Jakarta – President elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called on the Indonesian people not to forget the G30S/PKI (30 September Movement/Indonesian Communist Party) affair that ending in the murder of seven generals in 1965.

According to Widodo the commemoration of this event is needed so that society does not forget the brutality of the affair.

"We must remember this day and the year 1965 so it does not happen again. What is important is don't let it happen again", said Widodo when he attended the commemoration of Sanctity of Pancasila Day at the sanctity of Pancasila monument at Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Hole) in East Jakarta on Wednesday October 1.

Widodo believes that as a sovereign nation with the [state] ideology of Pancasila, all Indonesian citizens are obliged to protect this ideology. Because, it is the idea of an ideology in a country that is important.

"An ideology for a country is important, an ideology for a country is important (sic). Because of this therefore don't let there be a repeat of what happened before", asserted Widodo.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service.]

Source: http://news.liputan6.com/read/2112711/jokowi-jangan-sampai-g30spki-terulang-lagi

Actions, demos, protests...

Groups congratulate SBY, Prabowo for restoration of New Order dictatorship

Satu Harapan - October 8, 2014

Kartika Virgianti, Jakarta – One hundred and thirty-two civil society and non-government organisations (NGOs) have expressed their concern over Indonesian democracy which will soon return to the era of the New Order dictatorship.

The groups conveyed their good wishes to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Prabowo Subianto's Red and White Coalition (KMP) for successfully taking democracy away from the people.

The remarks were made at a free speech platform organised by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) under the theme "Democratic Emergency: Don't Let Democracy Die Peacefully, There is Only One Word... Resist!", which was held on the grounds of the YLBHI office in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday October 8.

The groups said that the regime of former President B.J. Habibie left Indonesia with more peaceful elections, former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid left Indonesia with a culture of pluralism that can be felt to this day, and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri left Indonesia with more democratic space.

But SBY left Indonesia with the law on regional elections (UU Pilkada), the Legislative Institutions Law (UU MD3) and a number of other policies that clearly usurped democracy from the people.

According to the groups, the New Order regime of former President Suharto was a regime where power was held by a small group of people, a leadership of the oligarchy, where the people had no democratic space whatsoever to speak out.

The New Order was a time when activist from social organisations who struggled for democracy were tortured, abducted and injured. It was a time of low wages for workers when prices continued to rise and workers had no democratic space to speak out. It was a time when farmers were strangled by the high price of seed but had no opportunity to speak out against the government. It was a time of great bitterness and suffering for uncounted numbers of ordinary people.

Without intending to side with either camp, neither the KMP or president elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president elect Jusuf Kalla, the 132 organisation stated that one of the achievements of democracy has been direct elections, where the ordinary people can participate directly, albeit limed to the polling booth.

But this democracy is far better than one which is owned by a handful of elite. It is most unfortunate that this is the outcome of 15 years of democracy that Indonesia struggled for.

"Congratulations to SBY who will organise the Bali Democracy Forum, congratulations to the Red and White Coalition which ensured the victory of the UU MD3 and UU Pilkada in the DPR [House of Representatives] and won the leadership of the DPR and the MPR [People's Consultative Assembly, upper- house]", said Surya Anta from the People's Liberation Party (PPR).

"Thirteen of our comrades fought for democracy against New Order, today who knows where their graves are, and are now being pissed on by forces that declare themselves for democracy. The KMP declares itself to be democratic, is it democratic when you destroy the achievements that that we won with blood, sweat and tears?", asked Anta.

Notes

The graves of the 13 comrades refers to 13 of the 23 activists abducted by the army's Special Forces 1997-1998 under the command of then General Prabowo Subianto who remain missing presumed dead.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service.]

Source: http://www.satuharapan.com/read-detail/read/sukses-kembalikan-orde-baru-132-lsm-beri-selamat-sby

Yogyakarta activists organise to fight Prabowo's 'coalition of thieves'

Tempo.co - October 2, 2014

Anang Zakaria, Yogyakarta – Ten non-government organisations (NGOs) and student groups in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta are demanding the annulment of the recently enacted law on regional elections (UU Pilkada) that abolished the direct election of regional heads.

The groups have opened a coordinating post (posko) at the zero kilometer point at the southern end of Jl. Malioboro to collect photocopies of ID cards (KTP) from people as a form of support for the annulment of the law.

"This afternoon we opened the posko, which will stay open until the evening", said action coordinator Asman Abdullah on the afternoon of Thursday October 2. "Tomorrow (Friday) we'll open it again".

The protesters, who are calling themselves the Direct Election Support Committee, are made up of the Social Movement Institute, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem). In addition to this, there are also students from Yogyakarta and regional campuses such as the Sunan Kalijaga Islamic State University, the Magelang Muhammadiyah University and the Wajo Student and High School Community.

According to Abdullah, in addition to setting up the posko in the Malioboro shopping district, the committee has also setup coordinating posts on two Yogyakarta campuses, the UIN Sunan Kalijaga and the Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University. "We've already collected around 100 KTPs", he said.

Coordinating with their networks in Jakarta, he continued, the KTPs will be sent to the Constitutional Court as part of a petition calling for the annulment of the UU Pilkada. According to Abdullah, one of the key points in the UU Pilkada, namely the election of regional heads by regional representative councils (DPRD), poses a threat to the people's sovereignty.

On Thursday September 25, the House of Representatives (DPR) voted to enact the UU Pilkada. Five political parties, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP), the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the Golkar Party, supported the election of regional heads through the DPRD. The Red and White parliamentary coalition that backed the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa presidential ticket in the July 9 presidential elections won by 256 votes.

Indonesian Student Union (SMI) director Eko Prasetyo said that the action is not in fact just to support the annulment of the UU Pilkada, but also to oppose the parties that make up Prabowo's Red and White Coalition. "The Red Axe Coalition wants to rebuild a political system like the New Order [dictatorship of former President Suharto]", he said.

The threat posed by Red and White Coalition could also be seen in pictures on the banners brought to the action. On one blue banner was written: "The Permanent Coalition of Thieves, Fight the Robbery of the People's Vote!".

According to Prasetyo, Prabowo's coalition has brought democracy in Indonesia to the brink of destruction and the political struggle cannot just be restricted to the parliament. "If civil society organisations do not take to the streets (democracy) will be in very grave danger", he said.

The action, he said, is part of garnering broader public support. Next month, a network of social organisations will gather for a conference titled the "Emergency Democratic Conference". "There will be a launching in 2-3 months from now", he said.

Notes

Permanent Coalition of Thieves – Koalisi Maling Permanen. A play on KMP, the acronym for Prabowo's Red and White Coallition, Koalisi Merah Putih.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service.]

Source: http://www.tempo.co/read/news/2014/10/02/078611530/Lawan-Koalisi-Kapak-Merah-Warga-Yogya-Buka-Posko

West Papua

West Papua: Benny Wenda nominated for Nobel peace prize again

Pacific Media Centre - October 8, 2014

Wellington (Radio New Zealand International/Pacific Media Watch) – A former prime minister, several high profile members of Parliament and religious leaders have nominated West Papuan leader in exile, Benny Wenda, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

RNZI reports that this is the second year in a row that Wenda has been nominated for the prize.

His nominees include Vanuatu's former Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil, Vanuatu MP Ralph Regenvanu, MP Catherine Delahunty of New Zealand's Green Party and the Bishop of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Reverend John Pritchard.

Wenda is currently living in exile in the United Kingdom. He is the founder of the Free West Papua Campaign (UK) and founder of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua.

He visited New Zealand last year to lobby support for freedom for West Papua but told journalist Henry Yamo that he was stunned to find New Zealand "ignoring human rights issues on its doorstep" after Speaker David Carter denied him the opportunity to speak about his cause at Parliament.

"The Australian Parliament gave support last November and I was looking forward to the same in New Zealand, but my entry to Parliament has been blocked," Wenda said last year.

Wenda was forced to leave West Papua in 2002 after being arrested without charge, tortured by police and held in solitary confinement for several months. Sometime later he was charged with inciting an attack on a police station and burning two shops – crimes he never committed.

During the trial, the prosecutor and judge requested bribes from Benny's defence team, but were refused. Fearing death in prison after being attacked several times, Wenda escaped and was smuggled across the border to Papua New Guinea, before being assisted by a European NGO to travel to the UK where he was granted political asylum.

Source: http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/west-papua-benny-wenda-nominated-nobel-peace-prize-again-9002

Two French reporters held in Indonesia for two months

France 24 - October 7, 2014

The press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders and journalists' unions are calling for the release of Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, two French TV reporters who were arrested in the West Papua area of Indonesia two months ago.

Reporters Without Borders launched a petition on Monday October 6, calling for Dandois and Bourrat's immediate release.

"The aim of this petition is to make the Indonesian authorities realise that it is absolutely unacceptable for them to continue detaining these journalists with the aim of deterring media coverage of Papua," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said in a statement.

The two journalists, who work for the independent production company Memento, were filming a report on living conditions and separatist claims in West Papua for the French-German TV channel Arte. Police arrested them on August 6 and have detained them in the provincial capital, Jayapura City.

The Indonesian government rarely issues visas to journalists requesting to cover West Papua, and the reporters entered Indonesia with a tourist visa. The authorities have accused them of breaking immigration law.

Offences punishable by five years in prison

"Bourrat and Dandois did not apply for press visas because such visas are rarely granted and would have resulted in restrictions on their ability to work freely," Deloire said.

Journalists found to have entered the region illegally are usually deported, but Bourrat and Dandois are now facing accusations of illegal labour, which is punishable by five years in prison and a 500 million-rupee fine (32,000 euro). It is now up to the provincial prosecutor's office to decide whether to press charges and put them on trial.

The journalists' unions SNJ and SNJ-CGT, too, issued a joint call for the release of the two reporters on Monday.

"The Indonesian authorities obviously want to make an example in this case so as to ban all access to Papua – a region our two colleagues had the courage to travel to and report despite the difficulties caused by continuous guerilla operations," they said in a statement. (FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Sign the petition here: http://rsf.org/petitions/freethomasandvalentine/petition.php?lang=en

Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20141007-dandois-bourrat-french-reporters-detained-indonesia-papua-press-freedom/

Papua independence activists accuse Indonesia of using students as spies

ABC Radio Australia - October 7, 2014

Hamish Fitzsimmons – Lateline has been told postgraduate students are providing information to Indonesian intelligence about Australian citizens and has obtained photos that are claimed to be of some of the student spies.

The pictures were taken in June when the self-proclaimed Federal Republic of West Papua (FRWP) opened an office in Melbourne, as the West Papuan community and its supporters celebrated what they saw as a landmark in their long-running campaign for independence from Indonesia.

The celebrations were interrupted when three men, who had never been seen at any independence movement events, were seen recording the proceedings on smartphones.

The "foreign minister" of the FRWP, Jacob Rumbiak, confronted one of the men and was told they were there to gather information for the Indonesian government.

"He's explained that he's studying a PHD at a Melbourne university and that also he works in the (Indonesian) department of foreign affairs. So he works in the government of Indonesia," Mr Rumbiak said. He said the man explained he would be reporting back to Indonesian authorities.

"Another two also came and they took photos of this office. I think that the photos they took were sent to the Indonesian government by intelligence," Mr Rumbiak said.

The ABC has indentified and contacted one of the three Indonesian men who attended the opening of the office and asked for his version of events, but he has not responded.

The man is a post-graduate economics student at a university in Melbourne, and his Facebook page lists his employer as the Indonesian finance ministry. The Indonesian embassy rejects the claims.

"The Indonesian Government does not assign its students studying in Australia, or anywhere, to collect/gather information from any sources," the embassy said in a statement.

"The possibility of Indonesian students' presence at open-to-public events, including Papua-related ones, might relate to their studies or personal interests."

Melbourne-based independence movement hacked and harassed

The West Papuan independence movement is strongest in Melbourne. They said aside from low-level harassment, their office website has also been hacked twice. They claim they were able to trace the IP addresses of the computers threatening the website to addresses in Jakarta and Melbourne.

"We are faced with Jakarta. I do believe that's them and we also have a monitoring system so we can know from which county and the address," Mr Rumbiak said.

The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra denied the attack originated from its foreign affairs offices. "We can confirm that the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not involved in that website hacking incident, as the ministry does not have a policy nor intentions to hack other institutions."

Anglican minister Peter Woods, who has long campaigned for an independent West Papua, said incidents like this are becoming more frequent and blatant.

"It seems to be very blatant. It's well known amongst the activist community that this does go on," he said. "It seems overt and not very subtle."

Australian security services aware of student spies: academic

At a talk Reverend Woods gave in Melbourne last month describing his most recent trip to West Papua, he asked two men of Javanese and Timorese origin to leave before he started as he believed they were there as informants.

"I was about to speak and we noticed that there were two non-Papuans there and we spoke to them and realised that they were agents doing surveillance. We asked them not to be there," he said.

Lateline has spoken to several academics who all believe it is not uncommon for Indonesian post-graduate students to also provide intelligence to their country's consulates or embassy.

"A number of students have been found to have been reporting to the consulate in Melbourne over the years," said Damien Kingsbury from Deakin University.

"As academics, we deal with these students and we know what they are doing. They often tell us what they're doing so we do know they report to their consulates. They do act as spies."

Mr Kingsbury was an adviser to the Free Aceh and Timorese independence movements, and said Australian agencies are aware of this sort of intelligence gathering, but overlooked it due to it proving a comparatively low threat to Australia's interests or security.

"The Australian security services see this as low level activity. They don't see this as more formal espionage and a lot of the information that's being picked up is open access anyway," he said.

However, he said he does believe boundaries are being crossed. "They also report on private conversations, so that is of more concern," he said.

In the coming weeks a crucial meeting to garner support from Pacific nations for the West Papuan movement will be held in Vanuatu.

Indonesia's president-elect Joko Widodo has indicated he is not opposed to dialogue with the independence movement about their desire for more autonomy, but Jakarta remains firm that independence is off the table.

Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2014-10-07/west-papua-independence-activists-accuse-indonesia-of-using-students-as-spies/1376477

9 graft convicts in West Papua legislative council

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2014

SP/Robert Isidorus, Jayapura, Papua – Nine out of 45 members of the new West Papua legislative council are corruption convicts but nonetheless were inaugurated last week.

The convicts in question have been sentenced to jail terms of two to four years for various graft cases, but have filed appeals at the Supreme Court.

A local activist, Yan Christian Warinussy, said the inauguration of the lawmakers in question is an embarrassment and should be investigated.

Yan, who is the executive director of the Institute for Research, Analysis and Development of Legal Aid (LP3BH) in Manokwari, said that previously, five lawmakers with a similar record were prevented from joining the council.

"I urge the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] and the Papua Attorney General's Office to immediately start an investigation into whether this is a case of money politics," Yan said.

The convicted lawmakers are Erick S. Rantung and M. Sanusi Rahaningmas from the National Awakening Party (PKB), Origenes Nauw and Max Adolof Hehanusa from the Golkar Party, Aminadab Asmuruf from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), Abdul Hakim Achmad from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), and Robert Melianus Nauw, Emanuel Yenu and Harianto from the Democratic Party.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/9-graft-convicts-west-papua-legislative-council/

Q&A: Australia's reaction to arrest of French journalists in West Papua

The Conversation - October 6, 2014

Ross Tapsell – The Australian Senate passed a motion last week, with explicit support from the Foreign Minister's office, expressing concern over the imprisonment of two French journalists for reporting in Indonesia's restive province using tourist visas.

The motion notes that press freedom in West Papua, where a 50-year separatist movement exists, is "tightly restricted". The Senate called for the Australian government to request Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat's release. The following is an interview with Ross Tapsell.

How will Australia's comment about press freedom in West Papua affect Australia-Indonesia relations?

Unfortunately I doubt the comment will mean much at a time like this. Just last week we saw numerous Australian media practitioners dismayed that Parliament passed tougher national security laws, which will have implications for journalists and whistle-blowers.

One case that has been cited that would have been affected by these new laws is the reporting of Australian government tapping of the Indonesian president and his wife's phone. Earlier this year, Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the Australian government to stop suppressing details of a court case which involved him. Also, as others have already pointed out, Australia doesn't allow journalists into Manus Island detention centre to talk to asylum seekers.

So while it is great that Australia stands up for greater access for foreign journalists in West Papua, we are hardly a beacon of light for media freedom at the moment. The Australian government has to practise what it preaches, otherwise it risks being seen as hypocritical.

