Port Vila, Vanuatu – The head of the West Papuan National Coalition for Liberation, Andy Ayamiseba, said the Melanesian Spearhead Group's (MSG) fact-finding mission to Indonesia and West Papua fell short of its mandate.

"To me and the West Papuan National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL), the so-called Melanesian Spearhead Group ministerial delegation visit to Indonesia and West Papua was a conflict of interest for Fiji and the Solomon Islands," Ayamiseba told Vanuatu Daily Post

"I condemn the spirit of the visit and I salute Vanuatu for her stand in boycotting the so-called MSG ministerial delegation mission.

In fact, I want the Pacific and world to know that to me and the organization I represent, that instead of the visit being a fact finding mission, Fiji and the Solomon Islands diverted it to become a promotion of economic ties between Fiji and the Solomon Islands for their cooperation and development advantages with Indonesia," Ayamiseba alleged.

[From Vanuatu Daily Post/PACNEWS.]

Fighting drags on in Papua's Mulia subdistrict as residents suffer effects

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2014

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Local residents in the Mulia subdistrict of Puncak Jaya, Papua, have yet to resume their normal activities due to an ongoing firefight in the area between forces from the Indonesian Military, or TNI, and members of the separatist Free Papua Organization, known as the OPM.

"The situation in Puncak Jaya is uncertain; the people are in a state of panic because of a shooting in Kota Mulia," Puron Morbinak, a resident of Mulia, said in a text message to the Jakarta Globe.

"People in the villages of Kulirik, Dondobaga, Talileme, Karubateand Yalingga are terrified and they're scared of going to church. Members of the military and the National Police have been operating in the area up until Sunday, making the shooting unavoidable," he added.

Puron said none of the local leaders in Mulia had acted on the issue, creating further panic among residents.

"This has been going on for weeks, [but] no leaders such as the district chief, deputy district chief, local council speaker or regional secretary [have responded]. The head of the church is also not present. The people are without a leader and are all over the place," he said.

"This issue should be handled seriously, so that no civilians fall victim. The media is closed; nothing that's happening in Puncak Jaya is known anywhere else in the country or in the international community."

Puron said that residents were still unclear about whether the shooting had resulted in fatalities. "Because the shooting is still ongoing, the people are too afraid to leave their homes," he said.

Another resident, Melianus Telenggen, said two local residents' houses have been torched during the fighting.

Sr. Comr. Pujo Sulistyo, a spokesman for the Papua Police, declined to confirm whether there was fighting in Puncak Jaya; Col. Lismer Lumbang Siantar, a spokesman for the Cendrawasih Military Command, which oversees the TNI's operations in Papua and West Papua provinces, did not respond to queries.

Antara quoted the Cendrawasih commander, Maj. Gen. Christian Zebua, as saying a soldier had been shot and killed by an armed group. The incident occurred after soldiers shot and killed a gunman and seized his firearm in Pintu Angin, Mulia.

Police say OPM member arrested over Papua TNI killing

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2014

The National Police have arrested an alleged member of the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) who was accused of recently killing a soldier in Puncak Jaya, Papua.

"One person has been arrested," National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said at his office on Monday, as quoted by the state-run Antara news agency. Sutarman said that police found an M-16 gun on the suspect at the time of the arrest, the firearm alleged to have been used during the shooting.

First Private Sugiartu was at the time escorting the Puncak Jaya military commander, the Puncak Jaya Police chief and the commander of a raider battalion to Pintu Angin – the site of a previous shooting of a supposed separatist.

An armed group attacked the company, killing Sugiartu. Police said that they believe the group was led by a man named Yambi – the leader of a local faction of the OPM.

West Papua: Greens call for end to 'aid that kills' after media report

Pacific Media Centre - January 27, 2014

Auckland (Green Party/Pacific Media Watch) – The Green Party is calling on the New Zealand government to end their $6.3 million police training programme in West Papua in light of new evidence from a New Zealand journalist about abuses being carried out by the police.

Journalist and academic Paul Bensemann travelled to West Papua undercover in 2013 and spoke with West Papuan people about the effects of the programme so far. His findings were published at the weekend by the New Zealand Herald, Pacific Media Centre Online and Pacific Scoop.

"This new evidence strengthens our concern that the New Zealand police training programme in West Papua has done nothing to make West Papuan citizens safer and needs to end," Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty said.

"Paul Bensemann found evidence that police violence continues to be a norm and it's shocking that as a country we are funding a programme that some Papuans refer to as 'aid that kills'.

"Our aid reputation is at stake when we collude with a police state by training their police force that regularly kill citizens.

"Our $6.3 million should be redirected into New Zealand mediating for peace between West Papuan leaders and Indonesia.

"It is so difficult to monitor an aid programme operating in a country where there is no free press and foreign journalists have to pretend to be birdwatchers to investigate the truth about what West Papuans think of our training programme.

'Stop training'

"I am calling on the Minister of Foreign Affairs to stop the police training programme immediately and to redirect resources into peace mediation between the Indonesian Government and West Papuan leaders.

"Not only is our reputation as a country committed to effective and ethical aid programmes at stake, we are also colluding with a brutal police force within a police and military occupied country.

"West Papuans are asking us to stop funding this programme and supporting their violent police, we need to do so now."

Four killed during Indonesian security operation in Papua

Associated Press - January 25, 2014

Jayapura – Three Indonesian guerillas and a soldier were killed in an exchange of gunfire in the latest bout of violence in Papua province, home to a US-owned mine.

The clash broke out on Friday when about 25 soldiers and police launched a security operation in the separatist stronghold of Puncak Jaya, a spokesperson for the Indonesian army said. A rebel spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The fatal encounter was the latest round of violence in the restive province near a mine run by Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's largest copper and gold producers. The Papua chapter of the National Commission for Human Rights says more than 50 people, including nine soldiers, were killed during clashes in the province late last year.

There has been low-level insurgency in Papua since the region was transferred from Dutch to Indonesian rule in the 1960s. West Papua was taken over through a stage-managed vote by community leaders called the Act of Free Choice, which has been widely dismissed as a sham.

Since then, about 100,000 Papuans – the equivalent of a sixth of today's population – have died in military operations in the resource-rich mountain area.

The Indonesian government does not allow foreign media to freely report in Papua, where it has tens of thousands of troops. The site of Friday's clash was inaccessible to local reporters.

Kiwis accused of providing 'aid that kills'

New Zealand Herald - January 25, 2014

Paul Bensemann – The West Papuan farmer showed me scars on his head he claimed police caused nearly two years ago.

His eyes were still bloodshot after a beating by rifle butts, boots and rattan sticks. The left eye, scarred on its edge, seemed slightly out of place.

The 35-year-old still gets headaches and has a partial loss of sight. After the beating, he said he was locked in a paddy wagon with 14 others, and left without food, water, medical attention or a toilet for 26 hours.

Local independence leader Buchtar Tabuni, 34, said he has had to live and hide in the jungle after police stopped him on the way to a soccer game last June. They kicked him and beat him with rifle butts and threatened to bury him alive in a cemetery. Because he has not stopped politicking, he fears a police "killing team" may shoot him in the street.

Both men were talking about a provincial police force in the Indonesian territory that New Zealand trains.

Some Papuans say that by helping local police, New Zealand is party to the brutal suppression of human rights in the region, where the United Nations has urged Jakarta to hold accountable those responsible for violence.

The farmer seemed what he claimed: a market gardener hosting young people from his former highlands village while they studied in Jayapura, the largest city. Nothing he said was critical of Indonesian sovereignty.

Speaking through translators, the farmer said: "They broke the door in. They fired pistol shots into the sky outside and two policemen inside shot pistols into the ceiling. There were 15 of us in the house – me and 14 students.

"They used their boots to jump on me. I was beaten on and off from 3am to 10am with rifle butts and wooden sticks. They were yelling, 'You are OPM. You are stupid'.

"At 11am we were taken to police headquarters. I had blood all over my face. They kept us in the police van at the back. No food, no water, no toilets. Next day at 1pm we were let out."

Unlike the farmer, Tabuni was radically political and said he was threatened to make him stop speaking out.

"There was a Polisi [police officer] on each side and they pinned an arm each with their backs. Behind me another one was grabbing my hair and pulling my head back. When we drove past a cemetery they said they could easily bury me alive in there.

"They said, 'You Papuans are not capable of creating anything but you want freedom. Why you want to be free? Papuans can't even make good food – you can't even make spices.'

"Maybe it is time New Zealand is thinking about Papuans. New Zealand government funds to Indonesia should stop." For "spreading separatist propaganda" he had been jailed twice.

Victor Mambor, chairperson of the Alliance of Independent Journalists of Papua said one of his employees, Ardiansyah Matra'is, was killed at Merauke in 2010. The journalist had written a series of articles about illegal logging by military officers.

"His motorbike was by a bridge. Police say he jumped into river to commit suicide. But when his body was found in the harbour... hands tied together, feet tied together, his body beaten. Ardiansyah was dead before going in the river."

Mambor summed up New Zealand's police training as "aid that kills". "The Polisi here kill the people – they don't make investigations. New Zealand needs to stop."

Few independent accounts of alleged human rights abuses in West Papua exist because Jakarta restricts access to observers. A 2005 report "Genocide in West Papua?" by John Wing, co-ordinator of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University, claimed more than 100,000 Papuans had died since Indonesia took control from the Dutch in 1963.

And eight months ago the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay said that "serious allegations of human rights abuses by law enforcement officials persist."

The New Zealand aid project started in 2009 when police officers set up programmes in six West Papuan centres.

New Zealand's Jakarta Embassy website quotes senior police liaison officer Tim Haughey saying that for the past four years, officers had been "talking with and 'walking the beat' with their Indonesian counterparts, sharing the Kiwi style of community policing..."

"It means talking to business owners and pedestrians, meeting with community groups and organisations and finding out their concerns and issues for many of the local community this is the first time that they would have sat down with the police and discussed issues affecting them."

In West Papua I could not quiz local police or speak to other officials because I was interviewing illegally on a tourist visa, having arrived on the pretext of bird watching. But several Papuans raised disturbing claims about the effect of the programme.

Paul Mambrasar, of the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy of Papua said he had seen "no evidence police were applying the knowledge" of New Zealand training.

Referring to the June 2012 killing of Mako Tabuni, secretary general of National Committee for West Papua, or KNPB, Mambrasar said: "A doctor said when they [the police] took Mako from the hospital there was only one bullet hole. When they took him back, there were many holes."

Mambrasar and others described how West Papuan police chief Inspector General Tito Karnavian was carrying out a new and brutal crackdown on Melanesian separatists. Karnavian received part of his military training in New Zealand, and has a masters degree in security studies from Massey University.

Septer Manufandu, co-ordinator of the Civil Society Coalition to Uphold Law and Human Rights in Papua said that in September 2012 he discussed community policing with New Zealand Ambassador David Taylor and questioned whether it was helping Papuans.

Manufandu had been investigating alleged torture to KNPB members around West Papua after police raids last year. He said police pulled suspects fingernails out with pliers or squashed their toes with table legs. Complaints his group made had been ignored, with the Jayapura police commander saying it was a "normal situation to get information".

During my visit, a church leader and mediator, Dr Neles Tebay, said although Indonesia had committed to improve dealings with Papuans, the problem was local military and police. Aid to these agencies was often counter-productive.

"Generally speaking the Indonesian Government is closer to New Zealand than to Australia. Australians are considered as a more arrogant neighbour. Kiwis are more friendly."

Talks with the pro-independence Free Papua Movement (OPM) was the only way of settling the conflict, he said. New Zealand was in a good position to back that.

The New Zealand Government has taken a cautious approach towards Papua. Prime Minister John Key said after meeting Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan in April 2012 that West Papua was "a very complex issue". Behind the scenes, however, concerns have been raised about the programme.

A January 2011 diplomatic cable released under the Official Information Act to Auckland human rights activist Maire Leadbeater and headed "Indonesia: Aid Monitoring Visit to Papua 18-23 November 2010" stated: "We highlighted the community policing project as a flagship in the province... This was welcomed by the heads of police and the military in Jayapura, by the police commander in Wamena and by the Governor and other political figures. One Wamena non-government organisation argued that as the police were agents of 'violence against Papuan children' we should expect criticism if we engaged with them.

"We responded that we had registered a variety of concerns about police; our view was that it was better to try and find ways to improve their performance and lift community understanding of their role also, rather than ignore extant problems."

Asked for comment, the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington did not address specific Papuan claims but described them as "a collection of negative opinions by sources that are mostly unreliable".

"In the words of New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully, community policing is one of the aspects that New Zealand is world-class at," the statement said.

Mr McCully said in a statement a review of the pilot work found it "supportive of the Indonesian National Police's reform efforts and provided practical skills and training.

"The NZ Government believes it is better to work with Indonesia to help instil principles of civil policing and community engagement rather than to observe and criticise from a distance. We welcome the Indonesian Government's instructions for the police and military to work in accordance with the law and with respect for human rights."

In EU, activists tell of Papua abuses

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – In a move that will irk officials in Jakarta, a group of activists have spoken about the human rights situation in the West Papua and Papua provinces at the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights.

Three activists, two of whom are Indonesian, were guest speakers at the committee's hearing from Wednesday to Thursday in Brussels, Belgium.

The activists are Zely Ariane from Jakarta-based National Papua Solidarity (Napas), Victor Mambor from the Jayapura chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and Norman Voss from German-based International Coalition for Papua (ICP).

Representing the Indonesian government was Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union Arif Havas Oegroseno.

In the hearing, video footage of which can be viewed at , the activists raised concerns about the unresolved human rights cases in Papua and the limited access of foreign journalists and NGOs to Indonesia's easternmost region.

"There are still double standards in Papua and other parts of Indonesia when it comes to media freedom and the application of the Press Law," Mambor told the hearing.

In his written statement to the forum, which was made available to The Jakarta Post, he said that AJI had documented 22 cases of threats and violence against journalists in Papua in 2013 alone.

Zely, meanwhile, told the hearing that "the Indonesian government should admit that the state of the human rights situation in Papua is serious". She called on the EU to put pressure on the government to uphold their commitment to a dialogue with Papua.

Norman called for the release of all political prisoners in Papua and reminded the committee of the long outstanding visit of UN human rights mechanisms to Papua. "Papua needs to be opened up and international human rights norms be realized for Papuans. A peaceful and sustainable change cannot be expected in a climate of fear and repression of political dissent," he said.

"We came [to the hearing] to explain our version of what is actually happening in Papua and ask for support from the EU Parliament to help uphold justice and peace in Papua," Zely told the Post upon leaving for Brussels.

"We hope that our presentation will encourage the EU Parliament to endorse calls for the Indonesian government, as well as lawmakers, to actually protect and uphold the rights of Papuans, as well as to ideally implement a peaceful dialogue between Indonesia and Papua," she added.

