations," he said as quoted by Tempo weekly.

Mufti Makarim, the executive director of IDSPS, said House Commission I overseeing defense making probing the procurement a priority, "given the fact that Rp 150 trillion [$16.35 billion] of state funds are at stake".

Soldiers of Sulawesi military command expand their activities

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2012

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – The Wirabuana Military Command, which oversees the Gorontalo, Central, North, South, West and Southeast Sulawesi provinces, spends part of its time on strengthening food security, the environment and social empowerment.

"We still conduct routine drills, and at the same time get involved in other activities. The current Indonesian Military (TNI) Integrated Village Development (TMMD) program is similar to the previous ABRI (Indonesian Armed Forces) Enter the Village program," Wirabuana Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Muhamad Nizam told The Jakarta Post in the South Sulawesi capital Makassar recently.

Soldiers under the military command, numbering around 26,000, must carry out routine training in order to improve their capacity in defending the country, including combat exercises, so they would be prepared in the event of emergency from an enemy attack.

The Wirabuana Military Command periodically posts its troops at border areas to protect and safeguard the outer islands located within Sulawesi's territorial jurisdiction, where the islands border with neighboring countries.

Although separated, the TNI remains to back up the police in terms of security, but only during riots, such as the Poso riot. "We back up the police when there's a riot, especially when it escalates, but not on a daily basis. When the situation subsides, we will pull back our troops," he explained.

During peacetime the TNI, especially the Wirabuana Military Command, spends time strengthening food security, as instructed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to Nizam, his command has been asked to assist the community, especially farmers, to boost their crops, such as rice and corn.

Especially in South Sulawesi, the Wirabuana Military Command has signed a memorandum of understanding with the provincial administration, requiring every district's military command (Kodim) to cultivate 100 hectares of rice fields. The province is home to 14 Kodim, meaning that each planting season, the TNI cultivates 1,400 hectares of rice fields.

Apart from rice, they also grow various side crops. Organic vegetables grown by soldiers at the Wirabuana Military Command have been marketed in a number of supermarkets in Makassar.

The TNI does not only grow rice but also develops new variety seedlings, such as the Legowo rice variety, in a nursery located on a 3-hectare plot in Bantaeng regency. Each hectare of rice field is able to produce an average of 11 tons of rice each harvest.

Rice and corn are the prime commodities in South Sulawesi. The provincial administration targets a surplus of 2 million tons of rice and 1.5 million tons of corn annually. The TNI's involvement would help the administration reach the target.

Soldiers under the Wirabuana Military Command are also active in cultivating catfish by utilizing idle land in their respective commands. Besides for their own consumption, they also sell their harvest.

"We market the fish not only to Makassar, but to several other provinces, such as Tana Toraja. A soldier has even bought a public minivan from the proceeds of sales," said Nizam.

He added that his command was currently preparing to cultivate freshwater fish that would be carried out in the Jeneberang River in Gowa regency, by using permanent cages.

Soldiers at the Wirabuana Military Command gained their farming and fishery skills from a training program in cooperation with Makassar's Hasanuddin University, including adopting floating fish cage technology from Japan. They also learned to make compost.

The soldiers are also involved in environmental cleaning, reforestation and help residents in the event of natural disasters. They are routinely deployed to clean waterways and rivers in Makassar and plant tree seedlings for reforestation.

"TNI's main duty is to defend the country, especially from enemy attack. However, TNI soldiers must socialize with the people they protect by carrying out activities together with the community," Nizam added.

Rp 1.14 trillion allocated for flats for TNI, police personnel

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2012

Yuli Tri Suwarni – The government has allocated Rp 1.14 trillion (US$125 million) in the state budget this year to build 86 rented flats for members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police (Polri) across the archipelago, a minister said.

Speaking in Bandung, West Java, on Friday, Public Housing Minister Djan Faridz said that the development of the flats would especially be prioritized for TNI and Polri personnel in West Java, Jakarta, Central Java and Maluku.

"These are part of the target of building a total of 380 blocks of flats from 2010 to 2014," Djan said after officially launching two blocks of flats for members of the Military Regional Command III Siliwangi on Jl. Sumarsana, jointly with Army chief of staff Gen. Pramono Edhi Wibowo.

He said that the two flats launched on Friday comprised 140 houses to be rented to soldiers for Rp 150,000 to Rp 300,000 per month.