What is the state of press freedom in West Papua for foreign journalists and how extraordinary is the case of Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat?

West Papua is the only region in Indonesia where journalists need a special permit and clearance from officials in Jakarta.

The Indonesian government has a long history of restricting foreign press as well as other researchers and aid workers from accessing the region since it took the territory in 1963. For example, in June 1969, the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club lodged a protest with the Ministry of Information on the restriction on travel and entry of foreign press into West Papua, claiming the measures would have grave consequences for Indonesia's image abroad and lend substance to doubts about the government's approach to the region. The current situation for foreign media is, sadly, not new.

Some selected foreign journalists have received permission from Jakarta to report from West Papua, and they are almost always followed by intelligence agencies in the region. By my rough count, around ten Australian journalists have received permission to travel to the region since 2006.

Today, it is possible to go to many areas of the Papua provinces as a tourist. As such, many foreign journalists have entered on a tourist visa and reported from the region, as Dandois and Bourrat allegedly did. If caught and found to be there on a wrong visa, they are usually evicted from the region or sent home to their country. So it is extraordinary that these French journalists have been in jail for this amount of time.

This is also very poor public relations management of the situation by the Indonesian government. The longer the journalists are in jail the more likely international attention will be drawn to this story and Indonesia's image will continue to be tarnished.

How should the new Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, deal with this case?

The French journalists should be released from jail in Papua and sent home. This would be consistent with previous actions taken by the Indonesian government.

Joko Widodo has said that once he is president he will consult widely with Papuans who are looking to improve the situation in their region. Obviously all advocates of media freedom (including myself) would like to see more openness in the region, including for both foreign and local media.

It is important to remember that many local Papuan journalists face threats and intimidation from security forces on a regular basis simply for doing their job. It is difficult for them to report on issues involving local politicians, human rights and the role of security forces in the region. There are numerous stories that simply can't be published in the local press. So let's not forget local journalists, and more broadly the restrictions on freedom of expression in the Papua provinces.

Certainly, ending the visa restrictions for foreign journalists is a good place for Widodo to start.

[Ross Tapsell is a lecturer in Asian Studies at Australian National University.]

Source: http://theconversation.com/qanda-australias-reaction-to-arrest-of-french-journalists-in-west-papua-32503

Freeport workers end blockade

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2014

Jayapura – After a long standoff, workers at US mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia have agreed to open access to the Grasberg mine in Tembagapura, Mimika, Papua.

"The blue tent [which was used to block access] has been taken down," Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Pudjo Sulistyo told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The workers had blocked the road to the mining site and installed the tent on Wednesday to protest against alleged workplace-safety violations in the wake of a recent accident that killed four employees.

PT Freeport spokesman Juli Parorrongan said that the fence had been taken down by the workers' union chairman, Sudiro. "However, the workers required that their demands [regarding workplace safety] be read aloud in front of management officials," Juli said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/04/freeport-workers-end-blockade.html

Coalition provide surprise support on West Papua motion

New Matilda - October 2, 2014

Amy McQuire – The Abbott government has backed a motion calling on Indonesia to dismantle its media ban in West Papua, home to widespread allegations of human rights abuses, but there is doubt this will signal any further change to Australia's policy.

It is notoriously difficult for foreign journalists to gain access to the province, which has been under Indonesian control since the late 60s. Many foreign reporters enter the country on tourist visas, running the risk of deportation or jail.

The media ban and the reported intimidation of local journalists and sources has meant recurring allegations of human rights violations against the ethnically Melanesian Indigenous population are largely left off the international radar.

Earlier this year, two French journalists were arrested whilst filming a documentary, allegedly in the company of armed separatists.

The journalists – Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat from the French Arte channel – have been jailed without charge since August 6. There are concerns they will be charged with espionage, but formal charges will not be laid until they are brought before court.

A local fixer was arrested with the two, and there are concerns over the safety of local people who came into contact with them.

Mr Dandois and Ms Bourrat's incarceration has been condemned by West Papuan activists, and the subject of protests around the world, but their case has failed to make headlines like that of Australian journalist Peter Greste, who was sentenced to seven years jail in Egypt.

Yesterday the Senate passed a motion proposed by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale calling on the Australian government to request the release of Ms Bourrat and Mr Dandois.

The motion passed following technical amendments from foreign minister Julie Bishop's office. "This motion goes to two specific issues," Senator Di Natale told the upper house.

"One is the issue of journalism and journalism right around the world being under attack. We have recently seen the issue of the Australian journalist Peter Greste incarcerated in Egypt after a show trial but we cannot advocate for people like Peter Greste and stay silent on the issue of the arbitrary detention of journalists in West Papua like the two French journalists who were doing nothing wrong other than reporting the truth."

Senator Di Natale told New Matilda it was a "huge shock" that the government had decided to back the motion. It had first gone to the Prime Minister's office where there seemed to be "very active consideration of it".

Senator Di Natale said there were a few technical amendments from Foreign Affairs minister Julie Bishop's office.

"I had no expectation this government would support it so it was a big surprise.... This is the first time in my experience that any motion on the topic of West Papua has passed. And what makes it more interesting is that the motion calls on the Australian government to raise the issue with Indonesia," Senator Di Natale told New Matilda.

"So effectively it's supporting a motion calling on itself to discuss this issue either currently or is planning to engage in discussions with the new President."

The Gillard government's foreign affairs minister Bob Carr made several strong statements confirming Australia's support of Indonesian sovereignty over the region whilst in government. In August Ms Bishop signed a significant agreement with Jakarta following a diplomatic fallout over revelations Australia had spied on the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Sydney Morning Herald today reported the motion could "risk insulting Indonesia again".

But while President Yudhoyono leaves office this year with a bad human rights record in the province – in fact, his visit to the province earlier this year coincided with the killing of West Papuan independence leader Martinus Yohame, whose body was found floating at sea in a sack near Sarong – the President Elect Joko Widodo has raised hope of change in West Papua.

Mr Widodo has made public statements saying he would open up the region to foreign media and he visited the province during his election campaign – one of the first presidential candidates to do so.

Senator Di Natale said it was hard to speculate the government's rationale in supporting the motion and whether it represented a significant change in its policy towards the region.

"Hopefully this motion represents a very significant change in attitude towards West Papua and if it does I welcome it," he told New Matilda.

But Nick Chesterfield, editor of West Papua Media, says while he was "happily surprised", he was doubtful it would represent any change.

"It's strange to see the government adopting something resembling a backbone but at the same time, while I am surprised there's also a part of me that realises this is a statement that can't really be resisted by anyone," Mr Chesterfield told New Matilda.

"Freedom of the Press is a fundamental democratic principle to be observed. I'm gladdened by the motion but it's a motherhood statement. It's a transitional statement so it could be a good first step but I wouldn't expect the government to take it further."

Mr Chesterfield says Mr Widodo's promise to remove the media ban would be difficult in the province because of the weight of the military.

"The President Elect has definitely indicated willingness to give some attention to the possibility of opening up Papua, but the reality on the ground is the police and the military run the show and by arresting journalists and their sources and going after West Papua media personnel, they are showing they don't want the status quo to change.

"It's doubtful the Indonesian government in Jakarta can actually change things without taking on the military and the police."

"And it's the same with the government in Australia. Unless they recognise the fact it's the Indonesians and police who are behind the violations of press freedom and apply some sort of sanction, then it won't change."

He says the Australian government has to recognise the hypocrisy in advocating for press freedom in one region, whilst ignoring other areas.

"I think certainly people have been alerted to the hypocrisy going on here. The Australian government has to observe some sort of consistency in that – that's a positive sign. But the issues are identical. You can't condemn a military regime in Egypt arresting journalists and not another. These principles are valid right across the world."

Source: https://newmatilda.com//2014/10/02/coalition-provide-surprise-support-west-papua-motion

Abbott government calls for more openness in West Papua

Sydney Morning Herald - October 1, 2014

Michael Bachelard – The Abbott government has risked insulting Indonesia again by calling explicitly for more openness in its most sensitive province, West Papua.

A Senate motion passed on Wednesday, with the explicit support of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's office, notes that press freedom in West Papua is "tightly restricted" by the Indonesian government. The motion expressed concern at the imprisonment of two French journalists for working in the separatist area on tourist visas, and called for their release.

It's highly unusual for the government to support a motion on a sensitive foreign affairs issue. These are routinely denied because the Senate is not considered the appropriate forum. It's even more unusual because the subject was West Papua.

Greens senator Richard Di Natale, who moved it, said Ms Bishop's office had contacted him on Wednesday saying the government would support his motion with some technical amendments.

"This has clearly been considered in detail by the foreign minister's office, and I was really encouraged to receive communications from them," Senator Di Natale told Fairfax Media.

"It's in that context that I can only... interpret this support as a gesture that the government is actively sending a very clear signal to the Indonesian government". It seemed "a very deliberate shift in policy," Senator Di Natale said.

Indonesia is hyper-sensitive about West Papua, which has hosted a low-level separatist insurgency for 50 years, and Australian governments of both persuasions have also become sensitised. In 2006, the Howard government's acceptance of a group of 42 refugees from the province caused a stand-off during which Indonesia withdrew its ambassador for several months. That fight was resolved with the negotiation of the Lombok Treaty, in which Australia expressed full support for Indonesia's territorial sovereignty.

In 2012, the then Labor government and the Coalition even refused to support a condolence motion for a dead Australian activist because it mentioned in passing her concern for West Papua. The motion passed on Wednesday was significantly stronger.

The Senate noted that access to the Papuan provinces by foreign journalists was "tightly restricted by the Indonesian Government", and called on the Australian government to "request that the Indonesian government release [two imprisoned French journalists Thomas] Dandois and [Valentine] Bourrat as a sign of its commitment to more open Papuan provinces".

It expressed concern at their detention and commended president-elect Joko Widodo for indications that he would ease restrictions.

The motion risks a strong political backlash in Indonesia. The head of the international relations department at the University of Indonesia, Evi Fitriani, said Senator Di Natale would be better off investigating the "limited journalist access to information about the treatment of irregular migrants by Australians".

Asked about the Abbott government's apparent change of heart, she said: "Well, he has irritated Indonesia several times before. No surprise."

Ms Bourrat's mother, Martine, who is in Indonesia en route to see her daughter in Jayapura, West Papua, welcomed the Senate motion. "We don't have the same in France. It would have been, for us, a great support to read this in French," Ms Bourrat said. "It's an example. It's an idea to send this to the European parliament."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/abbott-government-calls-for-more-openness-in-west-papua-risking-insulting-indonesia-again-20141002-10oxl7.html

Freeport Indonesia workers block mine after deadly accident

Reuters - October 1, 2014

Jakarta – Workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit are blocking access to the mine site, union and company officials said on Wednesday, to protest against the number of fatal accidents at one of the world's biggest copper mines.

Open-pit mining at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia's Papua had been temporarily suspended since Saturday, after four workers were killed in a collision involving a truck.

Following the accident, workers began a "spontaneous" blockade early on Wednesday, Juli Parorrongan, a union spokesman said. He could not know how many staff were involved, but workers told Reuters around 500 took part in the demonstration.

There were at least three deadly accidents at the Papua complex last year, including a tunnel collapse in May that killed 28 people.

Freeport Indonesia spokeswoman Daisy Primayanti said management were holding a dialogue with the protesters to find a solution. Freeport only resumed Indonesian exports in early August after a seven-month tax dispute with the government halted shipments.

In mid-August, the company said it had built up a 140,000-metric ton stockpile and expected total copper concentrate production of 1.8 million tons this year, down from an earlier forecast of 2.2 million tons, with exports of about 700,000 tons.

According to union spokesman Parorrongan, protesters had made banners with the names of victims of previous accidents. "They want the head of the company to be responsible, but I do not have clear information how many workers are involved and what their specific demands are," he said.

Indonesia's mining ministry expects the investigation into last week's accident to take a week, and open-pit mining would not resume until its conclusion.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/business/freeport-indonesia-workers-block-mine-deadly-accident/

Freeport workers block access to Tembagapura

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Workers from US-based mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) have again blockaded road access to the mine site in Tembagapura in Mimika regency, Papua, urging the company's management to take responsibility for workplace accidents occurring in the country's biggest mine.

The workers were reported to have installed a blue tent to blockade road access at check point 72, preventing mining vehicles from accessing the mining area. "The blue tent is placed right in the middle of the road at check point 72, after the Ridge Camp, so that no vehicle can enter the mining areas or leave," Cornelius, a PT FI worker, told The Jakarta Post in Tembagapura on Wednesday.

The workers have expressed their demands on a banner installed near the tent. "4 people in Wanagon, 8 people in Boton Ore, 28 people in an underground mining site, and 4 people in Grassberg, there must be someone responsible for those who died in all of these accidents," is written on the banner.

In May 2013, PT FI workers blockaded road access and installed a tent on the road accessing the mining site following a landslide which killed 28 workers in an underground mining site at Big Gossan. Ten workers survived the Big Gossan incident.

The Freeport branch of the Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI) spokesperson, Juli Parrorongan, said the workers also urged PT FI management to pay closer attention to their work safety as workplace incidents had continued to occur. In September, two accidents left five Freeport workers dead.

Papua Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw confirmed in Jayapura that the blockading of road access at Ridge Camp 72 occurred at 2:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

"The situation around the PT FI mining areas remains conducive despite the blockade," said Warauw. He went on to say that the police continued to provide security and facilitate dialogue between PT FI management and the protesters.

PT FI spokesperson Daisy Primayanti said in a press release that the company regretted the blockade as Wednesday was the first day for workers to return to work and attend a string of safety briefings. "Currently, PT FI management is carrying out a dialogue with its workers to find out the core problems and their solutions," said Daisy.

The Papua Police are investigating the accident in Grassberg that left four workers dead on Sept. 27. "The investigation is underway to determine whether the company was careless in the incident, we will bring the case to justice," said Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/freeport-workers-block-access-tembagapura.html

Aceh

Human Rights Watch condemns Aceh shariah bylaws

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2014

Jakarta – Indonesia's central government and the Aceh provincial government should take steps to repeal two new Islamic bylaws that violate rights and carry cruel punishments, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Thursday.

Aceh's provincial legislature approved on Saturday the Principles of the Islamic Bylaw and the Islamic criminal code (Qanun Jinayah), which created new discriminatory offenses that do not exist in the Indonesian national criminal code.

The bylaws extend shariah, or Islamic law, to non-Muslims, which criminalizes sodomy as well as all zina (sexual relations outside of marriage). The criminal code permits as punishment up to 100 lashes and up to 100 months in prison for consensual same-sex sex acts, while zina violations carry a maximum penalty of 100 lashes.

"The two new bylaws deny people in Aceh the fundamental rights of expression, privacy, and freedom of religion," HRW deputy director for Asia Phelim Kine said. "Criminalizing same-sex relations is a huge backward step the Indonesian government should condemn and repeal. Whipping as punishment should have been left behind in the Middle Ages."

Under national legislation stemming from a "Special Status" agreement brokered in 1999, Aceh is the only one of Indonesia's 34 provinces that can legally adopt bylaws derived from shariah.

HRW opposes all laws or government policies that are discriminatory or otherwise violate basic rights. Aceh's legislature drafted the Principles of the Islamic Bylaw, while the province's official Islamic Affairs Office drafted the Islamic criminal code.

The bylaws apply not only to Aceh's predominantly Muslim population, but also to about 90,000 non-Muslims residents, mostly Christians and Buddhists, as well as domestic and foreign visitors.

Aceh's criminal code prohibits liwath (sodomy) and musahaqah (lesbianism). It also contains provisions allowing Islamic courts to dismiss charges against rape suspects who take sumpah dilaknat Allah (an Islamic oath), asserting their innocence. The oath provision allows rape suspects who declare their innocence up to five times to be eligible for automatic dismissal of charges should the court determine an absence of incriminating "other evidence."

Infringement of human rights

The enforcement of existing Islamic laws in Aceh has infringed on human rights, HRW said.

A 2010 HRW report "Policing Morality: Abuses in the Application of Shariah in Aceh," documented human rights abuses linked to enforcement of shariah bylaws prohibiting adultery and khalwat (seclusion), and imposing public dress requirements on Muslims.

The khalwat law makes association by unmarried individuals of the opposite sex a criminal offense in some circumstances. While the dress requirement is cited as gender-neutral, in practice it imposes far more onerous restrictions on women with the mandatory hijab, or veil and long skirts.