In a 16-page dossier submitted by the activists to the committee, activists also criticized the restricted access slapped on foreign diplomats who attempted to assess the situation in Papua, citing the recent closed visit of foreign ministers from Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) member nations as an example.

"After the MSG – a regional body of Melanesian nations who support the human situation in Papua – decided to visit Papua to meet with civil society representatives, the Indonesian authorities only prepared a tour to industry and trade related projects. As a result of this access restriction, Vanuatu withdrew from the visit as it felt the 'pre-arranged' tour would not meet the purpose," the dossier says.

This particular incident also highlights similar restricted practices implemented for other foreign agencies, including those that deal with humanitarian and development cooperation.

Arif, according to the recorded footage, rejected the activists' claim that the situation had not changed in Papua. He emphasized that the government's policy of decentralization and special autonomy for Papua had boosted development there.

Aceh

Banda Aceh – where community spirit has gone but peace has lasted

The Guardian (Australia) - January 27, 2014

Kate Lamb, Banda Aceh – At first glance the oddity of a lone palm tree on the shoreline, or a piece of graffiti with the words "hantu laut", meaning ghosts of the sea – also the words spray-painted on the military trucks that collected the dead bodies – could easily be missed by a new visitor to Banda Aceh, the Indonesian city ravaged by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

In the centre of town the reconstruction process has been so transformative it is hard to believe the deadliest tsunami in history ripped through it nine years ago, killing 221,000 people across Aceh province and leaving more than 500,000 displaced.

But in the tsunami ground zero, where each aid recipient house in the village is a beige replica of the next, the markers are more prevalent. In one street a huge two-and-a-half tonne barge swept in by the wave still rests atop the skeleton of two houses. It now serves as a piece of tsunami memorabilia, and an awe-inspiring reminder of the wrath of nature.

By the coast, the tsunami towers stand like sentinels guarding against the fury of the ocean. The thick concrete pillars are about 16 metres (52ft) high, built about a mile from the shore, a place for people to run to in the event of another tsunami, standing four storeys above the houses around. The top floors are open air and can be used for evacuation, there is also a helipad on each. The safety towers are made of reinforced concrete and can hold around 500 people each. They also offer a clear topographical view of what is pre- and post-disaster.

Sandwiched between lush rainforest mountains and the sea, neat lines of blue squares mark the roofs of the new villages while the centre of town is a kaleidoscoe of colours and shapes, rusty roofs, and the turrets of the impressive central mosque. For the most part, the centre was badly damaged, but not entirely destroyed.

Protect the money

Triggered by a 9.1-magnitude quake off the coast of Sumatra, the tsunami affected 14 countries across Asia but it slammed Banda Aceh the hardest. The scale of the devastation and human suffering was enormous. In some cases the tsunami wave reached 20 metres (66ft) high and speeds of up to 140mph, decimating entire villages and wiping out a third of the city.

"When I looked out the window I was completely taken aback by the sight, everything was flattened, all the houses were broken and the streets were filled with garbage and dirt," says Muslahuddin Daud, an Acehnese activist who fortuitously survived even though he was fishing on the rocks that Sunday morning.

The disaster intensified further after an earthquake struck Nias, an island off North Sumatra, in March 2005. The reconstruction task was mammoth, but it also backed by $655bn (#400bn) in international aid, and was overseen by Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, a well-respected figure in Indonesian politics.

An energy minister under the former dictator Suharto, the Stanford graduate says he was lucky enough to know about the "birds of the jungle here", a euphemism for corrupt politicians that might have siphoned off the multibillion dollar development fund.

"Here in our culture we don't negotiate with the president but I had to negotiate," says Mangkusubroto of why, three days after traveling to Aceh, he asked for a specific disaster recovery agency to be formed, a seat in the cabinet, and to report directly to the president. "I knew that I was going to sit in the hot seat," explains Mangkusubroto, "I would be the one that would be on the grill and those guys in Jakarta would in a second forget about what I was doing there."

As the director of the newly formed Aceh-Nias Reconstruction Agency (BRR), Mangkusubroto delivered a master plan in the first three months and co- ordinated more than 500 agencies through the phased reconstruction; from the initial cleanup to large-scale infrastructure projects. Across the Aceh province, more than 140,000 houses, along with 1,700 schools, almost 1,000 government buildings, 36 airports and seaports and 3,700 kilometres of road were finished by the end of 2010, a year after the BRR's mandate finished in 2009.

The catch cry of the reconstruction the idea to 'build back better,' has undoubtedly been implemented. The city, even though its centre was not entirely destroyed, is far superior post tsunami.

Through tragedy, came peace

Most noticeably, Banda Aceh has what many Indonesian cities lack – smooth, wide roads, neat waste bins on the sidewalks, and modern waste management and drainage systems. The reconstruction process has been hailed as a success, and as a model to emulate, but it was by no means flawless.

For a start, Aceh was not only rebuilding itself after a natural disaster it was also a society recovering from nearly three decades of sectarian conflict. The tsunami effectively ended the fighting between the Indonesian government and the Acehnese independence movement Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM), resulting in a peace agreement in 2005. One Acehnese told me that during the conflict-wracked curfew days he became so accustomed to seeing dead bodies in the street in the morning that he would merely turn the corpses over to check if they were a relative or not.

Today, some say Banda Aceh is a better city not because of its new roads and sparkling new hospital, but because there is peace. Critical to rebuilding trust in a highly combustible society, says Mangkusubroto, was the focus on community engagement.

Yet the approach saw projects stalled for months, sometimes years. Important documents such as land titles and birth certificates were washed away so land ownership could only be determined by interviewing the surviving residents about who owned what, and cross-checking the answers to eventually map out land rights each village. Victims took shelter across the city, in mosques, camps, and the remaining safe houses of friends and family, so the process was protracted, but it was the only way.

The final results revealed the extent to which communities had been turned upside down. Orphans were now landowners and entire families had been wiped out. In other cases, the land where people's houses once stood was now irreversibly submerged. For the most part Aceh was built on the same lines, but in some cases the tsunami completely gauged out the land, altering the landscape and forcing former residents to relocate.

Community consultation was the only way to determine what had once been, and it was also seen as the best way to determine what would be. Mangkusubroto says he decided early on that the Acehnese should choose how they wanted to rebuild their lives and shape their future, rather than have it dictated to them by the government or international aid agencies.

This approach trickled down to community consultation about basic decisions such as whether the tsunami survivors wanted health clinics, new, wide escape roads, and even drainage in their village. Again, it was a very time consuming process. And on closer inspection there was a major miscalculation of local needs.

"Aid organisations were under pressure to spend the money," says Muslahuddin Daud, reeling off a list of empty facilities spread across the province. Driving along the $250bn USAid built road from Banda Aceh to Calang, another town practically destroyed in 2004, there is a huge abandoned university, water treatment plant and most noticeably, hundreds of abandoned houses, a common site across Banda Aceh and its surrounds.

In the small seaside village of Lampu'uk – where the gigantic mosque was the only building that survived the tsunami – hundreds of houses donated by Turkish Red Cross are unoccupied. "Many of the houses are empty because they are owned by orphans, or if they are old enough they have moved," says 56-year-old resident Harun from his porch, "Others are afraid to live in the village now." Harun is the local schoolteacher but these days there are not many students. Of the 600 junior school children in Lampu'uk before the tsunami, only five survived.

By wiping out the weakest swimmers, mostly women and children, the tsunami altered the demographics of entire villages such as Lampu'uk. Harun and his wife Rostiana both lost their partners and children in the tsunami and married during the two years they lived in a tent while they waited for a new house to be built. They now have a six-year-old daughter with Down's syndrome, newly growing fruit trees at their gate and chickens pecking about in their yard, but life in the village is not the same.

The couple say people in the community are much more individualistic now, a sentiment echoed in many Acehnese villages. Rebuilding physical infrastructure appears to have much more successful than resurrecting communities.

A new demography

Aid worker Ibnu Mundzir recalls a poignant discussion he had with Acehnese women about the main changes in social life before and after the tsunami. "Some mentioned that before the tsunami they were one family, one community, but after that a lot of aid came to the community and sometimes the distribution was not fair enough," he says, "community members had to compete among each other."

Daud says the cash-for-work programme, where people were given money to clean up the rubble and rebuild their houses "destroyed the Acehnese social structure" and undermined the Indonesian concept of "gotong royong", or communal work. Instead of people helping their neighbours willingly, Daud says the flow of aid money and especially the cash-for-work programmes post-tsunami has made people reluctant to help their neighbours unless they get cash in return.

Also socially divisive and controversial was the huge variations in the quality of housing provided by different aid groups. The BRR assigned different organisations to rebuild houses in particular villages and locals now refer to some areas according to which groups built them. One relocated village has even been dubbed "Jackie Chan village", after the kung-fu hero and actor campaigned to raise money for the Hong Kong Red Cross. The kindergarten in Jackie Chan village is abandoned and strewn with shattered glass, but the houses are still in good shape – much better than other villages fared.

Some houses were built so badly they were barely livable after several years, infested with termites and topped by leaky roofs. Simon Field, adviser to the United Nations development programme in Aceh during the reconstruction period, says organisations that tried to build homes as fast as possible invariably ran into problems and people were angry when they realised they got the raw end of the deal. "People were frustrated, they might have got their houses quickly but their neighbour down the road got a fantastic house. They started thinking they should have stayed in their tent for two years and waited for a better one," he says.

In other cases, former GAM rebels intimidated village heads into awarding them construction contracts, or even a house. Field even knows one man who scored eight houses, while others got none.

Fisherman Syamsuddin says he rejected a house in Jackie Chan village, choosing instead to live in a makeshift wooden shack by the water. "I don't want to live in that village it's far," he says of the place he was asked to relocate to, "from here I can go straight to the sea".

Mangkusubruto says that in some of the poorer areas he was reluctant to force the fishermen to leave. A day before heading to the Philippines to offer his counsel, the former BRR head is the first to admit the myriad of problems, such as "deep pockets" and duplicated houses. But the greatest achievement, he says, was ensuring there was lasting peace.

"Quality we can argue, OK, numbers we can argue, but you cannot argue with me about whether there was conflict, horizontal, social conflict," says Mangkusubroto, "None. I am so proud."

Sexual & domestic violence

With greater awareness, more sex abuse victims speaking out

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2014

Kharinda Triananda – Increased awareness and more widely available information about violence against women have encouraged more victims to speak up and report the abuse they have suffered, an expert says.

"It's not that the number of the cases has drastically increased," Irma Martam, a psychologist from Pulih Foundation, which helps women overcome the trauma of sexual abuse, said on Friday.

"I believe that violence [against women] has been with us for a long time but only now are people becoming more aware that there is a way to report these cases."

Irma said more victims had found the courage to come forward and reveal what they had suffered. "People used to think domestic affairs were best kept domestic and therefore other people should not interfere, but now people have gradually realized that they do not have to endure constant abuse," she said.

Irma said that as women grew more confident of their rights, people would think twice before committing violence against them.

The National Commission on Violence Against Women, or Komnas Perempuan, reported between 1998 and 2010, it received reports of more than 90,000 cases of sexual violence against women, with the number rising each year.

It has attributed the increase to more women coming forward rather than a rise in the prevalence of abuse, but still warns that the number of cases being reported represents a tiny fraction of all cases of abuse against women.

The Legal Aid Institute for Justice, or LBH Keadilan, has demanded that the House of Representatives immediately pass legislation to tackle sexual violence. LBH Keadilan says the increase in the number of reported cases indicates there are few safe places left for women, with abuse being reported everywhere from public transportation to the work place to the home.

"It is also not uncommon for sex abuse to happen at education facilities, or even at home, a place that should be the safest place for women," said Halimah Humayrah Tuanaya, the director of advocacy at LBH Keadilan.

In a recently reported high-profile case, a 28-year-old woman claimed to have been groped while unconscious at a TransJakarta bus shelter last Tuesday.

The woman reportedly fell ill shortly after boarding a bus at the RSI Cempaha Putih shelter in Central Jakarta, suffering an asthma attack before passing out, according to police.

Sr. Cmr. Rikwanto, a spokesman for the Jakarta Police, said she was helped off the bus at the Harmoni shelter in Central Jakarta and taken into the generator room for treatment, where four TransJakarta employees allegedly groped her as she was half-conscious.

Each was later charged with committing an indecent act and faces a maximum sentence of 32 months in prison if convicted. Rikwanto advised women to only take public transportation with women-only sections, such as the TransJakarta.

Labour & migrant workers

Government told to protect migrant workers, families

Jakarta Post - January 26, 2014

Jakarta – An NGO called upon the government to resolve human rights abuses after Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, an Indonesian domestic worker in Hong Kong, was allegedly tortured by her employer Law Wan Tung, 44.

The Jakarta-based NGO Women's Solidarity for Human Rights (Solidaritas Perempuan) said the government must provide comprehensive protection to migrant workers and their families.

Solidaritas Perempuan's (SP) national executive body chairperson Wahidah Rustam said justice was still far from Erwiana. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, she cited an example, had only made a phone call to Erwiana's family without carrying out tough actions to resolve the case.

"As head of state and government, SBY is responsible for the protection of migrant workers and their families through policy issuance and implementation as violence and rights abuse cases have also been experienced by many other workers," Wahidah said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Throughout 2013, the SP handled 54 violence and rights violation cases against Indonesian migrant workers. Of that number, only 27 cases have been resolved, showing the government's clumsiness in fighting for the rights of migrant workers as Indonesian citizens.

Ongoing rights abuse cases against Indonesian migrant workers have showed the absence of adequate protection for "foreign exchange heroes". "Erwiana's case has clearly shown that the modern slavery is still ongoing until now," said Wahidah. (ebf)

Laid-off workers demonstrate

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2014

Tangerang – Hundreds of workers laid off by detergent producer PT Sinar Antjol in Manis Industrial Estate in Curug, Tangerang regency staged a protest Thursday, demanding the management rehire them and pay them the regency's minimum wage.

Before the rally, the demonstrators, who had been outsourced employees with the company, stormed the factory and forced newly hired workers to go home.

Labor union chairman Eko Santoso said they forced the new workers out because the regency's Manpower and Transmigration Agency had nullified the contracts of the new employees and had advised the company's management to rehire its old workers.

"We will stop all newly recruited workers from entering the factory because our dismissal and the new hiring are against the 2003 Labor Law," he said.

Freedom of speech & expression

Calls mount for government to review ITE Law

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2014

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Watchdog groups have urged the government to immediately review the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law, saying the current regulation could be a threat to free speech.

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) and Information and Communication Technology Watch (ICT Watch) said the current law failed to guarantee freedom of speech and there was little time left for the government to review the law before the legislative election started.

"There should be more room and mechanisms in the law that guarantee freedom of expression for every citizen in the country because we've seen that many innocent people have been charged under the law," Elsam researcher Wahyudi Djafar said.