He added that the Public Housing Ministry had built nine twin blocks of flats in 2009 and 26.5 twin blocks of flats the following year for TNI members. "Apart from that we also build special flats for university students, workers and pesantren (Islamic boarding schools)," Djan said.

He said the government needed to build 13 million public housing units, of which 4.8 million were aimed at rehabilitating slum areas. He also said he had a target of improving some 1.5 million slum areas across the country by 2014.

Pramono said that so far only some 47 percent of members of the TNI had already had houses to live in. He also said that flats could help TNI personnel assigned in Bandung better control their spending. Otherwise, they had to spend up to Rp 7 million per year to rent a house.

"That way they will be able to save money to buy their own houses, where when they are retired they need not continue staying in official residences," said Pramono, adding that many of the TNI's official houses were still occupied by retired soldiers.

Police & law enforcement

Subdistrict police chief in Bekasi nabbed for drugs

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2012

Bayu Marhaenjati – A subdistrict police chief in Bekasi has been arrested for using methamphetamine at his official residence.

Jakarta Police's Bureau of Professionalism and Security Affairs (Propam) arrested Heru Budhi Sutrisno, the head of Cibarusah Police, late last week.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said the force had been surveilling Heru for some time, and detained him on Friday as he was taking the drug. Heru is being interrogated at the Jakarta Police Narcotics unit.

Police seized nearly 9 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia from Heru's official residence. The police chief faces more than five years jail for violating anti-narcotics laws.

The case in Bekasi is the latest arrest of a law enforcement officer. Last month, Adj. Comr. A, the deputy director of the North Sumatra Police narcotics unit, was detained for drug dealing; he was arrested and dismissed from his position.

Civil society groups have long alleged that police officers use and sell illicit drugs.

In another case, a court in Bali last month sentenced Miftachul Huda, 33, an officer with the Bali Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob), to five years in prison for drug trafficking. He was caught in September with ecstasy and methamphetamine.

"As a police officer, the defendant should have been on the front line in fighting narcotics," Judge Hasoloan Sianturi said in his ruling. In his defense, Miftachul said he was forced to do it because his police pay was inadequate.

Foreign affairs & trade

Minister signs MoU blindly

Jakarta Post - March 14, 2012

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Indonesia-Singapore bilateral meeting on Tuesday included the signing of agreements at the ministerial level, but one of the Indonesian ministers said he did not know the substance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) he and his counterpart just signed.

Education and Culture Minister M. Nuh and his Singaporean counterpart, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam, signed "The cooperation in the field of Education" agreement.

Consecutively, Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar and Shanmugam signed an agreement titled "Technical cooperation on Capacity Building for Public Officials".

The agreements were made on the sidelines of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and visiting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's leaders' retreat meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java. Both state leaders witnessed the signings.

While the agreement title was self-explanatory, Azwar could not answer journalists' questions about the contents of the agreement he just signed.

Azwar, who oversees bureaucratic reform and is tasked with boosting the quality of the nation's administrative sector, admitted that he did not scrutinize the document before signing it. "I will answer in two or three days. I have to study it first because I did not read [the MoU] article by article," Azwar said.

"The point is that Singapore has much better public servants, and the country is not far from here," said the National Mandate Party (PAN) politician who was installed as a minister just five months ago.

When asked if the agreement would include cooperation such as the exchange of civil servants on study programs, Azwar said, "I do not know yet what forms the ties were [in the agreement]". Unlike Azwar, Nuh could elaborate on the Singapore-Indonesia education agreement.

He said the deal included the exchange of university professors. "It also includes a mutual understanding that the degrees held by Indonesian university graduates will be recognized by Singapore and vice versa," he said.

Indonesian students will also be given greater access to study and conduct research in the city-state, Nuh added. "We also encourage Singaporean students to study here." (nvn)

Indonesia may press Singapore on asset repatriation, Timor Leste

Jakarta Post - March 10, 2012

Indonesia is set to kick off another round of high-ranking diplomatic talks with Singapore on issues deemed contentious in the bilateral ties of the two neighboring countries.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to host Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the second annual leaders' retreat held at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java on Tuesday. The first retreat was held in Singapore in 2010.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that among the top agendas to be negotiated was Indonesia's wish for Singapore to support Indonesia's anti- corruption drive.