The Principles of the Islamic Bylaw violate the right to freedom of religion enshrined in the Indonesian Constitution and international law by requiring all Muslims to practice the Sunni tradition of Islam.

The bylaw imposes the Sunni school of Shafi'i as the province's official religion, while permitting three other major Sunni traditions – Hanafi, Maliki, and Hambal – only on the condition that their followers promote "religious harmony, Islamic brotherhood and security among Muslims." The law excludes Aceh's sizable Shia and Sufi minorities and the Ahmadiyyah Muslim community.

The Principles of the Islamic Bylaw also imposes ambiguous, excessive, and discriminatory restrictions on the content of published materials and broadcasts in Aceh that undermine media freedom throughout the country. The bylaw obligates the media, including those that originate elsewhere in Indonesia, to ensure that their content is "not contrary to Islamic values."

The bylaw also authorizes the provincial government to establish "ethical guidelines" for the media.

The two new bylaws violate fundamental human rights guaranteed under core international human rights treaties to which Indonesia is party. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2005, protects the rights to privacy and family (Article 17), and freedom of religion (Article 18) and expression (Article 19). The covenant prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, and other status such as sexual orientation (Article 2). It also prohibits punishments such as whipping that could amount to torture or cruel and inhuman punishment (Article 7).

Aceh's provincial legislature should repeal both laws, HRW said, adding that Governor Zaini Abdullah should stop the province's shariah police from arresting and detaining people suspected of these "crimes." The authorities should investigate any wrongdoing in enforcing the legislation.

President-elect Joko Widodo, who takes office on Oct. 20, should direct his home affairs minister to review local laws that may be discriminatory with a view to revising or abolishing them, HRW said. He should also petition the Supreme Court to review the compatibility of the bylaws with the Indonesian Constitution and national laws. Other local governments in Indonesia have looked to Aceh's laws as models, therefore it is important for the new administration to act promptly against laws that are discriminatory or are otherwise unlawful, the human rights advocacy group said.

"Incoming president should treat Aceh's abusive new bylaws as an opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to human rights, and have them repealed," Kine said.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/human-rights-watch-condemns-aceh-shariah-bylaws/

Four more Acehnese face public caning for gambling

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2014

Banda Aceh – Four men accused of gambling will be lined up in the courtyard of a Banda Aceh mosque and lashed with a cane after prayers on Friday, the Banda Aceh prosecutor's office has told Indonesian state media.

"The plan is that after Friday prayer the prosecutor's office will lash four people convicted of gambling," Banda Aceh chief prosecutor Husni Thamrin said on Wednesday, as quoted by the state-run Antara news agency.

The four men have been identified as Muhazar, 32, Ridwan, 39, Muchtar, 34, and Hermansyah, whose age could not be confirmed. They each face five lashes in the yard of the Al Makmur mosque in Lampriet, Banda Aceh.

The Shariah court had earlier sentenced them to seven lashes, but cut the sentence by two because of time the men had served in jail.

"The two lashes cut is because the convicts have been detained for two months," Husni said. "Detention of one to 30 days equals one lash based on the [criminal code]."

Earlier this month, seven gambling convicts were caned in the yard of Pahlawan Great Mosque in Baiturrahman. The macabre celebration of violence was witnessed by hundreds of members of the public.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/four-acehnese-face-public-caning-gambling/

Labour & migrant workers

Transmusi bus workers demand unpaid salary

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2014

Palembang – Hundreds of Transmusi bus employees assembled at the Palembang Mayor's Office to demand the municipality give them four months worth of unpaid salaries.

The employees, consisting of bus drivers, conductors, security guards and administrative staffers, had been on strike from Sept. 26 until Wednesday.

"We demand the Palembang municipality immediately pay our salaries, which have not been paid for the past four months. How can we support our families if we're not paid?" asked rally coordinator Eko Kusnadi on Wednesday.

They also demanded the company repair broken buses so their colleagues would not be at risk of being dismissed. In early 2013, 220 Transmusi employees were threatened with dismissal because 55 buses were not operating and the company was suffering losses.

The strike caused Transmusi's fleet of 80 buses to lay idle and caused passengers inconvenience.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/02/transmusi-bus-workers-demand-unpaid-salary.html

Batam workers demand 50% wage increase

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2014

Fadli, Batam – The Indonesia Metal Workers Federation (FSPMI) in Batam, Riau Islands, will hold a rally on Thursday to demand an almost 50 percent rise in the 2015 city minimum wage (UMK).

The union, known for its uncompromising stances, claimed the weak exchange rate of the rupiah against the Singapore dollar over the last year had caused the real value of the UMK to drop.

Batam branch FSPMI leader Suprapto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that his union would stage a rally involving as many as 5,000 people at the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority (BPK FTZ) office and Batam city hall.

"We demand a UMK of Rp 3.5 million (US$288.4) next year as well as a rise in the basic cost of living (KHL) components from 60 to 84 items, including monthly newspaper subscriptions and recreational allowances, so as to improve workers' lives," said Suprapto. The current UMK is Rp 2.4 million ($97).

According to Suprapto, the 2015 Batam UMK negotiations, involving the Batam municipality, Batam Manpower Office and the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), will take place in mid-October with approval by Jan. 1 next year.

"The Batam UMK should be approved by November at the latest. We expect the amount to meet our demands," said Suprapto.

He went on to claim that a UMK of Rp 3.5 million would not burden employers or investors in Batam, because based on FSPMI calculations, the rupiah had dropped from Rp 8,200 per Singapore dollar last year to the current exchange rate of Rp 9,320 per Singapore dollar.

"This year's UMK has dropped by S$40. Don't the workers deserve to be awarded the difference?" asked Suprapto.

According to BPK FTZ data, a majority of the 588 foreign investors in the region are involved in the electronics manufacturing sector. Four hundred and ten of them come from Singapore, 52 are from Malaysia, 23 from Taiwan and 19 from South Korea.

Batam Manpower Office head Zarefriadi said the UMK was calculated according to a study of the KHL, which showed the KHL stood at RP 2,158,476 in September, or a rise of Rp 46,433 from August.

The KHL is based on a survey by the Batam Remuneration Council with input from labor unions, employers and the government. The KHL is based on 60 components and approved by a ministerial decree.

"The KHL will serve as a reference for the next decision on the UMK. The workers' demand is justifiable, as it's just a request," said Zarefriadi.

Since 2011, a coalition of labor unions, spearheaded by the FSPMI, has racked up the pressure each time Batam decides its UMK. In 2011, riots broke out in a number of spots and the Batam municipal office was vandalized.

Consequently, the 2012 Batam UMK was lifted from Rp 1,180,000 to Rp 1,402,000, a rise of Rp 222,000, the highest UMK hike in the country. The Batam UMK was set at Rp 2,040,000 in 2013 and Rp 2,422,000 in 2014.

Investors have frequently complained about what they see as unpredictable and drastic increases in the Batam UMK, with some choosing to leave Batam and invest elsewhere. PT Nidec Seimitsu Batam, based in Japan, for example, decided to close its Batam factory and relocate to Vietnam, where production costs are cheaper.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/02/batam-workers-demand-50-wage-increase.html

Workers rally in Jakarta ahead of wage negotiations

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2014

Bayu Marhaenjati, Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesians demanding higher minimum wages for workers in the formal sector staged rallies across Jakarta on Thursday.

Protesters took to the streets at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, outside the House of Representatives and in front of the State Palace, while 9,700 police personnel were deployed to secure the rallies, police said.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Cmr. Rikwanto said on Thursday police were posted at the protest sites following notice that members of the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Union (KSPI) would rally from 9 a.m to 3 p.m.

The colorful KSPI president Said Iqbal has demanded an average 30 percent increase to minimum wages across the country for 2015.

Protesters have also called on the government to do more to end the outsourcing of workers; where employers place their workers on temporary contracts to avoid the high severance payments and relatively high minimum wages mandated by Indonesian labor laws.

Pay in Jakarta for employees in the formal sector was hiked by 44 percent in 2013 and 10 percent in 2014. The unions say monthly wages in 2015 should be set at Rp 3.7 million ($305) in the capital.

The Jakarta administration increased the provincial minimum wage to Rp 2.4 million from Rp 2.2 million this year. But the KSPI has repeatedly stated the minimum wage for the capital should be Rp 3.7 million. Nov. 1 is the deadline for 2015 wage negotiations between provincial governments and workers.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jakarta/workers-rally-jakarta-ahead-wage-negotiations/

Employers association launches army-trained unit to deal with strikes

Tribune News - October 1, 2014

Anne Maria, Batam – The momentum of a friendly gathering with Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) general chairperson Sofyan Wanandi at the inauguration of Apindo's Riau Islands provincial leadership board (DPP) was used by the new DPP chairperson Cahya to introduce the Bima Sakti Guard.

Not just any old security personnel, the Garda Bima Sakti is a unit made up of company security guards trained as Apindo's security team. The team even presented an 'attraction' for Wanandi. They were trained by the army's infantry battalion 134 Tuah Sakti.

"We are preparing these troops as Apindo [security] guards, if we are bothered or the target of demonstrations. If there is a demonstration at company A, we will send them there, because usually those demonstrating are not always legitimate. There are also mafia. We have formed and trained [the unit] not to fight, but we urge security personnel to carry out their duties sincerely", Cahya told Wanandi, who was accompanied by Apindo's Riau Islands review board chairperson Abidin Hasibuan and advisory board chairperson Chris Taenar Wiluan.

According to Cahya, the Garda Bima Sakti are part of Apindo's greater community, to sustain Apindo and fight for employers interests by creating a favourable business climate.

"Not long from now we're entering into deliberations on the UMK [regional minimum wages]. We don't want the UMK [deliberations] to end as they always do in demonstrations, depleting our energy. Earlier we conducted a survey between January and September. The results were that the KHL [reasonable living cost index] is only around 2,011,000 rupiah a month, 2,016,000 at the most. According to regulations, the highest UMK uses the KHL as a point of reference. Meanwhile at the moment, Batam's UMK is far [higher] than the KHL", said Cahya, expressing a complained often felt by employers.

Notes

Four members of battalion 134 Tuah Sakti were shot and injured by police during a raid on an illegal fuel storage facility in Batam on September 24. Speculation is rife that the altercation occurred because the soldiers were attempting to protect the owner of the storage facility.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service.]

Source: http://batam.tribunnews.com/2014/10/01/apindo-kepri-bentuk-garda-untuk-mengamankan-gangguan-dan-demo

Democracy & civil rights

Protests banned during Bali Democracy Forum

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2014

Ni Komang Erviani and Bagus Saragih, Denpasar – To ensure the success of the seventh Bali Democracy Forum, police announced on Monday that they would not tolerate demonstrations or protests of any kind during the two- day event.

Bali Deputy Police chief Brig. Gen. IGN Raharja Subyakta said that for the duration of the forum, all rallies would be banned in the Nusa Dua area, where the international forum will be held.

The one-star general added that protests would also be prohibited at Ngurah Rai International Airport. "To ensure the event runs smoothly, Nusa Dua will be cleared of protesters, as will the airport. All rallies will be banned," Raharja said, adding that action would be taken if protests took place without the issuance of proper permits.

According to Law No. 9/1998 on freedom of expression in public, issued shortly after the fall of president Soeharto in May 1998, organizers of street protests are only required to inform the public in writing regarding the details of a planned protest.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono initiated the forum in 2008 with a stated goal of "fostering dialogue-based regional and international cooperation in the field of peace and democracy through the sharing of experiences and best-practices that adhere to the principles of equality, mutual respect and understanding".

The President is scheduled to open the meeting on Friday, just 10 days before he is replaced as president by Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. As many as 4,600 military and police personnel will be deployed to safeguard the international event.

Security task force commander for the Bali Democracy Forum, Brig. Gen. Ruslian Hariadi told reporters on Monday that five warships, four F-16 fighter jets and four Sukhoi fighter jets would also be deployed for security purposes. The five warships are KRI Surabaya, KRI Ahmad Yani, KRI Weling, KRI Pulau Rimau and KRI Singa.

"We are preparing the possible arising of security threats during the event," Ruslian said during a joint rehearsal conducted by the military and police at Puputan Margarana field in Renon, Denpasar.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said on Monday that three government heads, namely The Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, and the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah, had confirmed they would attend the event. The three are the only state leaders invited by Indonesia to attend the forum.

"The Bali Democracy Forum is essentially a ministerial-level event. An exception was in 2012 when the forum was conducted like a summit and was attended by many heads of states to celebrate the forum's fifth anniversary," Michael told The Jakarta Post.

Delegations from 51 participant countries as well as 68 international observers are expected to attend the annual event. Most, according to Michael, have already confirmed their attendance.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/07/protests-banned-during-bali-democracy-forum.html

Civil groups boycott Yudhoyono's democracy forum in Bali

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2014

Ina Parlina and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta/Denpasar – Eleven of 14 civil society groups invited to join the Bali Civil Society Forum (BCSF), a side event at the annual intergovernmental Bali Democracy Forum (BDF), have rejected the invites and criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as being unqualified to host the event.

Yudhoyono has come under pressure for allowing the passage of the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law, which abolished direct local elections, although he later issued a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to reinstate direct local elections in response to a nationwide outcry.

It is the first time the BDF, which was initiated by Yudhoyono in 2008, has invited civil society organizations (CSOs) to join the event through the BCSF, scheduled to run from Tuesday to Thursday. This year's BDF will be the last for Yudhoyono, who is expected to leave office on Oct. 20.

Delegations from 81 countries, including six ministers, six deputy ministers, 61 officials and four international organizations, are expected to attend the forum on Friday.

The 11 CSOs include several democracy and policy advocacy groups, as well as the Civil Society Alliance for Democracy (Yappika), the Center of Indonesian Legal and Policies Studies (PSHKI), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and corruption watchdog Transparency International Indonesia (TII).

The PSHKI's Bivitri Susanti said she suspected Yudhoyono had an ulterior motive for inviting the groups, adding that the event was aimed at being the President's last hurrah.

She also questioned Yudhoyono's decision to only invite the groups this year, despite the fact that some of them had expressed a desire to be involved at earlier editions of the forum.

"He has opened a Pandora's box on democracy [...] This is not the right moment to celebrate democracy, especially when he wants us to participate in the forum," Bivitri told a press conference on Tuesday.

Members from some of the other groups said another reason for their no-show at the BDF was that democracy's development under Yudhoyono had stagnated.

Yappika director Fransisca Fitri cited findings from an Indonesian Democracy Index (IDI) survey, conducted by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), to back her claim that democracy had stalled under Yudhoyono.

The 2013 index, which measures civil liberties, democratic institutions and political rights, showed that Indonesia's democracy was in a state of transition, scoring 63.68 points on a 0-100 scale, a 1.05-point improvement from 62.63 in 2012.

However, since the index was first released in 2009, Indonesia's democratic performance as a whole has shown a pattern of decline. In 2013, the country scored 3.62 points less than 2009's IDI of 67.3 points.

Dadang Trisasongko, secretary-general of the TII, said he did not want to be part of a celebration by a government that was not serious about tackling political corruption. "Massive political corruption will eventually erode Indonesia's democracy if the government does not take the problem seriously."

Dadang cited Transparency International's 2013 Global Corruption Barometer (GCB), which named the police, the House of Representatives and the judiciary as the three most corrupt state institutions in the country. The survey also found 65 percent of the 1,000 respondents were of the opinion that efforts to eradicate corruption were ineffective.

Noted Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra, one of the advisors to the BDF's implementing agency, the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), has also decided not to attend the BDF.

"I see too many contradictions in our democracy, which Indonesia wants to showcase to the international community. How can the President talk about democracy when in reality, it's nothing more than a gimmick? We saw this in the back-and-forth over the Pilkada Law," he said.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha responded to the boycott by saying that the civil society groups had made outlandish claims.

He said Indonesia had proved to be one of the most democratic countries in the world. The BDF will be cochaired by Yudhoyono and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, while Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah will also join the leaders' session.

The police recently announced that they would not tolerate demonstrations of any kind during the forum, and have banned protesters from staging rallies in Nusa Dua – where the BDF will be held – and Ngurah Rai International Airport, where the delegations are expected to arrive.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/08/civil-groups-boycott-yudhoyono-s-democracy-forum-bali.html

Stakeholders shun Bali civil society forum

Jakarta Globe - October 8, 2014

Jakarta – Eleven of 14 pro-democracy organizations have rejected invitations to attend and speak at an upcoming global democracy forum in Bali.

