A resolution to call upon the new President of Indonesia to commit to genuine media freedom in West Papua has gained historic cross-party support in New Zealand's parliament.

The resolution was put forward by the Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty. In her resolution, Ms Delahunty said genuine media freedom includes the right of local and international journalists to report on the political situation in Indonesia's Papua region without risk of imprisonment or harassment by the state.

This comes as a visiting West Papuan journalist Victor Mambor has appealled for New Zealand support for this and other fundamental democratic rights of Papuans to be recognised.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/251064/nz-parliament-urges-media-freedom-in-west-papua

NZ urged to not abandon West Papuans

Radio New Zealand International - July 31, 2014

A West Papuan activist says Australia and New Zealand must not abandon the indigenous people of her homeland.

Visiting New Zealand, Paula Makabori has met members of parliament pushing for the country to play a role in addressing human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region.

She says New Zealand's previous success in brokering an end to the Bougainville conflict shows the peace mediator role that it can play.

While Wellington and Canberra have been reluctant to interfere in Indonesia's affairs, Ms Makabori says they should encourage Jakarta towards recognising West Papuan self-determination rights.

"Politically, they cannot just abandon the rights of West Papuans. It is also stated in international conventions on civil and political rights. It is also protected by United Nations declarations that every nation has the right to be free."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/251092/nz-urged-to-not-abandon-west-papuans

Jokowi must make good on Papua promise, says activist

Radio New Zealand International - July 31, 2014

Indonesia's President-elect Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, has been urged to make good on a promise to allow Papua region to be opened up to foreign media.

Outside access to Papua and West Papua provinces remains restricted for foreign journalists as well as international humanitarian agencies and NGOs.

However, observers have noted expectations of a less authoritarian approach to Papua region's festering separatist issues under a Jokowi-led government.

The West Papuan activist Paula Makabori says it's also expected that Jokowi will open up outside access.

"As he promised during his Presidential election campaign in West Papua, he will let West Papua will be open for everyone to come. So I think for him to keep his promise to all international journalists who can come and see for themselves for themselves, the beautiful land, the beautiful people... who are crying for self-determination."

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/251111/jokowi-must-make-good-on-papua-promise,-says-activist

Violence rampant in Papua

Jakarta Post - July 31, 2014

Nethy Somba, Jayapura – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) called on local officials to speak out against the continuing violence in Papua.

"Regents and residents must renounce violence. Gun crime will prevail if they remain quiet. The community, police and the Indonesian Military [TNI] will end up as victims," Komnas HAM Papua chapter head Frits Ramandey said in Jayapura on Wednesday.

Frits' statement was in response to a shooting in Lanny Jaya, Pegunungan Papua, on Monday that left two police officers and a civilian dead.

He said regents, especially those in the mountainous regions, and the community must be firm and play their part in calling on armed groups to stop, as armed groups often used people as shields.

According to him, gun crime by armed civilian groups had occurred sporadically thus far, so officers should always be vigilant. "If officers are negligent in the line of duty there will be victims," said Frits as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said the armed groups were constantly on the move as they sought to control particular areas. Thus, security personnel must change their approach pattern.

Another shooting incident, in Lanny Jaya, should serve as a reference for security personnel, he said. "[In light of this] the pattern of approach must be reevaluated," he said.

Earlier shootings had been attributed to the Free Papua Movement (OPM), however, the police and the TNI have shied-away from using the term OPM and instead blame "armed civilian groups". Some analysts have blamed the shootings on police-TNI rivalry in Papua.

The death toll from gun crime in Papua is four in the month of July. Kallo, a public minivan driver plying Wamena and Mulia, was shot and killed by members of an armed group in Tingginambut, Puncak Jaya, on July 16, and Nasito, 40, a ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, was shot and killed by members of an armed group in Tiom, Lanny Jaya on July 17.

Monday's incident in Lanny Jaya occurred when eight police officers were traveling to Maki village to provide community counseling.

First Brig. Zulkifli was shot in the head and the car kept going and fell into a ravine. Four leapt from the car and sustained injuries. Second Brig. Prayoga Ginuni was found dead during evacuation and two others were found wounded. The assailants seized four police-issued firearms.

"The firearms were likely tossed out of the car when it fell into the ravine," said Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Pudjo in Jayapura on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in an isolated area that has no cell phone signal, so it took as much as 45 minutes for help to arrive from the Pirime police.

Zulkifli and Prayoga's bodies were evacuated to Jayapura and returned to their relatives, while the injured are being treated at Jayawijaya General Hospital in Wamena.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/31/violence-rampant-papua.html

Activist flees to Australia after 'abduction' attempt

Crikey.com - July 31, 2014

Sally Whyte – A West Papuan activist has fled to Australia in fear for her safety after giving testimony to an Australian tribunal into the 1998 Biak massacre by Indonesian forces.

West Papuan independence activist Tineke Rumkabu has fled to Australia, claiming that Indonesian forces attempted to abduct her earlier this month. Rumkabu is a survivor of the Biak massacre, when scores of West Papuans were murdered and tortured by Indonesian police and military officers in 1998.

Rumkabu says the abduction attempt was made after she participated in a remembrance service on the 16th anniversary of the massacre in Jayapura – The next day, she told Crikey, she was approached in the nearby town of Wamena by three cars, which she alleges held members of Indonesia's military. She says she was approached by two men, one of whom tried to pull her hands behind her back and punched her in the stomach. She says she picked up a large stone and threw it at her attackers. Although she missed, they retreated.

Rumkabu has fled her home and is now staying in Cairns with family, because she no longer feels safe in West Papua. She told Crikey through a translator, "They've been planning that for a long time. They didn't want someone to continue to spread out the issue every day for other people to be aware." She says she doesn't know if she will go back. "There's no future for me in West Papua."

In recent years Rumkabu has spoken out many times about the massacre, which has never been acknowledged by the Indonesian government. West Papuans in the town of Biak were slaughtered after raising the banned Morning Star flag – a symbol of their desire for independence from Indonesia. Indonesian forces reacted by attacking the group, with bodies of the dead dumped at sea.

A Citizens' Tribunal for the massacre was held at the University of Sydney last year on its 15th anniversary, where, among other witnesses, Rumkabu told how women were raped and tortured by Indonesian forces. "Then I saw a man [a soldier] showing me a little knife, the one that you use to shave, and he said 'We are going to use this to cut off your vagina, from above and below and from the left to the right.' A lit candle was penetrated inside me, they cut off my clitoris and they raped me," she said at the time.

The tribunal found the massacre was a co-ordinated attack on peacefully demonstrating protesters, and that the Indonesian government has attempted to "downplay the seriousness of the actions perpetrated by Indonesian government forces". The Hon John Dowd AO QC, one of the presiding jurists, toldCrikey Rumkabu's evidence "had enormous impact on the tribunal and on the audience". Professor Nick Cowdery, former New South Wales director of public prosecutions, was counsel assisting the tribunal and said "she was one of the most important witnesses that we called. She was central to the purposes of the enquiry."

Dowd said: "[Rumkabu] struck me as the most vulnerable of witnesses, and many people at the hearing were worried about her going back." Cowdery says although her testimony last year wasn't the first time she had spoken out publicly, it did make Rumkabu a more obvious target for Indonesian forces. "It unfortunately alerted the authorities that she wasn't going to lie down... That has proven to be the case, as a consequence we see what appears to be an attempted abduction or otherwise a serious assault."

This is not the first time that Rumkabu has been contacted by Indonesian forces. In the past few years she has been invited as part of a group to visit police stations in West Papua, purportedly so she can ask questions of the police and pray with the group, but she has not attended for fear of being "disappeared". In the decades in which West Papuans have been seeking independence from Indonesia, disappearances and arrests have been a common occurrence.

Source: http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/07/31/no-future-for-me-in-west-papua-activist-flees-to-australia-after-abduction-attempt/

Forum leaders urged to speak on West Papua

Radio New Zealand International - July 29, 2014

The Pacific Islands Forum leaders in Palau have been urged to discuss human rights violations in West Papua.

The Australian West Papua Association says the leaders need to make a public statement of concern in its official communique, just as the MSG leaders did at their meeting in Noumea last year.

The AWPA also called on the forum leaders to urge the new Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, to release all West Papuan political prisoners unconditionally as a sign of good faith to the West Papuan people.

The AWPA secretary, Joe Collins, says West Papua is the one territory in the Pacific where the deteriorating human rights situation could lead to instability in the region.

He says the forum can play an important role in helping to facilitate a dialogue between genuine representatives of the West Papuan leadership and the Indonesian Government.

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/250863/forum-leaders-urged-to-speak-on-west-papua

NZ ministers asked to meet with visiting West Papuan journalist

Pacific Media Centre - July 29, 2014

Auckland (Pacific Media Watch/Scoop/CBS/Radio Australia) – New Zealand police minister Anne Tolley and defence minister Dr Jonathan Coleman must meet with the first West Papuan journalist to visit New Zealand, says a spokesperson for West Papua Action Auckland.

Victor Mambor, 39, editor of the Jayapura-based newspaper and website Tabloid Jubi, and chairperson of West Papua's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is in New Zealand this week and visited the Pacific Media Centre yesterday. He will also address a seminar on "West Papua: The Pacific's secret shame" in Auckland at the weekend.

West Papua Action Auckland spokesperson Maire Leadbeater said: "New Zealand has for years provided military training to Indonesian officers and recently ran police training, as a pilot programme, in the territory. In 2011 an officer from the notorious Kopassus special forces attended a military training course here, despite the sad record of Kopassus murdering Papuan independence leaders."

Mambor told independent journalist Paul Bensemann earlier this year that New Zealand's police training of Indonesians was nothing more than "aid that kills". The programme is currently on hold.

Mambor has campaigned internationally for greater press freedom in West Papua, including early this year at the European Parliament. He has written about police raids on local media offices, "fake journalists" who work for the police and military, and the disappearances and deaths of Papuan activists.

His organisation AJI documented 20 threats or attacks against journalists in 2013.

The Australian West Papuan Association said today that the 45th Pacific Islands Forum meeting this week in the Republic of Palau must discuss the human rights situation in West Papua and make a public statement of concern regarding the human rights situation in the territory in its official communique as did the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders did in their official communique in Noumea in 2013.

The PIF must also urge the new Indonesian President to release all West Papuan political prisoners unconditionally as a sign of good faith to the West Papuan people.

Meanwhile, American CBS TV reports that a group of surfers who set out to film West Papuan's undiscovered surf spots have instead made a documentary that sheds light on genocide and an unethical mining corporation. The surfers were appalled by the human rights atrocities they encountered in West Papua and made the film Isolated.

Source: http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/region-nz-ministers-asked-meet-visiting-west-papuan-journalist-8878

Three soldiers injured in an attack in Papua

Jakarta Globe - July 28, 2014

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Three soldiers suffered from gunshot injuries on Monday morning following an attack against a military post in the Tingginambut area of Papua's Puncak Jaya district, alleged to have been lead by a separatist group.

The men were reportedly patrolling near the post when a group of more than three people attacked the post, leading to an exchange of fire which eventually forced the attackers back into a nearby forest.

The attack injured three soldiers, namely Second Sgt. Dedi, Chief Private Agus and Private Firman. Other oficers from the Mulia subdistrict have reportedly evacuated the soldiers to Jayapura for medical treatment.

Papua military spokesman Lt. Col. Rikas Hidayatullah refused to comment on the incident.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/three-soldiers-injured-attack-papua/

Ministers urged to meet West Papuan visitor

Voxy - July 27, 2014

Police Minister Anne Tolley and Defence Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman have a rare opportunity this week to gain first-hand knowledge about Indonesian police and military activities in West Papua.

West Papua is all but closed to international journalists and other independent observers so police and military atrocities don't make our headlines.

Mr Victor Mambor, 39, Editor of the Jayapura-based newspaper and website Tabloid Jubi, and Chairperson of West Papua's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is in New Zealand for the week and is thought to be the first West Papuan journalist to visit this country.

"Victor has sought short interviews with Ministers Tolley and Coleman and I urge them to meet him," West Papua Action Auckland Spokesperson Maire Leadbeater said today.

"New Zealand has for years provided military training to Indonesian officers and recently ran police training, as a pilot programme, in the territory. In 2011 an officer from the notorious Kopassus special forces attended a military training course here, despite the sad record of Kopassus murdering Papuan independence leaders.

"While Victor is in New Zealand, it is a rare opportunity for Cabinet Ministers to gain the perspective of an on-the-ground commentator. He is among the most influential journalists in West Papua and a passionate advocate for a free press. In recent years, he has campaigned internationally for greater press freedom, including early this year at the European Parliament."

Mr Mambor has written about police raids on local media offices, "fake journalists" who work for the police and military, and the disappearances and deaths of Papuan activists.

During his visit, Mr Mambor will be keynote speaker at a seminar about West Papua at Auckland University's law faculty on August 1 and 2. The programme for West Papua – the Pacific's Secret Shame will include Melbourne-based Papuan campaigner Paula Makabory, Auckland's Pacific Media Centre Director Professor David Robie and Social and Cultural Studies Senior Lecturer Dr Elizabeth Stanley of Victoria University, Wellington.

His visit has been assisted by a journalism grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/minsiters-urged-meet-west-papuan-visitor/5/197426

Lame duck SBY slips in Freeport deal

Jakarta Post - July 26, 2014

Raras Cahyafitri and Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – Less than three months before the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is due to leave office, it sealed a strategic deal on Friday with the local unit of US giant miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc., which ensured the company would continue to operate after its license expires in 2021.

The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PT Freeport Indonesia despite previous pledges from Yudhoyono to the contrary. He had said that should he be forced to do so he would meet the president-elect for consultation and approval.

Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general for minerals and coal R. Sukhyar and Freeport Indonesia president director Rozik Soetjipto signed the MoU, which will serve as the legal basis for the next government's amendment of the miner's contract of work (CoW).

"The MoU has been signed [...] the amendment of the CoW should be made six months after the signing," said Sukhyar.

Such a policy will eventually leave president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, scheduled to be sworn in on Oct. 20, with less room to reform the amendment, particularly when many politicians accused Freeport of exploiting resources without giving enough back to Indonesia.

Under the MoU, Freeport can continue its operations after its contract expires in 2021. A clause in the MoU states that if Freeport meets its commitments, "the government will not unreasonably withhold or delay the continuation of its operations", according to Sukhyar.

Operation continuity is Freeport's primary concern as it needs to ensure that it gets a return on its investment after pouring in billions of dollars to tap more copper and gold in its Grasberg mine, located in Mimika regency, Papua. The mine holds the world's biggest gold deposits.

Freeport, under the MoU, will also have hefty taxes eased when it exports semi-finished products once it agrees to provide US$115 million in surety bonds as part of its commitment to build a local smelter.

The company's export tax will be set at 7.5 percent, lower than the industry average of 20 or 25 percent in 2014 and 60 percent by 2016.

"Freeport agreed to comply with our regulation; it agreed to pay surety bonds, build a smelter etc,. Because it agreed, therefore, the export tax will be in line with the progress of its smelter development. The more the progress, the lower the export tax, which will be zero percent when the smelter development has reached a point of no return," Finance Minister Chatib Basri said.

Chatib added that the lower export duties would enable the company resumes exportation. This would improve the trade balance, and that the current- account deficit would decline and the rupiah would strengthen. Under the recommendation, Freeport is allowed to export 756,300 tons of copper concentrate in second half of the year, valued at $1.7 billion, according to Sukhyar.

The MoU, which is the first to be sealed in the list of giant miners currently negotiating their contract amendments, was signed ahead of the week-long Idul Fitri holiday and while public attention is distracted by the presidential election.

Freeport's Rozik played down concern and suspicion. "We have been doing this for two years and we need a deal so that we can move forward," he said.

The MoU is legally binding and will have legal consequences for the new government, legal expert Todung Mulya Lubis said. "A lame duck government usually cannot issue a policy that will bind the next government unless in an emergency situation. The decision should have been postponed as it raises suspicions," Todung said.

Jokowi said on Friday that Yudhoyono had not consulted him. "The Freeport contract will expire in 2021. The current administration should not have sealed the deal," Jokowi said.

Other key issues in the MoU

Freeport pays higher royalties for copper – 4 percent from 3.75 percent – and 3.5 percent for gold from 1 percent
Freeport to gradually sell a further 21 percent stake to the government within one year after the government revises its regulation on company divestment
Freeport's concession area will decrease to 122,00 hectares from 212,000 ha

[Sita W Dewi also contributed to this story.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/26/lame-duck-sby-slips-freeport-deal.html

Labour & migrant workers

Many workers yet to receive annual bonus

Jakarta Post - July 25, 2014

Jakarta – Days ahead of Idul Fitri, many factory workers have not received annual bonuses, locally known as tunjangan hari raya (THR).

The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry's 1994 regulation on THR stipulates that workers who have worked continuously for three months or more with a company deserve a one-month salary bonus in observance of the religious holiday.

For Idul Fitri, the regulation requires employers to give the compulsary bonus at least one week before the holiday.

Joint Indonesian Workers Secretariat (Sekber Buruh Indonesia) coordinator John Silaban said many of the secretariat's Muslim members in Jakarta had not received bonuses.

"There are about 7,000 Muslims in our secretariat that have not received annual bonuses," John told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

John said the 7,000 workers worked for 14 different companies. "We contacted the 14 companies. Initially, they were not planning on giving the workers any bonuses because the workers were not permanent employees," he said.

John said that although the workers were not permanent employees, they still had their rights as regulated in the 1994 regulation. "We've reported the 14 companies to the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry. The ministry has reprimanded the companies and hopefully they will give the bonus soon," he said.

Meanwhile, the director general for labor inspection at the ministry, Muchtar Luthfi, said the ministry had received dozens of reports from employees in Greater Jakarta complaining about THR.

"According to the reports we've received, 25 companies have not paid THR. We reprimanded them and gave them until Aug. 8 to pay the bonuses," he told reporters in Senayan, South Jakarta on Wednesday. Muchtar said the ministry would impose sanctions on companies who failed to pay THR before Aug. 8. "We will take legal action," he said.

Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) secretary-general Suryadi Sasmita said firms must pay THR even to outsourced employees.

"The bonus must be paid to all Muslim employees. Employees working for more than a year have a right to receive a bonus of one-month's salary. Those under a year receive bonuses proportionally," Suryadi said on Thursday. (dwa)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/25/many-workers-yet-receive-annual-bonus.html

State-owned firms yet to pay Idul Fitri bonuses to outsourced workers

Jakarta Post - July 24, 2014

Jakarta – Hundreds of outsourced employees from a number of state-owned companies have yet to receive their Idul Fitri bonuses.