"When it comes to Indonesia-Singapore ties, talks about cooperation in the legal sector, such as extradition and mutual legal assistance for asset recovery, have always been brought up. This is important because it is about the interests of both countries," Marty said on Friday at the Presidential Palace.

While it is unlikely that any progress will be made toward achieving the extradition treaty that Indonesia longs for with Singapore, principally so that Indonesian corruption suspects can no longer flee to Singapore to escape justice, a source at the Palace said that Indonesia would instead pursue arrangements for the forfeiture of proceeds of crimes, particularly from corruption.

Indonesia, listed as one of the world's most corrupt nations, has not been able to persuade Singapore to agree to help it retrieve the billions of dollars of state money allegedly stashed in the city state by Indonesian criminals.

Observers and activists have dubbed Singapore as a safe haven for Indonesian corruption money. A prime example is graft convict Gayus H. Tambunan, a former tax official who allegedly deposited large amounts of money in Singapore before he was arrested in 2010. Graft defendant and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin also reportedly keeps his allegedly ill-gotten assets in Singapore.

University of Indonesia international law expert Hikmahanto Juwana said he would welcome any effort by the Indonesian government to push for a deal on a bilateral asset recovery mechanism, although he acknowledged that it would not be easy because there was so much money in Singapore that originated in Indonesia.

A 2007 report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini stated that one third of Singapore's high net-worth investors (those with net financial assets of more than US$1 million) were of Indonesian origin. The report also said 18,000 Indonesians had total assets of $87 billion there.

"Yudhoyono must be able to assure his Singaporean counterpart that, by signing such a treaty, the country would no longer be perceived as a state run by illicit funds," Hikmahanto said.

Another priority in the meeting is Indonesia's attempt to convince Singapore to accept the ASEAN membership of Timor Leste.

"There have actually been political statements from leaders in the region to welcome Timor Leste's bid to join ASEAN. Issues that are currently being discussed at the ministerial level concern the mechanism," Marty said.

On Wednesday, Marty met with Singapore's Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam to discuss the preparation for the upcoming meeting. Marty said that he and his counterpart Shanmugam had agreed that the Bogor meeting would also focus on boosting substantial bilateral partnerships in the sectors of economy, trade and investment.

"Part of the upcoming meeting will also be used to continue negotiations on border affairs. Issues concerning regional and global matters will also be discussed too," Marty said. "The two nation leaders will first review the development of their relationship after the first meeting in 2010," he added.

Economy & investment

Indonesia sets rules for home, vehicle loans to prevent bubble

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Tito Summa Siahaan & Grace Dwitiya Amianti – The central bank introduced a regulation on Friday aimed at preventing potentially dangerous bubbles by encouraging prudent banking practices and curbing excessive consumer loan growth.

Under the regulation, Bank Indonesia will limit the size of housing loans and set a minimum for down payments for vehicle purchases.

"Considering that there's an increasing demand for housing and automotive loans and an excessive growth in both segments, Bank Indonesia sees a need to introduce more prudent practices in loan disbursements," the central bank said in a statement published on its Web site.

The new regulation caps housing loans at 70 percent of the value of the home, and requires a minimum down payment of 30 percent for private car loans. It also set a minimum down payment of 25 percent for purchases of motorcycles and work vehicles.

Properties measuring less than 70 square meters are not subject to the new regulation, the central bank said.

The statement said the new regulation would help "safeguard the economy to face future challenges in the financial sector." It also said that by requiring minimum payments for housing and vehicle purchases, the potential risks posed by excessive growth in the housing and auto loan markets would be minimized.

Bank Indonesia said the country's lenders would have three months to implement the new rules, meaning they would become effective in June.

Darmin Nasution, the central bank governor, said the regulation was aimed at slowing down consumer lending and that its impact on overall lending growth would be minimal. Bank Indonesia forecast lending by the country's 120 commercial banks to grow by 27 percent this year, compared to 24 percent last year.

Helmi Arman, an economist at Citigroup in Jakarta, said slower loan growth in the housing and automotive sectors was unlikely to have a large impact on overall loan growth.

"Although both automotive and housing loans have been growing at rates of around 30 percent, the portion for overall lending is only 5 percent for the former and 8 percent for the latter," Helmi said in a note to clients on Friday, a copy of which was obtained by the Jakarta Globe.

Helmi said the regulation was aimed at strengthening the country's financial system by way of preventing excessive loan growth in the consumer sector. "It will discourage middle-income [consumers] from liquidating their time deposits and using them as down payments in speculative housing loans," he said.