The Bali Civil Society Forum, or BCSF, is among a series of activities during the Bali Democracy Forum 2014, which is scheduled to be attended by several heads of state.

The organizations' decision to reject the invitations demonstrates their response to a perceived setback to democracy in the country after the revision of the regional elections law, which scraps direct elections for regional leaders.

"Our decision not to attend BCSF is very logical because we believe democracy in Indonesia experienced a setback over the past five years, during the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. There is nothing to share about Indonesia's democratic achievements," Fransisca Fitri of Yappika, a nonprofit organization that advocates basic human rights, said in a joint press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Fellow organizations that have rejected the invitation are the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, the Center for the Study of Law and Policies of Indonesia (PSHK), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Migrant Care, Indonesia Corruption Watch, the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Transparency International Indonesia, the People's Voter Education Network (JPPR), the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) and the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra).

Three of the organizations, which have agreed to attend the event include the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Wisnu and Kemitraan.

Fransisca said they are not the only ones who think the country's democracy has experienced a setback. The issue was also objectively measured by the Indonesian Democratic Index (IDI) study, released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in July. Fransisca said the BPS data has shown that Indonesia's democracy had become dangerously stagnant.

"The IDI data examined three things, civilian freedoms, political rights and democratic institutions. In terms of political rights, we have been deprived and have often been left out. We were not given space to exercise our political rights, and we were often excluded from the policy-making process. The same also occurred with the right to vote and to be voted for, now that the regional election law has been revised," Fransisca said.

The BPS data showed there had been a fluctuation in the nation's democracy index over the past five years. The highest score recorded was 67.30 points and the lowest was 62.63, which means Indonesia's IDI is approaching "bad" or just above the "safe" limit of 60.00 The IDI score last year was only 63.68.

All 11 civil organizations considered Yudhoyono presenting the Bali Democracy Forum as inappropriate, given his apparent inconsistency in assuring the continuation of democracy in the country.

They said the president should have withdrawn the controversial regional election bill in order to keep democracy in Indonesia alive. The president also had the chance to stop the bill from being passed into law if the members of his Democratic Party had not walked out during voting.

"The [passing of the] regional election law showed that SBY wasn't serious and that he was messing around with the people's political rights. The regulation in lieu of law, known as Perppu, No. 1/2014, was just a way to save the SBY administration's image in the eyes of the international community, and not to uphold democracy," said Dadang Trisasongko, Transparency International Indonesia secretary general, referring to the president by his initials.

Requires testing

Ari Dwipayana, a political analyst from Gadjah Mada University, considers the president's move to issue the decree as not enough.

"SBY's consistency in supporting direct elections for regional heads should be tested again during the political process in the legislature. Especially with regards to the position of the Democratic Party and other political parties in the coalition led by Prabowo Subianto," Ari said, referring to the Red-and-White coalition.

He said a test was necessary because of public ambivalence toward the president's current position on the regional election law, especially after it passed through the legislature.

Ari said Yudhoyono had the benefit of two positions during the political process, meaning the president was represented by the Home Affairs minister and also by the members of his Democratic Party.

"In such conditions, the Home Affairs minister could have refused his approval, which would have been in line with the president's constitutional right," Ari said. As Democratic Party chairman, the president could have also instructed his party members to support direct regional elections, he added.

Ari said public suspicion that a political transaction had taken place during the legislative process of the regional election bill, was inevitable, given several key indicators.

The first indication was that Yudhoyono did not follow up his anger toward party members' decision to walk out during the voting process. This anger could have been expressed by sanctioning the chairwoman of the Democratic Party faction in the House, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, who instructed the walkout. "That upheld suspicions that what happened [Yudhoyono's anger] was just drama," Ari said.

The second indication, he added, was the fact that the president did not instruct the Home Affairs minister to reject the new law. The government, through the presidential spokesman, said it would accept whatever decision was made by lawmakers following deliberations.

The third indication, Ari said, was the fact that the Democratic Party supported the Prabowo-led coalition's leadership package in the legislature. "Those three [occurrences] are part of a series of events that must be understood together," he added.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dino Patti Djalal said the upcoming Bali Democracy Forum will be a special occasion because the creator, President Yudhoyono, will soon end his term in office after a decade in power. The forum will take place in Nusa Dua, Bali, this Friday and Saturday.

Despite the circumstances, Dino said he was confident Indonesia's democracy will be showcased as Yudhoyono's legacy. "Every country that is represented at the Bali Democracy Forum has its own issues and Indonesia is no exception. It is not a perfect country. We have a lot of issues with our democracy and we are open about it. Also, we are trying to solve them as best as we can," Dino said.

"The president has signed the Perppu, that, if approved by the House, will change the mechanism for local elections back to the way it was previously. Additionally, elections will be restored with much better improvements to ensure that elections will be free from money politics, abuses and other excesses associated with local elections.

"So we are showing the world that this can happen in a democracy... That we may have a setback, but that we can also bounce back. And, we can solve the issue by keeping pace with democratic principles."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/stakeholders-shun-bali-civil-society-forum/

Political parties & elections

Hashim tells of plans to 'obstruct' Jokowi government

Reuters - October 8, 2014

Randy Fabi, Jakarta – Indonesian opposition lawmakers plan to investigate alleged wrongdoing when President-elect Joko Widodo was governor of the capital, Jakarta, and mayor of the city of Solo, a senior opposition member said.

Joko narrowly won a July election with promises to voters jaded by generations of graft that he would bring effective and clean government.

But he lacks the support of a majority of members of parliament and is expected to face objections to his reform program from opposition members grouped in a coalition led by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

"We will use our power to investigate and to obstruct," Prabowo's tycoon brother and top aide Hashim Djojohadikusumo told Reuters late Tuesday at his office in Jakarta.

The investigations would include looking into alleged corruption involving the purchase of 1.5 trillion rupiah ($122.95 million) worth of Chinese-made buses by the Jakarta government this year, while Joko was governor, Djojohadikusumo said.

The case is already being investigated by the Attorney General's Office. Media has reported that at least two government officials were suspected of wrongdoing.

Parliament will also investigate irregularities in the education budget of the city of Solo while Joko was mayor. Joko, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the two cases, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Opposition members of parliament won the top parliamentary jobs this month, including the post of speaker, which will allow them to control the legislative agenda.

Concerns that Southeast Asia's largest economy could face political gridlock for the next five years have pressured the rupiah and the stock market.

Joko, who in July beat Prabowo in the closest Indonesian presidential election ever, takes office on Oct. 20. Political experts said Prabowo's loose "Red and White coalition" of members of various opposition parties, was intent on making life difficult for Joko.

"The fact is that in the past two weeks Prabowo's coalition has managed to maneuver in many different ways, showing how they can throw some jabs against [Widodo]," said Tobias Basuki, a political analyst at the CSIS think-tank.

"These parliamentary investigations are more of a political move than a genuine inquiry of corruption."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/hashim-tells-plans-obstruct-jokowi-govt/

PPP joins Jokowi's coalition

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2014

The National Awakening Party's (PKB) central executive board chairman, Abdul Kadir Karding, confirmed on Tuesday that the United Development Party (PPP) had decided to leave the Red-and-White Coalition in favor of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's coalition, adding that the move also meant that the PPP would be supporting the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) leadership candidates proposed by Jokowi's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)-led coalition.

The PPP's decision was made after being lobbied by the PDI-P in the past few days. "It is 100 percent certain that the PPP will join the [PDI-P's] coalition. The [lobbying] process has been completed," Karding said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Karding said that according to the PDI-P's proposed candidates for the MPR leadership, the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) would have one of its members nominated to be MPR speaker, while representatives from four parties, namely the PKB, the PPP, the PDI-P and the NasDem Party, would be nominated to be the assembly's deputy speakers.

Following the PPP's decision, he added, one party had to give up its chance to have one of its 36 elected legislators become an MPR speaker.

Karding said the Hanura Party had agreed to offer its seat for the MPR leadership to the PPP. "It was amazing to see Hanura wholeheartedly agree to give a chance to the PPP to come join us," he said, adding that the PPP had named Hasrul Azwar, one of its legislators, as one of the MPR candidates proposed by Jokowi's coalition.

Previously, the Red-and-White Coalition of Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa announced its own candidates for the MPR leadership, comprising a member of the Democratic Party to be MPR speaker, and representatives from three of its member parties – the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – together with a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) to be deputy speakers.

The election of the MPR speaker and four deputy speakers is set to take place Tuesday evening. (dyl/tah/ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/07/ppp-joins-jokowis-coalition.html

Indonesian students abroad take to the streets

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2014

Ika Krismantari, Melbourne – Sporadic demonstrations have broken out against the success of the Red-and-White Coalition in passing of the law that abolished the rights of the people to directly elect regional heads. Most of the protests and criticism were channeled through social media.

The situation, however, is quite different abroad. From Washington DC, New York, Perth, Melbourne to Amsterdam, Indonesian political activists have united, taking advantage of social media to hold protests against efforts to curtail people's democratic rights.

In New York, dozens of students gathered at Times Square. In Washington, a group of Indonesian students demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was on a visit to the US last month, to stop betraying the nation.

The House of Representatives recently passed the Regional Elections Law, which curtails people's voting rights. Under the new law, governors, mayors and regents are elected by legislative councils instead of directly by the people.

Indonesia began holding local direct elections in June 2005 in Kutai Kartanagara as mandated by Law No. 32 on regional head elections, one year after Indonesian voters directly elected their president for the first time.

Millions of Indonesians are disappointed by the new restrictive law. The same disappointment has encouraged Indonesians living abroad to organize protests against the law.

One of the biggest protests occurred in Melbourne on Saturday, with more than 60 people taking part. Standing in one of the biggest public spaces in the heart of Melbourne, protesters carried signs and wore masks depicting political actors who are being held responsible for letting the new bill pass. Poetry readings and a short theatrical act were also organized as part of the protest.

One of the student coordinators, Aulia Latif, told The Jakarta Post that the protest was aimed at putting more international pressure on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and political elites in Indonesia.

"What we have learned about the President is that he is really concerned about his image. For the last 10 years, we have seen him building his international image. So I hope this [protest] puts [more] pressure on him," he said.

It took the organizer of Melbourne's protest less than a week to organize everything and gather the masses."We can easily organize everything using social media," said Aulia, who also took part in student protests to topple president Soeharto in 1998.

Facebook and Twitter enable people to voice their opinions about the government and facilitate protests and other political movements.

A more coordinated approach has been adopted by other groups of Indonesians living abroad in response to the passing of the Regional Elections Law. Through social media, Indonesians in Perth, Amsterdam, Canberra, Berlin and Vancouver coordinated with each other to organize a non-violent protest against the law.

The mastermind behind the movement, Diah Kusumaningrum, said that the idea behind the unique concept was to raise global awareness of the issue and invite the international community to participate.

"For us, it is important that the wakes are seen as events where world citizens – not just Indonesians – mourn a rollback of democracy," said Diah, who is based in Austria.

Ironically, there have been no major protests on Indonesian streets. The most vocal reactions have been expressed on social media.

The creation of the hashtag #ShameonyouSBY, which was later replaced by #ShamedbyYouSBY are a part of the online movements criticizing the passing of the law. The hashtag #ShameonyouSBY went to the top of Twitter's worldwide trending topics list.

Yet many believe that voicing criticism on social media is not enough. Some political activists see the need for the masses to take to the streets and be part of protests such as those that were held in 1998.

Nanang Indra Kurniawan, a PhD candidate at Victoria University and also a lecturer on politics at Gadjah Mada University, said that political activism in 1998 and today was incomparable.

"The situation is different. Back in 1998, our enemy was clear – Soeharto and his authoritarian New Order regime – but the problems have become more plural," he said. Nanang was also involved in the 1998 student protests.

It seems that Indonesia's intelligentsia living abroad have taken one step ahead by staging protests not only on social media but also on the streets.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/07/indonesian-students-abroad-take-streets.html

Opposition expected against Perppu

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2014

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government regulations in lieu of law (Perppu), which bring back direct elections of regional heads, will likely face strong opposition when the new lawmakers in the House of Representatives start their deliberations on the legislation in January next year, three months after Yudhoyono leaves office.

The House, which kicked off its first session on Wednesday, has yet to schedule a meeting to discuss the government's proposal on the Perppu. The current sitting session for the new batch of lawmakers will wrap up in November.

Politicians from the Red-and-White Coalition, which nominated defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, said the Perppu would only be discussed in the next sitting session, which is likely to start in early January next year.

"We will first study it to determine if it meets the 'emergency' requirement. Until now, we have yet to receive the document. So, of course, I believe it will only be discussed in the next seating session," said Fadli Zon, the newly inaugurated deputy speaker of the House.

The Perppu must first be endorsed by the House before it can take effect, as stipulated by article 22 of the Constitution.

The Perppu has been met with a mixed response by politicians of the Golkar Party, which currently holds 91 seats in the House, the second-largest political faction after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P), the winner of the legislative election.

Golkar is slated to make an official announcement regarding the Perppu on Monday. "No need to rush; we must first wrap up the current sitting session and wait for the inauguration of the president-elect [Jokowi]," Golkar Party executive and lawmaker Fadel Muhammad said.

Golkar's deputy chairman Agung Laksono, meanwhile, said that his party "kept pushing for a direct-election mechanism".

Hazrul Azwar, a politician from the United Development Party (PPP), one of the parties in the Red-and-White Coalition, said that his party rejected the Perppu and would maintain that stance in the sessions deliberating the regulations. Members of Red-and-White Coalition will likely block endorsement of Perppu Yudhoyono nevertheless expects House to endorse the regulation

Despite Yudhoyono's promise to muster all his strength to push the House into accepting the Perppu, many are skeptical that he will succeed in bringing back direct elections, as the majority of seats in the new House are controlled by the Red-and-White Coalition, which supports the representative-based local election mechanism.

"The Red-and-White Coalition might use the deliberations over the Perppu as a reason to hit him [Jokowi] back hard. They will use just about anything to defeat Jokowi," Arie Sudjito, a political analyst from Gadjah Mada University, said on Friday.

During a press conference on Thursday, Yudhoyono hinted, however, that some parties, even in the Red-and-White Coalition, could have a change of heart.

"From the political communication I had with [some] political parties and the House, I understand that those who opted for a change in the direct election system toward a representative-base [system] are beginning to understand."

Yudhoyono said that the Perppu provided "fundamental improvements that the government wants", while at the same time, "it could accommodate the concerns of those who think that the election through DPRD [regional legislative councils] is better".

Yudhoyono has also said he was ready for the fallout from issuing the Perppu. "I know this Perppu issuance carries a political risk because it needs to be endorsed by the House, but I have to fight for democracy along with the people," he said.

Newly elected House Deputy Speaker Agus Hermanto of the Democratic Party said his party would work hard for the endorsement of the Perppu in the House.

He said that deliberations on the Perppu had been put on the top of the list of the House's legislative agenda. "Everything has a process. We will start the deliberations as soon as possible," Agus said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/04/opposition-expected-against-perppu.html

Coalition gives Jokowi the blues as Prabowo rides over president-elect

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2014

Jakarta – As investors sell Indonesian stocks and dump the rupiah in response to concerns that the extraordinary power grab in the legislature by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto will hobble President- elect Joko Widodo's reform agenda – opposition politicians say they have the country's best interests at heart.

"There's no need to worry about politics in the House of Representatives," Viva Yoga Mauladi, a senior official with the National Mandate Party (PAN) told news magazine Tempo on Friday. "If something is in the best interests of the people, of course we will do it."

Viva said that fears the Red-and-White coalition would try and sabotage Joko's presidency purely for the pursuit of power were as baseless as they were unfair. He emphasized that Red-and-White lawmakers had been elected by the people and had a mandate to govern on their chosen platform.

Hidayat Nur Wahid, a senior figure in the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the coalition wanted to provide a transparent system of checks and balances, not a stubborn obstruction to a progressive agenda.

Critics have, however, pointed to politicians riding rough-shod over the will of people in a transparent effort at politicking. Around 80 percent of Indonesians wanted to keep direct elections for regional government chiefs but the House of Representatives went ahead and abolished local elections in a transparent affront to democracy.

"Taking away the people's right to choose their leaders is a blatant betrayal of public trust and sidelines them from the democratic process altogether, rendering all the progress and costs of the last 10 years futile," this newspaper's editorial read on Sep. 26.