State-Owned Companies Workers Movement (Geber BUMN) coordinator Ari Sigit said the companies included pharmaceutical manufacturer PT Kimia Farma, electricity provider PT PLN and gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN).

"There are 843 outsourced employees at PLN who have not received their bonuses. They are divided between several branches, namely Jakarta, Bekasi, Cianjur, West Nusa Tenggara [NTB], Yogyakarta and Semarang," he said in Jakarta on Thursday as quoted by kontan.co.id.

Fahmi, an outsourced worker who has worked for PGN for the past eight years, said he had been fighting for his rights, but added that he had not even received a response from the company.

Separately, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, a member on House of Representatives Commission IX overseeing manpower,urged the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to immediately impose sanctions against the firms.

"The government needs to implement a tight monitoring system because a lot of companies fail to pay Idul Fitri bonuses. Companies always make the excuse not to pay bonuses to outsourced staff because they are not permanent workers," Rieke said. (nfo)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/24/state-owned-firms-yet-pay-idul-fitri-bonuses-outsourced-workers.html

Political parties & elections

Jokowi reaches out to Prabowo's coalition partners

Jakarta Globe - July 30, 2014

Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – President-elect Joko Widodo extended a plea on Tuesday to the political parties under Prabowo Subianto's coalition to part ways with the defeated presidential candidate and join the government.

"I open the opportunity for the... political parties [in the Merah Putih coalition] to join Indonesia's government," Joko said at his office in Central Jakarta.

The parties in the Merah Putih coalition include the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Joko was confirmed Indonesia's next president by the country's election authority on July 22, but he faces a divided legislature if the arrangement remains as it is today. Parties loyal to Prabowo Subianto hold 63 percent of the House.

The parties supporting Joko are his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Democratic (Nasdem) Party, People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and National Awakening Party (PKB). They hold the remaining 37 percent.

Joko emphasized, however, that there would be no trading of support for cabinet positions. "We need a strong parliament, but without conditions," he said. "There will be no transactions."

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jokowi-reaches-prabowos-coalition-partners/

In Jokowi's unity bid, an eye on house seats

Jakarta Globe - July 30, 2014

Jakarta – Indonesian President-elect Joko Widodo has reiterated his offer to parties supporting his rival, Prabowo Subianto, to join his new government – a move that has prompted worry and praise among analysts.

Joko previously indicated that he was amenable to the rival parties joining his cause, following increasing signs of an impending breakup of the so- called Red-and-White coalition after the July 9 election.

On Tuesday, however, the Jakarta governor made it all the more clear that he would seriously welcome extra support from the other side, citing the composition in the next House of Representatives – where Joko's coalition will have just 37 percent of seats. Prabowo's bloc, meanwhile, will control 63 percent of House seats – if it manages to stay intact.

"I'm opening an opportunity for [rival] parties to join in the new government," Joko said in Jakarta on Tuesday. "If they join in and [we can] form a strong bloc in the House, government programs will run smoothly."

Joko said last week that at least three parties from Prabowo's side had expressed interest in crossing over to his side as soon as he was declared the winner of the presidential election on July 22, with 53 percent of votes, or nearly 71 million ballots.

Joko declined to name the three parties, but reiterated on Tuesday that there would be no horse-trading in the appointment of cabinet minister. Joko and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla, have long stressed that this is a prerequisite for any party joining his camp.

"There should be no conditions, no transactions for any positions or any jobs," Joko said on Tuesday. "We've promised none of those to the original members [of our coalition], so why would we make that promise to those who come in later?"

But observers warn that despite the claim, it will be difficult for Joko to form his cabinet on a purely professional basis.

In fact, around one-third of the 102 names suggested to fill 34 ministerial posts by the Jokowi Center, a team Joko formed to gather public input for his cabinet, are politicians, mostly from Joko's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), though many of them also have a professional background.

'Healthy' House

Aleksius Jemadu, the dean of the School of Social and Political Studies at Pelita Harapan University, said Joko needed to expand his current coalition to ensure that key government policies will not stall at the House.

"They need to reach out to the other side in order to have [the majority] strength in the House, so it's understandable. Major government policies do need the House's support," he said.

He warned, though, that a coalition that was too big, like President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's six-party bloc that controls 76 percent of House seats, would be counterproductive.

"That will make the House less critical of the government and pave the way for transactional politics that may not always benefit the people," Aleksius said.

He added that Joko's attempts to reach out to former foes should be made purely in the spirit of national reconciliation, to ease tensions and hostilities following the closest and most bitterly fought election in Indonesian history.

"However, if it's meant to quash criticism and opposition, that won't make for good democratic practice, because power must always be controlled; the government must always be careful with its policies for the people. And a 'hostile' opposition, which is able to provide real challenges to the government, will make a good control system," Aleksius said.

Djayadi Hanan, the research director of polling institute Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, said it wouldn't be difficult for Joko to form a coalition with a majority of House seats, with several parties in Prabowo's camp appearing ready to jump ship at any moment.

Seeking an additional 13 percent of House seats, Joko is spoiled for choice, Djayadi said, citing a slew of politicians from four parties – the Golkar Party, the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP) – who have indicated their willingness to abandon Prabowo.

The need to save face by the parties that have publicly pledged their allegiance to Prabowo and even signed up to a "permanent coalition" may not allow for any of the parties to officially embrace Joko just yet, but that's expected to change as soon as Aug. 22, when the Constitutional Court rules on the legal challenge against the election results brought by Prabowo, Djayadi said.

"Only Gerindra [Prabowo's Great Indonesia Movement Party] and the PKS [the Prosperous Justice Party] are sticking to the bloc," he said. "They're the most disappointed members of that coalition."

Public resistance?

Even if Joko manages to poach political support away from Prabowo, the question still remains how the 62.6 million people who voted for the losing candidate will take to the prospect of Joko as president, given how polarizing the campaign, balloting and post-election periods were.

Many of Prabowo's staunchest supporters remain deeply dissatisfied with the official result from the General Elections Commission (KPU) and have sided with Prabowo's accusations against it of "massive, structured and systematic" electoral fraud favoring Joko.

A smear campaign painting Joko as having an anti-Islamic agenda also continues to reverberate in deeply conservative Muslim communities, with some even attributing his win to foreign intervention as part of an Islamophobic conspiracy, despite no evidence whatsoever for that.

Djayadi said there was no way for Joko to end these rumors and people's doubts on him but through showing people his abilities in leading the country.

"There's no need for his PR team to work on improving his image. He can prove those accusations wrong by working, by showing people how he's forming his cabinet, with his programs, and by communicating with the people," Djayadi said.

He added the rumors would die down, as in the case with Yudhoyono, who was also accused of being a foreign agent in the 2004 and 2009 elections.

"Slowly, as [Yudhoyono] started working, those accusations were found to be unproven," Djayadi said. "Although admittedly, this year's presidential election has been a harsher competition, with only two candidates running for the presidency."

Aleksius, though, said Joko needed to pay attention to building good political communications, including with grassroots communities, to ensure public support of key government policies.

"For example, if the new government wants to raise the price of subsidized fuel, its PR team must be able to explain properly to the public why it's a necessary step, i.e. because fuel subsidies have caused budget deficits, and so on," Aleksius said.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jokowis-unity-bid-eye-house-seats/

More prominent PPP, Dems figures jump ship

Jakarta Post - July 28, 2014

Jakarta – The victory of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has prompted more prominent members of the United Development Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party to join his team of supporters.

Senior PPP politician and former vice president Hamzah Haz, for example, announced that he had supported Jokowi from the very beginning, despite the PPP's decision to back Prabowo Subianto.

"I am still hoping that my party will finally listen to the aspirations of its constituents, even though I am not involved in the structural part of the party anymore," he said after attending an Idul Fitri open house at PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri's residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

Hamzah acknowledged that it was an undisputed fact that the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla ticket was more popular than rival candidate pair Prabowo-Hatta Rajasa in most PPP strongholds.

On the same occasion on Monday, Hayono Isman, member of the Democratic Party advisory council, said his party would consider the best option, despite agreeing to form a permanent coalition with the Prabowo-Hatta ticket.

According to Hayono, his party was basically neutral and its members were free to support whoever they wished. However, he said it would be best the if the Democratic Party acknowledged that Jokowi had won the presidential election.

"The Democratic Party is a party that upholds the rules of democracy. So, we will always support whoever won the election legitimately and we will not hamper the president's efforts to build this country," he said.

Hayono said further that the Democratic Party would wait for the final decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) on Aug. 21 regarding the appeal filed by the Prabowo-Hatta ticket against the election results before making any decision on its stance. (gda/dic)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/28/more-prominent-ppp-dems-figures-jump-ship.html

Voter turnout fails to meet expectations

Jakarta Post - July 25, 2014

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – With this year's presidential election featuring two presidential candidates with contrasting styles, many predicted voter turnout would reach a record high.

But data from the final vote count provided by the General Elections Commission (KPU) showed that voter turnout failed to reach 70 percent, lower than the 75 percent voter turnout in the April 9 legislative election.

Political analyst Ramlan Surbakti of Airlangga University (Unair) said on Thursday that the drop in voter turnout was down to the short presidential campaign period. "Campaigning for the legislative election was much longer," said Ramlan, a former KPU deputy chairman.

Ramlan said the legislative campaign was more intense, with 100,000s of participants vying for seats in the House of Representatives, Provincial Legislative Councils (DPRD I) and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD). "They approached eligible voters door to door for almost a year," he said.

However, the presidential election featured a campaign period that lasted for only a month.

Ramlan said many voters who cast their ballots in the legislative election did away with the presidential election. He said those who chose to abstain in the presidential election were those who lived in rural areas and had no access to mass media.

He said these types of voters may have cast their ballots in the legislative election due to vote buying, which was more rampant than in the presidential election.

KPU chairman Husni Kamil Manik acknowledged that this year's presidential election saw less rural voters casting their ballots. "If we break down the turnover rate based on the regions, we see a higher number in cities, while in rural areas, the number is relatively low," he said.

KPU commissioner Sigit Pamungkas also attributed the lower-than-expected voter turnout to presidential campaign teams' inability to mobilize rural voters and get them to the polling stations.

"Most Indonesian voters live in rural areas. As they live in villages and given the limited capability of the presidential tickets, we saw a drop in voter turnout," he said.

Elections and Democracy Watchdog (Perludem) executive director Titi Anggraini said the presidential election could be seen as urban-centered election. He said people expected voter turnout to be high because of the surge in conversations on social media.

"Such conversations were perceived to represent the reality of the whole country, while in fact, most voters live in rural areas [with limited access to social media]," she said on Thursday.

Titi said the fact that there were only two tickets also meant that not all political aspirations could be accommodated. "Some voters may have thought their aspirations were not represented by the two tickets, so they opted not to vote," she said.

Titi also said smear campaigns had dissuaded people from voting. "Negative campaigns may have also caused people to feel fed up with the election," he said.

It was also unfortunate that the election day came in the middle of Ramadhan and when the soccer World Cup in Brazil reached its final match. "Some regions that saw a drop in voter turnout were mostly religious, but on election day people also probably just woke up late," she said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/25/voter-turnout-fails-meet-expectations.html

Prabowo allegations of hackers stealing votes completely unfounded: Police

Jakarta Globe - July 25, 2014

Josua Gantan & Adelia Anjani Putri, Jakarta – The campaign team of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto arrived outside Indonesia's Constitutional Court on Friday with a 200-strong army of lawyers in tow in a last-ditch bid to nullify the election result.

Indonesia voted on July 9 to elect a new president to replace Susilo Bambang Yuhoyono, who is reaching the end of his two-term limit. Despite achieving an extraordinary swing from Joko Widodo in a matter of months – as much as 30 percentage points by some estimates – Joko scraped through to win the tensely fought ballot by 53.15 percent to 46.85 percent.

Prabowo refused to admit defeat on July 22, the date the result was announced by the General Elections Commission (KPU). Since then he has claimed "massive" vote rigging robbed him of the presidency.

He has reported one division of the KPU to the police – in North Jakarta – and said that a garrison of foreign hackers from South Korea found a backdoor into the KPU's website and switched ballots to show people voting for Joko Widodo erroneously.

Prabowo's brother and wealthy backer Hashim Djojohadikusumo indicated on Wednesday that he believed the hacking arrests were election related. "I've been told that the 37 hackers – you've heard about the 37 hackers, yes – I've been told that the 37 hackers admitted to the police that they added... votes to Jokowi," Hashim said.

Accusations of foreign intervention in the election has been a theme in Prabowo's stump speeches – but the National Police told the Jakarta Globe that the arrests of the hackers were related to financial scams and that there was not a shred of evidence of any electioneering from abroad.

"It has nothing to do with the election," National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Omar said. "The arrest was about online crimes carried out in Indonesia but targeting people in China. We arrested them based on a report filed in China. All of them have already been deported. "We did not arrest nor detained any election-related hackers," he said.

While the KPU insisted that it was impossible to electronically manipulate the count, the head of the Indonesian association of information technology academics (FAIT) emphasized that the Prabowo camp's accusations had no basis in fact.

"It is impossible hackers can manipulate the vote-count tally because the recapitulation was conducted manually and, of course, has nothing to do with hacking," FAIT chairman Hotland Sitorus said on Friday.

The accusation of South Korean involvement in some grand plan to rig Indonesia's presidential election brought a rare intervention from Seoul. "The South Korean embassy strongly denies any allegation of the country's involvement in the case. For further explanation please check with the National Police's detective unit," the embassy said in a press release on Wednesday.

Anies Baswedan, the campaign spokesman of President-elect Joko Widodo, said he continued to have faith in the integrity of the KPU. "We believe in the performance of the KPU and the millions of people involved during the vote-counting process of the presidential election," Anies told the Globe. "The Jokowi-JK team believes in the KPU's credibility."

The Prabowo campaign, by contrast, believes the KPU is corrupt. "I was told that we have lost 4.4 million votes in East Java mysteriously," Hashim said on Wednesday.

"And I've been told that 1.9 million votes mysteriously were added to Jokowi. So we want to find out. Just give us time. Just give us time within our rights – we have the right to a revote. Why the rush? We have plenty of time."

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/prabowo-allegations-foreign-hackers-stealing-votes-completely-without-foundation-police/

Prabowo files challenge to election result at Constitutional Court

Reuters - July 25, 2014

Jakarta – The ex-general who lost Indonesia's presidential election to Jakarta governor Joko Widodo mounted a legal challenge to the result on Friday, alleging widespread electoral fraud and irregularities in vote counting.

Prabowo Subianto claims that massive fraud tipped the scales in Joko's favor, but his challenge is directed at the elections commission, in part for failing to investigate all allegations of cheating, according to a spokesman.

"We are now taking the legal path, the constitutional path," Prabowo told hundreds of supporters on the street outside the court. "We have almost one million documents and 52,000 witnesses."

Prabowo's running mate Hatta Rajasa also made a similar statement, state- run Antara news agency reported, stressing that the Red and White coalition wanted the fight to be carried out in a peaceful manner, quietly, and full of dignity according to the constitution and law.

"God willing, justice will be upheld by the Constitutional Court. Therefore, let's give it up to the lawyer team while praying for the harmony of the nation... and move forward," Hatta was quoted as saying.

Prabowo and Hatta were accompanied by Aburizal Bakrie and some high-ranking officials of their coalition parties including Idrus Marham, Akbar Tandjung, Tantowi Yahya, Hidayat Nur Wahid, Fadli Zon, Ahmad Muzani, Ahmad Yani and many others, according to Antara.

Prabowo has refused to concede defeat despite the elections commission's declaration Tuesday that Widodo won the presidency with 53.15 percent of the vote in the world's third-biggest democracy.

"We will continue our struggle to save the republic of Indonesia. We aim for real democracy, we want justice, and we're willing to put everything on stake for the sake of justice. Now we continue our struggle through the legal way, the constitutional way," Prabowo told hundreds of his supporters, as quoted by Antara. The news agency said he spoke from his car, which was parked outside the court.

He is seeking a repeal of the commission's results and declaration of Joko as president, Prabowo's coalition spokesman Tantowi Yahya told local television.

The former general, who has admitted to ordering the abduction of activists before the Suharto dictatorship fell in 1998, angrily announced his withdrawal from the election on Tuesday, only to say on Wednesday that he would file an appeal.

Both candidates claimed victory on the election day, leaving Indonesians waiting two weeks for the official vote count to confirm a winner. The challenge means an even longer drawn-out process, with court officials saying the decision will be delivered by Aug. 21. That decision cannot be appealed.

Free and fair election

Supporters outside the court held banners demanding a revote and vowing "revolution" if his challenge fails.

"We won't let this country be led by the other camp. They will allow foreign intervention and communism," one protestor shouted to supporters, echoing comments made by Prabowo and his spokesmen during the campaign period.

Analysts have described the July 9 election as free and fair, calling it the most transparent in Indonesia's history. For the first time, the election commission posted online the voting tally sheets from all polling stations across the country, which make up nearly half a million forms.

Votes were counted at the polls one by one in front of witnesses from both coalitions, as well as community members, and tallied on a sheet visible to all.

Joko's team could not be immediately contacted but told AFP earlier they were not concerned about the challenge. Joko is moving ahead with presidential preparations, commenting to reporters on Friday about his future cabinet.

The two previous presidential elections, in 2004 and 2009, were also challenged at the court but were thrown out quickly on lack of evidence.

Concerns of impartiality in the court have been raised following the life sentence handed to its former chief justice last month for accepting bribes to fix local election disputes. But the court is under immense pressure to rule fairly as it tries to restore its image following the scandal.

Joko is the first elected president with no ties to the political or military elite. The former furniture exporter raised in a riverbank slum has won legions of fans with his man-of-the people approach during his time as Jakarta governor.

Most analysts say the challenge will not change the outcome and that it may be more a face saving gesture. However, the dispute has raised concerns it might trigger violence though so far there have been no signs of any unrest. (AFP, Reuters & JG)

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/prabowo-challenges-election-result-constitutional-court/

Prabowo campaign team reports KPU division to police

Jakarta Globe - July 24, 2014

Jakarta – The campaign team of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has reported the North Jakarta office of the General Elections Commission, or KPU, to the police because, a spokesman said, the commission had lost evidence of voter fraud submitted by the team.

"Today, we reported [KPU North Jakarta] to police concerning missing documents which were evidence of fraud in the July 9 presidential election," Muhamad Taufik, the head of Prabowo's Jakarta campaign team, said in a press conference on Thursday.

Taufik said the documents contained proof of "illegal voters." He claimed that the team planned to present the documents as evidence when filing an election dispute with the Constitutional Court on Friday.