Elsam recorded at least 37 people had been charged under the law between 2008 and 2013, including Prita Mulyasari, who was sued by Omni International Hospital in 2009 for defamation after she complained about the hospital's service in an online mailing list.

Wahyudi said most of the victims were charged under Article 27 of the ITE Law, stipulating that anyone found guilty of using electronic media, including social networks, to intimidate or defame others could be liable to six years in prison and a fine of up to Rp 1 billion (US$82,000).

"This article has created a chilling effect on the freedom of speech and expression in Indonesia and this is a threat in a democratic country," Wahyudi said.

ICT Watch researcher Donny BU said the ITE Law had also restricted Internet freedom. He said based on the law, the government could easily block and filter content on many websites.

Donny said in the past websites like malesbanget.com, a comedy entertainment website, and forum.ourvoice.or.id, which promotes the rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, had become victims of arbitrary filtering.

"It was amusing when the government blocked malesbanget.com just because their system found many words like 'male' and 'bang' on the website. This only shows that it has yet to apply a proper mechanism in the blocking or filtering of content on the Internet," he said.

He said such reckless blocking of the Internet was a violation of human rights. The two groups also demanded the government set up a call center for cases of arbitrary blocking in the future. In addition, the groups also called on for the establishment of an independent body that could maintain Internet freedom and neutrality.

Responding to the demand, the government said it planned to review the law, especially regarding harsh punishments for violators.

Communications and Information Ministry informatics applications division secretary Djoko Agung Harijadi said in the draft revision that the maximum punishment for people convicted for defamation would be reduced from six to two years.

"By reducing the prison term, the police can't detain a suspect before a court verdict. We hope this will allay people's fears of expressing themselves freely," Djoko said.

He said they had sent the draft revisions on the ITE Law to the House of Representatives and the draft had been included in the 2014 national legislation program (Prolegnas).

Political parties & elections

Trade minister Gita Wirjawan announces resignation

Jakarta Globe - January 31, 2014

Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan announced on Friday that he was resigning from the Indonesian cabinet, saying he wanted to focus on his presidential bid ahead of this year's election.

"I am resigning from my position, and this is effective since January 31, 2014," Gita said in Jakarta. "And surely I've told this to the President."

Gita said he wanted to focus on politics, citing his participation in the Democratic Party's presidential convention – the party's internal mechanism to select its presidential nominee for the 2014 election.

Gita said he did not want his political bid to clash with his work as the trade minister, saying it would create a bad public perception.

"I first asked to resign last year after they invited me to join the convention," Gita said according to Indonesian news portal kompas.com. "I said I wanted [to resign] because I don't want my position as the trade minister to clash with my participation in the convention."

"The measure I'm taking is the best choice for the development of democracy in Indonesia. I thank my wife, who has been supporting in every step that I've made, including my decision to join the government more than four years ago," Gita added as quoted by Detik.com.

Gita hinted at his possible resignation on Thursday night through his Twitter account @GWirjawan. He tweeted "Tomorrow I will make an important decision in my career. Bismillah." He also quoted US boxing legend Muhammad Ali in another tweet: "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

Michael Umbas, the media deputy for Gita's campaign team, said Gita had submitted his resignation letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Democratic Party spokesman Ikhsan Modjo said the party appreciated Gita's move, and believed that it would not harm the cabinet because Yudhoyono, the party's founder and chairman, must have anticipated it.

"The decision to resign is an ethical consequence of his choice to join the presidential nomination for 2014-2019, although it is not required of him," Ikhsan said on Friday. "The Democratic Party will pray for his success."

Gita, 48, began serving as the trade minister after a cabinet reshuffle in 2011, replacing Mari Elka Pangestu, who now serves as country's tourism and creative economy minister. Prior to that, in 2009 he was appointed as the chair person for the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Gita is among 11 people participating in he Democratic Party's presidential convention. Other participants include House of Representatives speaker Marzuki Alie, State-Owned Enterprise Minister Dahlan Iskan, Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan, former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Endriartono Sutarto and US ambassador to Indonesia Dino Patti Djalal.

Dino earlier announced his plan to resign from his ambassadorial position in September of last year, saying that he also wanted to focus on the presidential convention. His resignation, though, was only approved by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in November, and he was still taking care of administrative work before being able to fully retire.

PKB declares Kalla third presidential nominee

Jakarta Globe - January 31, 2014

Jakarta – A major faction of the National Awakening Party (PKB) on Thursday declared former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla as a third contender for the party's presidential nomination.

Representatives from 24 out of the PKB's 33 provincial branches on Thursday attended an event in Banjarmasin marking Kalla's entrance into the party's internal nomination race for this year's presidential election.

Before Kalla, the PKB announced that dangdut superstar Rhoma Irama and former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud M.D. would vie to be the party's presidential hopeful.

"Are you willing to be a presidential candidate for the PKB?" Greety Tielman, the head of PKB's eastern Indonesia caucus, asked Kalla at the event. "I welcome this support and trust," Kalla responded.

Greety said after the event that support for Kalla initially came from the party's eastern Indonesian branch offices. A former chairman of the Golkar Party, Kalla was born in Bone, South Sulawesi, in 1942.

"Pak Jusuf Kalla is a representative figure for eastern Indonesia," Greety told reporters. "So it's only normal that the PKB in eastern Indonesia supports him." He added that Kalla was an experienced politician with a "proven" ability to lead.

PKB chairman Muhaimini Iskandar, who earlier nominated Roma to compete for the party's confidence, said that each candidate had an equal opportunity to run under the banner of the PKB. "We must pay attention to every [aspiring candidate]," Muhaimin said.

Under Indonesian electoral law, a party needs to collect at least 25 percent of the total national votes, or secure 20 percent of seats at the House of Representatives, to be entitled to nominate a presidential candidate. Otherwise, it must form a coalition with other parties to be able to nominate a candidate.

The PKB received 4.9 percent of the vote in the 2009 legislative election and formed a coalition with five other parties – including the Democratic Party and Golkar – to support the candidacy of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Government's election witness plan gets flack

Jakarta Globe - January 30, 2014

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The government's decision to allocate Rp 1.5 trillion ($123 million) towards election witness fees has sparked controversy among political parties.

The Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) maintains its stance rejecting the government's policy to use the state budget to pay witness fees claiming the decision would only benefit the ruling party.

"We prefer to pay for our own witnesses like we always have," lawmaker Maruarar Sirait said on Wednesday. Maruarar said the public clearly rejected the idea of spending the state budget to pay for the witness fees.

PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo said his party preferred to pay for witnesses because there are no definite regulations that stipulate the distribution of witness fees.

"What about accountability? Who will disburse the funds and distribute them to the witnesses?" he said. "Witnesses from political parties should be paid by those parties, don't burden the state budget, we don't have enough money because there are natural disasters everywhere," he said.

But Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik denied that the policy would put unnecessary burden on the state budget. Jero, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said the policy should be lauded as a breakthrough because the 2014 election would affect everybody in the country.

"We need witnesses and it's too bothersome for the political parties to raise the funds to pay them, so I believe this is a good plan," he told Indonesian news portal Merdeka.com.

Abdul Hakam Naja deputy chairman of House Commission II, previously said the witness fee idea was initially suggested by the government. Hakam said that on one occasion, the Home Affairs Ministry invited members of House Commission II, General Elections Committee (KPU) and Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) for a consultation meeting.

"It was initially suggested by the government. We [from Commission II] were invited to a consultation meeting at the Home Affairs Ministry. So, this decision about the witness fee was a joint decision between the government, KPU, Bawaslu and DPR [House of Representatives]," Hakam said.

He said the witness fee was mainly intended to meet the principle of fairness. It was also important to ensure that an honest and fair general election would take place.

"The government recommended the witness fee for Bawaslu and for every political party to meet the principle of fairness. Rich political parties can send many witnesses to polling stations, but parties with less money cannot afford it," said Hakam, who is a National Mandate Party politician.

Hakam said the DPR and Bawaslu responded positively to the government's suggestion and agreed to provide a budget totaling Rp 1.5 trillion, with Rp 800 billion allocated for Bawaslu's witnesses and Rp 700 billion for witnesses from political parties.

"I think this is a good start. We are often worried about political parties being funded by the state and also afraid if political parties are funded by rich people like entrepreneurs. We have options and we are making a decision," he said.

Agun Gunanjar, chairman of House Commission II, said the witness fee could not be misused.

"The Rp 54.5 billion fund disbursement will not be given to the parties. The money is for KPPS [Polling Station Working Committees] officers, the money is for general election organizers to pay the witnesses. So, it's not for political parties. It will be disbursed after the job is done at the polling stations, by name and by the polling stations. How can one cheat?" Agun asked.

He lamented the fact that some people tried to politicize the matter. He said the witness fee was no different compared to the budget for ballot papers, and election logistics.

"There's an opinion that the fund was for political parties. The fund is intended for general election implementation, similar to the funds for ballot papers. The difference is that it will be for witnesses. It will not be rolled out to political parties," the Golkar politician said.

A Jokowi bid could change political landscape

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2014

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is expected to be heading for a big win in the 2014 legislative election if it decides to nominate Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as its presidential candidate, a survey has found.

The Jakarta-based pollster – the Pol-Tracking Institute – found that if the PDI-P announced the candidacy of Jokowi before the legislative election, the party would receive 30.78 percent of the vote, far higher than the Golkar Party in second place with 12.34 percent, the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party on 6.51 percent and the ruling Democratic Party (PD) on 4.67 percent.

In this scenario, only the four political parties would be able to send members to the House of Representatives while the remaining eight parties would fail to reach the 3.5 percent threshold.

However, if Jokowi is not nominated, according to the survey, the PDI-P would receive 18.8 percent. Golkar, meanwhile, would receive 15.8 percent higher than the 12.34 percent predicted if Jokowi was nominated. Gerindra is expected to get 7.6 percent and the PD 5.6 percent.

The United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party, which were previously predicted to struggle in their search for House seats, would be able to pass the threshold if Jokowi was not nominated.

The Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Democrat (NasDem) Party, meanwhile, would fail to pass the threshold in either scenario, according to Pol-Tracking.

In another scenario, which puts Jokowi as vice presidential candidate, the PDI-P could receive 28.4 percent of the national vote, regardless of who would be the presidential candidate, the survey found.

In a scenario where Jokowi is excluded from the list of nominated candidates, chief patron of Gerindra Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto would receive the most votes (19.18 percent), followed by PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri (15.26 percent), Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie (13 percent) and Hanura chairman Gen. (ret) Wiranto (11 percent).

In the survey, Pol-Tracking asked respondents which candidate they would vote for if an election were held today, and 37 percent of respondents said Jokowi, followed by Prabowo with 10.3 percent.

Megawati has insisted she will only announce the party's presidential candidate after the legislative election in April, a decision that could benefit PDI-P's rivals.

"Supporters of non-PDI-P parties might vote for the party if Jokowi is nominated. On the other hand, PDI-P supporters could end up voting for other parties if Jokowi is not nominated," Pol-Tracking director Hanta Yuda said.

Prabowo election team denies role in 'Satria Piningit' campaign

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2014

A grassroots campaign for presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto steeped in an ancient Javanese prophecy about a just king and the end of the world have begun to appear in the Indonesian capital.

Photos of the 50,000 rupiah bank notes, each bearing a stamp reading "Prabowo Satria Piningit Heru Cakra Ratu Adil," hit Twitter over the weekend. The slogan roughly translates to "Prabowo: Satria Piningit, the era of the just king," a not-so-subtle nod to the fabled Satria Piningit (Satrio Piningit in Javanese, "hidden knight" in English) foretold in the Jongko Joyoboyo (Jayabaya prophecies).

According to the ancient prophecy, a just king will rise to power from within Java as the nation hits a low point, ruling the country, and then the globe, in the lead-up to the end of days.

The Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) party has denied a hand in the campaign and accused whoever stamped the bills of attempting to smear Prabowo, the party's chairman.

Presidential candidates are barred from campaigning until three weeks before the July 9 election according to General Elections Commission (KPU) guidelines and the inclusion of the stamp on rupiah notes smacked of money politics, a constant concern during election seasons in Indonesia.

"We are very concerned with this matter," Budi Purnomo Karjodiharjo, coordinator of the Prabowo Media Center, said on Sunday. "The circulation of money stamped with 'Prabowo Satria Piningit Heru Cakra Ratu Adil,' is a black campaign against Prabowo."

The former Kopassus Special Forces general has taken a strong stance against corruption in pre-campaign speeches, making circulation of marked bills, regardless of the sentiment, a stain on Prabowo's anti-corruption claims. The implication, Budi said, is that Prabowo's election team distributed the notes to voters as an incentive to mark Prabowo's name on the July ballot – a claim the team adamantly denies.

"It is impossible that we, or Gerindra, did such a thing," Budi said. "In more ways that one Mr. Prabowo has conveyed his commitment with respect to corruption eradication and being against money politics."

Budi said the campaign team hopes the public can see through any attempts to cast a negative light on their candidate. "It is regrettable if some members of the public believe that we did this," he said.

"But we are certain that people who are smart will not succumb to negative campaigns like this... We will remain patient and strong and we will not be affected by this. We want to keep stepping [forward], keep working, keep striving to win the hearts of the people who want the revival of the Great Indonesia."

Currency inscribed with Prabowo's name will be destroyed: BI

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2014

Jakarta – Bank Indonesia (BI) aims to destroy all rupiah notes inscribed with the name of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party's chief patron, Prabowo Subianto.

BI's communications director, Peter Jacobs, said, as quoted by Kontan.co.id, that unofficially marked currency was considered damaged and should not be used for transactions. "Therefore, currency that has been marked [with Prabowo's name] will be destroyed once it enters the Bank Indonesia system," Peter said.

Rupiah notes with Prabowo's name came to light via social media, when a number of people posted photos of the money on Twitter. The inscription reads: "Prabowo: Satria Piningit (Knight of Justice)".

Peter added that whoever was behind the move to inscribe the notes with Prabowo's name had to stop their activities. "The rupiah is a state symbol, so the public must not do anything to tarnish it," he said.

Suspicious transactions by political parties rise by 25%: PPATK

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2014

Jakarta – The head of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), M.Yusuf, has said the number of suspicious transactions carried out by political parties has increased by between 20 and 25 percent ahead of the elections.

"We are still assessing [the situation] but there has been a clear increase in the number of suspicious transactions reported in the past year leading up to the elections," Yusuf said at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by Antara news agency.

He refused to elaborate on the pattern of the transactions. "I cannot give you details as we are still assessing them and we are afraid that if any information is leaked, it will impede the inquiry into the cases," he said.

Yusuf said transactions were considered to be suspicious if a person's financial activities far outweighed his or her earnings. "Transactions are deemed suspicious if someone has a monthly income of Rp 10 million (US$820) but he or she conducts Rp 500 million worth of transactions," he said.