Red-and-White acolytes continue nonetheless to brief journalists that they are contributing to the careful fermentation of Indonesian democracy, rather than vandalizing its most important institutions.

"To be able to provide a proper check and balance to the executive – we need an equally powerful force so that Joko's mental revolution can run effectively," the PKS' Hidayat said.

Jokowi outmaneuvered

Prabowo, who many at home and abroad feel embarrassed both himself and the country in a rambling interview on the BBC in which he refused to concede defeat to the winner of the presidential election, has kept a relatively low profile in recent weeks – focusing on riding out at his polo club and attending a handful of other public events. He has, however, managed to retain control of a six-party coalition that many felt would have disintegrated by now.

Analysts expected several deck hands to jump ship to Joko's PDI-P-led coalition. Golkar, a party that has never been in opposition, was widely expected to have deserted Prabowo and moved over to the Joko camp by now.

Instead, the election of Setya Novanto as the new speaker of the DPR indicates that Prabowo has successfully stamped his control on the House.

In addition to placing Setya in the speaker's chair, Prabowo has also parachuted his outspoken friend and Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) colleague Fadli Zon into a deputy speaker role, as well as Agus Hermanto from the Democratic Party, Taufik Kurniawan of PAN and Fahri Hamzah of the PKS.

Now Prabowo has his eye on consolidating the House's commissions and supporting boards. There are 11 commissions, which provide oversight of mandatory and other spending of specific sectors. There are a further six supporting boards.

"The commissions and the supporting boards might also be taken over by the Red-and-White Coalition," Golkar lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said on Friday.

Golkar itself wants to lead three commissions and one board. It is targeting Commission II overseeing domestic affairs, regional autonomy and elections; Commission III overseeing law, human rights and security; Commission V overseeing transportation, public works, and underdeveloped regions; Commission VI overseeing trade, industry, and state-owned enterprises; and Commission VII overseeing energy, mineral resources, and environment.

"The main point is: we want to lead three commissions and one supporting board," Bambang said.

For the leadership seats in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the politician said that the coalition has decided the allocation for each party.

"The coalition is ready to take back the top seats in the MPR," Bambang said. "The speaker will be from the Democratic Party, and the deputy speakers will be from Golkar, PAN, PKS and the PPP [United Development Party]. Gerindra has decided to give its place to the PPP."

An unnamed source said the Democratic Party had been given the speaker position as a reward for them sticking by Prabowo. The election of the MPR speaker and deputy speakers will take place on Monday.

Investors were pessimistic on Friday for a reform agenda that counts urgent short-term measures such as fuel-subsidy reform and more slow-burning necessities of corruption eradication and raising productivity.

In mid-morning trading in Jakarta on Friday, the Jakarta Composite Index was trading at 4,937.08 – a three-month low. The rupiah, still licking its wounds from being Asia's worst-performing currency in 2013, was pegged at 12,151 rupiah to the dollar – 1.1 percent worse off than at the beginning of the week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/red-white-coalition-gives-jokowi-blues-prabowo-rides-president-elect/

Prabowo's coalition is now gunning for regions, MPR

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2014

Jakarta – Opponents of President-elect Joko Widodo have successfully gained control of the House of Representatives' leadership and have begun forming plans to install their own members in positions as governors, district chiefs and mayors nationwide. They are also now gunning to rule the country's highest body, the People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR.

None within the four-party coalition that supported Joko snared a seat on the House leadership committee – all of which went to the six-party Red- and-White coalition, led by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, and which also controls 353 of the House's 560 seats, or 63 percent.

Many blame Joko's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for failing to expand its coalition by convincing Red-and-White members to switch sides – crucial to tipping the House's balance of power.

Several Red-and-White coalition parties expressed interest in joining the Joko-led coalition, including the Democratic Party and the United Development Party (PPP). Meanwhile, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Golkar – also Red-and-White members – have elements that have shown support for Joko.

But politicians that profess to be on the fence say Joko's coalition is in disarray, and the president-elect has failed to offer the right inducement. "[They] have no single commander," PPP secretary general Muhammad Romahurmuziy said, when asked about the party's reluctance to switch sides.

"It is not clear who gets what. And [Joko] has not offered any political incentive." Romahurmuziy said Joko's coalition has been too slow in getting his party on board, unlike President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who in 2004 and 2009 was very active and had the final say on ensuring PPP had a place in his cabinet.

Who's in charge?

Anonymous sources in the Democratic Party similarly said that although Joko met several times chairman Yudhoyono to discuss his party's inclusion in the cabinet, the talks failed.

"As it turns out, Jokowi is not the one calling the shots," a source inside the Democrats say referring to Joko by his popular name. Yudhoyono later demanded to see PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and hear the proposal directly from her.

"I have wanted to see her for so long, since 10 years ago. I have also sought to see her in the past few months, and also recently after a relatively harsh political conflict," Yudhoyono said on Wednesday, referring to the recent passage of the so-called regional elections bill, which abolishes direct election of governors, mayors and district heads.

Relations between the two soured after the Yudhoyono abruptly quit Megawati's cabinet in 2004 and ran for president – having previously promised he would not do so – and defeated the incumbent.

But PDI-P politician Aria Bima offered a different story, saying that it was Yudhoyono who had been avoiding Megawati. "SBY wanted a meeting and Megawati agreed. But when we called SBY's phone is out of reach. We tried until morning," he said, referring to Yudhoyono by his initials.

Analysts believe that an opportunity for parties to switch may open when Golkar, the biggest party in the Red-and-White coalition, holds a convention to elect a new chairman. Golkar is currently chaired by tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, who Prabowo reportedly promised would be his "main minister" if elected.

Days away from his Oct. 20 inauguration, Joko has not announced a cabinet, suggesting he is buying time as his party lobbies Red-and-White coalition members.

Seizing the upper hand

Analysts warn, however, that Red-and-White may now have the upper hand after seizing the House.

"To get Red-and-White coalition members on board, Jokowi would have to pay a very steep price," Indonesia Public Institute director Karyono Wibowo said. That price may entail giving Red-and-White members even more seats on Joko's cabinet.

On Thursday the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a Red-and-White partner, said the bloc sought to chair the 130-member Regional Representatives Council (DPD), which combined with the House, make up the MPR.

"We have to consolidate the Regional Representatives Council... [where] there are a lot of Red-and-White supporters. We've counted at least 60 DPD members as Red-and-White supporters," PKS House faction chair Hidayat Nur Wahid said.

Controlling the DPD would put Joko's fate entirely in the Red-and-White coalition's hands, which could start impeachment proceedings, render him ineligible to stand for re-election, or cripple his administration's programs and policies.

The Red-and-White coalition earlier stated its ambition to discontinue presidential elections and instead appoint the president through the MPR. This move would require an amendment to the Constitution – a power reserved by the MPR, along with impeachment authority.

But the Red-and-White coalition failed to secure one of its own as DPD chair, whose members chose non-partisan incumbent Irman Gusman.

In the early hours of Thursday, the six-party Red-and-White coalition managed to appoint its supporters to House leadership posts. Golkar's Setya Novanto was appointed as the House speaker. His deputies are Fadli Zon from Prabowo's Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), Agus Hermanto from the Democratic Party, Taufik Kurniawan from PAN and Fahri Hamzah of PKS. Joko's four-party coalition did not secure a single leadership post.

Joko said he is unfazed by the prospect of the opposition's control of the House in Jakarta, as well as 31 provincial legislatures across Indonesia. He dismissed fears of impeachment or political roadblocks.

"I ask people to stop worrying. The House and the government are partners," he said. "I have faced this many times. In Solo, in Jakarta, you know how many seats we have? Eleven percent. But as you can see... Does it mean anything? No."

Gajah Mada University's Zainal Arifin Mochtar said Joko should balance outreach against the need to streamline his coalition, pointing to Yudhoyono's mistake of having six parties in his own coalition.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/prabowos-coalition-now-gunning-regions-mpr/

Jokowi to strike back at rivals

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The coalition camp of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo may be bruised after a string of legislature defeats to the coalition led by defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in the House of Representatives, but it's not ready to give up yet.

After Jokowi's coalition – which is led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) – lost control of the House leadership, Jokowi said he expected short-term turbulence in the House.

He stressed, however, that he would not bow to the political pressure imposed by the Red-and-White Coalition, which recently received a boost when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party joined the camp.

"I want to call on the people not to lose faith. The Jokowi-Kalla [vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla] administration will remain strong in delivering our programs to the people. We guarantee it," Jokowi said.

He also promised that his administration's stated goal of improving the business climate would not be derailed by the recent setbacks.

"There is no reason for investors to be worried by what happened in the House," Jokowi said, referring to a House plenary session held Wednesday to select the House leadership. The session, which extended into the early hours on Thursday, attracted negative publicity across the country due to the chaotic, unprofessional way it was carried out.

He also said that the door remained open for rivals to join his coalition. "Politics can change in a matter of seconds." Jokowi added that he had recently learned of plans being hatched to thwart the effectiveness of his incoming administration.

Among them, he said, was a plan by the Red-and-White Coalition, which controls the majority of seats at the House, to prevent his inauguration at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Oct. 20.

"The public will be able to see for themselves that these attempts are aimed at satisfying the interests of certain political groups," Jokowi said.

A source requesting anonymity within the Jokowi-Kalla camp predicted that the political storm would be short-lived, as Jokowi was prepared to take legal measures against politicians implicated in corruption and tax- manipulation schemes.

"Don't worry. These corrupt lawmakers will be dragged down and their parties will eventually join our side," said the source.

Golkar Party lawmaker and newly inaugurated House speaker Setya Novanto has been implicated in several graft cases. He is currently being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as a witness, but court testimony has confirmed that he is alleged to have played a role in the crimes.

In one example, Setya has been dragged into the case of former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar, who was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes from a number of regional heads.

KPK chairman Abraham Samad said on Thursday that the antigraft body regretted Setya's appointment as House speaker, saying that he had "a potential issue with the law" that could hurt the image of the House.

"The KPK is concerned and decries the election of Setya Novanto as House speaker because he has the potential to be involved in a [future] legal case," he said.

In addition to threatening legal action to leverage additional political support, the Jokowi camp is also bracing for potential leadership shake-ups in the rival camp, particularly within Golkar and the National Mandate Party (PAN). The two parties are scheduled to hold their national meetings in January or February.

Jokowi is hoping that the new leadership will encourage additional parties to join his coalition.

PDI-P senior politician Hasto Kristiyanto confirmed the existence of a measure currently being prepared by Jokowi's camp to respond to the maneuvers being planned by Prabowo's camp.

"There will be some element of surprise there. We should just wait for to see what happens," he said, declining to elaborate.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/03/jokowi-strike-back-rivals.html

Yudhoyono does not deserve to be called hero for issuing Perppu: Analyst

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2014

Jakarta – Despite having issued two government regulations in lieu of law (Perppu) to bring back direct elections for regional heads, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono does not deserve to be described as a hero, an analyst says.

Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) executive director Titi Anggraini said that it was a normal thing for Yudhoyono, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Party, to issue the regulations. Therefore, there was no need to make too great a deal about it.

"Yudhoyono had to issue the Perppu whether people liked it or not. But, it does not mean that he has become a hero," she said on Friday as quoted by tempo.co.

She hoped that factions at the House of Representatives, which previously supported direct elections for regional heads, would commit to upholding their stance in a bid to return regional elections to the people.

Yudhoyono, who will leave office on Oct. 20, issued on Thursday two Perppu to repeal the two controversial laws that have revoked direct elections for regional heads. He stated that the Perppu were urgently needed to protect 204 local elections scheduled for next year from potential chaos because of the drastic changes entailed by the laws.

In a controversial vote that saw a walkout staged by Yudhoyono's Democratic Party faction, the House of Representatives passed the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law last week, which ended 10 years of direct regional elections. Amendments to the Regional Administration Law soon followed to adjust to the major changes entailed in the regional elections.

The votes provoked nationwide public outcry and condemnation of the President and his party. (alz)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/03/yudhoyono-does-not-deserve-be-called-hero-after-issuing-perppu-analyst.html

SBY issues Perppu to annul Pilkada Law

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2014

Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued on Thursday night government regulations in lieu of law (Perppus) to repeal two controversial laws that have revoked direct elections for regional heads.

Yudhoyono stated that the two Perppus were urgently needed to protect 204 local elections scheduled for next year from potential chaos because of the drastic changes entailed by the laws.

In a controversial vote that saw a walkout staged by Yudhoyono's Democratic Party faction, the House of Representatives passed the Regional Election (Pilkada) Law, ending 10 years of direct regional elections. Amendments to the Regional Administration (Pemda) Law soon followed to adjust to the major changes entailed in the Pilkada.

The vote provoked a nationwide public outcry and condemnation of the President and his party.

"I share the disappointment of more than half of the Indonesian population over the passage of the [Pilkada] law. My choice is to support direct elections. I was elected in 2004 and 2009 as President through direct elections," Yudhoyono said.

He also set out 10 points of improvements that he would like to see included in the next Pilkada deliberation, should the House of Representatives approve the Perppu. With the Perppu, Yudhoyono hands back the fate of direct elections to the House as both regulations must be approved by lawmakers before they can take effect.

Many are skeptical that his move will succeed in bringing back direct elections, as the majority of seats in the new House are controlled by the Red-and-White Coalition, which supports the representative-based local election mechanism. Factions of parties in the coalition were those that sponsored the passing of the controversial law.

Alongside the Perppu, a number of groups have filed a judicial review to challenge the law at the Constitutional Court.

A former regency candidate and an executive director of the Indonesia Anti-Corruption Community (MAKI), Boyamin Saiman, was among those who filed a challenge to the law on Thursday.

"We are pressing ahead with the judicial review. We must ensure the return of direct elections. The Perppu has a high chance of being politicized or turning into a political compromise for Yudhoyono and his political party," he said. "The judicial review is to ensure that we, the people, do not become victims."

Six activists and four civil society groups, including human rights monitor Imparsial, filed a similar judicial review request to the court just days after the Pilkada was passed, demanding the deletion of a key article in the law that gives authority to regional legislatures (DPRDs) to elect governors, mayors and regents.

They argue that the provision runs contrary to the principle of a direct, free, fair and confidential election and the principle of popular sovereignty as stipulated by Article 1 of the Constitution. According to them, a local election should be held by an independent institution.

Wahyudi Djafar, a lawyer representing the petitioners, confirmed they would press ahead with the case. The Perppu, however, has put the law in limbo and it therefore cannot yet be judicially reviewed.

Feri Amsari, a researcher at the Center of Constitutional Studies (Pusako) at Andalas University in West Sumatra, said it would be best for any judicial review to wait until the House had given its verdict on the Perppu.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/03/sby-issues-perppu-annul-pilkada-law.html

Fate of Perppu remains uncertain

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2014

Ina Parlina, Hasyim Widhiarto and Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The configuration of party coalitions in the House of Representatives will decide the fate of the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on direct regional elections currently being drafted by outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

On Tuesday, Yudhoyono announced that he would issue the Perppu to reinstate direct regional elections in the wake of public outrage over the House's move to scrap them.

However, many have said that the move merely shifts the burden to lawmakers now beginning the 2014-2019 term, which is dominated by the Red-and-White Coalition that supports the representative-based regional election mechanism.

For the Perppu to take effect, it must be endorsed by the House three months after its issuance. Yudhoyono is expected to leave office on Oct. 20.

Many in the Red-and-White Coalition said that they would reject the Perppu, reasoning that the government was not in a state of "emergency", which they said was the condition whereby such a regulation could be issued.

"Just bring it on. We will decide later whether it is acceptable," Gerindra Party executive and newly inaugurated lawmaker Fadli Zon said on Wednesday. "I don't see the urgency of issuing such a Perppu."

Chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction at the House, Hidayat Nur Wahid, shared Fadli's view: "There is no emergency situation that allows [Yudhoyono] to issue a Perppu. If the President insists [on doing so], I believe the House will reject it."

Democratic Party senior politician and former House speaker Marzuki Alie said the fate of the Perppu would depend on the alignments of the political parties. "We have yet to see how the coalitions will shape up to be," he said.

The Democratic Party currently controls just 61 seats in the House, while the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle-led (PDI-P) coalition holds 207 seats.