"But now the documents are missing," he said. "They should not have allowed voters from other regions to vote without an A5 form [the form issued by the commission stating that an eligible voter can vote in another region]. Instead, they let them [vote]."

Prabowo withdrew his team from the vote counting process on Tuesday, predicated on "massive" fraud in many Indonesian regions.

KPU chief Hadar Gumay denied the allegation, saying that the election process was transparent, and refused Prabowo's request to delay the announcement of the results, which saw Joko Widodo, the Jakarta governor, declared the winner with 53 percent of votes.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/prabowo-campaign-team-reports-kpu-division-police/

A farewell to the New Order with Jokowi?

Jakarta Globe - July 24, 2014

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Joko Widodo's victory in Indonesia's presidential election has inspired fresh hope that the country can finally resolve human rights abuses that have gone unaddressed for decades, as well as sweep away all vestiges of the New Order era that continue to pervade the government and politics.

For many observers, Jokowi, as the country's soon-to-be seventh president is popularly known, represents the best break from Indonesia's dark past because he was never a part of the New Order.

Jokowi, 53, was born into a low-income family and raised in the sleepy Central Java town of Solo, before getting into business making and selling wood furniture.

He only entered politics in 2005 – seven years after the fall of the strongman Suharto, the architect of the New Order – when he ran for mayor of Solo and won, with the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, which was long the thorn in the New Order's side.

He was re-elected in 2010 with more than 90 percent of the vote, before leaving mid-office to run for governor of Jakarta in 2012. Two short years and a media frenzy later, Jokowi has been named the winner of the 2014 presidential election.

That history, observers say, is tellingly clear of any ties with the New Order – unlike the track record of his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, who was a military general under Suharto and was even married to the dictator's daughter until 1998.

During his time in the military, Prabowo commanded the Army Special Forces, or Kopassus, a feared killing squad, and later the Army Strategic Reserves, or Kostrad, before being discharged for his involvement in the abduction of pro-democracy activists who had been agitating for Suharto's resignation.

But his checkered human rights record began much earlier, with allegations of involvement in the killings of civilians in the then-occupied territory of East Timor. "Jokowi doesn't have past burdens, like Prabowo; he's not among alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses," Asvi Marwan Adam, a historian at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI, tells the Jakarta Globe.

"He also doesn't give promises [of political posts] to members of his coalition – unlike the case with Prabowo and SBY [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono]," he adds.

"With Jokowi as president, there's a bigger possibility that we can finally resolve the human rights abuses of the past, and I certainly hope he will be able to settle them."

Asvi says it helps that Jokowi's PDI-P, whose chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Sukarno's daughter, was in the opposition during the New Order's 32-year rule.

The same cannot be said of Prabowo, whose biggest coalition partner is the Golkar Party – Suharto's very own political vehicle, whose ranks are still studded with holdovers from the dictator's era.

Not the package

But many of the key people Jokowi has surrounded himself with do have links to the New Order, says Bonnie Triyana, the founder of Historia magazine.

Most notable among them is Jokowi's running mate, Jusuf Kalla, who chaired Golkar from 2004 to 2009. There is also Wiranto, the chairman of the People's Conscience Party, or Hanura, a coalition partner, who served as the last military chief of staff under Suharto.

Other Suharto-era generals, long since retired, have flocked around Jokowi, including A.M. Hendropriyono, a former head of the State Intelligence Agency, or BIN, who has been accused of, but never charged over, a deadly military crackdown on civilian protesters in Talangsari, Lampung, in 1989.

Also in Jokowi's inner circle are the Wanandi brothers, Jusuf and Sofjan, prominent businessmen who owed their fortunes to their close ties with the Suharto regime.

"As an individual, Jokowi is relatively clean compared with other leaders," Bonnie says. "He's also spoken about how he wants to solve the case of the disappearance of Wiji Tukul, who was also from Solo."

Wiji, a poet, was among 13 pro-democracy activists kidnapped in the unrest that led to Suharto's resignation in 1998. He has never been seen since.

"But looking at the people behind Jokowi," Bonnie goes on, "and given that political horse-trading is inevitable in a democracy like ours, it will be difficult" to cut all ties with the New Order.

Arguably the most serious of the past abuses that Jokowi will be expected to address is the purge from 1965-66 of suspected members and sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party, or PKI, in which up to a million people were estimated to have been killed.

The Yudhoyono has categorically refused to open an inquiry into the matter (the president's late father-in-law, Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, was one of the military generals who led the pogrom), and school textbooks continue to propagate the lie that the communists had to be exterminated because they had attempted a coup to unseat then-president Sukarno.

Independent historians agree that the PKI was simply a scapegoat for the military as it sought to wrest power from Sukarno.

"The new government and the state must be able to guarantee justice [...] including the resolution of past human rights abuses," Bonnie says. "What important is the political will. It is important for the state to admit that there were past violations and to apologize for them."

Both Bonnie and Asvi see Kalla as helping rather than hindering on this front, despite his association with Golkar. "Although he was part of the New Order, he has been a proven peacemaker for Indonesia, mediating in conflicts in Aceh and Poso," Asvi says.

Kalla is also expected to rally support from Golkar legislators, who will comprise the second-biggest bloc when the new House of Representatives goes into session in September, to help push through government programs and policies.

Bonnie notes that the New Order has left behind more than just unanswered rights abuse cases. "Our perspective, the way we look at things, is still very much influenced by the New Order," he says.

He cites the popular notion that Yudhoyono is a dithering and indecisive leader, pointing out that the corollary is that people feel nostalgic about what they perceive as Suharto's strong leadership. Prabowo has preyed on this sentiment, exploiting it to garner nearly half of all votes in the July 9 election.

"Since the fall of Suharto, our enemy is the New Order's legacy," Bonnie says. "Jokowi's win, we hope, will change all that."

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/farewell-new-order-jokowi/

Security concerns as Prabowo seeks to overturn election result

Jakarta Globe - July 23, 2014

Josua Gantan, Jakarta – While Joko Widodo has been officially announced as Indonesia's president elect by the General Elections Committee, or KPU, his rival contender Prabowo Subianto has indicated that he will use legal as well as political means to overturn the election result.

At a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday, Prabowo's campaign team called on foreign journalists and the international community to "withhold from congratulatory statements" to Joko.

Also present at the press conference were Prabowo's chief adviser and patron, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, campaign spokesman Tantowi Yahya, and lawyer Mahendrata.

The team laid out what they dubbed as "massive, structural fraud" that took place during the presidential election process.

Golkar Party member Tantowi went on to repeat an allegation Prabowo had made during a televised press conference on Tuesday, claiming that the KPU had failed to heed a recommendation by the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) to hold a revote in more than 5,000 polling stations in the Jakarta area, among others. For this reason, the Prabowo camp accused the KPU of being "unfair and unjust."

"Bawaslu recommended revotes in over 5,000 polling stations in Jakarta alone, as well as in heavily populated regions in East Java," Tantowi said. "The KPU completely ignored these recommendations."

However, Bawaslu denied that it had recommended revotes on such a massive scale, effectively rubbishing the Prabowo camp's claim that the KPU was acting unfairly.

"That claim is incorrect," Bawaslu chairman Muhammad told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday, stressing that there was no contradiction between Bawaslu and the KPU, as the Prabowo camp has suggested. "There were no contradictions. If there were any, the plenary meeting [between the KPU and Bawaslu on Tuesday] would not have been completed."

Bawaslu member Nelson Simanjuntak echoed Muhammad's statement and told the Jakarta Globe that "violations made in the regions have been properly settled."

"For the facts that I can speak of, I will speak. The recommendation for revotes in 5,000 polling stations, is not true." Nelson said. "The Jakarta Bawaslu [office] never recommended revoting in 5,000 polling stations in Jakarta. What they mentioned was to observe it closely. That was a normative statement." "There was no evidence offered by the claimant," he added.

However, Nelson said he would leave it up to the Constitutional Court to resolve the matter should Prabowo's camp file a lawsuit. "But when the Constitutional Court requests clarification from Bawaslu, I will tell the truth," he said.

'Political means'

Jakarta Bawaslu chairwoman Minah Susanti also backed the statement. "Other than in 13 polling stations, we have never recommended a revote in 5,800 polling stations," Minah said, as quoted by Tempo.co.

Prabowo rejected the official election result on Tuesday, saying that counting had been "flawed" and claiming that there were irregularities at thousands of polling stations across the country.

Later in the day, Anis Matta, president of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said Prabowo's "red-white coalition" would resort to "political means" as they "no longer trusted the election organizers." Prabowo's coalition partners later raised the possibility of establishing a special panel in the House of Representatives to contest the outcome of the election. Establishing such a panel, or pansus, in the House is just one such measure.

In a bid to undermine the validity of the election result, steps are underway to haul the KPU in front of House Commission II, which oversees domestic affairs, according to another member of the coalition.

Tantowi reaffirmed on Wednesday that its members were taking steps to challenge the result. "These political steps might end up at the formation of pansus on the presidential election [in the House]," Tantowi said. "That is a simple and constitutional thing. A pansus can be formed if something extraordinary takes place."

Golkar Party member Agung Gunanjar Sudarsa, who heads House Commission II and who is also a member of Prabowo's coalition, said the commission would schedule a time to summon the KPU. "There was lots of fraud in election," he said. "We will assemble a special team to look into it. Many odd things happened."

Agung added that the KPU is supposed to be fair in handling reports of fraud and violations, and it should have looked into allegations from the Prabowo-Hatta team.

An estimated 52,000 polling stations had reported irregularities, which put an estimated 21 million votes in question, according to Tantowi. Agung said the KPU should have dealt with these alleged violations before the recapitulation on July 22.

The KPU has insisted that the election results are legitimate and its commissioner, Hadar Nafis Gumay, has denied allegations of fraud.

A successful political challenge of the official result could be dashed however, by apparent fractions within the Prabowo coalition. Golkar Party elites announced a special conference, or munaslub, to replace firm Prabowo-backer Aburizal Bakrie as the party's chairman on July 19, while regional leaders of the United Development Party (PPP) have reoriented themselves to Joko, Kompas reported.

Meanwhile the absence of Prabowo's running mate, Hatta Rajasa, from the press conference where Prabowo said he was withdrawing from the vote- counting process, and his non-appearance at a number of meetings held by the coalition, had also raised eyebrows.

However, Tantowi denied that there were possible factions within the coalition when asked by the Jakarta Globe.

"The solidity of the red-white coalition is contingent on its leadership," he said. "If there were no changes in the seven political parties that are members of the coalition, then I am sure there won't be any cracks, it will stay solid... as a permanent coalition."

Tantowi also explained that the reason Hatta missed the coalition meetings and his absence from the signing of Prabowo's statement when he rejected the vote count was because his "daughter was giving birth."

Security concerns

Meanwhile, Prabowo's chief advisor and brother, Hashim said that he does "have concerns" when the Jakarta Globe asked him about the possibility of rising tension in society given the prolonged dispute on the presidential election results. He said public order and security might be jeopardized if the Prabowo camp's complaints are not addressed properly.

"If we are not allowed things we are entitled to legally, like having a revote, then a lot of people... you know 60 million odd people voted for us, we suspect more... many of them are unhappy with the result," Hashim said.

But he added that "Prabowo has told our supporters to remain calm and not take to the streets and commit violence." Detik.com reported on Tuesday evening that Prabowo supporters wanted to march on the KPU offices.

Hashim said order and security was in the interest of the Prabowo camp. "I live here in Jakarta, I have a vested interest in stability in Jakarta," he said.

While there has not been any conflict related to the election so far, the police and the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) are on high alert as ordered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/security-concerns-prabowo-seeks-overturn-election-result/

Battered by election, Indonesia's new president faces party clash

Reuters - July 23, 2014

Kanupriya Kapoor & Randy Fabi, Jakarta – After winning Indonesia's closest ever presidential election, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo now faces what could be his toughest battle yet – winning over his own party.

To do that, he must deal with Puan Maharani, the politically ambitious daughter of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri and a powerful figure in the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) that her mother heads and which propelled Jokowi into the presidential palace.

For some, there is a risk of a power struggle among the rank-and-file of Indonesia's most popular party that could muddle Jokowi's agenda in parliament, where Puan is party leader.

"The leadership of PDI-P is still not united in their support," one party insider, who like most party officials, declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said of Jokowi's backing. "Puan does have followers... of course, they are threatened by somebody like Jokowi."

Puan is heir to a political dynasty that goes back to her grandfather and founding president, Sukarno. Jokowi is the new face of national politics, seen by some as an upstart who threatens the grip of the established political elite. While the party puts on a united front in public, behind the scenes suspicion simmers, party insiders say.

Many of the party's old guard reluctantly backed Jokowi as their presidential candidate only after Megawati, well aware her chances of running successfully for the presidency this time were next to zero, put her own ambitions aside and offered the nomination to the hugely popular Jakarta governor. But the can-do governor who has become Indonesia's most popular politician nearly did not make it.

After leading by as much as 30 percentage points in opinion polls a few months before the presidential election, infighting and indecisiveness within his party saw the lead shrink to just five points.

The party was also seen as having squandered chances of pulling in more votes in April's parliamentary election, though it still came out on top.

After the April vote, Jokowi went public with his disappointment with the results and how the campaign was run. Media saw that as an unmistakable sign of tension between the presidential candidate and Puan, who ran the campaign.

But Jokowi, in an interview with Reuters, denied there was any conflict with Puan: "In our party there are a lot of political dynamics. I think that's normal." Other top PDI-P officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite his denial of a rift, Jokowi is likely to be looking over his shoulder at his own ranks as he prepares to start his five-year term in October, almost as much as he looks to square off with the opposition.

"Jokowi needs to make sure he won't be challenged by his own party in the parliament to pursue his budget and his policy proposals," said Phillips Vermonte, political analyst at Jakarta-based think-tank CSIS. "He needs to make sure the party is in his full control."

Loyal followers

Like Rahul Gandhi of India's Congress Party, Puan is seen by many as PDI- P's heir apparent. "She believes that the party belongs to the family and she is the heir. There is a sense of entitlement," the PDI-P insider said.

Puan, 40, was elected to parliament in 2009 and was heavily involved in her mother's failed presidential campaign that year. She is the PDI-P's deputy of politics and was in charge of this year's legislative campaign.

The Puan faction believe Jokowi, 53, has climbed up the political ladder too quickly, butting in front of long-time party loyalists in an unprecedented rise from small-town mayor to Jakarta governor to the leader of the world's third largest democracy in less than a decade.

They fear Jokowi's team and all of his supporters will push them out, overhaul the entire party, and leave Sukarno's direct descendants out in the cold. "They... feel that their positions can be protected by Puan because they feel that Megawati is too aloof," the PDI-P insider said. "That's where [Puan] gets her power and confidence."

When Megawati turned to Jokowi as the party's presidential candidate, Puan supporters pressed for the daughter to be his running mate. But the role went to a former vice president, Jusuf Kalla.

In an interview with Reuters, Kalla said Puan needs to build up her political experience over the next five years as a minister or as the speaker of parliament. Then she could be in a good position to replace him as Jokowi's running mate in 2019.

Despite the tensions within the party, PDI-P officials say that once a decision is made by Megawati the discussion ends – reflecting the power of the party boss.

"Don't paint it as though there's friction within the party," PDI-P lawmaker Rieke Diah Pitaloka told Reuters. "Arguments are not unusual, especially within the PDI-P. We can have heated arguments, but when an instruction comes out, we follow."

The PDI-P is expected to hold its next national convention in May 2015 and Puan is expected to try for party boss if her mother steps down.

Jokowi told Reuters in an interview last week that he would not go for the top PDI-P job. "This is good for my country because I'm not head of the party... government is government, party is party," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/battered-election-indonesias-new-president-faces-party-clash/

Prabowo's intransigence leads to self-humiliation

Jakarta Post - July 23, 2014

Ina Parlina and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Gerindra Party presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto humiliated himself on Tuesday by rejecting the 2014 presidential election result and pulling himself out of the election, claiming that the election was flawed and marred with widespread fraud.

In the days after election day on July 9, Prabowo said he would accept whatever decision was made by the General Elections Commission (KPU) with regard to the result.

"The 2014 presidential election overseen by KPU was riddled with problems. It was undemocratic and went against the 1945 Constitution," Prabowo said at his campaign headquarters, Polonia House in East Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Prabowo voiced his statement as the KPU was concluding the final vote recapitulation. In his speech, Prabowo instructed all members of his campaign team taking part in the KPU's plenary session to walk out in protest.

Prabowo's eleventh-hour decision was based on what he considered indications of foul play found by his campaign team. In the speech, however, Prabowo failed to disclose any proof of the alleged vote-rigging.

In the speech, he said that he had five arguments to back up his claim that the election was rigged, with the KPU not being fair or transparent as the chief reasons for his rejection. "A lot of the regulations they made violated themselves," Prabowo said.

The former Army general also accused the KPU of ignoring recommendations made by the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) concerning foul play and errors during ballot casting and vote counting.

Wrapping up his speech, Prabowo said that his fight against the KPU was done out of respect for voters. "We are not willing to let the mandate of the people be mocked and desecrated," he said.

Prabowo made his speech on a small stage using a normal microphone – as opposed to the vintage kind he regularly uses – in front of a crowd of local and foreign journalists, while accompanied by politicians from parties in his coalition.

Among those present were United Development Party (PPP) chairman Suryadharma Ali, Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie and the party's advisory council chairman, Akbar Tandjung, as well as National Awakening Party (PAN) secretary-general Taufik Kurniawan.Prabowo's running mate, Hatta Rajasa, was curiously absent for the whole event.

Prabowo even finished his speech without mentioning Hatta. "Jakarta, July 22, 2014. Signed by Prabowo [...] Prabowo Subianto," he concluded his statement.

Soon after the announcement, Prabowo-Hatta campaign team member Amazon Dalimun announced that former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD had resigned from his position as chairman of the Gerindra-led coalition's national campaign team.

Amazon said that Mahfud had resigned because he was no longer needed for the campaign and that he would be replaced by Lt. Gen. (ret) Yunus Yosfiah, while campaign team advisors Djoko Santoso and Gen. (ret) George Toisutta would be appointed as his deputies.Separately, Mahfud said that there was no point for him to remain on the campaign team.

"There is only one presidential candidate left in the race. The election is over," Mahfud said as he made his way out of the campaign team headquarters, on Tuesday.

Previously, Mahfud said that he would accept the KPU's decision if it said Jokowi had won the race and that he would return the mandate of leading the campaign team to Prabowo-Hatta after the announcement. "I will not get involved if it goes to the Constitutional Court," Mahfud said.