Other elements that can indicate suspicious transactions include currency exchanges used for the transactions and the frequency of the transactions.

"If someone suddenly makes a transaction using US dollars while he or she used to only conduct transactions in rupiah, or they are now conducting transactions every week while it used to only be once a month, we will consider that suspicious, as they have deviated from their routine financial pattern," he said. (ebf)

Politics could be behind MK ruling

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2014

Ina Parlina and Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Suspecting that politics could be behind the Constitutional Court's (MK) decision to delay the delivery of a verdict on simultaneous elections, plaintiffs in the case are considering filing another report to the court's council of ethics.

The Coalition of Civil Society for Simultaneous Elections suspected a 10- month delay in the delivery of the ruling could have given political parties, who dreaded the prospect of having simultaneous elections in 2014 without an electoral threshold, room for political maneuvering.

"We're considering taking the option [filing a report] and are still discussing it with coalition members. No decision has been made yet, although it will not change anything with regard to the ruling, but it is a good way to teach the judges a lesson," a member of the coalition, Ray Rangkuti, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Earlier on Saturday, constitutional law expert Refly Harun accused the court of "playing politics" by delaying the reading of the ruling and suggested the coalition submit a report on ethics violations by the justices. "It is better to report [the justices] to the ethics council," Refly said.

The recent Constitutional Court ruling on simultaneous elections has drawn criticism, as the court appeared to have delayed the reading of the verdict until only three months before the 2014 general election, which justified its decision to rule that simultaneous elections could only take place from 2019.

The new mechanism will take effect in 2019 as the court argued that to impose simultaneous elections in 2014 would create "chaos and legal uncertainty". The final decision, however, was made during a justice meeting on March 26, 2013, when Mahfud MD was chief justice. Mahfud is now running for president.

Analysts have said had the court delivered its verdict in March, it would have given the General Elections Commission (KPU) ample time to prepare for simultaneous presidential and legislative elections in 2014.

"It seems there was an intention to delay the reading of the ruling," political communications expert Effendi Gazali, who was the plaintiff in the judicial review case, said on Saturday.

The court ruled in favor of Effendi, who has won support from several names including antigraft expert Saldi Isra, constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin, political analyst Hamdi Muluk and activist Ray Rangkuti.

Effendi and members of the coalition filed the judicial review to challenge the 2008 Presidential Election Law, which they deemed contradicted the Constitution.

Current chief justice Hamdan Zoelva is a former Crescent Star Party (PBB) politician, former chief justice Akil Mochtar once served as a lawmaker from the Golkar Party and justice Patrialis Akbar was appointed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to serve on the court given his close connections with the National Mandate Party (PAN).

On March 19, 2013, the plaintiffs wrote to the court, demanding it immediately issue the ruling before April last year so it would not disrupt preparation for the elections. The coalition wrote again on May 20, 2013, asking about a possible response to the petition.

"The court's clerk replied in a letter dated May 30, that according to then chief justice [Akil Mochtar], the case was still being deliberated in a closed-door session," Effendi said.

Yusril Ihza Mahendra, a presidential hopeful from the PBB, who also filed a judicial review demanding the court hold simultaneous elections this year, has also accused the court of bowing to political pressure.

Yusril suspected Akil was responsible for a decision to withhold the delivery of the verdict for more than 10 months. "Why was the verdict read out only now when the 2014 general election is approaching? Based on this, they decided it would take effect only in 2019," Yusril said.

Justice Harjono dismissed such allegations, although later revealed the court had only agreed on simultaneous elections without deciding whether it would take effect in 2014 or 2019.

"There was no pressure from political parties and [we did not have] political interests," he said. "[In 2013, the court] agreed on simultaneous elections. The threshold and the time, whether it was for 2014 or 2019, had yet to be decided at that time."

Harjono declined to give details on when the court had decided that its ruling would take effect in 2019. He then attacked Yusril for suspecting that politics was behind the decision.

"He [Yusril] concluded that based on his own assumptions. The ruling was already made [in 2013] and Akil was tasked to prepare the draft," he said. "But at that time we were busy [with many local election dispute cases] so we had yet to discuss it completely. Not to mention Akil's arrest [for graft]."

Ruling stymies Prabowo's bid

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2014

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court's decision to delay the implementation of a ruling that effectively scraps the electoral threshold for parties to field presidential nominees has been seen as benefiting the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The ruling, which declares holding the presidential election and legislative election on separate dates as unconstitutional, thus rendering the threshold irrelevant, has drawn protests from the smaller parties that have long demanded the threshold be scrapped.

With political parties required to gain 25 percent of the popular vote or control 20 percent of the legislative seats to field a candidate in this year's election, chances remain slim for smaller parties to join the presidential race in July.

Political analyst Gun Gun Heryanto said, after seeing the results of recent political surveys, it was very likely that the upcoming election would be a three-horse race.

"It remains the same. The first ticket will be grabbed by Golkar Party's Aburizal Bakrie and the second ticket by PDI-P's Megawati or Jokowi," he said on Friday, referring to PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo.

According to the latest opinion polls, the PDI-P and Golkar would garner more than 15 percent of the popular vote, indicating they would have better bargaining power when forming an alliance.

The smaller parties – such as the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party, the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party and the Islamic parties – will have to compete to get the third ticket, Gun Gun said.

Hanura has nominated its chairman, Wiranto, while Gerindra has been campaigning for its chief patron, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto. Other hopefuls include Hatta Rajasa from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Yusril Ihza Mahendra of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and former court chief justice Mahfud MD, who could be nominated by his former party, the National Awakening Party (PKB).

According to many political surveys, Prabowo is the most likely candidate to win after Jokowi, but his party's approval rating remains far below the PDI-P's at around 10 percent.

"The main battle is now among the middle-tier parties for the third slot. I predicted it would be between Prabowo and Mahfud. However, Wiranto is now being seen as a worthy contender. He could join the fray for the third ticket with some logistical help from media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibyo."

Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon said his party was still upbeat about fielding Prabowo. "We are ready for any rulings issued by the court. Since the beginning, we have aimed to garner more than 20 percent of the vote," he said, as quoted by tribunnews.com. "If we fail to achieve our target, we will form an alliance with other political parties to meet the threshold."

Fadli, however, questioned why the court issued the ruling at the 11th hour and decided to delay its implementation to avoid disrupting the ongoing preparations for this year's elections.

The petition to challenge the 2008 Presidential Election Law was filed by political communication expert Effendi Gazali, in January last year and the court, then led by Mahfud, reached a decision on the case in March.

Yusril, who filed a similar judicial review petition, has said the ruling should have taken effect immediately as the constitutionality of the results of the 2014 elections would otherwise be questionable.

He accused the court of meddling with politics, saying that people often linked his petition to the fact that Hamdan Zoelva, the court's chief justice, is a former PBB lawmaker, while the court's ruling showed it was not the case.

"Why don't people suspect Akil, as a former Golkar politician, of delaying the ruling's announcement?" he asked, referring to former chief justice Akil Mochtar, who was arrested last year on graft charges.

Hanura lawmaker Syarifuddin Sudding also slammed the court for ruling that concurrent elections would begin in 2019. "The losing parties in the 2014 elections will certainly dispute this," he said.

Golkar and the PDI-P have lauded the ruling, saying the court made a "wise" decision, as delaying the April legislative election would cause political instability.

Court rules one voting day in 2019

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2014

Ina Parlina and Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that Indonesia would hold the presidential election and legislative election concurrently starting in 2019.

In a decision that some hoped would be applied to the 2014 elections, all but one justice agreed that different dates for the presidential and legislative election caused rampant horse-trading and inefficiency.

"We concluded that tactical and temporary political bargaining should be prevented during the presidential election, so that the coalitions formed [by political parties] are long-term and that integration among political parties occurs naturally," Justice Ahmad Fadlil Sumadi said, reading out the verdict.

The court also ruled that the current election mechanism contradicted the Constitution, which considers the legislature and the executive equal in power. "The checks-and-balances mechanism between the House of Representatives and the presidency doesn't work well."

Because short-term coalitions form soon after the legislative election for the sole purpose of nominating a presidential candidate, the winner in the presidential election has to include members of those parties in his or her Cabinet, thus reducing the effectiveness of House oversight over the executive, it said.

The court was ruling on a judicial review filed by the Coalition of Civil Society for Simultaneous Elections challenging the Presidential Election Law. The coalition members include political communication expert Effendi Ghazali, anti-graft expert Saldi Isra, constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin, political analyst Hamdi Muluk and activist Ray Rangkuti.

The coalition filed the review on Jan. 10, 2013, to challenge Law No. 42/2008, which holds that the legislative and presidential elections be held at least three months apart.

The coalition said by holding the elections simultaneously, the General Elections Commission (KPU) could prevent horse-trading and transactional politics. A simultaneous election could also help improve voter turnout, the group argued.

On Dec. 13 last year, former law and human rights minister and senior leader of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) Yusril Ihza Mahendra submitted a request to challenge the Presidential Election Law, demanding the court scrap several articles in the law, including the stipulation that a party must gain 20 percent of the seats in the House or 25 percent of national legislative votes in order to nominate a presidential candidate.

In its Thursday verdict, the court turned down a request that the 2014 elections be held at the same time. The court said that a simultaneous election in 2014, would create "chaos and legal uncertainty".

"[We] suspended the implementation of the ruling until after the 2014 elections. In the future, [the mechanism] should follow the ruling and separate elections are no longer possible," Justice Fadlil said.

Only one justice gave a dissenting opinion to the ruling. Justice Maria Farida said that a separate election was only a legal and technical matter. "This is not a matter of constitutionality, but a matter of choice in legal policy," she said.

Major political parties breathed a sigh of relief when the court announced its ruling. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party had earlier expressed their concerns that concurrent elections in 2014 would put them in unknown political territory.

PDI-P lawmaker Trimedya Panjaitan lauded the ruling, saying that it would bring more efficiency to the country's political system. "It appears that [the court] also shares the views of some political parties, including PDI-P, that if the ruling was effective for 2014, it would be a bit risky," he said.

Golkar Party executive Sharif Cicip Sutarjo said his party had "no objections to the ruling".

Both parties have also expressed concerns over a possible conflict of interest in the handling of Yusril's petition, given that Constitutional Court Chief Justice Hamdan Zoelva is a former PBB lawmaker.

Hamdan said Thursday's verdict was actually reached on March 26, 2013, when Mahfud MD was still chief justice and Akil Mochtar was a justice.

Justice Arief Hidayat denied that the court played politics in deciding when the ruling would be released. "The reason [for the delay] is that the court was being prudent."

Separately, Mahfud said that the court took almost a year to issue the ruling because "it handled a lot of regional election dispute cases".

Watchdog warns of rising sectarianism, racism during polls

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2014

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A coalition of NGOs has warned against rising sectarianism and racism during the polls, with political parties expected to exploit issues related to ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup relations (SARA) in their election campaigns.

Indonesian Voters Committee (TEPI) coordinator Jerry Sumampow said on Thursday that, while the election was a democratic event, it could also lead to a rise of intolerance. He said religion and ethnicity were prone to abuse from legislative and presidential candidates, who use the issues for their own benefit.

"In past elections, election candidates often used methods that corner other parties, such as by accusing, insulting or throwing hate words at minority groups, including those who have different religions and beliefs," he told reporters at the General Elections Commission (KPU)'s headquarters.

Jerry cited the controversial remark made by dangdut singer and Muslim preacher Rhoma Irama during the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election. While delivering a sermon at a mosque in West Jakarta, he warned Muslim voters about the dangers of electing Joko "Jokowi" Widodo – whose mother he labelled a Christian – and Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, a Chinese- Indonesian and a Christian.

Rhoma, who has declared his presidential bid, pointed out that former governor Fauzi Bowo was a Muslim and of Betawi heritage – Jakarta's native ethnic group. The singer went on to point out that Fauzi's running mate, Nachrowi Ramli, shared a similar profile.

Nachrowi also seemingly tried to offend Ahok by speaking in a stereotypical Chinese-Indonesian accent during a televised debate between Fauzi and Nachrowi, and Jokowi and Ahok.

"Even if the remark was intended as a joke, not everyone liked hearing it. Even if they were actually joking, they hurt other people's feelings anyway by seeing other people differently," Jerry said.

When asked about the Islamic parties that openly use religion to gain votes, Jerry said that it was not a problem. "In campaigns, religion usually becomes the basis of support for a particular party, and that's fine. But don't discriminate against [other people's beliefs]."

TEPI said it had discussed the matter with members of the Election Supervisory Committee (Bawaslu) and the KPU. Jerry said they would create pamphlets and other tools to inform the public and political parties to refrain from using religious or racial slurs to discredit certain election contenders.

"Therefore, when the KPU spreads information [about the election] to the public, they can also mention this matter [using our pamphlets]," he said.

KPU commissioner Arief Budiman, meanwhile, said the commission would take firm action against political parties that resorted to negative SARA-based campaigns. "If they are proven guilty of conducting negative campaigning, we will stop their campaign. As for the legal consequence of their actions, that would be the police's job [to deal with]."

Surveys & opinion polls

More would go to polls if Jokowi ran: Survey

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2014

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – A survey has revealed that the country will see a higher voter turnout for this year's presidential election if Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo were to join the race.

The survey, released on Wednesday by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), showed a spike in the percentage of respondents who would vote if Jokowi was listed as a presidential candidate.

The survey, which was conducted from Dec. 19 to Dec. 27, 2013 involving 1,220 respondents and with a 2.9 percent margin of error, revealed that only 15 percent of respondents said they would vote for leaders of top political parties running for president.

They are Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto, People's Conscience (Hanura) Party chairman Wiranto, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

The figure rose to 40 percent when Jokowi was included among the contenders. "Jokowi can lower the number of undecided voters and make them willing to vote for a president," SMRC research director Djayadi Hanan said.

The SMRC said the number of undecided voters had declined from 68 percent in December 2011 – before the election of Jokowi as Jakarta governor, which catapulted him to political stardom – to 51 percent in December 2013.

"Jokowi has an effect that makes people feel more certain about voting," Djayadi said. The survey predicted that Jokowi could win the election in a single round, even if he only ran for vice president.

According to the survey, Jokowi would gain 51 percent of the vote should he battle it out with Prabowo and Aburizal. Prabowo would have to settle for second place with 22.2 percent, while Aburizal trailed behind him with 12.5 percent.

"If Megawati took Jokowi as her vice-presidential candidate, then there is also a possibility that the presidential election would go to only one round, with Megawati and Jokowi coming out as the winners," Djayadi said.

Should Megawati pair up with Jokowi, 49 percent would vote for them, while only 18 percent would vote for Prabowo and 17 percent for Aburizal, according to the survey.