Taken together, the Democratic Party and the PDI-P-led coalition would control just 268 seats, five fewer than the 273 seats controlled by the Red-and-White Coalition comprising the Gerindra Party, the PKS, the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP).

A coalition between the Democratic Party and the PDI-P appears to be unlikely as the leaders of the two parties have failed to reconcile past differences.

In fact, Wednesday's inauguration of the new batch of lawmakers saw tensions between the Democratic Party and the PDI-P potentially strain further, when rather than greeting Yudhoyono after the inauguration ceremony, president-elect and PDI-P member Jokowi and his security detail rushed to the exit.

Golkar Party deputy chairman and Coordinating People's Welfare Minister Agung Laksono, however, said the Perppu was devised by Yudhoyono's administration, suggesting that some of his party's lawmakers would support it.

"Although Golkar's central board has yet to discuss it, I, personally, and as a deputy chairman, view it as a solution made by the government that listened to the people's aspirations," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/02/fate-perppu-remains-uncertain.html

PKS tools up to throw spanner in SBY's election bill rework

Suara Pembaruan - October 1, 2014

Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said on Wednesday that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's plan to issue an emergency presidential decree to cancel a newly passed law abolishing direct elections would not work because there was "no pressing problem" that warranted such a move.

"Even if SBY insists on issuing the decree I am confident the House of Representatives will not legalize the regulation," PKS senior lawmaker Hidayat Nur Wahid said on Wednesday.

President Yudhoyono announced a plan on Tuesday to issue a governmental regulation in lieu of law, known as a Perppu, to roll back the regional elections law, which has provoked widespread anger toward Yudhoyono for the defining role he had in passing the bill.

So concerned was the president for the outlook of Indonesian democratic integrity and the robustness of his legacy that he cut short his official visit to Japan to fly back to Jakarta to address the issue.

The law was drafted by Yudhoyono's Democratic Party but pushed through by the Red-and-White coalition led by Prabowo Subianto. It eliminates direct elections for mayors, district heads and governors – instead placing their appointment in the hands of regional selection boards.

Despite the uncertain outlook for the success of the Perppu, Yudhoyono said he would put it to the House in its next session.

The presidential regulation – which in the hierarchy of Indonesian legislation holds the same status as a law – would remain valid at least until the House voted to cancel it.

Hidayat said a Perppu should be issued only in an emergency situation – and that ending direct elections should not be considered an emergency.

"We have no pressing problem right now, no political emergency that needs a Perppu," Hidayat said, adding that the number of lawmakers in the Red-and- White coalition exceeded the number of lawmakers who opposed the law – increasing the likelihood the Perppu would be rejected.

The PKS's deputy secretary general, Fahri Hamzah, said Yudhoyono's Perppu was destined to be a wasted effort. "It will not be implemented if the lawmakers say no," he said.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/pks-tools-throw-spanner-sbys-election-bill-rework/

Direct elections could lead to impeachments

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Experts warn that the newly passed regional elections (Pilkada) bill, which mandates indirect local elections, contradicts the Indonesian presidential system and will likely make local administrators prone to impeachment.

"Our government adopts a presidential system in which the president and vice president are elected directly by the people. This means that a representative-based mechanism to select regional heads is inconsistent with the current government system," said Abdul Gaffar Karim, a political expert from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, in a discussion Wednesday.

He further said the House of Representatives' decision to pass the Pilkada draft bill into law was a move that was partial in nature. The House must first change the country's government system before it passed the Pilkada bill, he stated.

The House's decision to pass the Pilkada bill triggered public outcry as it mandated the replacement of direct elections for regional heads with indirect elections.

Abdul said the House should have first conducted a thorough evaluation on how the government system worked so that it could create election system changes that were comprehensive, impartial and not based on certain groups' interests.

The political expert rejected speculations that indirect elections, as mandated by the Pilkada bill, were the proper mechanism for local elections saying that direct elections had been marred by money politics.

"If 298 regional heads were allegedly involved in corruption because direct elections were too costly, it doesn't mean that we have to scrap the system. The corruption happened because those regional heads were corrupt persons and showed that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and other legal institutions had not yet been working effectively," he said.

Herry Zudianto, former Yogyakarta mayor from the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the representative-based mechanism would be lead to impeachments. With the country's current low political capacity and maturity, it was possible for regional heads to face impeachment charges before the end of their term of office.

"Even small differences of opinion could lead to the regional heads facing impeachment by the Regional Legislative Councils. This must be anticipated, otherwise, it is our people that will suffer losses," he said. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/direct-elections-could-lead-impeachments.html

Specter of compromise hangs over Jokowi

Jakarta Globe - October 1, 2014

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – With two recent laws passed that might work against the effectiveness of his incoming administration, President-elect Joko Widodo has little choice but to make political compromises and expand his ruling coalition, supporters and analysts say.

Joko's political vehicle, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, reiterated that it was open for other parties to join the coalition.

"You cannot build a nation by yourself," senior PDI-P politician Pramono Anung said. He added the party would intensify communications with members of the six-party Red-and-White coalition, or KMP, which supported losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

Analysts have expressed concern that the KMP, which was behind the passage of two controversial laws, is aiming to ensure that Joko is either impeached, unable to be re-elected or have his agenda and policies blocked or rendered useless.

The incoming House of Representatives, set to be inaugurated today, will see the KMP take control of 353 of the 560 House seats, against 207 seats to be held by the parties backing Joko Widodo.

The Constitutional Court on Monday ruled that the law on legislatures, also known as the MD3 Law, was not unconstitutional, clearing the way for the KMP to take control of key positions in the House.

Under the new law, the speaker's post will be put to a vote if there is no consensus on whom to appoint. The same mechanism also applies to other key positions in the House: heads of commissions, the Budget Committee (Banggar), the Legislative Body, the Households Affairs Committee (BURT), the inter-parliamentary body BKSAP and the Ethics Council.

The PDI-P had objected to the law because it scrapped the system that greatly benefited the largest party in the House, which used to be granted the speaker's post. The new system favors the largest alliance of parties in the House, which will be the Red-and-White coalition.

The coalition has reportedly agreed that Golkar will get the House speaker's post, while Prabowo's Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) will receive the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker post, with other parties to divide other key positions.

Trimedya Panjaitan, the PDI-P House chairman, said his party is aiming to change this composition.

"We shall see. Politics are dynamic, particularly once new legislators are installed. They are fresh and may not share the same political agendas [as their predecessors]," he was quoted as saying on Tuesday. "It is possible that there will be a new political alliance after October 1" when the new House members are sworn in.

A bigger coalition

Andreas Hugo Pareira, a member of the PDI-P's central leadership board, said the plan to build a bigger coalition with some KMP members had been around ever since Joko was named the winner of the July 9 presidential election. "Early on, we understood that we needed to approach and communicate with the other parties," he said.

The move could tip the balance inside the House to the PDI-P's favor in its bid to fill the legislative speaker post with one of its own.

Yunarto Wijaya, the director of Charta Politika, a think tank, said one KMP party which would almost certainly switch sides was the Golkar Party. Joko's choice of former Golkar chairman Jusuf Kalla as his running mate will prevent Golkar from ever fully uniting behind KMP policies, the analyst said.

Golkar, the biggest party by far in the KMP, is already riven over chairman Aburizal Bakrie's failure to ensure that the party, which has never been out of the ruling bloc, backed the winning side in this year's election.

The Democrats, under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, have also been blatantly hedging their bets in a ploy for cabinet seats. Additionally, the United Development Party, or PPP, appears increasingly likely to break from the KMP in favor of Joko's coalition. Yunarto agreed on the likelihood of some KMP parties switching sides.

"The PPP is going to hold a congress, Golkar is preparing to hold a national meeting – even the Democrats may change their position," he said. "Will the Red-and-White coalition become more powerful? I don't think so. I think that when Joko [is inaugurated], things will change."

Political deals?

Eko Putro Sandjojo, the House chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), one of Joko's coalition partners, indicated that Joko might make political compromises to lure KMP members over to their side.

"In politics there are no permanent enemies or friends, only permanent interests. So there must be common interests to lure [KMP parties]," he said.

Leo Agustino, a political observer from Banten's Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University, said Joko's only option was to offer KMP members seats in his cabinet. "That includes ministries and non-ministerial government bodies. That is the most feasible bargaining tool available," Leo said.

Hamdi Muluk, a political communications expert at the University of Indonesia, said Joko should balance his cabinet between making political compromises and finding the most competent people to fill key positions,

"[Joko] has to be smart in making his next move," Hamdi said. "If he opens the door too wide, his people [in the PDI-P] will get angry, but if he totally closes the door to another coalition partner, he'll continue to be attacked.

However, Ari Dwipayana, a political observer at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, said that Joko should forgo any political compromises with the Red-and-White coalition. "Joko should remain consistent with his commitment to building an unconditional coalition," he said.

Ari added that sharing power with parties outside of his four-member coalition – comprising the PDI-P, the PKB, the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and the National Democrat Party (NasDem) – "won't guarantee him absolute power in the House."

Siti Zuhro, a senior political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), also said Joko should not stoop to making unsavory political compromises.

She said he needed to remain confident about the popular grassroots support that swept him to power, despite risking the stability of that power. Joko "was directly elected by the people. So it wouldn't be that easy [for the KMP] to overthrow [Joko]," Siti said.

UGM's Ari agreed, saying Joko had the Constitutional right and people's mandate to be president. "He mustn't surrender when dealing with the House. Yes, there will be conflict, but he must face that. Don't repeat Yudhoyono's mistakes in choosing to compromise with politicians," Ari said, referring to Yudhoyono's six-party coalition that dominated the House but fell out frequently over key policies.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/specter-compromise-hangs-jokowi/

Guerrilla opposition led by Prabowo stymies Jokowi

Bloomberg - October 1, 2014

Neil Chatterjee, Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces army commander, lost the battle for Indonesia's presidency, both at ballot booths and in court. Since then he's won several victories.

Prabowo's coalition of seven parties has confounded expectations by holding together after his July election defeat, supported by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democrat party.

With a majority in parliament, his lawmakers have passed rules that scrap direct regional elections, weaken the influence of President-elect Joko Widodo's party and limit the ability of the anti-graft body to pursue legislators.

The moves underscore the challenge for Joko, known as Jokowi, even before he takes office, to navigate a parliament and an oligarchy that may not favor his efforts to cut corruption and improve tax collection to boost an economy growing at its slowest pace since 2009.

Prabowo's parties will seek to set the agenda once Jokowi is sworn in this month, even as their abolition of direct local elections faces a probable court challenge and public backlash.

"It could be a bad precedent for the country's political stability and legal certainty," said David Sumual, an economist in Jakarta at Bank Central Asia. This scenario "could be a prevailing story over and over again."

The rupiah has fallen 1.3 percent this week to a seven-month low, in part on investor concern that Jokowi could struggle to see through changes such as raising subsidized fuel prices. Foreign funds have sold Indonesian equities for six days, after investing more than $4 billion this year on prospects for reforms by Jokowi.

Road blocks

Prabowo has kept his alliance together by touting the potential to exert influence through parliament, after initial leadership rifts emerged in some parties as officials considered joining Jokowi.

With Prabowo's coalition holding a near two-thirds majority Jokowi, who is due to announce his cabinet this month, may have to dangle ministerial seats to lure some opposition parties, or face an antagonistic legislature that markets will see as a bigger risk, said Wellian Wiranto, a Singapore- based economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

"The same bunch of people who voted in this law in the outgoing parliament would still command a majority in the incoming parliament," said Wellian. "It's a coalition that has proven itself quite ready to erect road blocks that will ensure a tricky path for Jokowi's presidency."

Jokowi said he wasn't afraid of complications with parliament, as he had operated as governor of Jakarta and mayor in the Javan city of Solo as part of minority local coalitions.

"Our republic is presidential, and I'm not very worried about parliament," Jokowi told reporters on Sept. 29, adding he was open to others joining the coalition of his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P.

Political guerrilla

Prabowo, who led Indonesia's special forces unit Kopassus under former dictator Suharto, was accused of using a Red Cross-marked helicopter to rescue foreign scientists held hostage by Papuan rebels, killing villagers in East Timor and sending Kopassus members to kidnap pro-democracy activists. The latter saw him fired from his post in 1998 on the recommendation of a panel of officers, including Yudhoyono.

In more recent times he has recast himself as a successful businessman and cattle farmer who spends time with the locals near his ranch an hour's drive from Jakarta.

Prabowo is now implementing political guerrilla tactics, said Glen Gardiner, a partner at Jakarta-based Concord Consulting, which advises companies on Indonesia security risks.

"His personal political strategy certainly may be colored by his previous professional background as a military commander and the kind of thing special forces would seek to do against an opponent," said Gardiner, who spent 20 years in the Australian military. "Prabowo is a political opportunist that has survived."

House control

Prabowo's coalition is satisfied with its strategy, his brother and economic advisor Hashim Djojohadikusumo said on Sept. 29. The constitutional court that day rejected a PDI-P appeal to overturn a law that means it will not automatically get to choose the speaker in the parliament, known as the DPR.

"We think that this has certainly weakened Joko Widodo's power to operate, especially as not only will the speaker of the DPR be our nominee but also all 15 House committee chairmen and vice-chairmen will be named by our coalition," Hashim told Bloomberg News. "PDI-P and allies will be denied all committee leadership positions." The parliament committees formulate and approve bills.

Prabowo's military training has taught him that strategy is important, and now that he has control of parliamentary assets he will be looking for economic gains, said Achmad Sukarsono, an associate fellow at Jakarta-based research institute The Habibie Center. His tactics could force Jokowi's agenda to become more nationalistic, such as policies that restrict foreign investment, he said.

Prabowo mission

Jokowi's pledge to raise subsidized fuel prices could create inflation, hurt growth and offer his opponents an opportunity to attack him on the economy. His to-do list also includes raising funds by increasing tax collection, and reducing poverty. He will need parliament to approve future budget plans, pass laws, and sign off on appointments to institutions such as the anti-graft agency and central bank.

The ultimate mission of Prabowo, who questioned if the country's political system fitted its culture during the election campaign, may be to try to expand the removal of people's direct voting rights to the presidency, reversing democracy, said Kevin O'Rourke, author of "Reformasi: The Struggle for Power in Post-Soeharto Indonesia."

"An opportunity now exists for Widodo to hammer the opposition publicly for these maneuvers, especially the deeply unpopular revocation of voting rights," said O'Rourke. "But such aggressiveness may not be his forte."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/guerrilla-opposition-led-prabowo-stymies-jokowi/

Environment & natural disasters

Politicians in top posts limit progress on environment: Activists

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2014

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – As president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is set to announce his Cabinet this month, speculations are rife over who will fill the top jobs at the forestry and environment ministries, which bear the herculean task of managing forests, one of the country's most coveted natural resources.

Environmentalists agree that both posts should not be filled by political party members.

"Some past forestry ministers were from parties, such as Mohamad Prakosa, Nur Mahmudi Ismail, MS Kaban and Zulkifli Hasan. But they didn't excel at saving or managing forests," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner Yuyun Indradi.

Prakosa was from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), while Mahmudi, MS Kaban and Zulkifli were from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), respectively.

Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) director of information Firdaus Cahyadi said that it was too risky to fill the two posts, especially the forestry ministry, with political party members.

"They won't make much progress because environmental destruction is usually caused by corporations that have close ties with political parties," he said. Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) executive director Abednego Tarigan said that ideally, forestry and environment ministers should possess strong communication skills, which would be helpful in efforts to lobby corporations and other government agencies.

The country's forestry sector only contributed 0.75 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) as the country placed a ban on the log trade.

However, in spite of the ban, illegal logging practices are still evident in many regions, resulting in underreported trade, especially in the expansion of oil palm plantations, which have led to annual forest fires in the country. The palm oil industry contributed 11 percent to the GDP in the same year.

Current environmental law enforcement is perceived to be toothless in nabbing unruly agroforestry corporations, according to Abednego and Firdaus.

Firdaus said that law enforcement in the country was abysmal since the forestry ministry tended to side with the corporations.

"Both the environment ministry and the Presidential Working Unit for the Supervision and Management of Development [UKP4] have released reports on forest fires but the forestry ministry urged the public to not blame the corporations," he said. "This is why it's difficult to punish corporations."

Weak law enforcement has led some to believe that the posts should be filled by those experienced in investigating unruly corporations, such as officials from the UKP4 and the environment ministry.