Later on Tuesday, Prabowo-Hatta camp spokesman Tantowi Yahya said that Prabowo had only withdrawn from the KPU's vote tabulation process and not from the race. "Let's get things straight, Prabowo did not pull out as a presidential candidate," Tantowi said.

Responding to Prabowo's intransigence, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the losing side should be able to concede defeat. "The President wants everyone to be able to accept the result in good nature," Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha told reporters on Wednesday night.

Separately, Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin said he, personally and as a legal practitioner, deplored Prabowo's move. "It would be more dignified if [he] followed all phases of the election in an orderly manner," he said.

Meanwhile, Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono, also coordinating minister for people's welfare, recommended against Prabowo further contesting the election result. "It'd be better not to take it [to the court]. The process has been objective and transparent. Let's just accept the result," said Agung. (tjs)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/23/prabowo-s-intransigence-leads-self-humiliation.html

Prabowo's legal challenge futile: Legal experts

Jakarta Post - July 23, 2014

Ina Parlina and Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The loser of the presidential election, Prabowo Subianto, may well have to swallow his claim that he has absolutely no trust in the state institutions handling election cases after his camp strongly indicated that they would file a complaint to the Constitutional Court in their desperate attempts to scupper the victory of Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Prabowo has until Friday morning to register a challenge against the General Elections Commission's (KPU) decision in favor of Jokowi at the court. However, many observers, including his own senior campaign team advisor, believe that such a challenge would in all likelihood change nothing.

Prabowo's younger brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo revealed that the former general would consider taking all possible legal steps before making his final decision on Jokowi's victory.

Prabowo's camp has claimed that there were massive irregularities, such as a huge number of illegal voters as well as mismatched data between the number of voters and the number of votes in more than 50,000 polling stations. They also claim their data is much more credible and accurate than the official count by the widely respected KPU.

His campaign team lawyer Mahendradatta said on Wednesday that "our intention is not only to secure Prabowo's victory but also to safeguard voters' rights".

"So it's better for us to seek reelections in at least 52,000 polling stations. We will prove that there was improper conduct [in those polling stations]," he added.

Observers, including constitutional law expert Saldi Isra, have previously suggested that it would be very difficult for a plaintiff to prove claims of "structured, systematic and massive" violations given the 8-million-vote margin of Jokowi's victory.

Jokowi netted 70,633,576 votes, which was over 8 million more than rival Prabowo Subianto, who received 62,262,844 votes or 46.85 percent.

Mahfud MD, who resigned on Tuesday from his position as chairman of the national campaign team for Prabowo's Gerindra-led coalition, has said he will not get involved if it goes to court.

The former Constitutional Court chief justice has made it clear that such a measure would be unlikely to change anything. "From my experience, proving fraud in 200,000 votes is just impossible, let alone with 8 million votes. It would be simply pointless to bring the case to court," said Mahfud.

Former court justice AS Natabaya, who heard a similar case with regard to the 2004 election, said on Wednesday that given the nature of such allegations it would be hard to prove claims of structured, systematic and massive violations without providing strong evidence. "We are talking about balloting and the court will be able to see whether or not it was structured, systematic and massive," he said.

Former Constitutional Court justice Harjono, who retired in March and heard another such case in 2009, said the court would weigh up whether or not a candidate had suffered an injustice by the result. "The key is the evidence and the court will decide whether or not the result was an injustice to the plaintiffs," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/23/prabowo-s-legal-challenge-futile-legal-experts.html

Prabowo launches court challenge to Joko Widodo's presidential victory

Sydney Morning Herald - July 23, 2014

Michael Bachelard – Defeated Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto will challenge the result of the election in the country's constitutional court, citing "irregularities" that his team says cast doubt on up to 21 million votes.

As president-elect Joko Widodo returned to work as Jakarta Governor at City Hall on Wednesday, Mr Prabowo's team was forced to clarify he had not pulled out of the election entirely, as he indicated on Tuesday.

They said Mr Prabowo had only withdrawn from the formal counting process and still considered himself a candidate for president. This gave him standing to appeal to the court.

The Indonesian Electoral Commission, KPU, announced late on Tuesday that Mr Joko had won the presidency with a convincing 6.3 percentage point margin.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott joined a rush of foreign leaders to congratulate the president-elect, saying: "The Australian Government is looking forward to working closely with him." Messages also came from Japan, Britain, the US and close neighbours Singapore and Malaysia.

But Mr Prabowo's campaign team recommended foreign leaders hold off. "We would urge other foreign leaders not to, because the process hasn't ended yet," said Mr Prabowo's brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo.

If Mr Joko's election survives Mr Prabowo's challenge, he will begin his five-year term as Indonesia's seventh president on October 20.

Mr Prabowo's campaign had already contested the credibility of previously accurate quick-counts and was now attacking the electoral commission's final count itself.

Mr Prabowo's team said it was its duty to its own voters and to Indonesian democracy itself to take its arguments to the constitutional court. "We're expecting some fairness," said Mr Hashim, adding it would stop challenging "when we get a satisfactory answer".

During the count, the Prabowo team had insisted, unsuccessfully, the KPU order fresh ballots in 5800 Jakarta polling booths and in six provinces in East Java, 52,000 booths altogether with up to 21 million potential voters. Only 13 Jakarta booths were recontested. "Had the KPU... [done what we asked] we would not be this situation; we wouldn't be so angry today," Mr Hashim said.

His team said it had evidence of a number of election violations: more candidates than usual attending individual polling booths, candidates without sufficient identification being allowed to vote, numbers of votes for the Jokowi team increasing without explanation as the vote proceeded through the system and polling booths in Papua that simply never opened.

Indonesian voters were required to dip their fingers in indelible ink after they had voted, but Mr Prabowo's spokesman Tantowi Yahya said, if you dipped your finger in a special solution first and kept it wet, the skin was impervious to the distinctive purple ink. Mr Tantowi said the irregularities constituted "fraud" by the KPU.

"Jokowi and [his running mate] Jusuf Kalla, because they have won, they are no longer concerned," Mr Tantowi said. "But we are fully concerned. We are talking about a clean, transparent and just system."

For the second day in a row, Mr Prabowo's running mate, Hatta Rajasa, made no comment and no public appearances, leading to strong speculation he had split from the Prabowo camp.

But Mr Tantowi said one of Mr Hatta's children had just delivered a grandchild and "he was so busy doing family matters". Asked what Mr Prabowo was up to, Mr Hashim said: "Maybe he's riding his horse."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/prabowo-subianto-launches-court-challenge-to-joko-widodos-presidential-victory-20140723-zw4mw.html

Legal mess as Prabowo pulls out of vote count

Jakarta Globe - July 22, 2014

Jakarta – Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto upstaged Tuesday night's announcement confirming his defeat in the election earlier this month by declaring his rejection of the official outcome on the basis of alleged fraud, in a move that poses an unusual precedent for constitutional law.

Speaking from his campaign base in East Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon, Prabowo said he was "withdrawing" from the vote-counting process.

"We are going to use our constitutional rights and we are rejecting this presidential election, which is legally flawed," Prabowo said in his televised speech while surrounded by leaders of most of the political parties in his coalition.

Conspicuously absent were his running mate, Hatta Rajasa, and campaign manager, Mahfud M.D., the former Constitutional Court chief justice.

Mahfud, who over the weekend conceded that the race was over and said there would be no use in Prabowo challenging the results of Tuesday's announcement at the Constitutional Court, resigned from the candidate's team within hours of Prabowo's outburst.

Hatta, meanwhile, stayed indoors and canceled his own press conference that was scheduled to take place an hour after Prabowo spoke.

Generals on the march

The candidate quickly scrambled together a new team, headed by a trio of retired military generals.

Mahfud's replacement is Yunus Yosfiah, a former Army Special Forces (Kopassus) officer who was previously accused of involvement in the military's killing of five Australian-based journalists in the East Timor town of Balibo in the lead-up to the Indonesian invasion of the former Portuguese colony in late 1975.

Prabowo has also previously faced allegations of rights abuses there during his own time with Kopassus.

The new deputy campaign managers are Djoko Santoso, a former military chief of staff, and George Toisutta, a former Army chief of staff.

All three retired generals are known to be close to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, himself a former general, who claimed to take a neutral stance in the election but whose Democratic Party formally supports Prabowo.

Meanwhile, other members of Prabowo's camp attempted to row back from the candidate's earlier statement that he was "withdrawing," and insisted that their presidential candidate would still take complaints of electoral fraud and malpractice to the Constitutional Court – the country's final court of appeal on such matters.

Prabowo cited 5,000 polling stations in Jakarta where, he claimed, irregularities had taken place, and pointed to districts in Papua and East Java where no voting had taken place at all. "We instruct all our witnesses in the KPU not to continue the tally process," Prabowo said.

Prabowo's witnesses at the headquarters of the General Elections Commission (KPU) in Central Jakarta then staged a walkout. The vote count and final announcement went ahead regardless later on Tuesday night.

Legal quagmire

As the camp of rival candidate Joko Widodo declared victory and urged Indonesians to respect the integrity of the count, and Prabowo's longtime nemesis Wiranto branded his former military colleague "sad" and "bitter," constitutional law experts were left scrambling through the statutes for a black-and-white answer to an unprecedented electoral gray area: Was there a legal mechanism for Prabowo to formally withdraw from the presidential election?

A letter seen by the Jakarta Globe late on Tuesday night addressed to the KPU said the Prabowo campaign would "menarik diri" – which means "withdraw" or "pull out" – from the counting process. There was no mention in the letter of withdrawing from the candidacy entirely.

"The election process will keep on running and no one can stop that except a court ruling or the recommendation of the Bawaslu [Elections Supervisory Body]," former KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said, as quoted by Metrotvnews.com on Tuesday. MetroTV is owned by Surya Paloh, a senior member of Joko's coalition.

Refly Harun, a constitutional law expert, told the Globe that Prabowo's ambiguous withdrawal would not have any bearing on the legitimacy of the official announcement. "There is no problem – whatever the KPU announces will be legally valid," Refly said.

The question of whether Prabowo had officially withdrawn from the presidential election – or whether there was a legal mechanism through which he could withdraw – was more complicated and could not be confirmed either way at the time of writing.

"He cannot withdraw," said Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the acting governor of Jakarta and a member of Prabowo's Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). "It has been regulated by the KPU that [a candidate] can't withdraw."

Some legal experts expressed concern that Prabowo's move would throw Indonesia into an unnecessary and potentially dangerous constitutional crisis.

"Our law gives us 30 days [after the election] to announce the result, which means we still have some 10 days left [to make the announcement]," said Irman Putra Sidin, a noted constitutional law expert from Hassanudin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi. "If the KPU insists on announcing it today there will be a serious constitutional problem.

"So please, for the KPU: don't rush into this – this is going to give rise to serious consequences," Irman said.

Others said that there was no legitimate basis in Prabowo's accusations, given that the disputed Jakarta polling station results and the allegations of malpractice in East Java and Papua could not possibly give Prabowo the swing in votes he would need to leapfrog Joko – more than four million ballots.

"To see it from the scientific and rational view, with the gap of eight million votes – or six percentage points – even if the case were taken to the Constitutional Court, and even if the court just blindly decided to give [Prabowo] the votes of all unregistered voters, he would not be able to pass the total votes gained by Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla," Haryadi, a political expert from Surabaya's Airlangga University, told the Globe.

Others said the KPU should not be prevented from announcing the official result on Tuesday night. "If they stop, then the losing party in future elections could just withdraw like [Prabowo] did," said Saldi Isra at Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra. "That should not be allowed to happen."

No provisions

Some pundits speculated that there could be grounds for Prabowo to be fined or even face criminal charges for his withdrawal.

The 2008 Presidential Election Law states that any candidate who withdraws from the electoral process during the period between being approved to run by the KPU and balloting day can face between two and five years in prison and fines of Rp 25 billion to Rp 50 billion ($2.15 million to $4.31 million).

However, Prabowo's withdrawal falls outside the stipulated period, and the election law makes no provisions for such a contingency.

Rumors circulated late on Tuesday night that Prabowo would be holding another press conference on Wednesday morning, and that he would make it clear that he was not "withdrawing" from the race.

There were also calls from members of his team for Yudhoyono to remain in office for an extra year to allow a new election to be called. Yudhoyono is set to leave office on Oct. 20, when Joko is inaugurated as the country's seventh president. The outgoing president has long said he intends to see out his term peacefully and make a smooth transition to the new administration.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/legal-mess-prabowo-pulls-vote-count/

Prabowo camp divided over plan to contest poll result

Jakarta Post - July 22, 2014

Bagus BT Saragih and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Members of the Red and White Coalition supporting the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa presidential ticket have voiced their objection to the camp's plan to challenge the final election result at the Constitutional Court, a move that analysts have seen as a gambit by the members to join the camp of front-runner Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

Fractures within Prabowo's Gerindra Party-led coalition, which have been visible since credible pollsters' quick counts put the rival "Jokowi"-Jusuf Kalla ticket in the lead, are intensifying.

Some top politicians from parties supporting Prabowo have insisted on not conceding defeat if the General Elections Commission's (KPU) final tally, scheduled to be announced today, puts the ticket on the losing side.

Others have urged Prabowo and Hatta to concede defeat and congratulate Jokowi-Kalla as soon as possible, something that many doubt Prabowo would do. As of Monday evening, official vote recapitulation by the KPU put Jokowi in the lead by about 5 to 6 percent.

"It'd be better not to take it [to the Constitutional Court]. The process has been objective and transparent. Let's just accept the result," Agung Laksono, Golkar Party deputy chairman, which supports Prabowo-Hatta, said on Monday.

In particular, Agung encouraged Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie to set an example by congratulating Jokowi, in order to ease tensions between supporters of the two tickets.

Aside from Gerindra and Golkar, other parties supporting Prabowo's bid are Hatta's National Mandate Party (PAN), President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB).

Excluding the Democratic Party, six of the parties have signed a permanent coalition pact and are expected to maintain the grouping regardless of the final election result. Analysts, however, have deemed the pact non-binding and ineffective in preventing the parties from leaving the coalition.

Also on Monday, Democratic Party secretary-general Edhie "Ibas" Baskoro Yudhoyono indicated that the ruling party could end up supporting Jokowi's administration, should the latter win.

"Our party's stance is not yet decided. We will have further discussions on whether we will be inside or outside the government after the KPU announces its official result," said Ibas, who is also Yudhoyono's youngest son, as quoted by kompas.com.

PPP secretary-general M. Romahurmuziy claimed that the Red and White Coalition was prepared to accept the final vote tally as released by the KPU. "It's still possible, however, that we might file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court if we consider the final vote tally to be unfair," he said.

PPP deputy chairman Suharso Monoarfa even claimed that the party would immediately shift its support to Jokowi-Kalla, should the ticket be declared the winner by the KPU.

"PPP's chief patron, who is highly respected, Maimun Zubair, has mandated that the party respect any decision issued by the KPU and support the new government. I think his message is very clear," he said.

In comparison, Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring, a member of PKS' board of patrons, said that his party would support Prabowo's plan to challenge the result if the former commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) lost the election.

"Eighty percent of the witnesses from Prabowo's camp are from the PKS. Thus we have the data and we will compare ours [with that from the KPU]. Thus, I fully support if we challenge the result at the Constitutional Court later," Tifatul said.

Mahfud MD, the head of Prabowo's campaign team, clarified on Monday that he would not concede defeat before the official vote tally announcement. The former Constitutional Court chief justice, however, acknowledged that he would accept the KPU's decision if it said Jokowi had won the race.

He also said that he would return the mandate of leading the campaign team to Prabowo-Hatta after the announcement. "I will not get involved if it goes to the Constitutional Court," Mahfud said, adding that it could be unethical for him to do so given his status as the court's former chairman.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/22/prabowo-camp-divided-over-plan-contest-poll-result.html

Election commission hits back at Prabowo, security calm for now

Jakarta Globe - July 22, 2014

Jakarta – Indonesia's General Elections Commission, or KPU, hit back at Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday, emphasizing the integrity of its vote count and saying that the losing candidate's decision to reject the procedure would not stop an official result from being announced by 8 p.m. tonight.

"We regret the walkout, given that [the vote count] will soon be completed," KPU member Hadar Nafis Gumay said on Tuesday afternoon. "But that's the right of every candidate – including candidate number one [Prabowo].

"We just have to go on," Hadar added. "We have to complete our task to count the votes, both the domestic results and from abroad."

Another commissioner said Prabowo's petulant reaction to the KPU result would not prevent an official announcement.

"The election process will keep on running and no one can stop that except a court ruling or the recommendation of the Bawaslu [Elections Supervisory Body]," former KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said, as quoted by Indonesian news portal Metrotvnews.com on Tuesday. MetroTV is owned by Surya Paloh, a senior member of Joko Widodo's coalition.

"Just because a candidate is not willing, does not mean it will have an impact on the result," Abdul said. "The official result that will be announced will still be legitimate."

Rambe K. Zaman, a vote-counting witness from Prabowo's campaign, walked out of the plenary meeting of the KPU. "We reject whatever is being decided by the KPU," Rambe said. "Withdrawing from the presidential election vote- counting process, we hope there will be a fair solution. We will withdraw from this forum after submitting [our objections] to the KPU."

All calm for now

The security situation outside the Central Jakarta headquarters of the KPU remained calm late on Tuesday afternoon after Prabowo rejected the results of the vote count. Very little was happening on the ground at the time of writing.

The Indonesian Trade Union Convention (KSPI) was holding a small Palestinian solidarity rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle a few hundred meters away, but there was no visible mass of Prabowo or Joko supporters.

The KPU headquarters remained under tight security but there were no signs of unrest. Police were taking photos of each other posing in front of armored vehicles and drinking iced tea.

"The rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle has nothing to do with [the election]," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto told the Jakarta Globe. "It started at noon and it's about many things, from Gaza, Palestine. There is also a banner saying that [election monitor] Bawaslu should be fair.

"We're still using the original security standard operating procedure with 3,421 officers on stand by. The third ring still reaches to Hotel Indonesia, Taman Surapati, Tugu Tani and Dukuh Atas," Rikwanto said. "We're waiting for reaction from the walk-out act but we're also anticipating [anything that may happen]. But it's calm at the moment."

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/election-commission-hits-back-prabowo-security-calm-now/

PKS stands firmly behind Prabowo

Jakarta Post - July 22, 2014

Election Watch – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) will remain committed to supporting presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto after he withdrew from the election process following his allegations of massive fraud plaguing the vote recapitulation.

PKS chairman Anis Matta said on Tuesday that the withdrawal was a joint decision by Prabowo and his "Red and White" coalition.