Gunawan, a director of Indomobil Finance, the financing unit of Indomobil Sukses Internasional, said the new regulation would further improve the quality of loans that were disbursed. "I think banks and finance companies have implemented prudent loan practices," Gunawan said. "The bad loan ratio is low in the country."

Economists in Jakarta said the regulation was meant to cool consumer demand after the central bank opted to maintain its benchmark rate early this month.

Car sales rose to a record 894,000 units last year and motorcycle sales were at an all-time high of eight million units, according to the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo). Typically, 80 percent of purchases of cars and motorcycle are financed by loans.

Indonesia's $813 billion economy expanded 6.5 percent last year. Also in 2011, Bank Indonesia cut its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to a record low 6 percent, seeking to spur economic growth, and private consumption accounted for 56 percent of economic activity. (Investor Daily, JG)

Fuel price uncertainty hits Indonesia's bond and currency markets

Jakarta Globe - March 16, 2012

Aloysius Unditu – Indonesia's rupiah and bond markets remained under selling pressure this week as investors dumped local high-yield assets ahead of next month's scheduled subsidized fuel price increase.

Economists, bond traders and foreign exchange dealers in Jakarta said the outlook of the two markets for the coming weeks was bleak.

"Uncertainty remains high and will remain so in the coming days," said David Sumual, an economist at Bank Central Asia in Jakarta. "That would dampen market sentiment on the bond and rupiah market." The government has proposed increasing the subsidized fuel price in April to Rp 6,000 a liter from Rp 4,500.

The plan still needs approval from lawmakers, and speculation has abounded that it might not happen, creating uncertainty for investors.

"There is talk in the market that the planned fuel price increase will be scrapped or postponed," said a fixed-income dealer at a Jakarta bank who declined to be identified. The dealer added that political opposition to plan suggested it might not be put into effect until more debates were held to discuss its merits.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have voiced their opposition to the subsidy cut, while the Golkar Party and the Democratic Party support the plan.

The yield of the government's 10-year bond rose to 6.0685 percent on Friday from 6 percent the previous day while the 15-year bonds increased to 6.607 percent from 6.529 percent, according to data from Indonesia Bond Pricing Agency. Bond yields move inversely with bond price.

As of March 9, foreign holdings of Indonesian bonds had fallen to Rp 226 trillion ($24.8 billion) from Rp 236 trillion in early January. Almost $1 billion worth of funds have been pulled out of Indonesia in the last one and a half months alone.

The capital outflow led to a decline in the rupiah in recent weeks. On Friday it gained ground slightly to trade at 9,178 against the dollar, compared with Thursday's close of 9,193, thanks in part to the central bank selling dollars. The rupiah lost 0.2 percent against the dollar across the week.

Foreign exchange dealers said the central bank's move to intervene in the foreign exchange market prevented the rupiah from sliding further on Friday.

Bank Indonesia said in a March 8 statement that it would continue to observe and intervene in the foreign exchange and bond markets to stabilize the currency.

Foreign exchange dealers said Indonesia's central bank would do whatever it could to prevent the rupiah from breaking the 9,200 level against the dollar. "That would be the resistant level," BCA's David said.

The proposed state budget assumes a rupiah that trades at 9,000 against the dollar, slightly weaker than the original forecast of Rp 8,800 per dollar. Analysts said the central bank had intervened in the foreign exchange market, selling a limited amount of dollars for rupiah.

Deputy governor Hartadi Sarwono said on Wednesday that Bank Indonesia was considering raising the statutory reserve requirement for commercial banks to contain inflationary pressures.

New property ruling can reduce speculation

Jakarta Post - March 13, 2012

The government's plan to allow foreigners to buy condominiums could help reduce "illegal purchases" of properties by foreigners that have tended to increase property values in the country's major cities, an official said.

Pangihutan Marpaung, the Public Housing Ministry's deputy for formal housing, said that many foreigners had purchased properties through their wives because they were not allowed to own land in the country.

Such practices apparently were growing and pushed up prices to unrealistic highs because people not only bought land for their own homes, but also for businesses and speculation, he said.

Such land speculation has also severely hurt local people, especially in Jakarta, Bali and Batam, because with the sharp increase in land prices, it would be almost impossible for them to own a house, Pangihutan said.