"I heard Mas Achmad Santosa of the UKP4 mentioned as a potential candidate [to fill one of the posts]," said Yuyun. He said that Achmad, who heads the unit's law enforcement department, had a good track record in environmental law enforcement.

However, both Abednego and Firdaus said that the two posts should not be given to those from the UKP4. "If we're talking about [forest fire] cases, the corporations were brought to court only after they were pressured by civil society," Abednego said.

He said that he preferred figures such as former Walhi chairman Chalid Muhammad and also Presidential Advisory Council chairman Emil Salim to fill the posts.

"Emil has experience in dealing with civil society organizations and working with the government, while Chalid has extensive experience advocating environmental issues," Abednego said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/03/politicians-top-posts-limit-progress-environment-activists.html

Gender & sexual orientation

Students campaign for sexual rights

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Bandarlampung – Dozens of senior high school and university students as well as members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities voiced the need for stronger sexual and reproductive rights protection in a peaceful rally to commemorate World Sexual Health Day at the Adipura Monument traffic circle in Bandarlampung on Monday.

The young people joined the One Vision Alliance of Lampung (ASVL) to campaign for wider access to sexual and reproductive services. Dwi Hafsah Handayani, rally coordinator from the Lampung branch of the Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association (PKBI), said all Indonesians should have their sexual and reproductive health rights acknowledged, protected and met by the country.

"The country must provide sexual and reproductive health services and acknowledgment and protection to adolescents, women and groups vulnerable to sexual and gender-based injustice," said Hafsah.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/students-campaign-sexual-rights.html

Refugees & asylum seekers

Learning centre helps asylum seekers cope

Sydney Morning Herald - October 3, 2014

Michael Bachelard – Twenty adolescent boys and girls cram in one room of a house in West Java, singing and gesturing in delightfully accented English a song made famous by a giant purple dinosaur.

"With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?" they sing and point, embracing Barney the Dinosaur's signature tune with the same enthusiasm of the generation of children before them.

This is the English class at the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre and the mainly ethnic Hazara children attending could not be happier to be here.

In what would be the lounge if this was a family home, the littlies are having their faces painted with English words such as "Excellent", while others play word games with their young teacher and recite, with enthusiasm, Ring a-ring a-rosie.

In a third tiny room, the older teenagers take a rather more serious approach to their lesson, even though it's standing room only.

Just two months ago, these children were bored and aimless, dislocated from their home countries and stuck in temporary accommodation as their school years ebbed.

A year before that they might have been preparing with their parents to attempt the perilous boat voyage from Indonesia to Australia, fleeing the sometimes deadly dangers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

But Operation Sovereign Borders has stopped that traffic in boats,and now hundreds of children are among the 10,000 people marooned indefinitely in Indonesia while their asylum claims wend their way through the United Nations process towards an uncertain end.

Foreign children cannot attend Indonesian schools but, rather than give in to hopelessness and frustration, a group of four Hazara men pushed to open this learning centre in early August. One of them, Khadim Dai, is only 18 and wise beyond his years.

"Before, Indonesia was just a transit for asylum seekers. Now we must live here for three or four or five years, so we must educate our children. It's as simple as that," Khadim says.

The community expressed its interest a while ago but renting the house led to an explosion in applications. Fifty-five students and seven teachers now come to what the founders are careful to avoid calling a school (because it is not certified by the Indonesian government). They range in age from about five to 17 and attend for three hours a day, four days a week, to learn English, maths and "general knowledge", or basic science.

Classes in English for adult women are also held twice a week, so that, if they're lucky enough to win one of the few thousand refugee places in Australia or New Zealand, they'll be prepared.

An Australian donor has paid the rent to start with and donors have supplied piles of textbooks in English. The asylum seeker community kicked in to buy some basic equipment – a whiteboard and some markers. Even so, space is tight and the students sit on the floor or stand – partly because they have no chairs. Another 20 children are on the waiting list because they simply cannot fit into the building.

Despite its shortcomings, teachers and students here are both clear on the value of this project.

"Sitting at home wasting your time is not good and you will be depressed," says 17-year-old Maliha Ali in almost flawless English, "so that is why I am coming here – to utilise my time and utilise the students' time and teach them something that I know".

Maliha was still a student herself in Pakistan when her family fled a Taliban death threat to her father, Liaquat Ali Changezi. She didn't have a chance to graduate but now she is the "teacher" of the middle level class.

Her little brother, Fazil Aqil, 12, agrees that, "when we were free [to do nothing], the bad thoughts come in our mind". "Now it is good that we have a school and three hours we are busy with our school."

Both children would say that they are the offspring of Changezi, the learning centre's co-founder and "principal", who was a well known local Hazara TV actor in Quetta, Pakistan, before he says he was forced to flee. Ask Changezi about the learning centre and he does not celebrate his achievement so much as worry about its inadequacy.

Some students have much more English than others and it's hard for the teachers to manage, he says. "We need a bigger space... we have classes one, two and three, but the students belong in different age groups and different classes... it's very hard for the teachers."

Changezi also wants to find chairs, a computer and printer, and some training for the volunteer teachers. "I want to start a full service but we can't do it right now."

Khadim says a collateral benefit of the learning centre has been improved communications with the local Indonesian community. Relations between the thousands of asylum seekers who live in the hilltop town of Cisarua and the locals have not always been happy and stories of threatened violence and distrust are easy to find.

But the Indonesian community leader for this area, known as the "RT," cut the ribbon to open the learning centre, and Indonesian children who want to learn English (and don't mind their new friends speaking Hazaragi in the playground) have been invited to attend.

"We are a guest here, so we want to know about Indonesian culture and respect them," Khadim says.

It's a small start towards some high-minded aims. But the children in this school know that anything's better than sitting around doing nothing.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/learning-centre-helps-asylum-seekers-cope-20141003-10ppkx.html

Graft & corruption

More allegations entangle ex-minister Suryadharma

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2014

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali is facing rough days ahead as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) probes more corruption allegations against him.

After earlier accusing him of flying dozens of people to Saudi Arabia for free, the commission claimed on Wednesday that Suryadharma committed additional offenses in the haj graft case, which caused more than Rp 1 trillion in state losses.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that the antigraft body had collected enough evidence to prove that the graft suspect, who still serves as United Development Party (PPP) chairman and has refused to give up his party chairmanship post despite strong internal resistance, also had a hand in the procurement of various goods and services during the 2012-2013 haj program.

"We are currently intensifying our investigation into him. We are now focusing on the procurement of pilgrims' transportation, housing and catering in Saudi Arabia," Johan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Johan further said that the KPK had started looking into Suryadharma's involvement in the ministry's handling of the haj fund.

The haj fund has increased annually as more Indonesian Muslims have shown interest in performing the haj in Saudi Arabia. Each pilgrim is required to pay Rp 25 million to be placed on the haj waiting list. There are about 2 million names on the list. The ministry is currently managing around Rp 70 trillion in pilgrims' funds in its bank account.

Johan said that the KPK had also sensed that Suryadharma might have also committed graft with regard to discussion of the haj budget proposed by the ministry.

"In addition to the haj fund, we are also currently closely investigating his roles in the haj budgeting process [at the House of Representatives]. We are currently collecting testimonies from witnesses to build our case against him. The completion of his dossier is far from over though as we are working hard to collect evidence to prove all the allegations," Johan said.

The KPK has slapped a number of lawmakers from various political parties with travel bans in the case, including Suryadharma's wife Wardatul Asriah, who was sworn in as a House lawmaker representing the PPP.

The commission declared Suryaharma a graft suspect on May 22 in the haj graft case, but the antigraft body has yet to detain him. The KPK usually detains a graft suspect after it has completed 70 percent of his or her dossier.

"It will take time to complete Suryadharma's dossier as we are collecting evidence not only in Indonesia but also in Saudi Arabia. KPK Investigators have to fly to Saudi Arabia to conduct interviews and collect more evidence," KPK deputy chairman Adnan Pandu Praja said earlier.

Another KPK commissioner, Bambang Widjojanto, concurred with Pandu, saying that more work had to be done to complete Suryadharma's dossiers.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/02/more-allegations-entangle-ex-minister-suryadharma.html

'Calo' epidemic rife in graft-riddled bureaucracy

Jakarta Globe - October 2, 2014

Raja Humuntar, Jakarta – People simply call him Tatang. He is no public servant, but for decades now Tatang has had his own space at the office of the Tanjung Barat urban ward administration, in South Jakarta.

Nawawi, an officer with the civil registration unit of the administration, says Tatang is a "local public figure." Despite his non-employee status, Tatang hangs out at the administration office regularly, usually at the identity card registration section.

Asked if it is against the law to let a non-civil servant meddle and profit from public affairs, Nawawi says he has nothing to do with that.

"I'm here just to do my duties," says Nawawi, who was only transferred to Tanjung Barat a few months ago. "After all, Pak Lurah [the urban ward chief] also knows about this. And Tatang has been quite helpful; he helps bringing in files for the urban ward chief to sign."

Tatang is in fact an infamous "calo," an illegal middleman of sorts, for the Tanjung Barat administration. Local residents have complained about him forcing them to pay money for administrative-related matters that should be free or cost very little.

Tatang used to gain a lot from "helping" locals applying for ID cards, or KTP, at the urban ward office, or for renewing them. However, since the introduction of the electronic ID cards, or e-KTP, he hasn't been able to earn money from it. Since then, Tatang has been focusing on "facilitating" residents' applications for letters to switch domicile.

Ashar Makmur, a former chief of a neighborhood unit in Tanjung Barat, says based on what he has heard from people in Tanjung Barat, Tatang commonly exploits newcomers' lack of knowledge of how things work. Ashar claims Tatang has access to and is able to help residents secure change-of- domicile letters.

He usually charges Rp 500,000 ($41) for his services. One of his clients claims he still has not secured his letter, although it has been years since he paid that amount to Tatang.

Ashar says his own wife, who has replaced him as the neighborhood unit chief, is among those who have had an unpleasant experience with Tatang. Recently, Tatang asked her to issue a reference letter for "a friend" seeking to move house. Ashar's wife refused, telling Tatang to tell his friend to come by himself.

"Tatang became upset and instantly pushed my wife, calling her rigid. Two people witnessed the incident," Ashar says. "All the employees [of the Tanjung Barat administration] and the ward chief himself are aware of Tatang's presence."

Nawawi, though, claims he knows nothing about Tatang's illicit calo business in Tanjung Barat.

The new urban ward chief, Aryan Syafari, claims he doesn't know anyone named Tatang. He even claims to have enacted reforms in his office since he began serving there three months ago. "The head of the local Satpol PP [public order agency] and one of his staff have been transferred. He is well known for decades of 'playing' in the urban ward," Aryan says.

'Auction of positions'

Aryan was one of hundreds of subdistrict and ward chiefs inaugurated in June, after they were selected through the Jakarta administration's new recruitment system. This is the system that outgoing Governor Joko Widodo and his deputy, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, have touted as "lelang jabatan."

The term literally means "auctioning off positions." However, the new system is actually meant to be a transparent selection process aimed at reducing corruption, collusion and nepotistic practices in the appointment of people for several public positions. Such positions include subdistrict and ward seats, as well as principals of Jakarta administration-run schools.

The supposedly transparent process through which they have been selected is also touted to give birth to honest, local leaders who will be able to combat calo practices like Tatang's activities in the Tanjung Barat administration.

Such practices are not uncommon in Indonesia, although often those who act as calo are the public servants themselves. Their practices include asking citizens to pay illegal levies for services that are supposed to be free or cost very little – including registration for KTP and family registration certificates, as well as applications for moving and building permits.

The Indonesian Ombudsman says calo activities and illegal levies remain "rife" in Jakarta's bureaucracy despite the introduction of the new recruitment system. The ombudsman cites the result of its three-month-long of investigation into administrative procedures in 13 urban ward administrations and several Jakarta agencies.

Furthermore, in the past four years the public services have been the subject of the most public complaints, according to ombudsman official Budi Santoso.

"We have presented the results of our investigation to Basuki. He was very grateful [for our report] and said he would take concrete measures to eradicate such practices," Budi says.

University of Indonesia sociologist Imam Prasodjo says the new "open recruitment" system alone is not enough to end rampant calo practices and illegal levies plaguing the nation's bureaucracy.

"I think the new policy has been running quite well, because from that we can recruit the best leaders as products of the competitive and transparent process," Imam says. "To curb this phenomenon [of calo and charging illegal levies], we need top-down systemic changes."

Systemic changes, Imam adds, are necessary because many public officials, especially at the grassroots levels, have become too used to brokering services and engaging in the corrupt levy culture.

Those changes may be done through the use of online methods for public service payments, which minimizing citizens' direct encounters with civil servants, Imam adds.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jakarta/calo-epidemic-rife-graft-riddled-bureaucracy/

Hard-line & vigilante groups

FPI faces more resistance following Friday's clash in protest of Basuki

Jakarta Globe - October 7, 2014

Bayu Marhaenjati, Robertus Wardhi & Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – Acting Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama says he wants to dissolve the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front after its violent protest last week against his ascent to the governor's post over the fact that he is a Christian.

The group, known as the FPI, is notorious for their anti-alcohol and anti- night club raids, especially during Ramadan. They believe Jakarta, with a moderate Muslim majority population, should not be led by Basuki, because he is also Chinese-Indonesian.

Basuki is set to assume the governor post as the outgoing governor, Joko Widodo, will be inaugurated as Indonesia's seventh president on Oct. 20 following his election win. The FPI has been staging rallies against Basuki since he and Joko took office in 2012.

On Friday of last week, though, their rally in front of City Hall turned violent as members of the organization hurled stones at police officers in an attempt to break through the gate, injuring at least 16 officers. As many as 21 members of the FPI have been arrested over the incident.

On Monday, Basuki says he would look for a way to dissolve the FPI, adding that it would be quite tricky given that the group, as an organization, has no official permit.

"This is funny. How should we dissolve them when they don't even have a licence [to cancel]? We'll have to look into how we can dissolve them," Basuki said.

"But my principle is, every civil organization engaging in anarchy and attempting to scrap the Constitution and Pancasila [Indonesia's five founding principles] should be removed from this country."

Golkar Party lawmaker Nurul Arifin threw her support behind Basuki. "There is nothing wrong with Ahok's nascent to the governor's post," Nurul said on Monday, referring to Basuki by his popular nickname.

"Don't use ethnicity, religion and racial bigotry to attack someone. It will instead spur antipathy toward the group [conducting the racist campaign]."

But fellow Golkar politician Hajriyanto Y. Thohari disagreed with Nurul, saying protests like the FPI's were a normal occurrence in a democracy and should not be handled "dramatically."

He cited as an example how in the United States, there was resistance against President Barack Obama after he was rumored to be a Muslim.

"A small group of Americans rejected Obama based on a rumor that he's a Muslim," Hajriyanto said. "So if a small group of Jakartans reject Ahok, there's no need for dramatization. Ahok will still be inaugurated as the Jakarta governor, won't he?

"Just listen to the FPI's ideas, there is no need to do as they demand," Hajriyanto, the Golkar politician, said.

"The majority of Jakartans like Ahok's performance. Although it is better that he better controls his speech," he added, referring to Basuki's known outspokenness, especially when dealing with irregularities within the Jakarta bureaucracy.

This outspokenness, though, has been interpreted by the FPI as arrogance, which has lead to FPI members calling Basuki an "arrogant infidel."

Aunur Rofiq of the United Development Party (PPP) also came to the defense of the FPI, saying every Indonesian citizen had the right to express his opinion. "That's why all leaders must act in the interest of the people, to improve the people's welfare, not to build their personal reputation," Aunur said.

Gerindra's confession

Surprisingly, a member of Basuki's former party, the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), said the FPI had actually often coordinated with the party before staging protests against Basuki – who resigned from Gerindra last month.

He stepped down in protest against its move to cancel direct elections of regional leaders through a new law passed by the House of Representatives last month.

Fajar Sidik, the secretary of the Jakarta chapter of Gerindra, though, denied any involvement by the party in Friday's violent protest.

"Usually they coordinate with us before their rallies," Fajar told Indonesian news portal Merdeka.com on Friday. "I don't know about this one [Friday's protest], though. What organization actually took part in the protest? I'm confused as to why it ended in chaos."

"I suspect this is an expression of disappointment towards Ahok. [Rallies] we agree on usually don't end in violence."

Wanted: protest coordinator

Police said 21 members of the FPI arrested during Friday's violent protest were currently suspects, including four minors. An estimated 1,000 FPI members took part in the protest.