"This [decision to withdraw from the election] is a collective judgment [by members of the coalition] as countless facts have uncovered the occurrence of massive fraud. We have also concluded that the election organizer has taken sides," said Anis.

Anis explained that the decision was finally arrived at after the KPU had refused to hold a revote in 5,800 polling stations in Jakarta.

"There is overwhelming mistrust on our part regarding the election. This is a political path that we are taking. We understand the consequences and we are ready to deal with them," said Anis. (ren)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/22/pks-stands-firmly-behind-prabowo.html

Government calls for peace after Prabowo rejects election result

Jakarta Post - July 22, 2014

Jakarta – Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said all Indonesian people should stand firm against any provocation that could lead to social unrest as political tensions heightened following candidate pair Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa's rejection of the 2014 presidential election vote counting process and results.

"Each action that violates laws and regulations will injure our democracy," he said at a press conference broadcast live on TV on Tuesday.

Djoko stressed that all security personnel, including the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police, would remain on "high alert" to supervise the vote counting process, which was scheduled to be completed on Tuesday.

"I also want to emphasize that I ask all supporters of Pak Prabowo Subianto to stay calm and uphold the law," he said.

The KPU said it continued counting the votes despite the rejection, as it had been scheduled to announce the final tally on Tuesday evening. (gda/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/22/govt-calls-peace-after-prabowo-rejects-election-result.html

Internet & social media

Bogus news sites blocked

Jakarta Post - July 31, 2014

Jakarta – News sites with the extension – news.com that imitate national news sites have been blocked since Wednesday.

The move was made upon a formal request by the Information and Communication Ministry to the Internet Service Providers (ISP), according to the ministry's spokesman Ismail Cawidu.

At least 10 national news sites have been reportedly copied. They are: antaranews.com, beritasatu.com, detik.com, inilah.com, kompas.com, liputan6.com, merdeka.com, republika.com, tempo.co, and tribunnews.com.

The news sites were imitated by adding – news.com to the web addresses, for example: kompas.com – news.com.

Last Tuesday, the address kompas.com – news.com displayed a few newsfeeds, although the credibility was doubted. Now, the address kompas.com – news.com is just a blank page.

Ismail said the bogus news sites had been inaccessible since Wednesday afternoon. Running bogus news sites violates Article 11 of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction Law.

He said blocking such news sites was done after complaints from the public and requests that the ISPs close them. The procedure is different from the blocking of porn sites, which can be done without any complaints.

IT specialist Onno Widodo Purbo revealed in the investigation through whois by Linux that – news.com originated in the United States. "From the investigation's temporary result, it shows that the owner of kompas.Com – news.com is someone in California," he said.

To track, by whois, the maker of – news.com bogus subdomain or to block the site is fairly easy, Onno said. The difficulty is in arresting the creator because the ministry's authority is limited to domestic areas, he said, adding that the assistance of the Foreign Ministry and Interpol was necessary. (hak/hhr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/31/bogus-news-sites-blocked.html

Environment & natural disasters

Forest fires worsen in Riau and West Kalimantan: BNPB

Jakarta Post - July 30, 2014

Jakarta – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) says forest fires are becoming uncontrolable in Riau and West Kalimantan provinces.

BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said satellite images on Tuesday revealed 143 fires in Riau and 268 others in West Kalimantan. BNPB asked heads of regional administrations in Riau and West Kalimantan – governors, regents and mayors – to be more proactive in preventing forest and brush fires.

"Preventive measures would be more effective than putting out fires, especially fires on peatland," Sutopo said as quoted by Antara news agency.

BNPB head Syamsul Maarif said he had ordered the deployment of helicopters to Pontianak to douse the fires with water.

"In Riau, 200 military personnel, consisting of 100 from the Army and 100 from the Air Force, and 500 police officers have been sent to help put out the forest fires," he said.

Volunteers are also helping to fight the fires in the province, he said. In Dumai, dense smoke had reduced visibility to 2 kilometers, he added.

According to the BNPB, forests and brushland destroyed by fires in Riau had reached 848 hectares, but the figure was believed to be higher as there were fires that were not included in official data.

Fires recorded in Riau include 46 in Rohil, 24 in Bengkalis, 35 in Dumai, six in Indragiri Hilir, three in Indragiri Hulu, two in Kampar, seven in Kuansing and 10 in Pelalawan, according BNPB data.

In West Kalimantan, there were 15 fires in Bengkayang, 25 in Kapuas, seven in Kayong Utar, 19 in Ketapang, 15 in Kubu Raya, eight in Landak, eight in Melawi, 19 in Pontianak, 65 in Sambas, 33 in Sanggau, five in Sekadau, two in Singkawang and 47 in Sintang.

Almost every year, forest and brush fires in the two regions result in dense smoke drifting across the border, leading to strong protests from neighboring countries, mainly Malaysia and Singapore. (hhr)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/30/forest-fires-worsen-riau-and-west-kalimantan-bnpb.html

More hot spots found in Riau, covering area in haze

Jakarta Globe - July 27, 2014

Jakarta – More hot spots have been found in the Sumatran province of Riau on Sunday, blanketing at least 10 districts and cities with haze, the disaster management agency says, according to a media report.

Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head of information Agus Wiboso was quoted as saying by state-run Antara news agency that up to 329 hot spots were detected across Sumatra on Sunday morning, 208 of which were found in Riau. The numbers have increased from the 148 hot spots detected in Riau on Saturday.

"Most of them are found in the Rokan Hilir district – there are 83 hot spots," Agus was quoted as saying by state-run Antara news agency.

Other areas where hot spots were found included the districts of Bengkalis, Kampar, Pelalawan, Rokan Hulu, Indragiri Hulu and Dumai.

In Dumai, BNPB data show that worsening pollution has resulted in declining visibility range to only 200 meters as of Sunday morning.

The limited visibility, however, does not appear to have interfered with flight activities to and from Riau, of which travel is currently at its peak season due to the Idul Fitri holiday.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/hot-spots-found-riau/

Sex workers & prostitution

Police shoot tear gas in Indonesia's 'Dolly' sex district

Agence France Presse - July 28, 2014

Indonesian police on Sunday fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters at the country's infamous "Dolly" red light district, where workers are refusing to accept government orders to close shop.

Around 300 protesters, mostly men who work as pimps or vendors in the area, tore out and set alight a sign erected by the Surabaya city that read: "This area is free from brothels and prostitution."

The closure of one of Southeast Asia's biggest prostitution dens was spearheaded by Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini, who announced last month that Dolly would be completely closed by the end of Ramadan, which fell on Sunday.

"We reject the instalment of this sign here. And after Ramadhan, we will operate as normal. We refuse to shut down," said head of Dolly's workers' forum Ari Saputro, who goes by the nickname "Pokemon."

An AFP reporter saw a protester being punched by police and then being detained with blood running from his nose.

Police fired the tear gas after workers set tyres alight, both sending a thick haze across the demonstration, dispersing protesters after around an hour.

Hundreds of sex workers, as well as others who eke out a living out of the vast red light district in Indonesia's second biggest city, have lashed back at the closure order, complaining they will be left destitute.

Indonesia is the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, but prostitution is common, though it is usually offered discreetly in karaoke lounges and clandestine brothels.

Dolly in eastern Java, on the other hand, is famous for openly touting women in shopfront windows, resembling Amsterdam's red light district. The name Dolly is believed to come from a Dutch madam who ran a brothel in the city during the Netherlands' colonial rule of Indonesia.

Rismaharini described prostitution as "immoral" in a public event last month to announce Dolly's closure, peppered with Islamic references. Hardline Muslim groups have threatened violence if brothels continue to operate beyond the end of Ramadan.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/police-shoot-tear-gas-indonesias-dolly-sex-district/

Graft & corruption

Calls for justice in extortion of migrant workers

Jakarta Globe - July 30, 2014

Rizky Amelia, Edi Hardum, Novianti Setuningsih & Vita A.D. Busyra, Jakarta – Activists have demanded sterner action from the authorities against the long-running shakedown of migrant workers and foreigners at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, following the release of 18 people arrested last weekend for roles in an alleged extortion racket.

The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, which led the sting operation last Saturday, has estimated that the network of criminals, officials and military and police personnel at the airport extorts some Rp 325 billion ($28 million) a year from returning migrant workers.

"We demand to know why President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has neglected these cases for so long even though the crimes are so blatant," Emerson Yuntho, the legal monitoring coordinator at Indonesia Corruption Watch, a nongovernmental organization, said on Wednesday.

He accused the president of constantly calling on migrant workers to increase the amount of remittances they sent back from abroad while doing little himself to end the discrimination and predatory practices they faced back in the country.

Emerson urged Yudhoyono to haul up Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar and Gatot Abdullah Mansyur, the head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, or BNP2TKI, for questioning about the officials preying on the migrant workers, and to fire them if they were found to be negligent in their oversight of the matter.

Emerson also said that the military and police chiefs should be made to answer for their men's roles in the racket, which included forcing migrant workers to use specific taxis, which were set up to shake down the vulnerable passengers.

Two police officers and one soldier were among the 18 people arrested during the sting operation at the airport. However, police released all of the suspects on Monday, promising to follow up on the case in the mean time.

"We have to send them home, but we've obliged them to report to us regularly and write a statement [that they will not repeat the alleged offense]," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said on Sunday.

Gen. Sutarman, the National Police chief, said on Monday that there was a possibility that the two police officers arrested in the sting could be dismissed. "We will process their crimes and ethical violations [and look into] whether or not they are still worthy of serving as police officers," he said.

But the release of the suspects, including 15 criminals known to have been running the extortion racket for more than 10 years, is a "huge mistake," according to Anis Hidayah, the executive director of Migrant Care, a migrant worker rights NGO.

"What a blunder! If the Jakarta Police released all of them, then we need to be suspicious that many more police officers might be involved," Anis told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

She demanded that the investigation continue to break up what she called the long-ingrained culture of corruption and nepotism in the government's handling of migrant workers.

"The terminal where the migrant workers pass through at the airport is under the oversight of the BNP2TKI," Anis said. She added that Migrant Care was working closely with the KPK to gather evidence and propose policies to break up extortion rings run by officials, agencies and civil society groups.

KPK deputy chairman KPK Bambang Widjojanto said that the extortion racket had been squeezing some Rp 325 billion out of unwitting arrivals every year for more than a decade.

"Around 360,000 migrant workers return home each year, and the thugs extort an average of Rp 2.5 million per person," he said on Saturday. "If we estimate that 50 percent of all migrant workers are being extorted, that's 130,000 workers times Rp 2.5 million, which is Rp 325 billion per year."

Wahyu Susilo, a researcher at Migrant Care, said similar shakedowns were also taking place at other airports across the country, and slammed the BNP2TKI chief's proposal for a return to the previous system whereby all migrant workers were channeled through a dedicated terminal at Soekarno- Hatta.

Wahyu pointed out that this system was abandoned in 2012 precisely because the officials running the terminal were given free rein to extort the migrant workers away from the public gaze, and that if it was revived, it would only exacerbate the problem.

The Manpower Ministry has also refuted the idea of a return to the single- terminal system.

"I think we all agree that allowing the migrant workers the choice to travel freely is a non-discriminative act, but that obliging them to travel through a specific terminal would be discriminative," Reyna Usman, the ministry's director general for guidance and placement of migrant workers, said on Tuesday.

He said the solution was to tighten up oversight at Soekarno-Hatta and other airports to crack down on the extortion racketeers.

"It's embarrassing that we have so many criminals operating at the airport and that we have to consider special measures for migrant workers just because of this. The best thing, of course, is to eradicate the criminals," Reyna said.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/calls-justice-extortion-migrant-workers/

KPK swoops officials, gangsters over migrant worker extortion at airport

Jakarta Globe - July 26, 2014

SP/Novianti Setuningsih & Rizky Amelia, Tangerang – Indonesia's anti- corruption authority arrested figures from the country's military and police in addition to several gangsters on Friday night and Saturday morning over a decade-long scheme extorting migrant workers.

Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Abraham Samad said the 18 people detained included a soldier, two police officers and career criminals. The 18 people had extorted migrant workers over a decade, the KPK said.

Abraham said the KPK had not arrested anyone from the manpower ministry's migrant worker agency – but that his investigators were looking into potential involvement.

"We will investigate further the involvement of other parties," Abraham said in a press conference. "The involvement of the agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers [BNP2TKI] should not be ruled out. In time, we will find the involvement of BNP2TKI."

The KPK led the raid with support from the National Police, the Presidential Unit for Supervision, Control and Development (UKP4), and the airport operator, Angkasa Pura II. The operation was based on existing intelligence, but the authorities acted on Friday because of the high number of travelers arriving for the Idul Fitri holiday.

"I heard from [KPK] investigators that there was a Pakistan national who was asked to pay a taxi fare of US$200," said Bambang Widjojanto, KPK's deputy chairman. "A Slovakian was asked to pay even more – $250."

The National Police's investigations chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius said the soldier and the police officers forced the migrant workers to use specific taxis, which were set up to shake down the vulnerable passengers.

Suhardi said the suspects had been stationed at Soekarno-Hatta by their police and army commands, which was how they knew the inner-workings of the airport and were, allegedly, able to run the racket over such a long period.

"This is only the beginning, we will investigate further and will reveal the network," Suhardi said. The suspects also ran a foreign exchange scam.

Abraham also questioned an officer at immigration, saying he had seen foreigners having to place money in their passports in order to pass through immigration.

"Why do foreign nationals passing here have to put money in their passport?" Abraham asked the officer. The officer denied the accusation, but Abraham said he had seen money changing hands.

A KPK deputy chairman, Adnan Pandu Praja, searched the offices at the immigration checkpoint but did not find any evidence. An investigation continues.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/kpk-swoops-soldier-police-officers-gangsters-10-year-extortion-migrant-workers-soekarno-hatta/

PPP politician throws more dirt on Suryadharma

Jakarta Post - July 25, 2014

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – A United Development Party (PPP) politician revealed on Tuesday that party chairman and former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali also took other politicians from other parties to join his haj entourage in 2012-2013, a practice the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has been investigating as an abuse of power.

The statement was a further blow to Suryadharma, who resigned from his ministerial post after being named a suspect by the KPK in the haj graft case following revelations that he had taken members of his family, colleagues and PPP lawmakers to Mecca, taking away seats from regular pilgrims and spending government money to fund the trip.

After five hours of questioning by the KPK on Thursday, PPP politician Irgan Chairul Mahfiz, also a member of the House of Representatives Commission IX on health and welfare affairs, identified one of the non-PPP politicians as Erik Satrya Wardhana of the Hanura Party.

"There are several other politicians, including Erik from Hanura," Irgan said without disclosing the names of the other politicians.

In a move apparently intended to conceal the identities of the entourage members, Suryadharma allegedly falsely registered around 36 people as Indonesian Haj Management Committee (PPIH) representatives. Suryadharma also used haj seats intended for regular pilgrims who have been waiting years to go to Saudi Arabia.

None of the PPP politicians who have been questioned in the case, including Irgan, denied that while most prospective pilgrims have to wait for at least five years, some politicians could more easily get a turn to go on the haj because of their relationships with Suryadharma.

Every year at least 1 percent of the around 200,000 places in the haj quota are left unused because of illness, death and other reasons. Suryadharma has repeatedly claimed it was his prerogative as minister to decide how to allocate the unused seats.

The KPK, however, insisted that the unused seats have to be given to other prospective pilgrims, whose numbers currently reach 2 million on the waiting list.

Meanwhile, Irgan denied he did not pay his own way. "I paid for my own trip to the PT Al Amin Universal travel agent using my own money. I also told KPK investigators that I am not a haj committee member," Irgan said.

Irgan declined to disclose the relationship between Suryadharma, the Religious Affairs Ministry and PPP lawmakers with Al Amin Universal.

He also did not explain how he came to be in the same entourage with Suryadharma, who traveled to Saudi Arabia representing the ministry on an official visit, if he registered through a private travel agent.

Al Amin is reportedly owned by Melani Leimena Suharli of the ruling Democratic Party. "I don't know [who owns Al Amin]. As for how much I paid for the trip, please ask KPK investigators," Irgan said.

When asked if he knew whether the unused seats were intended for other prospective pilgrims on the waiting list, he answered, "I don't know."

Responding to Irgan's statement, KPK deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas said there were two possible violations in the haj graft case: the illegal use of haj quotas and the use of state money to fund the "illegal" entourage.

"This is not about whether they paid for the trip on their own, but about whether the lawmakers insulted regular folks who have to sell their paddy fields, livestock and more to get the money just to be on the waiting list. They are the ones who should get the seats and not the cronies of the minister," Busyro said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/25/ppp-politician-throws-more-dirt-suryadharma.html

Freedom of religion & worship

US State Department slams Indonesia for intolerance

Jakarta Globe - July 31, 2014

Josua Gantan, Jakarta – The US State Department's 2013 Report on International Religious Freedom accuses the Indonesian government of having failed to ensure religious freedom in the nation.

The report, released on Monday, claims that the government has generally "failed to prevent violence, abuse, and discrimination against individuals based on their religious belief." It further accused the government of being responsible for having "limited the rights of adherents to minority faiths to worship freely."

The annual report to the US Congress pointed out that there is a willful negligence by law enforcers in Indonesia when it comes to dealing with cases involving religious intolerance.

The report said the police in Indonesia "failed to prevent or sufficiently investigate instances in which militant groups and mobs throughout the country attacked, vandalized, forced to close, or prevented the establishment of places of worship, religious schools, and homes of Muslim groups regarded as unorthodox."

The report quotes the Setara Institute, a nongovernmental group that monitors religious freedom, stating that "inaction by security forces was the most common category of abuse by state actors."

Government officials are accused of being actively involved in undermining religious freedom in Indonesia, according to the report. According to the Setara Institute, there were at least 70 instances between January and June last year where government officials abused religious freedoms.

Hendardi, executive director of the Setara Institute, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that the Yudhoyono administration's performance in this regard has been disappointing.

He said sporadic violence occurring in various parts of Indonesia was indicative of the poor state of religious freedom in the nation as well as poor law enforcement, "as if our Constitution is impotent."

"The government has always handled this problem awkwardly," Hendardi said. "In terms of religious freedom, there has not been a single significant improvement. In fact there were many setbacks."

In the same vein, Solahuddin Wahid, a Muslim leader and brother of Indonesia's fourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid, told the Globe on Thursday that the government "has not been firm" in this regard.

Yet, Hendardi expressed his hope that religious freedom can improve under the Joko Widodo administration. Hendardi mentioned that Joko's track record shows that he is a public official that is not afraid to uphold religious freedom.