"We do not want foreigners playing hide-and-seek anymore. We are afraid such practices are flourishing in the country and it will hurt the domestic market," he told The Jakarta Post.

Under the regulation, which is expected to be issued in May, foreigners will be allowed to buy an apartment or condominium for a period of 60 years, which may then be extended for another 60 years.

Under the present rules, foreigners may lease property for 25 years, which can be extended for a further 25 years and another 20 years, or 70 years in total. But unlike the right to lease, the ownership right under the new regulation can be traded.

Pangihutan said that a significant jump in prices took place in strategic areas, such as Jakarta, Bali and Batam of the Riau Islands province.

According to recent research conducted by Knight Frank and Elite Havens, land prices in Bali rose up to 34 percent throughout 2011, while its normal increase rate was only around 8 to 16 percent.

Land prices near beaches in Seminyak areas, such as Legian, Petitenget and Batu Belig experienced the highest jump compared to other areas in Bali; the prices rose by 50 to 87.5 percent last year.

Knight Frank and Elite Havens said the sharp increases were influenced by the high demand among investors to build property in those particular tourism sites.

Ali Hanafia from Ciputra Group's Century 21, said that in general, land prices in big cities in Indonesia had risen by almost 100 percent for the past two years.

In the Central Business District in Jakarta, he said that land prices reached up to Rp 100 million (US $10,900) per square meter in 2012, while two years ago the price was around Rp 40 million to Rp 50 million.

In Batam, prices of land in strategic areas jumped from only Rp 8 million per square meter in 2010 to Rp 20 million per square meter this year.

Property consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle-Procon's head of research, Anton Sitorus, said that the new regulation was a positive signal for foreigners to have property in Indonesia.

"The new regulation will lure foreigners to buy property in Indonesia, but the impact is not going to be that big because we are hampered by the 1960 Agrarian Law," Anton told the Post on Monday.

He said it would be better if the government also reviewed the Agrarian Law that prohibits foreigners from owning land in Indonesia in order to attract more foreign investment.

In a separate interview, Real Estate Indonesia (REI) chairman Setyo Maharso said that the government should not be afraid of foreigners controlling the prices of property in Indonesia.

"We do not have to be afraid because our domestic market in property is very strong. Foreign-controlled prices are not going to happen," he told the Post. He said that the current Indonesian demand for homes reached up to 12 million units. (nfo)

Criticism greets Indonesia's ban on foreigners for certain posts

Jakarta Globe - March 12, 2012

Dion Bisara & Anita Rachman – The government came under fire over the weekend after it released a ruling banning foreigners from occupying 19 types of positions in Indonesian-owned companies.

The ruling from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, dated Feb. 29, was released on Saturday. It was attacked for apparent ambiguities and listing positions including chief executive officer as being off-limits.

But Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said the position, listed in Indonesian as kepala eksekutif kantor (executive head of office), had been mistranslated as chief executive officer.

"CEO is not like the president director. With CEO, I mean the head of the administration and personnel, or HRD. Once again, it is not the president director, it is only the chief officer for human resources," Muhaimin said.

According to the regulations, positions that are off-limits to foreigners are, among others: personnel director, industrial relation manager, human resource manager, personnel development supervisor, personnel recruitment supervisor, personnel placement supervisor, employee career development supervisor and personnel administrator. Listed as number nine is "chief executive officer."

Sofjan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), and James Filgo, a senior member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, reacted by accusing the government of trying "to micromanage" the private sector.

Sofjan raised the concern that the new regulation would hamper foreign investment. Rather than try to micromanage the private sector, Sofjan said, the government should work to make the bureaucracy more effective and efficient. "Why should they invest if they cannot put their men in the company," Sofjan asked.

Filgo also said the government appeared to be in the business of managing private industry, and called on the latter "to address issues such as this very quickly with the government before it destroys efforts to achieve global competitiveness for Indonesia."

Chris Wren, executive director of BritCham, said the new regulations gave "cause for concern, and we are seeking further clarifications." Reyna Usman, director general of labor placement and development at the ministry, specified that the regulation was not retroactive.

Government to allow foreigners to own property

Jakarta Post - March 12, 2012

Jakarta – A new government regulation scheduled for implementation in May has promised a legal breakthrough that would allow foreigners to own property in Indonesia, albeit restricted to condominiums only.

In the past, efforts to open the property market to foreigners were hampered by the prohibition on land ownership, which would remain intact as demanded by existing laws.