But if Megawati paired up with top executives of other political parties, such as National Democrat (NasDem) Party chairman Surya Paloh, Democratic Party convention participant and former Army chief Gen. (ret) Pramono Edhie Wibowo or Hanura Party chief patron Hary Tanoesoedibjo, then she would lose to Prabowo, the survey added.

"No other political leader could help Megawati beat Prabowo, except for Jokowi," said Djayadi. "He has such a strong effect that it could enable Megawati to beat Prabowo and Ical [Aburizal]."

PDI-P officials have acknowledged that Jokowi has boosted the party's popularity, saying the Jakarta governor's popularity extended to remote areas.

The party, however, said there was no rush to nominate a presidential candidate. Megawati has pledged to put off naming the party's presidential candidate until after April's legislative election.

Poll: Young presidential candidates the way forward

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2014

Anastasia Winanti Riesardhy & Yeremia Sukoyo – Indonesia's eligible voters favor younger presidential candidates compared to older, more experienced politicians, a survey has found.

"Thirty-four percent of the respondents said they preferred the presidential candidates from the younger generation and only 15 percent said they preferred older candidates," Hanta Yuda, the executive director of the Pol-Tracking Institute, said on Sunday.

The survey, conducted between Dec.16 and 23, involved 1,200 respondents aged 17 and above in 33 provinces. Hanta said that while a large percentage of the respondents favored younger candidates, only 47 percent believed age was not a major factor in choosing a capable presidential candidate.

The survey also found the connection between the political parties with the public had very little importance to respondents compared to the impact brought by a strong political figure. "There were only 17.6 percent of the respondents who felt close or connected to a certain political party," he said.

Hanta said a majority of respondents, or 50.9 percent, preferred to vote for legislative candidates who had been involved in a political party and, despite their popularity, legislative candidates from the entertainment industry or other public figure were only favored by 16.8 percent.

"The survey found legislative candidates are the focal points for the party at the regional and national level. It also found that political parties' reputations are declining in Indonesia and the legislative candidates must make a direct contact with their constituents and improve their political performance because their figure has become more important," he said.

Hanta said that overall respondents were quite excited about voting in this year's election, with 81.3 percent saying they were interested in participating.

"But we have to take note that being interested in the election doesn't mean they will definitely participate. Many people who said they were interested in participating will not cast a vote for many reasons," he said.

The survey also found that Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo was the most popular potential presidential candidate. Joko was favored by 37 percent of the respondents.

Hanta said that if Joko was taken out of the equation, then the clear front-runner would be former general Prabowo Subianto. "When offered the names of presidential hopefuls, excluding Joko Widodo, Prabowo garnered the biggest vote with 19.2 percent," Hanta said.

Prabowo was followed by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri with 15.3 percent of the votes and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who was chosen by 13.8 percent of the respondents. "However, if Joko Widodo was put in the mix, he would be considered the most popular candidate," Hanta said.

The lack of definitive decisions from political parties about the presidential candidates they would support for the election has also affected public enthusiasm about participating.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents considered themselves as swing voters, whose votes could change at any time, and only 26.6 percent said they had made a decision on the candidate they would vote for. Another survey released by the Indonesia Survey Center found Prabowo as the presidential candidate with the most potential to eradicate rampant corruption in Indonesia.

The survey found that 19.1 percent of the respondents believed that Prabowo was the most capable candidate to fight corruption. He was followed by former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud M.D., who was voted for by 11.9 percent of respondents, and Jakarta Governor Joko with 11.8 percent.

Andry Kurniawan, the ISC's communications director, said that Prabowo, who is the founder and chief patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), was believed to be a consistent anticorruption figure who would be able to take a hard line against the corrupt.

"Prabowo is seen as a figure who has a strong commitment to creating a good and clean governance based on the reformation mandate," Andry said.

The ISC survey was conducted from Jan. 1-12, involving 1,600 respondents aged above 17 years old in 33 provinces.

ISC researcher Dedet Fogerty said graft was deeply ingrained in the Indonesian political system, and that most major political parties, including the Democratic Party, Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), had all been implicated in graft cases.

The ISC survey also found Gerindra to be a political party considered the cleanest from corruption by 16.7 percent of the respondents, followed by the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) with 12.2 percent. "The public trust in political parties has plunged to its lowest level following the revelation of some major corruption cases," Dedet said.

He added that 26 percent of respondents believed corruption eradication efforts should start in political parties to prevent corrupt politicians from taking strategic positions in government.

The survey also found that a surprising 49.2 percent of respondents favored the use of the death sentence to deter corruption, followed by a life sentence, which was voted for by 24.6 percent of the respondents. "The public is so fed up the corrupt practices in this country," Dedet said.

Survey shows high public interest in presidential election

Jakarta Post - January 26, 2014

Jakarta – A survey conducted by the Pol-Tracking Institute has revealed that the level of public interest in the 2014 presidential election is high, with 84.9 percent of respondents intending to vote.

"There is quite a high interest in the presidential election, with nearly 85 percent saying they intend to vote and this exceeds their interest in voting in the legislative election," said Pol-Tracking Institute director Hanta Yudha on Sunday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said this was because there would be no incumbent candidates running in the 2014 presidential election with the stage set for an interesting competition. Moreover, he added, people had high hopes for the next president.

"Only 9.76 percent of respondents said that they weren't interested in participating in the presidential election while 5.3 percent were undecided or did not answer," said Hanta.

He further said that most respondents, 61.8 percent, would favor male presidential and vice presidential candidates. Only 32 percent of voters polled said that both women and men would have equal merit as presidential or vice presidential candidates. "Only 2 percent of voters favored a female presidential candidate, therefore, gender remains an issue in the election," said Hanta.

The survey also found that 66 percent of respondents were not influenced by ethnicity-based issues in choosing presidential and vice presidential candidates, while 25 percent of voters said ethnicity remained a crucial aspect which would have an impact on their choices in the presidential election. "There are still voters who refer to ethnic background before choosing a candidate," said Hanta.

The survey was conducted in 33 provinces across Indonesia and involved 1,200 respondents selected through a multi-stage random sampling method from Dec. 16 to Dec. 23, 2013. The margin of error stood at 2.83 percent and the trust level at 96 percent. (ebf)

Internet & social media

Communication and IT minister oblivious to the benefits of fast internet

Jakarta Post - January 30, 2014

Jakarta – Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring has no idea about the benefits of having fast internet connection speed for Indonesia.

"Dear tweeps, if we have a faster internet connection speed, then what are we going to use it for?" Tifatul asked on his official twitter account @tifsembiring on Thursday.

Tifatul was responding to questions asked by Indonesians to him through twitter about the recent report, issued by cloud service provider Akamai Technologies, which stated that Indonesia had the second slowest internet connection speed in the world.

Tifatul's question then incited anger and insults from the Indonesian twitter users who viewed the minister as ignorant for not knowing the benefits of having fast internet connection speed.

Environment & natural disasters

Floods cause chaos across Greater Jakarta

Jakarta Post - January 30, 2014

Indah Setiawati and Multa Fidrus, Jakarta – The floods returned on Wednesday after incessant rain hit the capital overnight, forcing hundreds of residents to wade back to evacuation shelters.

Unlike the recent flooding, more commercial districts and main thoroughfares were affected by floodwater that snarled up traffic for several hours in the morning.

"It took seven hours for me to drive to Jl. Senopati [in South Jakarta] from Bekasi. The traffic jam was unbearable. It was the worst ever congestion this month," Fika, a commuter, said.

The city police's Traffic Management Center (TMC) reported dozens of inundated locations. The underpass of Cawang toll road from Halim heading to Rawamangun was under 60 centimeters of water, while in the Pondok Jaya area in Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, floodwaters reached a depth of 100 centimeters.

Some streets, including Jl. Patra Raya in Duri Kepa in West Jakarta and Jl. Kemang Raya in front of Kem Chicks supermarket in South Jakarta, were paralyzed as the inundation was between 50 cm and 70 cm.

Transjakarta bus operators had to reroute seven of 12 corridors to avoid flooding, while commuter rail operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek canceled the service from Bogor in West Java to Kampung Bandan in North Jakarta as the latter station was flooded.

According to Hari Tirto, head of the meteorology information subdirectorate with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the flooding was a result of heavy rainfall that particularly hit downstream areas in West, East, Central and South Jakarta. The intense rain was forecast to continue during the evening and into the next two days, he said.

According to data from the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) the number of evacuees rose by over 600 to 9,985 from 9,368 on Tuesday. They were spread throughout 21 subdistricts in 11 districts and were currently being looked after in 34 shelters.

Most of the evacuees were from 14 subdistricts in East Jakarta, including Kampung Melayu, Bidara Cina, Cipinang Melayu, Cawang, Kramat Jati, Kampung Rambutan and Pondok Bambu. The depth of floodwater in those locations varied from 20 cm to 200 cm.

The BPBD reported that 51,526 people were affected by the floods, a jump from the 18,759 people on the previous day.

Neighboring Bekasi, Tangerang and South Tangerang municipalities were also affected. Two meters of floodwater hit the Total Persada housing complex in Tangerang, only three days after the previous flood had receded. The residents had just returned after spending a week being accommodated at SD Total Persada elementary school.

"This [use of the school as a shelter] really disrupts the school activity. Our children could not go to school because the classrooms were being occupied by the evacuees," Rita Zahara, a parent of a student at the school, said.

Neighboring Mutiara Pluit, Periuk Damai and Pondok Arum housing complexes were all inundated to a depth of 1 meter.

Tangerang Mayor Arief R. Wismansyah said on Wednesday that the Public Works Ministry had earmarked Rp 1.9 trillion (US$156.17 million) to dredge the Cisadane River, which should help to mitigate the perennial flooding in the municipality.

"The river normalization project will start in 2015 and is expected to be complete in three years," he told a plenary session of the Tangerang Legislative Council.

Activists criticize death of green space as capital floods

Jakarta Globe - January 27, 2014

SP/Fana FS Putra – Booming construction in Jakarta and a precipitous decline in green space have exacerbated flooding despite the existence of years-old legislation requiring at least 30 percent of the capital be reserved for parks and undeveloped land, an influential academic said on Monday.

"This is the failure of previous leaders," University of Indonesia academic Firdaus Ali said. "The Kemang or TB Simatupang areas have been turned into business corridors. Both should have been water-catchment areas."

The official figure for "green space" is 9.8 percent of the city. A 2007 zoning law required that at least 30 percent of Jakarta be reserved for open land.

Almost half of Singapore today, for example, is classified as green space, but, according to Firdaus, more than 30 percent of the equivalent area in Jakarta was developed between 1985 and 2013.

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo has said he is facing difficulties in reversing the tide. "Jokowi is facing a mafia both inside and outside his government," Fauzi said of people who violated zoning rules. "I'm sad, because [the developers] have all the necessary permits."

Firdaus said Joko should order a thorough zoning audit of the capital, complete with precise data on green spaces. The results should be made public, he said, allowing greater accountability, and enabling community groups to better engage in the process of approving construction projects.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, the head of the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta), cautioned against blaming poor communities living along the banks of rivers.

"The Jakarta government should not only blame and evict the poor," he said on Monday. "It should also work to evict residential areas or malls built on water-catchment areas and areas reserved for green open spaces."

Yayat Supriatna, an urban planning specialist from Trisakti University, said the generous approach to issuing building permits was a longstanding problem.

"If buildings violate the zoning regulations and impact on flooding in a way that clearly disadvantages the population, then they should be pulled down," he said. "This has begun to be applied to many villas in the Puncak-Bogor areas."

Firdaus also emphasized the importance of realizing the city's plans for a deep drainage tunnel, that would begin in East Jakarta before emptying out into the sea near Pluit, North Jakarta.

"We already have the legal umbrella to do this," he said. "The next step should be the establishment of an ad hoc agency to handle tenders and other matters."

Controversy erupts over Yudhoyono's Karo visit

Straits Times/ANN - January 24, 2014

Zubaidah Nazeer, Karo, North Sumatra – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a high-profile visit to Karo regency in North Sumatra, where he met residents displaced by the Mount Sinabung eruptions, in a bid to defuse criticism that he had been slow to respond to the crisis.

Some 28,000 people have fled their homes and are now living in shelters since the volcanic eruptions began last September.

Yudhoyono was accompanied by First Lady Kristiani Herawati and several ministers on Thursday. He had skipped the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in order to deal with the simultaneous disasters that have struck Indonesia. Besides the Sinabung eruptions, deadly floods have hit Jakarta and also Manado in North Sulawesi.

But even before he arrived yesterday, online reports were playing up the supposed cost of a tent where he and his entourage would spend the night. Some claimed that the "VIP tent" cost 15 billion rupiah (US$1.23 million) to furnish.

A spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), which put up the tent, denied the reports on Thursday. "There are reports that say the President will be in a VIP tent costing 15 billion rupiah. That is not true," said spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. The tent set up for the president, 10 ministers and his entourage actually cost 60 million rupiah ($4,920), he said.

The buzz over Yudhoyono's trip to Karo reflects the heightened political dimension the disasters have taken. With Indonesia heading into parliamentary elections in April and a presidential election in July, political opponents have accused him of being slow to react to the disasters. Others descended on the small town of Kabanjahe, which has put up shelters for evacuees, to gain political mileage.

Yudhoyono, speaking to officials at the operations centre in Karo town on Thursday, urged them to speed up coordination of relief efforts. He also said he and the officials would be discussing options such as relocating villagers whose land has been destroyed to adjacent districts so that they can rebuild their lives.

But he also took aim at two TV stations that ran reports of his tent. The tent cost 60 million rupiah, and not 15 billion rupiah as reported, he said. "Why don't they (the TV stations) see for themselves, and... then assess whether it costs 15 billion rupiah," he added.

On Tuesday, tvOne, owned by Golkar party's presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie, ran a nearly two-minute clip of preparations for the tent. It showed shots of air-conditioners, rubber mats and toilets outside and inside the grey-coloured tent. But the report did not give an estimated cost.

A similar report was aired by Metro TV, owned by another presidential aspirant, Surya Paloh of the National Democratic Party.

On Thursday, Yudhoyono also visited three shelters, including Paroki Church, which has 1,095 evacuees. In recent days, politicians have been busy descending on disaster zones across the country. In Karo, at least four ministers have visited Kabanjahe, known for its mountain views and cool weather, in the past 10 days.

T-shirts bearing the face and name of Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan were given out to evacuees during his visit on Monday. He distributed more than 150 sacks of rice as well as toys at the Masjid Agung relief shelter. Gita is one of 11 Democrat Party members seeking nomination as the ruling party's presidential candidate. Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring also went to the same shelter on Wednesday after visiting towns damaged by volcanic ash.

It remains unclear how visiting evacuees and handing out goodies will benefit the politicians. Said evacuee Rapendi Tarigan, 35: "We have been here for months, and whoever gives help, we take. The help doesn't make me vote for the person or the party. I accept it out of necessity."