"It is not easy to handle this and there are certainly political challenges, but when he led Jakarta, he set some good examples," Hendardi said.

For example, according to Hendardi, Joko stood his ground as a governor when he elected Susan Jasmine Zulkifli – a Christian – as a district head in Lenteng Agung despite mounting criticism against the move. Hendardi said that Jusuf Kalla, Joko's deputy, is also reputed as a peacemaker.

"He is a peacemaking figure, such as in Aceh and Poso [Central Sulawesi]," Hendardi said, stating the two places where Kalla brokered peace pacts to resolve separatist and religious conflict. "There is hope for religious freedom and pluralism here," Hendardi said.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/us-state-department-slams-indonesia-intolerance/

Not safe for Sampang Shiites to return home, says minister

Jakarta Post - July 28, 2014

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi defended on Monday the recent move by local authorities to prohibit hundreds of internally displaced Shia from returning to their homes in Sampang, Madura, for Idul Fitri and from visiting relatives in other areas of the island, saying that reconciliation was an ongoing process.

"It [the whole matter] is an ongoing process [overseen by a team] which is led by [Sunan Ampel Islamic State Institute] rector [Ab A'la]. We [the central government] have asked him to continue discussing it," Gamawan said on Monday at the State Palace after he paid a visit on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during an Idul Fitri open house.

"When the local community is ready to accept [them] and if the situation is conducive, of course we [the government] want them to return," Gamawan said in response to a question of whether the government supported the decision to stop them from celebrating Idul Fitri in their hometown this year. Shiites from Sampang were forcibly evicted from their homes two years ago.

Previously, Universalia Legal Aid Foundation coordinator Hertasning Ichlas revealed that Ikli Al Milal, coordinator for the displaced Sampang Shia, had sent him a message to explain that they were facing difficulties in returning home to celebrate Idul Fitri and the local authorities had cited security concerns.

Hertasning said the central government and the East Java administration continued to claim that the situation in Sampang was not safe, but they had failed to provide any clear or detailed explanation and despite local people in Sampang instigating several positive initiatives to resolve the inter-communal conflict.

According to Hertasning, the displaced Shiites and the local community had also agreed to reconcile as part of a "peace for people" program.(dic)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/28/not-safe-sampang-shiites-return-home-says-minister.html

Acceptance of Baha'I faith welcomed

Jakarta Post - July 26, 2014

Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Amid the growing intolerance of the Shia and Ahmadiyah groups, newly appointed Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin offered a glint of hope for pluralism with his acknowledgment of Baha'i as a religion.

Responding to a letter from Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi questioning on the status of Baha'i in the country, the United Development Party (PPP) minister said that Baha'i was among the religions protected by the Constitution, hence, its followers deserved the same citizenship rights as other Indonesians.

Responding to criticism received for his stance, Lukman said it was more important to have discourse on whether the state should be given the authority to acknowledge a religion.

"The Religious Affairs Ministry is currently reviewing the issue. We appreciate feedback on it," he said on his Twitter account @lukmansaifuddin on Thursday night.

Lukman said the state's protection for Baha'i was based on articles 28e and 29 of the Constitution. Article 28e, which contains three points, stipulates that every individual is free to follow a religion or a faith and to pray according to its teachings while Article 29 guarantees state protection of those rights.

Lukman said Baha'i followers were scattered across the country. There are 220 in Banyuwangi, 100 in Jakarta, 100 in Medan, 98 in Surabaya, 80 in Palopo, 50 in Bandung and 30 in Malang.

The Blasphemy Law officially recognizes six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

The law is often misinterpreted despite it stating that aside from the acknowledged six religions, the state would "leave alone" the followers of other religions, and they were guaranteed full constitutional rights as long as they did not run counter to current regulations.

Emerging in Iran in the 19th century, Baha'i was outlawed in Indonesia from 1962 until former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid lifted the ban in 2000.

Ismail Hasani of the pluralism watchdog Setara Institute said the minister's statement "gave hope for the strengthening of religious tolerance". "His openness raises hopes for a group that has experienced discrimination by the state," he said on Friday.

Ismail, a state administrative law lecturer at State Islamic University (UIN), also said that the Constitution should be perceived as a guarantee of religious freedom, rather than something that mandates religion or imposes a particular faith on all citizens.

Lukman's predecessor, Suryadharma Ali, who was recently named a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was not known for his flexibility toward minority groups. During his tenure he recommended that Shia and Ahmadiyah followers convert to Islam after several attacks by Muslim groups accusing them of heresy.

Lecturer at the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies at the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Zainal Abidin Bagir, said Lukman's acknowledgement of Baha'i would mean that it would no longer be deemed blasphemous.

"Lukman emphasized that Baha'i followers cannot be accused of 'religious defamation'," Zainal said. "It is a legitimate religion that is protected under the Constitution." He added that Lukman's political gesture recognized the equality of all citizens, regardless of religion.

Separately, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar refused to comment on whether the government would recognize Baha'i as a religion in the near future. "Let's wait for the new minister," he said at the State Palace on Friday.

Gamawan said that although the two ministries were in discussion his ministry still acknowledged only the six religions.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/26/acceptance-baha-i-faith-welcomed.html

Poverty & social inequity

Indonesia needs more accessible services: UN

Jakarta Post - July 25, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Indonesia must improve access to quality social services and to jobs to reduce the widening inequality gap that has left the country's growing middle class vulnerable to poverty, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says in its latest report.

The UNDP's 2014 Human Development Report stated that Indonesia had recorded a sizable increase in its inequality gap, rising from 0.31 to 0.414, with 1 being completely unequal in a scale from 0 to 1.

UNDP Indonesia's country director Beate Trankmann said that the country was now facing the challenge of rising inequality, particularly in education. "We know from the data that rising inequality is a challenge for Indonesia. The highest inequality is in education," she said.

Trankmann urged the Indonesian government to invest more in education to improve quality as well as to ensure equally distributed growth in income per capita. "Provide universal social services and access to employment," Trankmann said.

In its report, the UNDP found that Indonesian only saw a sluggish increase in its overall human development index (HDI) of 0.003, to 0.684. Indonesian remains unchanged at 108th out of 187 countries surveyed, which is in the medium human development category globally.

According to the 2014 report, Indonesia's HDI was boosted by a slightly higher life expectancy of 70.8 years, along with mean years of schooling of 7.5 years. Expected years in schooling in Indonesia is 12.9.

This year's, albeit slight, HDI rise was mostly accounted for by a sizable jump in gross national income (GNI) per capita, to Rp 8,970 (77 US cents) this year from last year's Rp 8,601.

"You do have a movement but it's not enough to get to the next rank. You see upward movement in all composite indicators. You see a big jump in GNI per capita, which basically drives the human development improvement for Indonesia currently," Trankmann said.

"But you see the expected years of schooling in particular is flattening because it's already very high," she added, referring to the same figure Indonesia obtained last year.

In last year's report, Indonesia recorded a HDI of 0.681, which consisted of a life expectancy of 70.6 years along with a mean years of schooling of 7.5 years and an expected years in schooling of 12.7 years.

Although Indonesia's GNI has increased, Trankmann said that the flat expected years of schooling and the moderate growth in life expectancy of 0.2 years had put Indonesia, along with most countries globally, at risk due to rising inequality.

UNDP Indonesia researcher Harry Seldadyo encouraged the government to provide accessible social services, particularly education, for those in the country's remoter areas, such as Indonesia's easternmost province Papua.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/25/ri-needs-more-accessible-services-un.html

State & governance

Allies welcome Jokowi's nod to politically linked professionals

Jakarta Post - July 31, 2014

Bagus BT Saragih and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Despite an earlier pact that president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla would not offer ministerial posts to their allies in return for support in the presidential election, political parties have come up with names they would offer for the new Cabinet.

Jokowi and Kalla admitted they had been thinking about their Cabinet ahead their inauguration in October, a process deemed as the pair's first herculean task after their election.

Reiterating their commitment to forming a clean government, however, both Jokowi and Kalla have said they are open to the possibility of recruiting politicians to the Cabinet. "There will be no dichotomy between politician and non-politician. Figures from political parties can also be good professionals," Jokowi said over the weekend.

The Jakarta governor highlighted that he wanted candidates with strong leadership and managerial skills to fill the ministerial posts. "The next ministers must also be those who have the spirit to serve the people, not the other way around," he said.

Responding to his statements, leaders of political parties supporting the Jokowi-Kalla ticket claimed they would nominate their members to the pair as potential ministers.

"We are preparing around five to 10 figures [to be nominated as ministers]. The final say will be in their hands [Jokowi and Kalla]," Muhaimin Iskandar, the chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) which supported the ticket, said.

Refusing to disclose the nominees, the manpower and transmigration minister indicated that he was also eager to serve as a minister again.

Other PKB members touted as potential ministerial candidates were senior leader of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), and former minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa; PKB secretary-general and lawmaker Imam Nachrowi; lawmaker Marwan Jafar; Disadvantaged Regions Minister Ahmad Helmy Faisal Zaini; as well as PKB deputy chairman and Lion Air group president director Rusdi Kirana.

Surya Paloh, chairman of the NasDem Party, another party in the coalition, also acknowledged that the party would nominate some of its members. "We still have time. This coalition is non-conditional," Surya said, refusing to elaborate further.

Similarly, Hanura Party chairman Gen. (ret.) Wiranto indicated the party would also nominate candidates but refused to name names. "If some of the parties supporting Jokowi-Kalla get ministerial posts, it would not be considered compensation [for the party's support for the ticket]. I believe Hanura has professional members whose quality and competence meet Jokowi- Kalla's criteria," he said.

Among NasDem members who have been dubbed as potential ministers are lawmaker Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, party executive Jeffrie Geovanie, lawmaker Akbar Faisal and party secretary-general Patrice Rio Capella.

Possible nominees from Hanura, meanwhile, include businessman and former lawmaker Yuddy Chrisnandi.

Pol-Tracking Institute executive director Hanta Yuda said it would be practically impossible to avoid including political party members in Jokowi's Cabinet.

"What Jokowi and Kalla can do is ensure that their ministers are full-time professionals, regardless of their political affiliation," he said. "Therefore, any politicians in the next Cabinet must resign from their structural positions in their respective parties," Hanta added.

Jokowi-Kalla volunteer teams are currently absorbing people's aspirations via online polls. Jokowi admitted the polls would be crucial in helping him and Kalla name their Cabinet members.

"We will take public participation into considerable account. There are also many other methods we are using to 'head-hunt' potential ministers," Jokowi said.

Lawmaker Poempida Hidayatullah, Kalla's spokesman, said that political parties could not pressure Jokowi and Kalla. "Thanks to the initial non- transactional commitments made when the coalition was formed, Jokowi and Kalla will be able to name their ministers freely and according to their criteria, without interference," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/31/allies-welcome-jokowi-s-nod-politically-linked-professionals.html

No crooks or human rights abusers in new Cabinet: Activists

Jakarta Post - July 26, 2014

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – Human rights groups have called on president- elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to fill the new Cabinet only with figures whose track records are free from corruption or human rights violations.

"Jokowi must realize that his victory was due to the people's support, thus he must not betray the people's trust," the program director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, Al Araf, said.

He demanded that Jokowi avoid filling Cabinet posts with human rights abusers, in particular ministerial posts relating to legal, defense or security issues.

"Some individuals around Jokowi have been implicated in human rights abuses. Jokowi must not chose anyone implicated in cases such as the Talangsari killings, the Tanjung Priok incident or the murder of human rights activist Munir," he said in a telephone interview on Friday.

A member of Jokowi's campaign team, former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Gen. (ret) Hendropriyono, faces accusations over his alleged involvement in Munir's murder and the Talangsari case.

Hendropriyono is among the candidates touted to enter Jokowi's new Cabinet. Indo Barometer pollster has named him as potential coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, along with former Army chief of staff, Gen. (ret) Ryamizard Ryacudu.

Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator, Haris Azhar, concurred with Al Araf, saying that Jokowi, who will be sworn in as president on Oct. 20, must remain aloof from suspect businesspeople and politicians.

On Thursday, Jokowi, through his website jokowicenter.com, launched an online poll called the "People's Choice for an Alternative Cabinet". In the poll three different names are suggested for each ministerial post in a Cabinet of 34 ministers. Respondents can also propose other names aside from the three available choices.

Jokowi said that the poll result would be taken into account when he recruited his ministers.

For the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister post, the poll has presented three candidates – Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko, former Army chief Gen. Budiman and former Jakarta governor and retired general Sutiyoso.

Al Araf proposed Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Tjahjo Kumolo or Moeldoko as the best candidates to fill the post, while Haris opted for Moeldoko.

"There is no problem with Moeldoko's track record. But, the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] need to explain about the meeting between Moeldoko and Rudi Rubiandini prior to Rudi's arrest," Haris said, referring to the former Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) chief, who has since been jailed for corruption.

Analyst from the Indonesian Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies (LESPERSSI), Rizal Dharma Putra, suggested that senior PDI-P lawmaker and retired general, TB Hasanuddin, was best suited to fill the post. "TB Hasanuddin has experience in both military and political fields," Rizal said.

For the defense ministry post, Al Araf and Haris suggested Rizal Sukma, a renowned analyst and executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "Rizal is known for his commitment in reforming the defense sector," Al Araf said.

Rizal Dharma Putra mentioned Andi Widjajanto, a defense expert at the University of Indonesia (UI) and a member of Jokowi's campaign team, as the best contender. "Andi has excellent academic background, but it maybe not enough. We need a minister with practical ability," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/26/no-crooks-or-human-rights-abusers-new-cabinet-activists.html

Jokowi goes online for Cabinet

Jakarta Post - July 25, 2014

Sita W. Dewi and Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – Social media played a major role in his presidential-election victory and now president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has embraced the same tool to recruit his ministers.

At the same time he is easing pressure from those seeking places in the Cabinet and attempting to win over his opponents.

Amid rumors and media speculation about his Cabinet choices after he is sworn in as president on Oct. 20, Jokowi and his team have produced an online poll called "People's Choice for an Alternative Cabinet" published on jokowicenter.com.

In the survey, the team is putting forward three different names for each ministerial post in a Cabinet of 34 ministers. The poll also provides an option should respondents wish to propose another name. It is expected citizens will respond enthusiastically to this Indonesian Idol style of recruitment as it will be the first time they have been involved in Cabinet formation.

"The selection of ministers is the prerogative of the president, but that does not mean the people cannot participate," the team says in the introduction.

Jokowi, who was officially declared on Tuesday the winner of the July 9 presidential election along with his running mate Jusuf Kalla, confirmed that he was fully aware of the online recruitment operation. However, he quickly added that it was just one of his methods for forming his administration.

When asked about the poll, Jokowi said on Thursday, "I just want to gather the public's views. That's okay, isn't it?"

"Up to this point, we have not talked about who will fill which position. Once again, this is only to seek input from the people," said Jokowi, who is scheduled to tender his resignation as Jakarta governor later this month.

Several big names have been tossed into the hat. Former Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University rector Azyumardi Azra has been touted as a potential religious affairs minister, while popular economists including National Economic Council member Aviliani, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) academic Sri Adiningsih and energy expert Kurtubi have been suggested as potential candidates to fill economic posts.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians, including Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, Pramono Anung, Maruarar Sirait, Puan Maharani, Hasto Kristiyanto and Eva Kusuma Sundari are also on the list.

From the current Cabinet, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Agus Martowardojo, former trade minister Gita Wirjawan and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan are also among the favorites.

The poll also includes some prominent figures from the camp of Jokowi's rival Prabowo Subianto. Among them are Religious Affairs Minister and United Development Party (PPP) deputy chairman Lukman Hakim Saifuddin and Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil from the Gerindra Party.

The poll has generally received a warm welcome from netizens. Sitti Rahmani Alwan, a post-graduate student from the University of Indonesia (UI), said the poll was evidence that Jokowi was really listening to the people.

"It's good that Jokowi is taking into account people's suggestions in arranging his Cabinet. When filling out the poll, I was amazed that the most proposed names were well-regarded figures," she said, noting that her favorite choice was Anies Baswedan for the education and culture minister post.

Director of social media pollster PoliticaWave, Yose Rizal, praised Jokowi's strategy. "Indonesia has more than 70 million netizens, with a majority of them well educated and over 34 years of age," he said.

While welcoming Jokowi's move, UGM political analyst Ari Dwipayana suggested the president-elect needed to carefully assess the structure of his new Cabinet.

"Before releasing the poll, Jokowi should have decided whether to retain all the existing 34 ministerial posts or restructure some of them. "Jokowi should also discuss with the public about the criteria of an ideal minister. Then, he could propose some names based on those criteria," he said in a telephone interview.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/25/jokowi-goes-online-cabinet.html

Armed forces & defense

New Army chief vows to maintain neutrality during transition

Jakarta Post - July 26, 2014

Ina Parlina and Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – New Army chief Lt. Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo has pledged to strengthen the management of his force and to maintain its neutrality, in particular during the transition of power from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

"We're optimistic that everything will run peacefully and orderly, since those are the basic foundations of future development," Gatot said after being sworn in by Yudhoyono at the State Palace.

The neutrality of the Army has been in question following rumors of the alleged partiality of Gatot's predecessor, Gen. Budiman, in the runup to the July 9 presidential election.

The suspicions arose after Yudhoyono lashed out at military and police generals who were engaged in talks with political parties that solicited their support for one or other of the presidential tickets in the election.

Both the palace and Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Moeldoko have denied the allegations, noting that the rotation of the Army's leadership was needed as Budiman was due to retire in the next three months.

Gatot, who previously served as Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) chief, said that he would improve the Army's performance by using the existing programs laid out by Budiman.

"Pak Budiman set out the programs during his half-year leadership. I will continue them, but with evaluations and necessary adjustments based on conditions," he said.

During the handover ceremony at Army headquarters later in the day, Moeldoko instructed Gatot to pay attention to the development of Army personnel.

"I believe that Lt. Gen. Gatot, with his leadership ability and knowledge, will be able to improve the quality of the Army's personnel and staff," he said.

After the ceremony, Budiman said that in his last days of service, he would provide assistance to Gatot. Budiman seemed reluctant to answer reporters' questions about his absence from Gatot's inauguration ceremony at the palace. "There is no problem," he responded.

The program director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, Al Araf, hoped that Gatot would fully obey the next president and make the Army more transparent and open to public suggestions.

"Although he was appointed by Yudhoyono, the Army chief must submit to the supremacy of the next government, which will be led by a civilian president," he said in a telephone interview.

"The Army chief should listen to the people's suggestions, in particular on the issues of ongoing reform within the Indonesian Army and of military tribunals. So far, the implementation of military-tribunal reform, in particular, has been stymied by the Army's resistance," Al Araf said.