The upcoming regulation seeks to overcome that problem by simply providing foreigners with the right to apply for the purchase of a Building Ownership Certificate (SKBG) that is completely detached from land rights.

"They can own apartment units under the SKBG without having the land," Pangihutan Marpaung, the deputy on formal housing at the Public Housing Ministry, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Pangihutan said foreigners could hold SKBGs for 60 years with the possibility of extending them by another 60 years, thus making condominium ownership in Indonesia more competitive than in Singapore, which allows 90 years of ownership. "There is a good chance for extending the certificate for another 60 years, but we are still discussing it further," he said.

Under present rules, foreigners may lease property for 25 years that can be extended for further periods of 25 years and 20 years, or 70 years in total. Unlike the right to lease, the SKBG can change hands and can be traded.

The opening of the domestic property market will not come without a set of restrictions, Pangihutan said. Non-nationals will not be allowed to participate the condominium resident associations, which according to the law hold the right to manage condominiums as well as to communicate residence-related issues to property developers and the government.

In addition, the upcoming regulation will also limit how many units in a condominium tower can be owned by foreigners. According to Pangihutan, the ministry is considering 40 percent foreign ownership at the maximum for each tower.

Pangihutan said the regulation also sought to determine which cities in Indonesia were allowed to have foreign ownership. So far, Jakarta, Bali and Batam have been short-listed. More cities such as Medan in North Sumatra and Balikpapan in East Kalimantan are still being considered.

Medan is an emerging tourism city and a gate to western parts of the country, even more so with the construction of Kuala Namu International Airport. Balikpapan, on the other hand, is an oil and gas rich city in the eastern part of the country with a bustling expatriate community.

The government will also set a minimum price per square meter. So far, the government still sticks to property worth at least Rp 2 billion (US $220,000). However, that figure might be changed. (nfo)

Reality check in new Indonesian state budget

Jakarta Globe - March 8, 2012

Dion Bisara & Tito Summa Siahaan – To better reflect the surge in global oil prices and next month's planned increase in the subsidized fuel price and electricity rates, the government has indicated revisions in the 2012 budget for submission to the House of Representatives this week.

In the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday, the Finance Ministry revised the oil price assumption to $105 a barrel from the $90 target set in October. Crude oil in New York was trading at $105.14 on Wednesday. The government also proposed raising the subsidized price on widely used low-octane gasoline to Rp 6,000 (65 cents) a liter from Rp 4,500 starting in April.

The government needs to raise the fuel price to contain ballooning subsidy costs in the state budget. The cost for subsidies including gasoline and cooking fuel was revised up to Rp 137.4 trillion from the original forecast of Rp 124 trillion. The electricity subsidy was increased to Rp 93.05 trillion from Rp 44.9 trillion.

The oil price assumption is one of the six parameters used by the government to calculate its budget. The other five assumptions are economic growth, inflation, yields on three-month bills, the rupiah exchange rate against the dollar and oil production.

Juniman, an economist at Bank Internasional Indonesia, said the latest proposals for the budget reflected a more realistic picture of the country's economy because global oil prices were higher. The government normally submits its budget revision proposal to lawmakers around July or August.

The Finance Ministry revised the inflation rate target to 7 percent this year from the 5.3 percent pace set in the original budget, and the economic growth forecast was cut to 6.5 percent from 6.7 percent.

The rupiah is assumed to trade at 9,000 per dollar, slightly weaker than the original assumption of 8,800 per dollar, while the oil production forecast was cut to 930,000 barrels per day from the 950,000 originally.

Inflation was at its slowest pace in 23 months, at 3.56 percent, in February. The economy expanded last year by 6.5 percent, the fastest pace since 1996.

Juniman said that the government's new economic growth forecast was a bit optimistic. He has cut his 2012 growth forecast to 6.3 percent, which is in line with the lower end of the central bank's range of 6.3 to 6.7 percent, citing slowing global demand.

Economists say that raising the subsidized fuel price is socially and politically sensitive in a nation where almost half of the population of 240 million people lives on less than $2 a day.

"The proposed budget is being discussed with the parliament. We believe that the parliament is very likely to approve the fuel price hike of Rp 1,500 – as the government is already prepared to shield the poor households from the fuel price impact by handing out cash transfer," said Anton Gunawan, an economist at Bank Danamon in Jakarta.