Health & education

Indonesia still haunted by high number of maternal and post-natal deaths

Jakarta Globe - January 29, 2014

Basten Gokkon – Indonesia is facing setbacks in achieving its Millennium Development Goal of reducing the maternal mortality rate, due to a lack of health services for women during pregnancy.

Indonesia's goal under the MDGs was to bring post-natal deaths to 102 per 100,000 live births by the end of 2015. But the rate stood at 359 deaths per 100,000 live births as of 2012, according to the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey from last September. The maternal mortality rate increased from 220 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

"Severe post-natal bleeding has been the main cause of maternal mortality in Indonesia," said Dwiana Ocviyanti, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, at a talk sponsored by Sari Husada, a producer of milk for women and children.

Severe bleeding – which could lead to death in 10 minutes – is avoidable if the mother gets regular checkups during her pregnancy.

"This highlights a lack of access to health services during pregnancy or during birth," said Dwiana, noting there were still many areas in Indonesia that did not have access to physicians or midwives to aid in childbirth.

Pre-eclampsia, or seizures during pregnancy, and infection are also significant causes of post-natal death, Dwiana said.

"Prenatal checkups are important, especially during the third trimester," said Widjaja Lukito, a lecturer of nutrition studies at the University of Indonesia, at the Sari Husada discussion.

In the third trimester, a pregnant woman should perform a blood check to discover whether she is anemic or has high blood pressure, he explained. Anemia during pregnancy can affect the woman's flow of blood to her brain, while high blood pressure could lead to severe blood loss during birth.

"Reducing the maternal mortality rate is not a single institution's job. Education and awareness are two important issues we should build on and develop together," Dwiana said.

However, the SDKI survey, conducted by the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), shows an improvement in maternal services as 96 percent of women received prenatal care in 2012, up from 93 percent in 2007.

The survey shows that the number of maternal deaths was the highest in the 25-to-29-year age group, with 467 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Corruption rampant in the health sector, says watchdog

Jakarta Post - January 27, 2014

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – As the government increases the budget allocation for health programs, graft has worsened in the sector, according to an antigraft watchdog.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) found that between 2009 and 2013, the state lost Rp 466 billion (US$38.2 million) due to graft.

Data from the government shows that the budget allocation for the health sector has steadily increased by 167 percent from 2005 to 2012. For 2014, the budget for health is Rp 44.8 trillion, up from Rp 31 trillion in 2013.

ICW recorded that between 2001 and 2008, the state lost Rp 128 billion from 42 cases of graft in the health sector, involving 73 suspects. Between 2009 and 2013 the state suffered Rp 466 billion from 80 graft cases involving 182 suspects.

"The prosecution of corruption cases in health sector increases in number every year. In 2001, there was only one case prosecuted and then the number rose to 17 with the state losing Rp 64 billion in 2008," ICW researcher Febri Hendri said. The worst came in 2013 with law enforcement agencies prosecuting 49 cases, resulting in Rp 336 billion state losses, Febri said.

"It is interesting to see that the largest number of graft practices in the health sector was reported in years preceding general elections, in 2008 and 2013. We can assume that money from the health budget was stolen to fund political campaigning," he added.

Of the total 122 cases, 43 took place in the procurement of health facilities that caused Rp 442 billion in state losses.

ICW also said graft practices were found in hospital renovation and drug procurement projects. "Of all the cases, budget markup is the most common modus operandi," Febri said.

A physician with a regional general hospital in South Tangerang, Banten, confirmed that budget markups were rampant, especially in state-run hospitals. "Other modus opreandi include ordering medical equipment below the minimum standard as well as health officials appointing preferred candidates in the procurement committee," the physician Daniel Richard said on Sunday.

Data from the ICW also shows that the largest amount of state losses from corruption resulted from graft at the Health Ministry. The ministry lost Rp 249 billion from graft cases, although only nine graft cases were investigated.

Meanwhile, 46 graft cases involving local health agencies at the regency, municipality and provincial levels had caused the state to lose Rp 191 billion.

Banten and North Sumatra top the list of provinces inflicting losses on the state. "Banten and North Sumatra are top with Rp 71.59 billion from nine cases and Rp 59.16 billion from 15 cases, respectively," Febri said.

Late last year, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah and her brother Tubagus "Wawan" Chaeri Wardana as suspects in graft cases in a health facility procurement project in the period 2011-2013.

Wawan has also been named a suspect in another health procurement project in the South Tangerang municipal administration, where his wife serves as the mayor.

As of 2013, Atut was the third regional head arrested for graft in relation to health facility procurement projects. The ICW also recorded that two former health ministries and two former directorate generals at the ministry had been arrested for graft centering on health procurement projects.

Health Ministry's spokesperson Murti Utami said she would check the accuracy of data from the ICW. Murti said that ministry had also stepped up its efforts to eradicate corruption in the health sector.

"Regarding the legal cases being tried at the court, the ministry put its trust on the law enforcement agencies to handle them," she said.

Sex workers & prostitution

Prostitutes are heroines: Regent

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2014

Jakarta – Prostitutes are heroines to their families because they can feed their families on their own; therefore, it would be inhumane to close down brothels, a regent has said.

"Closing brothels will also bring more problems, such as poverty and the uncontrollable spread of sexually transmitted diseases," Widya Kandi Susanti, the regent of Kendal, Central Java, said as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.

"We can easily close brothels but we need to give the women working in them alternative means to make a living," she added. Widya said that prostitutes in Kendal were regularly offered sewing courses so that they could make money from their new skill, but after a few months they decided to return to the business of selling sex.

"They return to prostitution because they find it hard to find customers in their new profession, while as prostitutes, they had at least five customers per day," Widya said.

She added that given the current social conditions in Kendal, particularly regarding the issue of prostitution, it was no longer appropriate to use the term Kendal Beribadat (Religious Kendal) as the tagline for the regency.

"Beribadat has a positive meaning, while in Kendal, there are many large prostitution complexes and a great amount of drug use. By changing our tagline to Kendal Hebat (Great Kendal), we hope to motivate residents to become great because the great know what is good for them and what is not," she said.

Terrorism & religious extremism

Syrian conflict draws Indonesian jihadis into fray: IPAC

Jakarta Globe - January 31, 2014

Jakarta – Indonesian extremists have turned their attentions to the Syrian war, a bloody two-year battle soaked in sectarian division and apocalyptic prophecy, as radical Islamist groups push for a two-pronged "global jihad" to establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East, a new report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict read.

"The conflict in Syria has captured the imagination of Indonesian extremists in a way no foreign war has before," the report, titled "Indonesians and the Syrian Conflict," read. "For the first time, Indonesians are going overseas to fight, not just to train, as in Afghanistan in the late 1980s and 1990s, or to give moral and financial support, as in the case of Palestine."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that at least 50 Indonesians have joined the estimated 8,000 foreign nationals fighting in Syria. The emergence of non-Syrian fighters, which include ex-mujahideen from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda-linked militants, has thrown the situation in Syria into a deeper state of chaos as rebel groups fighting to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fight both alongside and against members of violent terrorist groups waging a holy war of their own.

The Indonesian radicals, many members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network and its affiliated Islamic boarding schools, may have been inspired by the popular book "The Two-Arm Strategy;" which argues that the upheaval caused by the Arab Spring provided fertile ground for a two- pronged jihad in Yemen and Syria – both sites of religious and historical significance.

The war's sectarian lines have also stoked anger in Sunni-majority Indonesia where scenes of violence against Sunni Muslims by Assad's Shia Muslim loyalists received regular coverage in by domestic media outlets. The anger, combined with a reluctance by JI – the organization behind the 2002 Bali bombings – to stage further attacks on Indonesian soil and the religious connections between the Syrian war and several hadith on the Islamic doomsday, might inspire more Indonesians to join the war, the report read.

"As far as we know the number of Indonesian combatants is still in the dozens, but it could climb," IPAC director Sidney Jones said. "Jihadi humanitarian assistance teams now appear to be facilitating the entry of fighters as well."

Indonesians have joined both the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front and the rival Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS). Locally JI and its nonviolent wing Hilal Ahmar Society Indonesia (HASI) have engaged in fundraising and material support, sending 10 "humanitarian missions" to the war-torn state since 2012. Members affiliated with a separate terrorist group, Abu Umar's West Indonesia Mujahideen, have also joined the fight.

At least one Indonesian has died in the war: Riza Fardi, a West Kalimantan native and graduate of the JI-linked al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Solo. Riza, who also went by the name Abu Muhammad al-Indunisi, fought with the Suquor al-Izz Brigade and was killed during a jihadi-led seize of the Sheik Said district, in Aleppo, on Nov. 25, 2013, the report read.

Riza's involvement in the battle, and his subsequent death, received heavy play on local jihadi channels. "While other Indonesians' deaths in Syria have been rumored, Riza Fardi's is the only one confirmed," the report read.

But divisions between Al-Nusra Front and ISIS have caused a similar split in Indonesia. Opinions regarding Assad have also fanned tensions, to a much lesser extent, among Indonesian radicals.

Indonesia's Immigration Office will monitor the situation and determine whether any of those known to have ventured into Syria should be placed on a watch list, spokesman Heriyanto told the Jakarta Globe.

"We will examine this problem first," Heriyanto said. "Is anyone violating regulations, tainting Indonesia's reputation [abroad]? We will study this matter further by inquiring relevant institutions concerning the problem."

The office will reach out to Indonesia's National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) to assemble a list of known terrorists in Syria. But there is little immigration officials can do to discourage Indonesians from visiting Syria. While the central government has issued a moratorium on sending foreign workers to the war-torn country, anyone with a visa and a plane ticket is free to visit Syria, he said.

"However, if people seek to enter Syria, we will surely interrogate them to know what the purpose of their visit is," he said. "If we suspect anything, we'll surely do a special investigation."

IPAC has warned in the past that returning mujahideen could provide order and motivation for the nation's poorly organized domestic terrorists cells. While Indonesia's current crop of terrorists remain committed to waging a largely unsuccessful war of attrition with local police, the enhanced skills of Indonesian jihadis who returned home from Syria may embolden domestic groups, the report read.

But the situation in Indonesia, which remains peaceful, is unlikely to provide fertile ground for a new jihad movement, the report concluded.

"The dangers should not be overdrawn," Jones said. "Indonesian terrorism has always depended on local drivers, and without major internal conflict, political instability or hostile neighbors, those drivers are weak. Still it is worth keeping an eye on Syria."

[Erwida Maulia contributed to this report.]

Land & agrarian conflicts

Indigenous people seek land, better lives

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2014

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – While thousands of people throughout the country have had to flee their homes to escape flooding, the Suku Anak Dalam (SAD) indigenous people in Jambi have been forced to lead a nomadic life, because their land has been turned into oil palm plantations.

"This area used to be a forest 10 years ago, but now it has is an oil palm plantation. We don't know where else to go," said Syargawi, SAD tribal community chief in Pelakar Jaya village, Pamenang district, Merangin regency, regarding their current plight. "Ever since the forest vanished, we've been on the move seeking somewhere to live," said Syargawi.

For the time being, his community made up of 18 families, is temporarily living on the farm of one of the villagers, but the owner has given them notice to move on. "The farm owner allowed us six days to stay here, but we have stayed for eight days now," he said.

According to him, the farm owner has asked them to move, but as a tribe member has just given birth, Syargawi has asked for more time. "If we don't move immediately, the farm owner will report us to the police to evict us," said Syargawi.

Besides the lack of a place to stay, they also face difficulties in getting food. Since the forest has vanished, they are unable to hunt for animals for food. "We have to hunt for wild boars up to Dharmasraya regency in West Sumatra," he said, adding that unlike most people who ate three times a day, they only ate once a day.

"There's nothing that we can eat. If we get an animal today, we eat it on the same day and we don't know what to eat tomorrow," he said. Syargawi urged the government to provide them with somewhere to stay so they could settle and till the land like the other villagers.

Such is the situation faced by SAD members living along the central Trans- Sumatra Highway. Other groups in Tebo, Bungo, Sarolangun and Merangin regencies have suffered the same fate as Syargawi's community.

The Pundi Sumatera non-governmental group has recorded as many as 1,500 people from the SAD tribal community living along the highway. "The local administration seems to have neglected them," Pundi Sumatera director Mahendra Taher said.

Pundi Sumatera has discussed the matter with the Dharmasraya regency administration which has agreed to provide land for the SAD tribe members who often come to the regency.

By giving land, Mahendra said, the SAD members could till the land to cultivate tubers, or they could also be provided with larger plots to produce rubber or palm oil.

"If transmigrant families are entitled to land, why aren't they?" Mahendra said, adding that the administration should take immediate action in light of the emergency situation faced by the SAD community.

Yudhoyono urged to revoke decree on customary land

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2014

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – An alliance of the country's indigenous communities called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to revoke a 2013 decree by the forestry minister that obliged indigenous people to provide official documents to claim their customary lands.

The Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) said the decree contradicted the Constitutional Court's decision on customary forests.

AMAN secretary-general Abdon Nababan said the decree showed the government did not take the rights of indigenous people seriously despite their crucial roles in protecting the country's forests from destruction.

"The ministry should revoke the decree immediately as it contradicts the Constitutional Court decision. Indigenous people don't have official documents to prove that land and forests belong to them since they have been living on them for hundreds of years," Abdon said in Jakarta on Monday.

The Constitutional Court ruled in May last year to scrap the word "state" from Article 1 of the 1999 Forestry Law, which says "customary forests are state forests located in the areas of custom-based communities". It also ruled the government had to recognize indigenous communities' ownership of customary forests, saying that "indigenous peoples have the right to own and exploit their customary forests to meet their daily needs."

The ruling was seen as a victory for indigenous people who have long had their rights denied by the state. However, the ministerial decree has been seen as a repudiation of that victory.

"This decree shows the government is not consistent in uphold-ing the law and protect rights. We want the President to come to the rescue by issuing a decree to render the ministerial decree void," he said.

Data from AMAN shows 143 cases of violations against the rights of the indigenous people occurred in the archipelago last year, three times more than the previous year.

The Pagu and Sawai tribe in North Maluku, the Berbay tribe in Papua, the Barambang Kakute tribe in South Sulawesi, the Karonsie in North Sulawesi and the Dayak Ngaju in Central Kalimantan were among the victims.

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Sandra Moniaga said the President and Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan had failed to take corrective action on indigenous communities on agrarian rights.

"The government needs to acknowledge the human rights of indigenous people are violated once their access to food and livelihood are taken. We're going to continue to monitor this issue since we have not seen genuine recognition [of the court's decision]," she added.

Noer Fauzi Rahman from the Sajogyo Institute, an agrarian study center, said the government needed to set up a task force or special body to gather data on customary forests.

Data collected by the task force could be shared with the forestry, home and social ministries, the National Land Agency (BPN), the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG) and other relevant institutions.