Analyst from the Indonesian Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies (LESPERSSI), Rizal Dharma Putra, suggested Gatot should pay attention to modernizing the Army's defense systems.

"The Army chief also needs to strengthen the army's units, especially the airborne battalion so they can immediately reach areas that are hit by disasters or controlled by separatists," Rizal said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/26/new-army-chief-vows-maintain-neutrality-during-transition.html

Army chief of staff dismissal may be linked to politics

Jakarta Post - July 23, 2014

Ina Parlina and Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed on Tuesday Lt. Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo as the new Army chief of staff to replace Gen. Budiman, who was abruptly dismissed from his position three months before reaching retirement age.

Gatot was one of three candidates proposed by Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

TNI spokesperson Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya said that Moeldoko had proposed to Yudhoyono three names of possible successors to Budiman; Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) commander Lt. Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo; deputy Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. M. Munir and secretary-general of the National Defense Council (Watannas) Lt. Gen. Waris. "Yes, Pak Gatot is the replacement," TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya said.

Speculation was rife that the sudden decision to replace Budiman was due to his political involvement in the run-up to the July 9 presidential election.

Rumors about Budiman's alleged partiality in the presidential election circulated after Yudhoyono lashed out at military and police generals who were engaged in talks with political parties that solicited their support for the two presidential tickets in July 9 presidential election.

Yudhoyono alleged that certain politicians had urged the generals to disobey him. "[The individual said] there is no need to listen to the direction of the President, who is like a sinking ship. Let us just hop on the new ship that sails," Yudhoyono said before scores of generals on June 2 at the Defense Ministry building.

Budiman denied that he was the one who made the controversial remarks. "I never did such a thing. I am a warrior, not a traitor. I walk on the right and straight path," he said.

Budiman added that in his last days in power, he would remain focused on maintaining security following the announcement of the elected president.

The Presidential Palace denied Budiman's dismissal had anything to do with the presidential election.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that Yudhoyono had considered replacing the Army chief of staff months ago given that Budiman would retire in September 2014. "This has more to do with the regeneration of TNI leadership," Julian said.

Also on Tuesday, Moeldoko defended the decision to dismiss Budiman, saying there was nothing political about the move despite the fact that it was made on the same day the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the final tally of the presidential election.

"The announcement of the presidential election result is a political activity while the dismissal of the Army chief of staff is an organizational matter."

Intelligence analyst from the Indonesia Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies (LESPERSSI), Rizal Dharma Putra, said that Yudhoyono may have been angry about Budiman's meeting with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri prior to the presidential election.

"There is no urgency to replace Budiman now, aside from political reasons. Budiman met with Megawati, without telling the President first. Yudhoyono saw this as inappropriate behavior," he said.

Budiman was inaugurated by Yudhoyono as the Army chief of staff at the State Palace in late August 2013, replacing Moledoko who was named military chief at that time. Budiman, the former Defense Ministry secretary-general who was once also deputy Army chief of staff, was at the top of the military academy's 1978 class and was awarded the Adhi Makayasa medal. He is also known as one of the Army's brightest.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/23/army-chief-staff-dismissal-may-be-linked-politics.html

Munir, Gatot, Waris strongest candidates to lead Army

Jakarta Post - July 22, 2014

Jakarta – Indonesia Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Moeldoko said on Tuesday that the TNI headquarters had proposed three candidates to take over as Army chief of staff, after Gen. Budiman was removed from the position on Monday night.

Moeldoko said the candidates included Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Muhammad Munir, Army's Strategic Reserve Commander Lt. Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo and National Resilience Council (Wantannas) secretary-general Lt. Gen. Waris.

"We've submitted the names. The President is slated to confirm the candidate later today," said Moeldoko.

Under Budiman's leadership, the Army was criticized for allegedly failing to remain neutral in the presidential election. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed in June that several active generals had been disloyal to him as the military's supreme commander.

"This is hardly slander, as my sources have confirmed that certain quarters have approached several high-ranking officers in order to get their support for presidential candidates," he said.

"There has been a suggestion that they [the officers] abandon their President and not listen to him, because he is in 'a sinking ship' [...] It is much better to follow a bright new star," Yudhoyono.

Speculation is rife that Yudhoyono's ire was directed at Budiman and Moeldoko, who was once tapped as a running mate for presidential candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. (ren)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/22/munir-gatot-waris-strongest-candidates-lead-army.html

Foreign affairs & trade

World leaders 'slow' in congratulating Jokowi

Jakarta Post - July 24, 2014

Jakarta – Many world leaders were apparently hesitant to contact president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, perhaps preferring to wait until the loser of the election, Prabowo Subianto, files his lawsuit with the Constitutional Court. Many big countries such as China, India and South Korea have not yet congratulated Jokowi.

Even several fellow ASEAN leaders, such as the Philippines, have not contacted the Jakarta governor.

US President Barack Obama, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott were among the first foreign leaders to call or send congratulatory messages. "This morning [Wednesday], the Singaporean PM and Australian PM called me. At 11 a.m. today, Mr. Obama called and congratulated me," Jokowi said at City Hall in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Jokowi explained that Obama, who spent a few years of his childhood in Jakarta, spoke Indonesian in their telephone conversation. Obama promised to speak with Jokowi on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China in November.

While Obama spoke directly with Jokowi, US Secretary of State John Kerry praised the Indonesian people for uniting once again to show their commitment to democracy through free and fair elections.

"The US looks forward to working with president-elect Widodo as we deepen our partnership, promote our shared objectives globally, and expand people-to-people ties between our nations," Kerry said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Kerry said that, as the world's second- and third-largest democracies, the US and Indonesia set an example for the world. "We share many common values, including respect for human rights and the rule of law. Our two nations have worked hard to build the US-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership, which has strengthened our bilateral relationship so we can jointly address common regional and global challenges," Kerry added.

Meanwhile, the Australian prime minister hailed Indonesia's election as a significant milestone for the world's third-largest democracy, as he praised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his "vast contributions".

"Indonesia is to be congratulated on its remarkable transition to democracy and on the conduct of the election," Abbott said as quoted by Agence France-Presse.

Abbott said Australia's relationship with its neighbor, with whom ties were strained last year due to spying allegations, was "extraordinarily important to us".

"The Australian government is looking forward to working closely with [Jokowi]," Abbott stated.

Abbott underlined that the relationship was highly productive, and hoped to work closely to further strengthen bilateral ties. "We share a long history of cooperation on a wide range of common interests and challenges," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe invited Jokowi to visit Japan. As quoted by the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo, the prime minister told Jokowi in their 10-minute telephone conversation that "Indonesia and Japan are strategic partners, therefore the role of the two countries with regard to security, peace, stability and prosperity in the region amid the current changing situation has become more important."

Shortly after the announcement of the final election result by the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Tuesday night, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib congratulated Jokowi via his Twitter account. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee also used social media to congratulate Jokowi.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warmly congratulated Jokowi and Indonesians for another successful exercise in democracy.

"Indonesia is important to the UK: it is the world's third-largest democracy and a close G20 [Group of 20] partner. We share many values as democratic, diverse, island trading nations that are strongly reflected in our growing relationship. We work together to promote trade, security, combat climate change, and in many other areas, and that will continue," said the newly promoted minister.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said the active participation of Indonesian civil society and professional management by the election authorities in Indonesia had illustrated the strength and dynamism of the country's democracy.

"We are looking forward to working with you to further strengthen our cooperation in the years to come. Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration," he added.

Shortly after being sworn in as the country's seventh president in October, Jokowi will embark on foreign visits for meetings with regional and world leaders.

Jokowi will have a busy schedule with a series of ASEAN meetings, the ASEAN Summit, followed by the East Asia Summit in Naypyidaw, Myanmar in November 2014. The East Asia Summit is an annual meeting of national leaders from the East Asian region and adjoining countries.

The two other summits are the G20 Summit, scheduled to be held in Brisbane, Australia in November and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting (APEC) in the same month in Beijing.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/24/world-leaders-slow-congratulating-jokowi.html

Economy & investment

Mining Law boosts foreign investment

Jakarta Post - July 25, 2014

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – Foreign direct investment (FDI) growth in Indonesia has reached a historic high in the second quarter after slowing earlier this year, partly boosted by new investments in the mining sector.

Stronger growth is expected in the future with the enforcement of the Mining Law, which requires miners to process their mineral ore locally before exporting.

The Jan. 12 ore export ban triggered at least 50 planned smelter projects worth US$31.4 billion in total to be realized in the next few years, according to the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

The board reported on Thursday that FDI realization in the second quarter grew by 16.9 percent year-on-year to top Rp 78 trillion ($6.7 billion), taking total realized investments in the April-June period to Rp 116.2 trillion, the highest in history.

In the first quarter of this year, Indonesia registered a mere 9.8 percent FDI growth, as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach due to the country's political uncertainty.

"Investors may have realized that our economic fundamentals remain intact, despite the legislative and presidential elections of this year," BKPM chairman Mahendra Siregar said.

Among attractive industries for foreign investors were transportation, warehouses and telecommunications, which collectively generated $1.4 billion in the second quarter, or 19.3 percent of total FDI realization.

Trailing were the food industry, with $1.3 billion in realized FDI, and the mining industry, with $1.1 billion.

In the mining industry, Mahendra emphasized that Indonesia had benefited from the implementation of the law, with the ore export ban – the law's auxiliary regulation – able to push miners to add value to their products.

The investment value for the establishment of 50 new smelters is sufficient to finance around seven years of Indonesia's trade deficit, which amounted to around $4 billion last year. International stakeholders, like the US- based World Bank, have argued that the policy is doing the economy more harm than good.

"If we look at the numbers, we can conclude that investments in smelters have now become more attractive," said Mahendra.

Indonesia's stable and robust economy, combined with its growing middle class, has made it a darling among foreign investors. Peaceful legislative and presidential elections this year also showed the political stability demanded by businesses in one of the world's largest democracies.

Economists have predicted even stronger FDI inflows into Indonesia in the future as president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has cemented his reputation as an investor-friendly leader pushing for reforms.

"In the nearer term, a Jokowi victory should restart the flow of FDI, which has been on hold because of the election uncertainty," noted Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin.

However, Indonesia's robust investment growth was overshadowed by low job creation as many investors moved to capital-intensive industries to sidestep rising labor costs. In the second quarter of 2014, 350,803 jobs were created, around half the number of 626,376 jobs generated a year before, according to BKPM data.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) economist Edimon Ginting said low job creation was also caused by Indonesia's recent economic slowdown, which had dragged down domestic demand and had forced some businesses to operate at "overcapacity" by "enlarging their investments without absorbing new labor".

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/25/mining-law-boosts-foreign-investment.html

Singapore tops Indonesia foreign investment list

Jakarta Post - July 24, 2014

Jakarta – The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has confirmed that Singapore topped the foreign investor list in Indonesia during the first half of 2014.

The amount of foreign capital inflows from Singapore reached US$2.1 billion, according to BKPM data that was issued in Jakarta on Thursday.

Malaysia was in second place with a total investment of $600 million. The same $600 million in investment also came from Japan and the UK. The US ranked fifth with a total of $400 million during the January-June period.

"Singapore remains the largest foreign investment contributor to the country. This is because Singapore is a [regional] base for almost every business across the globe," BKPM head Mahendra Siregar said in Jakarta on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

Foreign investment realization, totaling $1.7 billion, was still centered in the capital city during the first half of the year, he added. West Java and East Kalimantan followed in second and third place with investments of $1.5 billion and $700 million, respectively.

Most of the investment flowed into the transportation, logistics and telecommunication sectors. (nfo)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/24/singapore-tops-ri-foreign-investment-list.html

Jokowi promises to make life easier for investors

Reuters - July 23, 2014

Kanupriya Kapoor & Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – Indonesia's new president, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, promised to make life simpler for investors by beefing up the country's threadbare infrastructure, untangling near- impenetrable regulations and sacking his ministers if they aren't up to the job.

The Elections Commission announced on Tuesday that the Jakarta governor had won the hard-fought July 9 election by just over 6 percentage points, although his rival, Prabowo Subianto, plans to challenge the result in Constitutional Court.

"We need to get our economy growing. To do that we must have more investment and also deliver in terms of infrastructure," Jokowi told Reuters in an interview on Saturday, given on the condition that it not be published until after he was officially named winner.

A lack of roads, ports, electricity and other basic services, along with corrupt bureaucracies, is beginning to disenchant foreign investors, essential for the resource-based economy to grow.

"[Investors] say getting business permits is very complicated. Some investors say they need two years. Imagine. So if we can give solutions for getting business permits, I'm sure that we can improve the infrastructure faster."

Jokowi is the first businessman to become president of Indonesia, which took all six of its previous leaders from a political elite. His simple, direct approach and success in cutting through red tape appealed to ordinary voters. And investors have been pushing up share prices on expectations he would become leader of the world's third-largest democracy and home to its biggest Muslim population.

Jokowi's humble "I'm just like the rest of you" style has made him the country's most popular politician and it is an image he is careful not to lose, repeatedly referring to his time as mayor of Solo, a small city, and later as the capital's governor.

He has rented a small, plainly furnished house in central Jakarta while he waits to move, in October, into the sprawling presidential palace in central Jakarta, which began life in the 18th century as home to a wealthy Dutch businessman in the colonial era. Outside were three security guards in plain clothes.

Jokowi, in bare feet and dressed in white shirt and dark trousers, made clear he understood his presidential honeymoon could be brief.

There is little in the state coffers to address pressing problems from declining economic growth to rising poverty. But he has shown in Jakarta talent for finding money in the budget and has come down hard on officials who do not perform. That, he said, is a policy he will take to the presidential office.

"If [ministers don't succeed] there are more than a thousand other good people in Indonesia to replace them. I can cut and then replace them. It's very simple for me," he said. "They have to be clean, they have to be competent, they have to have good leadership [skills] and a commitment to serve the people."

He has faced accusations, which he denies, that he will be under the thumb of the chief of the party that supports him, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Jokowi repeatedly said during his presidential campaign he would not trade cabinet jobs for political support. But in the interview, he acknowledged for the first time that around 20 percent of his cabinet will likely be political appointments from parties that backed him.

The threat of being fired is an unusual risk for ministers. For years, the biggest threat most cabinet members have faced is a reshuffle into a less significant role.

One finance minister was forced to resign three years ago because, in the view of many analysts, she was a little too effective in tackling the rampant graft that has so long weighed down Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Short on specifics

But Jokowi was short on specifics. "Too much detail," said his aide when the president-elect was asked exactly how he would handle such issues like a ban imposed this year on exports of unprocessed minerals. The law is meant to boost national revenues, but has worried investors by its confused implementation and suggestion of rising nationalism.

First, said Jokowi, he will immediately set a transition team to discuss how to allocate top government positions and which issues to set as priorities.

He pointed to the massive fuel subsidies, which now cost about a fifth of the annual state budget but which economists say do more to help the wealthy than the 40 percent of the population which live in or close to abject poverty.

"We should move the subsidies to the farmers for their fertilizer or infrastructure for their irrigation. To the fishermen, we can give... engines for their boats... if we move the subsidies from fuel to productive activities, we will have more productivity," he said.

"I think a first important thing is also to make regulations clearer. Because some of the regulations are not clear," he said. "In my experience as mayor and governor it's not difficult. It's just a different scale. It's only about management."

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jokowi-promises-make-life-easier-investors/

Indonesian stocks, rupiah fall as Prabowo withdraws from electoral process

Jakarta Globe - July 22, 2014

Muhamad Al Azhari, Jakarta – Indonesian stocks and the rupiah fell on Tuesday after presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto withdrew from the electoral process and told supporters to leave as monitors from the ballot count, raising concern that political tensions will escalate.

The Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.9 percent to 5,083.52 at the 4 p.m. close. The rupiah was down 0.6 percent against the dollar to 11,606, after being as high as 11,503 earlier in the day.

"The market is worried of any possible political instability. I am assuming the Prabowo camp will take this to the MK [Constitutional Court]. The ball is now in the MK. If the court rejects the appeal by Prabowo camp, I think it [the stock market] will rebound," said Fauzi Ichsan, senior economist at Standard Chartered in Jakarta. "But clearly, what happened today was not good. The rupiah will also get hurt," he said.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) is scheduled to announce the winning candidate from the July 9 presidential election. A majority of unofficial counts shows that Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo is leading Prabowo, a former Army general. Prabowo can contest the KPU's election results, which would be taken up by the Constitutional Court for a final decision.

"We are going to use our political rights and we are rejecting this presidential election, which is legally flawed," Prabowo said in a televised speech from his campaign base in East Jakarta. "We are withdrawing ourselves from the election."

The JCI lost as much as 2.2 percent in afternoon trading as Prabowo made his remarks. Declining stocks outnumbered advancers 243 to 70 on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Telekomunikasi Indonesia and Bank Mandiri were among the biggest losers in the benchmark stock measure.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/indonesian-stocks-rupiah-rise-ahead-official-presidential-election-results/

Analysis & opinion

Indonesia's new paradigm must include the past

Eureka Street - July 28, 2014

Pat Walsh – The day after the result of Indonesia's presidential election was announced, I joined crowds of excited Indonesians at the Proclamation Monument in central Jakarta to celebrate president-elect Jokowi's election as Indonesia's seventh president.

Did you see the rainbow? asked a supporter, pointing to a blurry photo on his mobile phone as Jokowi arrived to address the crowd and break the Muslim fast with them. I hadn't, but even if the heavens had opened and soaked everybody to the skin, it would have been taken as another sign that God too had voted for Jokowi.

The monument commemorates the proclamation of Indonesia's independence from the Dutch made by Sukarno and Hatta in 1945. Their statues looked down on Jokowi as he proclaimed what many believe and hope is a new era in Indonesia, including its liberation from the twitching hand of Suharto's New Order. Many Indonesian commentators feel Prabowo's bid to have the result reversed in his favour by the Constitutional Court and threats to haul the Election Commission before the Parliament are no more than the New Order's death rattles.

In his speech Jokowi did not rubbish Prabowo though he was entitled to given the dirty tactics employed against him and Prabowo's petulant claim on BBC that Jokowi was a fraud whose much lauded closeness to the people was fabricated for political purposes. The personal attack fell flat. I asked my taxi driver and a street vendor what they thought of the comment. Both said how proud they were that a wong cilik or little person like them could achieve the highest office in the country. It gave them hope, not just in Indonesia, but in themselves.