The government forecast the budget deficit this year to widen to Rp 190.1 trillion, or 2.23 percent of the country's gross domestic product, from the original forecast of Rp 124 trillion, or 1.5 percent of GDP. To help plug the widening deficit, the government will raise its net bond sales this year by Rp 25 trillion to Rp 159.6 from the original forecast of Rp 134.6 trillion.

The country's foreign-exchange reserves are forecast to rise to $122.3 billion this year, up from $110.1 billion last year, according to the document.

[With additional reporting by Aloysius Unditu.]

Analysis & opinion

Democrats: Instead of creating an imagined coup, just listen to the public

Jakarta Globe - March 10, 2012

Yohanes Sulaiman & Phillip Turnbull – It appears we're having a coup. Or at least that is what some in the government would have us believe. Indonesians woke to this news on Monday when the press carried a story, second place to Stevie Wonder's Jakarta concert, that the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was to be overthrown by a retired general who is the chairman of a political party and an aspiring presidential candidate for 2014.

It was suggested that he would use expected street protests over the planned rise in fuel prices as a catalyst for a popular uprising.

It appears the government is taking the threat of a possible coup seriously and already has strategies in place, including increased security and intelligence surveillance to crush any plot to remove the president. This also includes blabbing the whole thing to the public.

Despite statements from the likes of Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam ("A coup is against the Constitution. We will crush it.") and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Defense Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto apparently confirming the government's knowledge of a plot without giving any details, the most extraordinary element in this revelation is that Democratic Party lawmaker Ramadhan Pohan is reported to have "suggested" the person behind the alleged treason is Wiranto, a retired general and chairman of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura). As to be expected, Wiranto has denied in unequivocal terms the accusation.

Ramadhan's public statement raises several intriguing questions. To begin with, how many spokesmen does the Democratic Party have? And who authorizes its public statements? Recently the call went out from on high for politicians to watch what they say to the media because there was a rampant outbreak of "foot in mouth disease." Politician after politician stomped up to the microphones desirous of a little bit of public profile and shot his or her mouth off, only to have what they had stated hastily "qualified" later by embarrassed or furious party officials.

In this case, given the seriousness of the topic and the weight of the accusation, Ramadhan has either been deputed to leak this information to the public or he has personally and politically miscalculated on a monumental scale. It's not every day that a person is publicly accused of planning to stage a coup and seize control of a country.

Other questions also beg for answers, namely the timing and context of this dramatic exposure of a fundamental threat to national stability. A coup strikes at the heart of everything democracy stands for.

Given the trouble the Democratic Party is in at present, an imaginary coup could be understood by the politically gauche in the party as a godsend. Conspiracy theories aside, were this the case, it would be an exercise in monumental stupidity. Manipulating an imagined coup to distract the public would be an exercise that everyone would see through. Political decisions, especially badly thought-out ones, have long-term consequences.

Yudhoyono is no Iron Lady and a Falklands crisis Indonesia-style will not serve his administration. To deflect attention away from what is unfolding in the Democratic Party, problems with the coalition or rising fuel prices with rumors of a coup would be seen by many as an attempt to stifle rising vocal opposition and legitimate disapproval of the government's performance. Public opinion is already moving toward this conclusion and hence can only result in more dissatisfaction with the present administration.

If there are back-room rumblings in any quarters and calls for a radical change in government, the best thing that could happen is for the government to respond not by "crushing" loyal opposition, but by listening to it. And not a staged pretense of listening, but a genuine attempt to hear even the distasteful things. No government can survive long if it is divorced from reality unless it wishes to go against the will and soul of its people and tread a path of enforced totalitarianism. Indonesia committed itself over 10 years ago to a different path but appears to have lost its way. Neither the present direction nor a coup is the answer.

Rising fuel costs means rising prices across the board. The hardest hit will be those who can least afford to pay more for basic commodities like food. How will the government explain rising food prices to the poor while some lawmakers get rich from graft?

The government needs to get back on track with a crackdown on money politics, reform of the electoral system, the judiciary and law enforcement and the punishment of those who have hijacked Indonesia's reform movement for their own purposes.

Perhaps Stevie Wonder's arrival in town can tell us a few things about the surreal events that are happening – or said to be happening among us. His "Land of La La," in which he sings "You might get everything you want, but not want everything you get. Being in la la land is like nowhere else. Living in the land, one hell of a land, a land full of lost angels, movie stars and great big cars and Perrier and fun all day," could possibly shed some light on the present state of Indonesian politics, and all that jazz.