Forestry Ministry secretary-general Hadi Daryanto defended the decree, saying legal documents were required to avoid false claims made by those who wanted to exploit customary forests.

"This decree is to prevent those with vested interests from controlling customary forests. It's concrete action to prevent people from violating the rights of indigenous people that we protect," Hadi said.

Regional autonomy & government

Mixed reaction to autonomy law review

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2014

Ina Parlina, Bogor, West Java – The government said Tuesday it was finalizing the draft revision to the 2001 Papua Special Autonomy Law for the resource-rich region.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a number of his senior ministers met with Papua Governor Lukas Enembe and West Papua Governor Abraham O. Atururi on Tuesday, during which the Papuan officials submitted a report on the latest political and economic developments in the two regions.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Papua Legislative Council (DPRD), the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) and Cendrawasih University.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said the review of the law would yield improvements to the forestry, maritime, energy and transportation sectors.

Djoko, however, stressed it was also important to quell armed movements in Papua. "The two efforts must be parallel," Djoko said after the meeting at Bogor Palace.

A recent series of shootings in Puncak Jaya regency, Papua – believed to be the work the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) – injured two Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers. Djoko, however, said: "There is no longer a military operation," and the incident was the work of criminals.

Lukas, who said his office had tried to initiate reconciliation measures, also played down the incidents.

"What is happening now is a group of people – whom I regard as criminals – committed crimes and asked for demands [...] They are not fighting for independence," Lukas said. "Not every inch of Papua has conflict. [And] conflict does not occur because [they] want independence, but because of local issues."

Abraham agreed, saying they did not want independence. "Papua is Indonesia; we declared our independence once and forever."

Djoko declined to comment on whether or not the existing law would be totally overhauled, arguing it was merely a draft which he expected to be ready by the next two or three months. The new policy is known as the "special autonomy plus".

Last week, during a European Parliament Subcommittee hearing on Human Rights in Brussels, Belgium, three activists, two of whom are Indonesian, raised concerns about the unresolved human rights cases in Papua and the limited access foreign journalists and NGOs experienced.

They called on the EU to put pressure on the government to uphold their commitment to a dialogue with Papua. One of the activists, Zely Ariane from the Jakarta-based National Papua Solidarity (Napas), slammed the governors' claims.

"Such claims are hard to be verified as there are numerous armed groups in Papua. But, we can be sure that law enforcers are often not transparent and simply label them OPM. In this context, human rights violations often occurr, particularly since there is no press freedom."

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) documented 22 cases of threats and violence against journalists in Papua in 2013 alone.

Zely said, if passed, it would not improve the welfare of Papuans, but would follow the same path as the existing law, which is considered to have failed to significantly improve the welfare of indigenous Papuans.

Armed forces & defense

Marine Corps gets more war machines

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2014

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Surabaya – Dozens of Russian-made BMP-3F amphibious infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) made a formation as soon as they landed on Asembagus Beach in Situbondo regency, East Java.

Operated by the Indonesian Navy's Marine Corps, the amphibious IFV column then detected a target some 3 kilometers away to be neutralized.

With support from dozens of 70-mm rockets fired by a RM-70 Grad multiple launcher rocket system (MLRS), and French-made 105-mm howitzer, the amphibious IFVs approached the target with guns blazing. The installed weaponry includes a 100-mm cannon, 100-mm rocket, 30-mm automatic cannon and 7.62-mm machine guns.

The simulated target, located in the Marine Corps' Combat Training Center (Puslatpur), was eliminated.

The simulation was held on Monday during a handover ceremony of 37 BMP-3Fs from the Russian government to the Indonesian government. In December 2010, the Marine Corps received the first batch of 17 IFV units.

"The vehicles fit into the development of our defense forces to turn the Indonesian Navy into a world class navy," Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.

In total, the Marine Corps now has 55 BMP-3Fs, including one BREM-L recovery vehicle. The amphibious IFVs will be deployed to the 1st Marines in Surabaya and to the 2nd Marines in Jakarta.

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Moeldoko, who also attended the ceremony, said that the new IFVs were part of TNI efforts to modernize its ageing war machines, such as its Soviet Union-made PT-76 amphibious light tanks and French-made AMX-13 light tanks.

The Marine Corps still has about 50 PT-76s, made in 1954, while the Indonesian Army has hundreds of AMX-13, made between the 1950s and the 1960s.

"We cannot upgrade them anymore because they are already too old," Moeldoko said. "AMX-13 and PT-76 will be decommissioned gradually and replaced with newer models until the end of Renstra II."

Renstra II refers to the five-year Strategic Plan II in 2015-2019 to modernize the TNI. Renstra I is in 2009-2014. Purnomo said more modern weaponry would be procured in Renstra II, such as the Ukrainian-made BTR-4 armored personnel carrier (APC).

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Mikhail Galuzin said he was very proud to be able to supply the BMP-3Fs for TNI. "Because we are strategic partners and we have deep trust in the future," he said on the sidelines of the ceremony.

Purnomo said the Russian government had agreed to the sale of two Kilo- class submarines to Indonesia, which included Klub-S cruise missiles with a range of between 300 km and 400 km.

"We will send a team to Russia in February to asses whether Indonesia will buy new submarines or used submarines and upgrade their capabilities," he said. "We want the Klub-S missiles to be included because of their range."

After the handover ceremony, Purnomo went to Pasuruan regency to visit the Eighth Cavalry Battalion/Tank, which will house German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBT) and Marder IFVs.

The Eighth, part of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command's (Kostrad) Second Division, will get 40 units of the MBTs and IFVs with the first delivery in October and the rest sent in batches until 2015.

"All in all, we will receive 105 Leopard 2 MBTs and 50 Marder IFVs. They will be deployed at Kostrad's First and Second Divisions," Purnomo said after visiting the battalion. "There is also a discourse to deploy them in border areas."

Indonesian military to have Apache combat helicopters

Antara News - January 24, 2014

Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – The Indonesian army will be strengthened with 8 units of AH-64 Apache AH-64 combat helicopter, Army Chief of Staff General Budiman said.

The helicopters would be delivered by phases starting next year until 2017, Budiman said here on Thursday. The Boeing-made helicopters will be piloted by army fliers, he said, adding the army will prepare a number of bases for the helicopters.

One of the bases would be located in Berau, the northern most district of East Kalimantan, he said. Various other types of war planes including Agusta helicopters would be based in Berau.

Budiman said Indonesia will buy the latest variant of Apache helicopter, so far used only by the United States and Singapore. The eight units complete with weapons will cost US$600 million including for the training of pilots and land crews.

Taiwan, India, Qatar, South Korea and Japan have also placed orders for AH-64E. New Delhi even forced Boeing, the manufacturer, to transfer the technology by producing part of the components in India. The main weapon of Apache AH-64 is guided missile AGM-114 Hellfire, which is called tank- killer, a nickname it has won in various battle fields.

An Apache AH-64 helicopter carries 16 units of Hellfire guided missile placed in four launchers in its wings with a firing range of 12 kilometers.

In air defense the helicopter is equipped with AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-92 Stinger. The helicopter could also carry anti radiation AGM-122 to destroy enemys radar installations.

Jakarta is seeking to modernize the countrys military equipment to strengthen its defense over its far-flung archipelago.

The country is set to buy a number of units of Russian Kilo Class submarines, which have guided missiles with a long firing range. The type of Kilo Class submarine named Kiloklav could hit a target as far as 400 kilometers away from sub-surface to surface.

Earlier the Navy chief of staff Admiral Marsetio said a navy technical team would be sent to Russia to study a submarine offer from that country.

Indonesia will also acquire three units of submarine from South Korea to add to the two units the navy already has. One of the two units is the 209 class type from Germany and the other one was from South Korea with almost the same type as the one from Germany.

"Indonesia still need more units of submarine to strengthen our navy and protect the countrys sovereignty from the sea," Marsetio said.

He said seas make up two third of the countrys territory, therefore, ideally the country would need at least 12 units of submarine. "If Indonesia is to buy the Russian submarines, the country would be the first in Asia to have kilo class submarines," he said.

The Indonesian military (TNI) has also ordered a number of Leopard tanks which are considered among the best in the world.

From France and Britain, Indonesia plans to import equipment for air defense system. TNI chief Gen. Moeldoko said TNI also needed Sukhoi 35, the latest series of Russian Sukhoi jet fighter.

Saudi Arabia, Indonesia ink defense cooperation agreement

Jakarta Post - January 24, 2014

Novan Iman Santosa, Jakarta – Saudi Arabia and Indonesia on Thursday signed the first defense cooperation agreement (DCA) covering training and education, counter-terrorism efforts and the defense industry.

The DCA was signed by Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Sultan Abdul Aziz Al Saud and his host Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at the Defense Ministry.

Sjafrie told reporters after the signing that the DCA was the first signed since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1950. It is also the first that Indonesia has signed with a Middle Eastern country. "This is the first time a Saudi deputy defense minister has visited Indonesia," he said.

He said both countries agreed that terrorism affected nations across the globe. The deputy defense ministers also agreed that terrorism should not be linked to any ideology, in particular to Islam. "No religion in the world teaches violence," Sjafrie said.

Recent terrorist incidents have painted a bad picture of Islam. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries damaged by terrorism threats, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said in a press release.

Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have suffered from numerous attacks linked to certain Islamist groups. Both countries agreed to cooperate in capacity building to increase professionalism by opening opportunities for joint exercises.

"We have agreed to fight terrorism by holding joint exercises [that involve] members of both countries' special forces," said Sjafrie. When asked whether Indonesian commandoes will also learn desert military tactics, Sjafrie said it might not go that far.

Sjafrie presented Salman with an SS2-V1 assault rifle made by state-owned arms maker PT Pindad before the guest visited the headquarters of the Army's Special Force s(Kopassus) in Cijantung, East Jakarta, and watched Kopassus operatives showcasing their skills.

Salman, who served at the Royal Saudi Air Defense, shot a submachine gun and a hand gun at the Kopassus shooting range. Salman also observed a number of Anoa armored personnel carriers (APC) and a Komodo tactical vehicle produced by PT Pindad in Bandung.

Sjafrie said that Indonesia had offered a joint investment, focusing on the Anoa platform, which may suit Saudi needs in the defense industry. "We, for example, would install an air-conditioning unit in the Anoa because it is very hot there, reaching as high as 48 Celsius. "We have done this for Anoa APCs deployed in Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia will be a lot hotter."

Before returning home via Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta, Salman observed two helicopters and two transportation airplanes, which are assembled and produced by state-owned PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI).

Sjafrie said that the Saudi side had requested detailed specifications of weapon systems made by Indonesia to be assessed and matched with the kingdom's needs and geographical conditions.

"The assessment is at the observation phase. Today's visit was an introduction to the Indonesian defense industry's capability," he said. "We hope there will be follow up meetings in the future."

In other sectors, Saudi Arabia will donate an Arabic language laboratory to the Indonesian Peace and Security Center in Sentul, West Java. "The language lab will be used to train Indonesian soldiers who will be deployed in Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping mission. "They will also build a mosque," Sjafrie said.

Mining & energy

Indonesia defies Freeport on export tax

Jakarta Post - January 30, 2014

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – The Indonesian government said on Thursday that it would stick to its guns on the export tax for unprocessed ores, defying stern opposition and lobbying attempts from US-based mining giants Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp.

Finance Minister Chatib Basri said on Thursday that the export tax scheme was necessary to support the country's value-added industry, a statement that came a day after Freeport CEO Richard C. Adkerson paid a visit to the minister's office, holding a closed-door meeting to discuss the issue.

"This is a fiscal instrument to compel companies to build smelters – it isn't a policy for revenue collection," the minister said at an economics seminar in Jakarta.

In implementing the new Mining Law, the government will effectively ban the export of raw ores such as bauxite and nickel, among others, beginning Jan. 12, in its efforts to curb the country's dependency on raw resources by pushing miners to process the ores domestically and to export more value- added goods.

The government already made an exemption for copper ores, allowing Freeport and Newmont, which control 97 percent of total domestic copper production, to continue exporting them.

However, the reform-minded Chatib recently introduced an export tax of 20 percent for companies that process ores below their purity level, with the tax set higher at 25 percent for copper concentrates, in a policy that is seen as specifically targeting Freeport and Newmont.

The new export tax took Freeport by surprise, Adkerson said during a conference call with analysts, as quoted by Bloomberg.

However, Chatib explained that the government needed to apply a carrot-and-stick approach to ensure that the new Mining Law would be imposed consistently.

"Our experience over the last few years shows that there has been no pressure, no punishment, for mining firms to build smelters. We can not afford to repeat the same mistakes again."

Economy & investment

Indonesia bids to woo carmakers away from Thailand

Straits Times/ANN - January 31, 2014

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – Honda opened its second car manufacturing factory in Indonesia this month, and Datsun is set to follow suit in April.

Toyota is also looking at expanding production in Indonesia, officials say, as ongoing political uncertainty in Thailand sees businesses and investors look elsewhere in the region.

Indonesian officials have made no secret that they want to compete with Thailand for a large slice of the region's vehicle production.

Recent developments in Thailand could boost their efforts to woo big names to invest more in Southeast Asia's largest economy, where car ownership remains relatively low but is set to rise in the coming decade.

"We're improving our physical infrastructure, and have had good economic growth and political stability," said Budi Darmadi, director-general for high-technology priority industries, at Indonesia's industry ministry.

"Consumer spending power is increasing, and there is a more skilled labour force. All this has attracted investors," he told The Straits Times.

He said Indonesia is ready to help accommodate new investments, citing recent tax incentives, the growth of supporting car component industries and a second terminal dedicated to handling vehicle cargo in North Jakarta that will help exports, slated for operations later this year.

This week, Bloomberg news agency reported that foreign investors had withdrawn some US$3 billion from Thai stocks since protests began three months ago, and put $190 million into Indonesian shares this year.

Malaysia, too, has moved to compete with Thailand for investments in the car industry. Two weeks ago, it eased restrictions on foreign carmakers by allowing all hybrid and electric passenger vehicles to be produced in the country.

Although Indonesia goes to the polls this year, investment coordinating board chief Mahendra Siregar is confident it will meet its target of 311 trillion rupiah ($25 billion) in foreign direct investment, up from 270 trillion rupiah last year.

"The trust in the maturity of politics and democracy in Indonesia is far greater than that in other countries. Elections are considered a positive factor here," he said last week.

Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat recently said two big-name Japanese carmakers had spoken to him about their plans to shift some production to Indonesia because of concerns in Thailand, but he declined to reveal more.

Indonesia produced over 1.1 million cars, mainly for the local market, in the first 11 months of last year, well behind Thailand's 2.3 million. The ratio of people to cars in Indonesia remains low at 20:1, well below its neighbours. Singapore's is 9:1 and Thailand's 5:1.