In fact, Jokowi did not even mention Prabowo in his speech. It was as though Prabowo and what he stood for was no longer relevant. To avoid candidates of this kind running in future elections, the respected commentator Wimar Witoelar has proposed that aspirants for high office should receive endorsements from both Indonesia's respected Commission for Human Rights and its crusading Corruption Eradication Commission. It is to be hoped that a Jokowi administration will act on this proposal. It would enhance the quality of candidates, spare Indonesia considerable embarrassment and help eliminate impunity.

The president-elect focused his comments on the contribution to his election made by volunteers, that is, civil society. His campaign achieved an unprecedented level of citizen participation that included millions of small donations from ordinary Indonesians and jealous monitoring of the count. This represents a substantial shift in Indonesia's political culture, the significance of which can only be appreciated by comparison with the Suharto era when the people were treated like children not citizens. Politics in Indonesia is no longer the exclusive domain of party machines, the elite and wealthy, or slick campaign advisers hired from the US.

Jokowi made this point eloquently. Speaking from the deck of a magnificent traditional schooner late at night after the result was announced on 22 July, he surprised many by saying, 'There is happiness and goodness in politics... it represents freedom.' He went on to applaud the sense of responsibility and optimism that 'has blossomed in the souls of the new generation' and the rebirth of the Indonesian tradition of 'voluntarism'.

Jokowi has urged everybody to go back to work. His legions of supporters, however, are not about to vacate the scene and leave it all to him. His fans will hold him accountable.

Before he spoke at the Proclamation Monument, a respected civil society leader, standing near the president-elect, read out a long list of the promises Jokowi had made during the campaign. The list included addressing past human rights violations. Behind him, conspicuous by his dark skin and indigenous headdress, stood a proud Papuan, a silent reminder to Jokowi of his campaign commitment to Papua and that it should no longer be off-limits to international journalists and human rights organisations.

In an editorial following the election, The Jakarta Globe put it this way: 'Joko should dare to rewrite history and debunk the lies fed to Indonesians for far too long, while revealing the truth, no matter how bitter – including the real story behind the 1965-66 massacre and the other atrocities of the Suharto era. The victims deserve justice and Indonesia deserves to move forward into an open and more honest new era.'

Jokowi promised a revolusi mental or paradigm shift in Indonesia. He is no revolutionary but a significant shift has clearly occurred and can be confidently expected to continue. Whether those around him like Megawati, the Wanandi brothers and ex-military Wiranto and Hendropriyono will allow the new paradigm to include the past, including crimes in Timor-Leste, will test both Jokowi and Indonesia's civil society to the maximum.

Source: http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=41749#.U9eEyVPLdV0

Prabowo's choice

Jakarta Post Editorial - July 24, 2014

When, on Tuesday, the people of Indonesia should have been cherishing the end of a prolonged national divide and moving on to extend olive branches to each other, losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto stirred confusion, if not anxiety, through his pledge to challenge his defeat.

What many failed to digest is the fact that instead of contesting the election result at the Constitutional Court, Prabowo said he opted to pull out of the race, which he claimed was laden with violations and was undemocratic. Such a move is unprecedented and unrecognized in the democratic system Indonesia is operating under and it is clear it was aimed at delegitimizing the whole election process at the expense of the people.

An advisor to the Prabowo-Hatta Rajasa campaign team, Akbar Tandjung, said the coalition members had unanimously ruled out the options of accepting the election results and of bringing the dispute to the Constitutional Court.

If only the ticket had acknowledged the final vote tally, which shows they lost to Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Jusuf Kalla by 8 million votes, Indonesia would have lived up to its billing as a mature democracy. Kalla, in contrast, had displayed his statesmanship when he congratulated the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after losing the 2009 race.

Prabowo would prove his commitment to democracy, even though he could not accept the defeat, if he sought justice at the Constitutional Court, since it is the only institution mandated to adjudicate election disputes.

The only choice for Prabowo, despite his slim chance of winning, is to prove his allegations before the Constitutional Court that massive and systematic fraud cost him his bid for the presidency – if congratulating Jokowi and Kalla is too agonizing for him. Prabowo-Hatta would have to file any motion with the court by Friday at the latest.

Prabowo's selection of a third, unconventional way will be interpreted as a desperate attempt to turn the election results to his favor. The more he follows this avenue to reject the official results, however, the more people will question his integrity, given his much-vaunted claims to be ready for either victory or defeat.

What can hopefully change Prabowo's resistance is pressure from his coalition partners. Speculation has been rife that internal bickering has plagued the coalition that nominated the pair of Prabowo and Hatta since last weekend when the manual vote tabulation showed Jokowi and Kalla take an unassailable lead.

One by one executives of Prabowo's coalition partners – Hatta's National Mandate Party (PAN), the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) – publicly conceded defeat and congratulated Jokowi and Kalla.

Hatta, who was not seen accompanying Prabowo on Tuesday, has reportedly called on his party to respect the General Elections Commission (KPU) result, although he failed to make it public, as expected. Both President Yudhoyono and his son Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, respectively the Democratic Party chairman and secretary-general, congratulated Jokowi and Kalla on Wednesday. So did world leaders.

God willing, sooner or later Prabowo will follow suit.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/24/prabowo-s-choice.html

Killing the New Order for good with Jokowi

Jakarta Globe Editorial - July 24, 2014

The 32 years of Suharto's New Order regime had a deep impact on the lives of most Indonesians, and continue to do so more than a decade and a half since its fall from power as one of the most corrupt and ruthless regimes in modern history.

The New Order came to power on the mass murder of up to a million of Indonesians accused of being members or sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party, or PKI, and then maintaining its power through extrajudicial killings, systematic corruption and brainwashing through propaganda.

It pervaded nearly all aspects of Indonesian life with the full support of the many-tentacled armed forces, the corrupt bureaucracy, and the Golkar Party, whose members held both political power and controlled businesses across Indonesia.

While the fall of Suharto in 1998 brought down the regime, it did not excise the cancer wrought by more than three decades of New Order rule. The bureaucracy is still corrupt, and the military continues to wield tremendous influence, with many Indonesians still believing that only military men make for strong and effective leaders.

That is why we welcome the rise of Joko Widodo as the country's first president in the reform era without any links to the New Order.

Joko's election victory gives Indonesia a golden opportunity to break with the past. He is in the unique and historic position to once and for all cut out all vestiges of the New Order cancer.

Joko should dare to rewrite history and debunk the lies fed to Indonesians for far too long, while revealing the truth, no matter how bitter – including the real story behind the 1965-66 massacre and the other atrocities of the Suharto era. The victims deserve justice, and Indonesia deserves to move forward into an open and more honest new era.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/editorial-killing-new-order-good-jokowi/

Rare good news for West Papua

Asia Sentinel - July 24, 2014

Edward Zachary Albrecht and Eric Plese – New and encouraging developments in the struggle for independence of West Papua have been unfolding in the past week.

First, the election of Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla as Indonesia's presidential team means that the new government will likely take a softer stance toward the province, bringing more aid and infrastructure projects.

Second, the island nation of Vanuatu has agreed to host a conference of West Papuan representative groups in the capital city of Port Vila at the end of August to seek to create a renewed bid for membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). It is a reversal of last month's decision to reject the membership application by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation.

Third, five political prisoners have been freed from prison after having been imprisoned for having publicly read a "declaration of independence" from Indonesia.

Not a time for trouble

Although many Indonesian politicians are dead set against granting any measure of independence to their Papua provinces, Indonesia's July 6 election can be viewed as a hopeful turn of events for those province's people. According to the poll results published by the Jakarta Globe, the Joko-Kalla team won 67 percent of the vote in West Papua, where he pledged to support the local's cause.

While some remain skeptical about the new president's intentions, it is clear that he took a softer approach to dealing with the West Papuans than his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, who is known for favoring a stronger military approach to the issue. In an interview with Radio New Zealand, Jim Elmslie, of the University of Sydney's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, says Prabowo was seen as wanting to take "Indonesia back to a more authoritarian mode of government and that would probably be reflected on the ground by a more hardline approach by the military and police even though they are taking a fairly hardline approach now. Jokowi is seen as more of a people's person and indeed he doesn't have a military background."

The renewed drive for membership to the MSG is also a positive development. When the application was rejected the last time around, the leaders of the MSG said it was because they wanted to see a more unified group. This meant that although membership was not granted, advocates for an independent West Papua were pleased with what they saw as an invitation to reapply.

According to a statement from Powes Parkop, governor of the largest city in Papua New Guinea, it was "an encouraging step for his people's cause." Many are thus positive about the upcoming event in Vanuatu.

According to Islands Business, "a Vanuatu Presbyterian pastor has been appointed to head a new committee tasked with organizing the conference. Pastor Alain Nafuki says the aim is to hold discussions among the various groups, and, while there are some divisions amongst the West Papuan groups invited, he hopes that Vanuatu's chiefs will facilitate a Melanesian reconciliation process." This has been touted as a key step in the road to gain recognition for the West Papuan cause.

Another step towards a decrease in tensions played out this week with the release of the five political prisoners who had been serving three-year sentences in a Jayapura prison. According to the Pacific Scoop, the activists were arrested in October 2011 for reading out a "declaration of independence" from Indonesia. Those released included prominent tribal leader Forkorus Yaboisembut, who was declared "president of the Federal Republic of West Papua" during the 2011 declaration of independence event; Edison Waromi, who was declared prime minister; as well as Agustinus Sanany Kraar, Selpius Bobii and Dominikus Sorbet.

Advocates for a free West Papua will be encouraged to have these figures among their communities to guide them once again.

Discontent burns subcutaneously

Not everyone is happy about the elections. Benny Wenda, leader of the West Papua independence movement, believes pledges of support by Joko Widodo, known widely as Jokowi, are a tool to gain political support.

"Every candidate makes promises to West Papua," Wenda told Think Progress, "We don't trust any of the candidates. These are just empty promises. They look at West Papuans as second class citizens, and West Papua as a colony."

Also the release of the prisoners has been viewed with circumspection in other quarters. Despite their release, ordinary West Papuans are, in fact, still being targeted and attacked for speaking of independence.

According to the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organization (UNPO), six activists were beaten and arrested for distributing leaflets calling on the West Papuan population to boycott the elections. Perhaps to avoid having more of his fellow Papuans being put away, Forkorus Yaboisembut, the ex-self-proclaimed president, has stated now that the only solution to the problem is through dialogue with Indonesia, a development which points toward an increase in trust between the sides.

International mining companies are not currently enjoying great relations with the Indonesian authorities. According to Radio New Zealand, "Freeport and rival company Newmont... are still in talks since new mining rules were introduced in an effort to force miners to build smelters and processing plants in Indonesia."

The companies do not want to have to spend money to build the smelters in the country because doing so faces serious problems, including the fact that smelters require huge amounts of power which at the moment are simply unavailable in the remote regions where the mines are situated. Nonetheless, the government insists. This has made their standing in the nation, which has never been rosy, particularly unstable. This time, however, no trouble should come from the Papuan provinces.

Freeport McMoRan operates the Grasberg mine in Papua, the largest gold mine in the world, and the third largest copper mine. In the past, attacks on at the mine have been attributed to the Free Papua Movement. Given the period of trust we are likely to witness, this type of disruptions might be unlikely too.

[Eduardo Zachary is Research Director of Ethnographic Edge, a Tokyo-based country risk firm. Eric Plese is a senior researcher. Web intelligence provided by Recorded Future.]

Source: http://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/rare-good-news-west-papua/

'Vox populi vox Dei'

Jakarta Post Editorial - July 23, 2014

This Latin phrase, translated as "the voice of the people is the voice of God," in an Indonesian context simply means that the nation has decided to entrust Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Jusuf Kalla to lead the nation for the next five years. The judgment was made following a transparent, democratic and fair presidential election on July 9, which culminated in the General Elections Commission's (KPU) announcement of the election result.

Those who doubt the people's wish will hopefully soon realize that they would be gravely mistaken to continue ignoring the voters' choice. Indonesia is the world's third-largest democracy after India and the United States and any attempt to deride the voice of the people will receive little, if any, sympathy from across the globe.

While waiting for his inauguration in October, president-elect Jokowi needs to act quickly to unite the people, who were widely divided before and during the presidential race. Such a phenomenon is normal in full-fledged democracies and the elected leader's first obligation is to reach out to the losing side. We believe Jokowi has the statesmanship to convince everyone that he will act as the true leader of Indonesia, regardless of their political preference.

Losing candidate Prabowo Subianto will enter history books as a man who was led by his own ego to reject the election result just to cover up his own failures. It is difficult to accept his allegations that there was widespread fraud in the election in favor of Jokowi while in fact most irregularities found in the original version of recapitulation forms went against the non-active Jakarta governor.

According to the law, disputes over the election result can be challenged at the Constitutional Court.

Indonesia should now move forward to continue the nation's journey toward prosperity and justice for all, regardless of ethnicity, religion and socioeconomic and political backgrounds. We aim for a much better state for all elements of the nation.

After officially succeeding President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in October, Jokowi should act quickly and effectively to realize his election promises. The former Surakarta mayor will have a short honeymoon because his political opponents in the House of Representatives are likely to do whatever it takes to block his programs.

The Yudhoyono administration in the last 10 years has shown that a ruling coalition does not work well because despite its utmost efforts to accommodate the interests of its allies in the Cabinet, the House could not be tamed.

As Jakarta governor since 2012, Jokowi has faced a similar challenge at the City Council. But unlike Yudhoyono, Jokowi succeeded in overcoming his opponents by directly reaching out to the public. The people will never let politicians hold the nation hostage, as long as they believe that Jokowi is acting in the best interests of the whole population.

We congratulate Jokowi and Kalla for the mandate they have received from the people and above everything we should remember that voters deserve credit for their mature and responsible attitude in the lead-up to, during and after the presidential race.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/23/editorial-vox-populi-vox-dei.html

Jokowi's victory is a decisive break with Indonesia's old order

The Guardian (Australia) - July 23, 2014

Alison Martin – Over 130 million Indonesians voted in the recent presidential election, and notwithstanding the losing candidate Prabowo Subianto's continued refusal to concede, the world's third largest democracy awoke today to a hopeful new future.

The former army strongman has strategically rejected the results, including staging a dramatic walkout during the tallying of final votes ahead of the official announcement last night. Prabowo is proving to be a world-class sore loser; nonetheless, his lawyer last night announced he would not take his tantrum to the constitutional court.

So Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, the former furniture exporter who was born in a riverbank slum and later became Jakarta governor, will be the new president of Indonesia. In electing a "man of the people" over a Suharto-era general with a brutal past, Indonesia has made a decisive break with the old political order.

This was an election with a great deal at stake. With a narrow margin between candidates, Australia's nearest neighbour came close to being led by a man who has been blacklisted from entering the US over human rights violations.

References to Prabowo's chequered past belie the true extent of the shocking and unresolved allegations against him. As then head of Indonesia's special forces, Prabowo's role in the kidnapping of pro- democracy activists prior to Suharto's fall in 1998 led to his being dismissed from service.

All this is widely known and reported. Prabowo also made worryingly anti- democratic, nationalist and xenophobic references throughout his campaign, as well as affiliating with hard-line Islamic groups.

Even Indonesia's major English language newspaper, The Jakarta Post, for the first time in its history, publicly endorsed a candidate. The paper stated in its endorsement for Jokowi that, "There is no such thing as being neutral when the stakes are so high". Others were preparing for the worst. The Australian government reportedly removed Prabowo from Australia's visa blacklist.

We will never know how Australia may have approached a Prabowo presidency, but the visa action is telling. Would prime minister Tony Abbott's willingness to defend the seemingly indefensible when it is strategically advantageous to do so, have led to Prabowo's past being conveniently overlooked, perhaps to ensure the continuation of Australia's asylum seeker policies?

With last night's official announcement of Jokowi's win, Abbott and other global leaders may be breathing sighs of relief at having narrowly avoided an awkward diplomatic predicament.

However, a Jokowi presidency comes with its own challenges. Emerging from an election in which he was characterised in opposition to the strong, nationalistic Prabowo, Jokowi may also seek to prove himself a formidable leader and challenge the notion that former president Megawati Sukarnoputri may be pulling the strings behind the scenes.

It is expected that Jokowi will prioritise domestic issues at least in the short to medium term: revitalising Indonesia's stalling economy, lifting millions out of poverty, improving education and health and implementing ambitious public transport infrastructure programs as promised in the election.

Jokowi will need to choose his foreign policy priorities carefully. It seems likely he will focus attention on foreign issues with a strong domestic dimension – he has already highlighted the issue of improving protections for Indonesian migrant workers. As such, Australia is unlikely to factor highly in Indonesia's foreign policy mix.

The Australian government has hardly helped itself in this regard. During a decade of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY) outward-facing leadership, Australia had plenty of opportunities to forge deep and abiding ties with Indonesia, which it did with varying degrees of success. Yet due to a number of high-profile blunders by its leaders, Australia has repeatedly failed to capitalise on these opportunities and seems blissfully unaware that we need Indonesia far more than Indonesia needs us.

Australia was caught bugging SBY's phone and those of his inner circle, then comprehensively botched the necessary apology. Instead of immediately and openly providing an Obama-style apology, prime minister Tony Abbott blundered into parliament and very publicly told Indonesia to deal with it.

More recently, Abbott rejected SBY's olive-branch invitation to meet at the open government partnership forum in Bali. And then there's the ongoing problem of Australia's repeated incursions on Indonesia's sovereign territory as part of its hard-line asylum seeker policies.

Indonesia went as far as to directly request Australia not take unilateral action on that issue, saying Jakarta's "close cooperation and trust" was at risk.

Australia, true to form, forged ahead with its "turn back the boats" policy, later prompting Indonesia to deploy warships to monitor its southern border. It is relatively rare for an issue relating to Australia to make front-page Indonesian news, yet these incidents have been regularly canvassed. The relationship is in the diplomatic doldrums, and improving slowly.

During last month's foreign policy election debate in Indonesia, both candidates acknowledged the distrust between the two nations. Although each indicated they would seek to heal the rift with Australia, they also agreed that Indonesia should not allow itself to be belittled by its neighbour.

In light of Australia's military intervention in East Timor just 15 years ago, and its role in Konfrontasi some decades prior, there is understandable anxiety when an Australian government brands its border protection programme, which impinges upon Indonesia's sovereignty, "Operation Sovereign Borders". It's easy to comprehend why national security has been cited by Jokowi as a priority, suggesting further incursions will not be received lightly.

In contrast to SBY, Jokowi will not be so personally invested in the bilateral relationship. Australia will have to work much harder to collaborate with Indonesia. Tony Abbott will face increasing resistance and further embarrassment if he continues to ignore Indonesia's wishes.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/23/jokowis-victory-is-a-decisive-break-with-indonesias-old-order