[Yohanes Sulaiman is a lecturer at the Indonesian Defense University (Unhan). Phillip Turnbull is a theology teacher based in Jakarta.]

The week in review: The weaker sex

Jakarta Post - March 11, 2012

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat – Some attitudes are hard to change. Despite reforms, a liberal press and greater public scrutiny, evidence shows Indonesia's democracy is still lagging in terms of attitudes towards women.

Data from the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) this week revealed 119,107 cases of violence against women took place in 2011, up 13 percent from the previous year. These included 4,335 cases of sexual harassment of which 2,937 occurred in public spaces such as public transportation vehicles.

Commission chairperson Yuniyanti Chuzaifah described the causes best: "A lack of understanding and appreciation among government officials and policymakers of how to uphold women's rights and how to properly treat them when they become victims."

It is not surprising that society remains entrenched in archaic, conservative, chauvinistic attitudes when leaders of the country continue to treat women as objects rather than as the equals of the opposite sex.

Inconceivably, the House of Representatives' Household Affairs Committee issued a regulation requiring female staff members at the House to wear non-revealing attire.

"The regulation is aimed at improving the House's image. Nevertheless, it's the ethics. We must adhere to Indonesian culture," Household Affairs Committee deputy chief Refrizal told reporters recently.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said that by wearing revealing clothing, women encouraged men to make advances toward them. Marzuki's statement echoed Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo's statement late last year that women should not wear provocative clothing while riding public transportation in order to avoid being raped.

It is bewildering how these elected gentlemen could make statements which in effect blame the victims of sexual violence (women), rather than the perpetrators.

In another sign of the prevalence of male-dominated, conservative attitudes, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has lashed out at the Constitutional Court's decision to guarantee that the civil rights of children born out of wedlock would be recognized by their biological father, saying that the ruling would only encourage adultery. Firebrand group Hizbut Tahrir also condemned the ruling, saying that the court's decision was not based on sharia and could encourage adultery. MUI said the ruling could lead many to think that adultery was legal.

We should commend the Constitutional Court, which contended that the ruling was made to protect women from having to bear the burden of raising children, when men should also share the responsibility.

"Allowing men to shirk their responsibility would mean that the state is justifying legal injustice... against women who have to raise and educate their children," Constitutional Court judge Ahmad Fadlil Sumadi said, adding that this was not an effort to legalize adultery, but a step toward upholding women's and children's rights.

One women who probably doesn't need to much public sympathy is 49-year-old Malinda Dee – the former Citibank manager and now possibly Jakarta's most notorious female socialite – who was found guilty this week by the South Jakarta District Court for embezzlement and money laundering.

The court not only sentenced her to eight years in prison, but also ordered her to pay Rp 10 billion (US$1.1 million) in fines and hand over her fleet of luxury sports cars to the bank from which she swindled billions of rupiah to pay for her opulent lifestyle. The court also ordered her to return Rp 1.6 billion to Citibank.

"The evidence – red Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Ferrari California, Mercedes Benz E-350, and a Hummer – must be given to Citibank," presiding judge Gusrizal said as he read out the verdict on Wednesday.

Another major court decision was handed down on Monday when the West Jakarta District Court convicted seven men for a series of mail bombings.

Pepi Fernando was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role as the mastermind of the bombing campaign that targeted prominent figures in the capital, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The sentence was more lenient than the life imprisonment demanded by prosecutors.

Pepi's close aide Hendi Suhartono received a 12-year prison sentence, while five other accomplices were sentenced to prison for terms ranging from 40 to 66 months.

Pepi smiled throughout his hearing and was visibly relieved when the panel of judges, presided over by judge Moestofa, did not sentence him to execution or life imprisonment. In their decision, the judges said that Pepi deserved a lenient sentence as he had demonstrated good behavior during trial, had honestly confessed his actions and had cooperated with the court.

Elsewhere, we should be disturbed to see growing anarchy as protests against the government's plan to raise fuel prices increasingly turned rowdier.

Hundreds of workers rallied in front of the Presidential Palace and the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry in Jakarta. However, the rallies were dampened by the hundreds of riot police officers on scene at both locations.

While there will be adverse effects to households as a result of the fuel price hikes, it will be even more debilitating to the state budget and efforts needed for concentrated growth for the coming year if subsidies are maintained.