But demand is projected to grow, with more than 1.3 million cars expected to be sold this year, and over 2 million by 2018, aided by backing for green cars like the Toyota Agya and Daihatsu Ayla. This makes moving facilities here more enticing, in spite of ongoing concerns about infrastructure shortcomings.

Budi said Daihatsu, Suzuki and Toyota recently expanded their operations, and BMW and Mercedes-Benz are expanding their assembly plants.

Toyota is the market leader, with over 434,000 cars sold last year, followed by Daihatsu and Suzuki with 185,000 and 164,000 units respectively, according to association of Indonesian carmakers, Gaikindo.

But while Toyota mentioned a review of its expansion plans in Thailand last week, Bob Azam, Toyota Indonesia's general manager for external affairs, told The Straits Times no concrete plans of relocation from Thailand to Indonesia have been drawn up.

Christopher Foss of Car Keys Indonesia, which advises car companies, said Indonesia's dilapidated infrastructure, unpredictable minimum wage hikes and lingering questions about quality will see carmakers tread carefully about doing more here, for now.

But he said the long-term investment outlook is overwhelmingly positive, once demographics are factored in.

Indonesia's population will surpass 300 million in 2035, the government said on Wednesday. Foss said: "The massive base of potential consumers who are just starting to achieve middle-class status simply cannot be ignored."

Indonesia warned of financial contagion

Jakarta Post - January 30, 2014

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – Amid the recent financial turmoil in Turkey and other emerging economies, Indonesia's biggest fund managers carry a warning: Watch out for domino effects.

Though predicting increases in Indonesian equities this year as elections boosted spending, UK-based Schroders and Canada-based Manulife Asset Management warned that the recent sell-off among portfolio investors in Argentina and Turkey might also hurt Indonesia, as they were all seen in the same asset class of emerging economies among investors.

The local units of the financial services giants are the two biggest fund managers here, with managed assets worth Rp 90 trillion (US$7.4 billion) combined.

"Would there be any spillover into other emerging markets? Yes, there would. What happens in Turkey may lead to spillovers in South Africa, Indonesia, India – almost all emerging economies will feel the impact," Michael T. Tjoajadi, the chief executive officer of Schroder Investment Management Indonesia, said on Wednesday.

In response to recent capital outflows and a weakening currency, Turkey's central bank held an emergency late-night meeting on Tuesday that concluded with drastic interest rate hikes, with its one-week repo rate raised to 10 percent from 4.5 percent.

Recently, global fund managers also dumped their assets placed in Argentina, after seeing the country grapple with alarming levels of inflation and currency depreciation, both of which had already hit double digits, raising the specter of a potential default in South America's third-largest economy.

"In Argentina, people don't think the problem is over. There may be some surprises, with further spillovers [to Indonesia] still expected," said Michael, who leads the biggest fund management firm in Indonesia that oversees $4.1 billion worth of assets.

The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) declined the most in five months on Monday before rebounding 1.7 percent to close at 4,417.35 on Wednesday, on the back of improving global sentiment.

Indonesia's bonds market recently also saw sell-off pressure among foreign investors, with the yield of the government's 10-year bonds touching its three-year high of 9.18 percent before rallying to touch 8.83 percent on Tuesday.

Analysts say the threats of contagion from overseas financial crises to Indonesia will become more serious because of the widespread use of a passive investment scheme called exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the popularity of which has gained traction in the past few years.

ETFs classify all emerging countries into one basket of investment asset class, instead of sorting countries based on their risks. This means that a sell-off in one country might lead to similar scenarios in others, eventually leading to broad-based outflows in emerging economies.

"An adjustment in one country in ETFs could affect others. So, if Indonesia is included in the adjustment, then it may face sell-off pressure as well," warned Alvin Pattisahusiwa, the chief investment officer with Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia, which manages $3.3 billion worth of assets.

However, Alvin argued that contagion effects from offshore developments might be a threat in the short-run, as investors would notice that Indonesia still had strong economic fundamentals compared to its peers in other emerging markets.

"It's because the sell-off is driven by sentiment only. You have to differentiate sentiment from the fundamentals," he said on Wednesday.

Bank Indonesia (BI) spokesperson Peter Jacobs said the country should be better prepared against capital outflows this year due to improving macro- economic indicators, but added that the central bank "would remain watchful over potential contagion effects" from the latest troubles engulfing emerging market economies.

Next government told to focus more on infrastructure

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2014

Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has proposed a set of recommendations for the next government, which is expected to take office in October, to deal with the current economic slowdown.

"The new government must pay attention to several key issues that will hugely affect business players," said Kadin chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto in a press conference on Monday.

He said the new government should shift fuel subsidy spending to infrastructure development to facilitate the distribution of goods and reduce logistics-related costs.

In Indonesia, a businessperson has to spend around US$2,225 on a 12-meter container delivery with an average lead-time of 5.4 days, while according to World Bank data, in other countries one generally only spends $341 and has an average lead-time of only 2.8 days on a similar delivery.

Suryo said the next government could, for example, use the approximate Rp 300 trillion ($24.6 billion) the current government spent on fuel subsidies to construct railways for transporting logistics without hassle.

"Kadin suggests that the new government build a new railway along southern coast of Java, coupled with the construction of a railway connecting Java and Sumatra islands," Suryo said, adding that the government needed to prepare around $150 billion for such multiyear projects.

The construction of a new railway along the south Java coast would potentially create new cities in the areas, he said.

He also highlighted another problem that business players faced as Bank Indonesia (BI) had raised its key rate by 1.75 basis points to 7.5 percent since June last year to tighten liquidity and maintain the stability of the rupiah.

"With the high interest rate, many business players [particularly those in non-oil and gas sectors] choose to delay their expansion plans," Suryo said, adding that it was estimated that the sector slumped 5.8 percent last year. The high interest rate had also resulted in a higher inflation rate, he added.

The inflation rate increased from only 1.03 percent when the interest rate was less than 6 percent in January last year to more than 8.3 percent – the highest in Southeast Asia – when the interest rate hit 7.5 percent in December last year, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data shows.

University of Indonesia economist Lana Soelistianingsih said, however, that the current government had made the right move in raising the interest rate, taking into account external pressures.

"I expect that there will be no more interest rate hike during the first quarter of this year, but there will probably be a hike at year-end," she said, adding that the US would experience a higher inflation rate by early next year as its economy started to recover. (koi)

Kadin's recommendations for next government:

Shift fuel subsidies to infrastructure development
Develop of more railways and ports to help supply chain
Improve in marine industry supervision over illegal fishing
Supervision of the implementation of added-value policy
Empowerment of the services industry ahead of the ASEAN Economic community (AEC)
Boost agricultural production to reduce imports and achieve food security

Analysis & opinion

Megawati's swinging mood to shackle Jokowi's nomination

Jakarta Post - January 28, 2014

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – The seasonal floods engulfing many parts of the capital may be the last thing bogging down Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, 52, in his veiled attempt to secure the presidential nomination ticket from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The more pressing matter on his side is probably the unpredictable mood of PDI-P supreme leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, 67, who believes her crusade to reinject the nation's leadership with the Sukarno bloodline is a worthy fight.

While Jokowi has never publicly declared his aspirations for the top job, there have been numerous – and public – instances of his laying on the charm and proving his allegiance to Megawati to earn her blessing, while at the same time attempting to nip any resentment against him in the bud.

Probably out of frustration, Jokowi went to the extent of kissing Megawati's hand during the party's 41st anniversary celebration on Jan. 10. The act was his first ever public display of obsequiousness.

But the jury is out on whether such fawning is sufficient to win Megawati over, especially after she reaffirmed her previous pledge of withholding the naming of the party's presidential candidate until the April legislative election.

Even when faced with the obvious Jokowi-fever reflected in the results of numerous surveys, suggesting the party grab the bull by the horns and announce Jokowi's nomination, she continues to avoid the topic of the party's preferential candidate.

Megawati's decision to defy the call has fueled speculation about her desire to take a third shot at contesting the presidential race. She only served as president for three years, between 2001 and 2004, lost in 2004 and again in the 2009 election against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"If you try to gauge what's inside Megawati's mind, you should position yourself as a housewife, a very sensitive one," said one of Megawati's confidants.

"There's also this ego that she wants to show the world that she is a smart, popular and highly capable leader. Those party elites that look down on her only [...] provoke her to run for the presidency."

Her longing for the grandeur of the president seat, flush with its VVIP facilities and services, has also posed as a variable in her decision making. However, Megawati's bitter experience regarding loyalty may have consumed her so much that it will contribute immensely to her decision making. Her refusal to amend ties with Yudhoyono is a blatant example of how she was deeply hurt by an act of disloyalty.

In 2001, Yudhoyono, then Megawati's coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, assured her he would not run in the presidential election: He went on to contest and snatch the presidential seat from her in the 2004 election with the backing of his self-formed Democratic Party.

Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika and former Central Java governor Bibit Waluyo, to name a few, are recent additions to Megawati's list of disloyal followers. Both jumped ship to the Democratic Party in their bid to secure second gubernatorial terms.

Loyalty is undeniably everything for Megawati, and that, according to her buddies, seems to be lacking from Jokowi, who was not a PDI-P cadre until he was elected mayor for Surakarta, Central Java, in 2005.

Although Jokowi has boasted of his profound adhering to the teachings of Sukarno since he was a university student, the PDI-P was apparently his fourth preference. He first approached the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), then the National Mandate Party (PAN) and then the Democratic Party.

An incident that seems to perturb Megawati is a report on how Jokowi did not notify or seek permission from his Surakarta deputy mayor, FX Hadi "Rudy" Rudyatmo, when he decided to run as a Jakarta gubernatorial candidate in 2012.

Rudy, a senior PDI-P politician and among Megawati's confidants, is Jokowi's political teacher and patron. Failure to file notification or seek permission, known in Javanese as kulonuwun, is considered a big sin in Javanese culture, indicating disloyalty.

Megawati probably fears that Jokowi's potential disloyalty may harm the political future – and presidential potential – of her son Prananda Prabowo, who is in his 40s. Prananda, a businessman, is known to be media- shy and was not blessed with a silver tongue, unlike his half sister Puan Maharani who is far more sociable and has much more experience in managing the party.

Given the gloomy outlook for Jokowi's nomination, noise from the House of Representatives is revealing several scenarios prepared by Megawati for the party's presidency nomination.

Among the conjecture is that should PDI-P get more than 20 percent of the legislative vote, Megawati will have the confidence to run for the presidency with Jokowi as her running mate. If she wins, she would only serve one term and allow Jokowi to run with Prananda for the 2019 election.

A larger share of the vote for the PDI-P will also open the chances for the nomination of Jokowi as president in 2014 with Prananda, who has a penchant for the Javanese spiritual teachings known as Kejawen, as his running mate.

There is also speculation that Megawati will run with former vice president Jusuf Kalla, who would come not only with political funding but also the prospect of a coalition with the Golkar Party, of which Kalla used to be chairman.

Another idea making the rounds – and the preferable scenario, but one that would need Megawati to bow to public demand – is that Jokowi will be the presidential candidate with Kalla as his running mate.

The nomination for the ideal pair may not come very easily as Megawati's doubts of Jokowi has also been fueled by certain party elements, who fear that if Jokowi became the president, as those vying for "their" slice of project fees will find their paths obstructed. Recalcitrant cadres have already voiced concerns over the way Jokowi runs Jakarta as he refuses to comply with such demands.

[The writer is a managing editor at The Jakarta Post.]

Ruling on one voting day in 2019: Why the hold up?

Jakarta Post - January 25, 2014

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court took a bold and landmark stride on Thursday, announcing its ruling that Indonesia would hold the presidential election and legislative election concurrently starting in 2019. The ruling will nullify the current practice of holding the two elections on separate dates.

The court ruling was lauded by many, including the coalition of several experts who had filed the request for judicial review on Jan. 10, 2013, challenging Law No. 42/2008 on presidential elections, which stipulates the legislative and presidential polls be held at least three months apart.

United under the Coalition of Civil Society for Simultaneous Elections challenging the Presidential Election Law, the plaintiffs included political communication expert Effendi Gazali, anticorruption expert Saldi Isra, constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin, political analyst Hamdi Muluk and political activist Ray Rangkuti.

In their petition, the coalition said that by holding the elections simultaneously, the General Elections Commission (KPU) could prevent horse-trading and transactional politics. A single election day would also help improve voter turnout, the group argued.

The petition had initially received strong opposition, particularly from major political parties, which allegedly benefit from having the elections on separate dates as it provides them with room for horse-trading and transactional politics.

The court's ruling has apparently satisfied the petitioners' concern that the rampant vote-buying characteristic of past elections will no longer occur, since having concurrent elections will preclude politicians' and parties' opportunity of using the three-month interval to engage in such undemocratic practices.

The ruling, however, was not without controversy. Though it was allegedly decided back on March 26, 2013, many wondered why the ruling was only issued Thursday.

At the time it was decided, the Constitutional Court was led by Mahfud MD, with other justices including Achmad Sodiki, M. Akil Mochtar, Hamdan Zoelva, Muhammad Alim, Ahmad Fadlil Sumadi, Maria Farida Indrati, Harjono and Anwar Usman. Of the nine justices, only Maria Farida dissented to the ruling. The verdict was read by a different bench, now led by Chief Justice Hamdan Zoelva.

The ruling should have been released right after it was decided last year. The court's argument for delaying its implementation until 2019 – i.e. that "a simultaneous election in 2014 would create 'chaos and legal uncertainty'" – would have been out of proportion, as the General Elections Commission (KPU) would have had plenty of time to make the necessary preparations.

It remains unclear who determined the timing in this case. Either Mahfud or his successor, Akil, who is now facing prosecution for a number of corruption cases, should explain why the court waited so long to announce its ruling.

The delay was obviously not a simple administrative matter, as the implications of it are great. If concurrent legislative and presidential elections were to be held this year, there would be significant changes in the scenarios and games played in this year's vote.

Apart from the court's controversial delay in reading out the ruling, it also attached a clause explicitly pushing the implementation of the verdict to 2019, which runs counter to established court practice. The textbook is for the court to strictly stick to legal and constitutional considerations – and stay away from any political and technical considerations.

The coalition's petition was not the only judicial review filed against the 2008 law on presidential elections. Former law and human rights minister and chief patron of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) Yusril Ihza Mahendra filed a similar petition in 2009. But it was rejected as the court ruled that Yusril did not have the legal standing to file such a review.

On Dec. 13 last year, Yusril, who is now a PBB presidential candidate filed another petition challenging the law, specifically the stipulation that a party must gain 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives or 25 percent of national legislative votes in order to nominate a presidential candidate. The court only started reading his petition on Tuesday.

Thursday's ruling is unlikely to close the door on legal issues related to the legislative and presidential elections. There will likely now be a legal vacuum ahead of 2019, as all laws related to the general election will have to be reviewed to make sure they comply with the new ruling. There is still a long way to go. And it will surely not be an easy road.