"We're also conducting legal proceedings against the four [minors], but we're not detaining them. We're only detaining the adults," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said.

He added that the police will be charging the suspects with offenses including the use of sharp weapons, attacking officers, destroying property and assault. "They're facing more than five years in prison," he said.

Rikwanto added that police are still searching for the protest coordinator, identified as Habib Novel Bamu'min. "We're still looking for Habib N.," Rikwano said. "We hope he will hand himself in, otherwise we will keep searching."

Rikwanto further said police were still investigating the motives behind the FPI's "brutal" attack on police officers.

"They had prepared rocks, there were dozens of sacks containing rocks in their cars. There were also sacks containing cow dung, bamboo, wooden sicks and swords. We've seized all of those," he said.

"We're still investigating how this happened. Why did they so brutally attack police members? Why did they all come to Jakarta to stage the rally?" he added.

Observers have lauded the arrests, saying it could restore public trust in law enforcement. They cited a lack of assertive action against groups like the FPI by law enforcement for years.

Despite being notorious for unlawful raids against "sinful" activities, the FPI has largely been left untouched legally by the government and law enforcement.

"[The police's] latest action deserves appreciation, and is expected to help the National Police restore public trust in themselves. The police have for a long time been considered powerless against anarchic, intolerant groups who disrupt public order," Hendardi, the chairman of rights group Setara Institute, said in a press statement on Monday. "And we will support any legal action taken against criminal offenders."

Hendardi, though, urges police not to stop at low-ranking FPI members. "To anticipate [similar incidents in the future], police must also pursue intellectual actors behind resistance against Ahok becoming the Jakarta governor," he said.

University of Indonesia political analyst Arbi Sanit also encouraged police to take firm action against the FPI.

"Violence-ridden politics is not democracy. It is not right to use violence in rallies; it's against the Constitution and if it keeps being done, it will disrupt security and traffic," Arbi said. "The civil group [FPI] is not even an organization officially, so officers must take firm actions against them."

To the public, Arbi told them to ignore the FPI's calls against Basuki. "Organizations staging such rallies, like the FPI, represent only minority Muslim extremism. There's no need to listen to them. They... don't represent the majority of Jakartans. If they're the majority, then we'll see, they should win in the next [Jakarta] gubernatorial election in 2017," he added.

The demonstration by the FPI outside City Hall and the legislative council complex in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta, turned violent on Friday and police refused to back down against the protesters, who tried to break police lines and push farther into the grounds of the council.

A line of police behind riot shields crept forward toward the rock-throwing protesters in a measured attempt to not escalate the volatile situation. Many officers suffered head injuries from projectiles thrown by the mob, who were shouting "God is great." Police later fired tear gas into the crowd to break up the protest.

Also last month, some 300 FPI protesters gathered outside the council and shouted at Ahok: "Get out, get out. We will drag you out of Jakarta if you ever become our governor. Never let an infidel be our leader," AFP reported.

Track records

The FPI gained international notoriety in 2012 when it issued a death threat to pop star Lady Gaga, forcing the singer to cancel a concert in Jakarta. Some members were also responsible for the death of a woman in Kendal, Central Java, last year during a raid in Ramadan.

FPI members struck the woman down while she fled a protest against establishments serving alcoholic beverages.

In an FPI attack against representatives of the Interfaith National Alliance for Freedom of Faith and Religion at the base of the National Monument (Monas) in June 2008, dozens were injured.

The FPI are also responsible for the forced closure of an Ahmadiyah mosque in West Java in October last year, after threatening to burn it down.

The government has repeatedly given the FPI final warnings – most unambiguously after the Kendal tragedy, but the group has been able to operate throughout Indonesia unfettered regardless.

Many have slammed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's reluctance to confront the organization, suggesting that he and his government have chosen to coddle it.

Last year, for instance, the former religious affairs minister, Suryadharma Ali, now a graft suspect, praised the FPI as an important "national asset" when he made a keynote speech at the FPI's annual congress in Jakarta.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jakarta/fpi-faces-resistance-following-fridays-clash-protest-basuki/

FPI usually talks with Gerindra before rallies, says party official

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2014

Jakarta – Gerindra Party official Fajar Siddiq regretted the recent Islam Defenders Front (FPI) rally that turned violent, saying that the violence was unnecessary and would have been avoidable if the hardline group had spoken with Gerindra Party officials first, as they normally do before such events.

Fajar said the FPI would always talk with them first before hitting the streets. "That is why I am confused. Why didn't they do that this time?" Fajar said Saturday, as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that everything would have run smoother and there would have been no violence, had the FPI come and talked to them first. He said he suspected that there were agents provocateur who wanted to defame both the FPI and Muslims by turning the peaceful rally into a violent one.

On Friday afternoon, the FPI demonstrated in a bid to express its rejection of Deputy Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent who will replace outgoing Governor and president-elect Joko Widodo, who is a Muslim of Javanese descent.

The rally turned into a violent confrontation against police personnel after hundreds of protesters bearing FPI banners threw stones and rocks at the council building. More than 10 police officers were injured – two were rushed to hospital – while a number of cars were also damaged during the protest. (alz/dic)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/05/fpi-usually-talks-with-gerindra-rallies-says-party-official.html

Jakarta politics heating up

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2014

Sita W. Dewi, Jakarta – The recent power struggle among political elites may have spilled out onto the street on Friday, as a hardline group with informal ties to defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto held a rally in front of Jakarta City Hall that erupted into what police believe was a coordinated riot.

The Jakarta City Police have arrested at least 20 members of the group, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), following a protest at the City Hall compound on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta on Friday.

More than 10 police officers, including the Gambir Police Precinct chief, were injured, while a number of cars were damaged after hundreds of protesters waving FPI flags threw rocks of considerable size toward the City Council building.

A nearby Transjakarta bus shelter was vandalized and several luxury cars belonging to city council members were damaged.

The FPI had rallied in opposition to Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, objecting to his religious affiliation and ethnic background. Later this month, Ahok will replace president-elect and outgoing Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

The FPI has publicly repudiated Ahok, claiming to speak for all Muslim Jakartans when they said they did not wish to be led by a Christian leader – a tenuous claim as the group has no credibility to speak for the larger Muslim community in Jakarta or elsewhere.

The group also took issue with the fact that Ahok, as governor, would automatically head a number of Islamic organizations in Jakarta.

Jokowi was not present at City Hall during the protest and Ahok was in South Korea attending the closing ceremony of the Asian Games.

Jakarta City Police chief Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono said that the FPI had engineered the rally to end in violence as the protesters – several of whom had traveled from Bandung, Majalengka and Tasikmalaya in West Java to attend – arrived with rocks in their trucks.

"It's not a spontaneous [violent protest]," said Unggung, who later led at least 200 officers to cordon off FPI headquarters on Jl. Petamburan in Central Jakarta to locate Habib Shahab Anggawi and FPI secretary-general Novel Bamu'min, the alleged coordinators of the violence.

FPI chairman Habib Rizieq apparently refused to turn over Shahab and Novel to the police, instead giving up their assistant, Irwan. "We're still negotiating with Habib [Rizieq]," said Unggung, who was installed as police chief in early September.

The FPI has acquired a reputation for carrying out violent vigilante acts to "reinforce Islamic teachings".

Gerindra Party Jakarta chairman and council deputy speaker M. Taufik, who once served several years in prison for graft, thanked the group for holding the rally and promised that he would do whatever was necessary to end Ahok's career. "Ahok is to blame for this violence," Taufik said.

The FPI supported Prabowo, Gerindra's patron, during the recent presidential election.

Gerindra's anger toward Ahok stemmed from the latter's recent decision to resign from Gerindra in protest at the party's support of a regional election law that scrapped direct elections for governors, mayors and regents.

Prabowo and his brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, have vented their resentment at Ahok publicly, calling him a "jumping louse" for his purported penchant for changing parties.

The FPI protests, however, may not be limited to a repudiation of Ahok's background and fitness to lead, as the group demanded Ahok retract a statement calling councilors who supported indirect elections "extorters". The Prabowo-led Red-and-White Coalition are staunch supporters of indirect elections. (fss)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/04/jakarta-politics-heating.html

FPI members riot at Jakarta city council over non-Muslim governor

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2014

Jakarta – Hundreds of protesters from Indonesia's most notorious hard-line Islamic group assaulted police with rocks and weapons including a sword on Friday and demanded that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama be prevented from serving as Jakarta governor.

The riot left at least 11 officers injured, including one who suffered sword cuts to the arms. Twenty protesters were arrested, police said, of whom four were injured.

The demonstration by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in front of the City Council building in Kebon Sirih turned violent and police refused to back down against the protesters, who tried to break police lines and push farther into the grounds of the council. A line of police behind riot shields crept forward toward the rock-throwing protesters in a measured attempt to not escalate the situation.

Most officers suffered head injuries from projectiles thrown by the mob, who were shouting "God is great." Police later fired tear gas into the crowd to break up the protest.

In a typically cautious comment, instructive of the kid gloves with which politicians routinely choose to handle incidents involving the FPI, Jakarta City Council deputy speaker Triwisaksana called for more dialogue between the government and "civil society" groups.

"I suggest the city council leaders and Jakarta administration cool down and hold more dialogue with more [representatives of] civil society and not provoke any anger," Triwisaksana said.

The FPI's media wing has consistently voiced its dislike of Basuki, ironically on account of his waspish manner, which the group has blasted as "arrogant." However, it is the religious factor that seems to be the group's primary concern.

Salim Bin Umar Alattas, who heads the FPI's Jakarta branch, said last month the group strongly objects to Basuki taking over the post from President- elect Joko Widodo.

"He is not a Muslim and he is too arrogant, his words are rude and he calls people names," Salim told the Globe. "It's not proper for a public official to act like that. He must learn ethics."

Joko, better known as Jokowi, is a Muslim and Basuki, the new governor, is a Protestant Christian.

Also last month, some 300 FPI protesters gathered outside the council and shouted "Get out, get out. We will drag you out of Jakarta if you ever become our governor. Never let an infidel be our leader," AFP reported.

The FPI gained international notoriety in 2012 when it issued a death threat to pop star Lady Gaga, which forced the singer to cancel a concert in Jakarta.

Its members were also responsible for the death of a woman in Kendal, Central Java, last year during a raid in Ramadan. FPI members struck the woman down while fleeing a protest against establishments serving alcohol.

The government has repeatedly given the FPI a final warning – most unambiguously after the Kendal tragedy, but the group has been able to operate unfettered regardless.

[Additional reporting by Bayu Marhaenjati.]

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jakarta/fpi-members-riot-jakarta-city-council-non-muslim-governor/

Freedom of religion & worship

Jokowi administration urged to tackle issue of intolerance

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2014

Jakarta – Human rights activists have called on president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla to crack down on rising intolerance in the country as soon as they take the oath of office on Oct. 20.

Siti Musdah Mulia, director of the Megawati Institute, said Tuesday hopes were high that the next government would be able to address a rise in religious intolerance that worsened during the 10-year tenure of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"I hope Jokowi and Kalla can do a better job, a much better [job]. They should be able to find the right solution," Siti said in a discussion held by the Maarif Institute in South Jakarta earlier this week.

Sociologist Thamrin Tomagola urged Jokowi not to follow in the footsteps of Yudhoyono, whom many deemed a failure in the effort to protect the rights of minority groups in the country. Thamrin said he held high hopes for Jokowi and Kalla, given the pledges the pair made during the presidential campaign.

"In his vision and mission statement Jokowi said that there were three main problems facing country, [two of which included] the absence of the state in civic life and rising intolerance of particular groups. This means that they really grasp what is going on in this country," Thamrin said.

Thamrin added that most instances of intolerance occurred because certain groups failed to appreciate that Indonesia was a country of diverse religious, ethnic and racial backgrounds.

The Setara Institute, an organization that promotes democracy and peace, identified 264 cases of religious discrimination in 2012 and 243 in the first 10 months of 2013. Ahmadis, Christians and Shia followers were found to be the groups most frequently targeted.

"Attacks against Ahmadis, the displacement of Shia followers and discrimination against [adherents of] local belief [systems] are problems that require an immediate response," Siti said, adding that a number of radical Muslim groups were behind the rising intolerance.

Siti said that intolerance in the country had reached a critical stage, with schools beginning to promote discrimination and hatred against subscribers of minority belief systems. "Ideally, students should learn about tolerance and diversity from the beginning of their schooling," she said.

A survey in 2011 conducted jointly by the Jakarta Teachers Forum (FMGJ), Paramadina University Institute for Education Reform (IER) and the Tifa Foundation found that none of the 21 civic textbooks used in senior high schools touched on the subject of multiculturalism.

"Not long ago I found a senior high school textbook and in one chapter I read about the establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia. I can't understand how this kind of book can be distributed to our students," Siti said. (idb)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/02/jokowi-administration-urged-tackle-issue-intolerance.html

Poverty & social inequity

New government promises to narrow social gap despite high growth target

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Jakarta – The incoming government is optimistic that the country's growing inequality can be narrowed despite its target to achieve economic growth of at least 7 percent a year, said vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla.

Kalla said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the social gap between the rich and the poor had continued widening in the past several years due to the government's inability to make use of the country's agricultural potential and improve the quality of education.

As a large part of the state budget in the past several years comprised the costly fuel subsidy, the government lacked the financial resources to finance more productive activities that could help improve incomes, he said.

The remark was expressed at the launch of two books about economic inequality written by Wijayanto Samirin, an economist at Paramadina University, Jakarta, on Tuesday.

During his keynote speech at the book launch, Kalla said inequality in a country was an output of the government's policies that had failed to give fair economic conditions to their citizens.

"The government should take affirmative action in budgeting and executing policies to help create an environment where people can work and investment can grow," he said.

Also on Tuesday, Samirin said he hoped his books could contribute insight for the new administration to narrow the economic gap, which had grown wider in the last 10 years based on the Gini coefficient ratio.

According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, Indonesia saw a Gini ratio of around 0.41 to 0.42 in 2013, which was the highest in the country's history. The number was higher compared to 0.32 in 2004, when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono began his tenure.

The Gini ratio is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income distribution of a nation's population.

Such inequality contrasts with Indonesia's economic growth of 6 percent in recent years, which could turn the country into the world's 7th largest economy by 2030, according to McKinsey research.

A member of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's economic team, Arif Budimanta, added that the Jokowi administration aimed to decrease inequality by reallocating subsidies to productive sectors and spreading development more widely.

According to Arif, the Jokowi administration will give inclusive development to villages, where the highest poverty levels were, compared to cities, saying that at present only around 26 percent of total funds in the state budget was allocated to regional levels.

"We still have a centrist design in our state budget, even though we have practiced decentralization for 10 years. The Jokowi administration will try to focus on regional allocations in the state budget to boost local resources and public investment in villages," he said.

However, economist Faisal Basri was skeptical that 7 percent economic growth could be achieved in the first term of Jokowi's administration due to a lack of fiscal space and minimum support in the House of Representatives.

According to Faisal, the first thing that Jokowi and Kalla should do is get the country's economy back on track through policies that are often termed "low-hanging fruit", meaning seizing the most obvious opportunities. (gda)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/new-govt-promises-narrow-social-gap-despite-high-growth-target.html

Land & agrarian conflicts

Farmers say no to new airport development

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2014

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Five hundred farmers from four subdistricts in Kulon Progo regency, Yogyakarta, staged a rally at the Kepatihan gubernatorial office complex in Yogyakarta on Tuesday to reject a plan to build an airport in their regency.

The farmers expressed fear that they would lose their livelihood. "We firmly reject the plan to build an airport in Temon," the protesters' spokesperson, Martono, said.

He represented fellow farmers from Jangkaran, Sindutan, Paliyan and Glagah subdistricts grouped under the Wahana Tri Tunggal (WTT) farmers' group during a protest held at the Wiyata Praja hall in Kepatihan on Tuesday.

With approval from the central government, the Yogyakarta provincial administration has been making plans to build a new airport on a 688 hectare plot in a coastal area in Glagah and Congot subdistricts, Kulon Progo.

The new airport was considered necessary because the existing Adisutjipto Airport in Sleman was seen as operating at overcapacity.

Martono called on the provincial administration to stop disseminating information about the planned airport development. "We don't want to move. We want to farm, live and die there," he said.

The protesters, mostly women, were not able to meet with Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono because he was out of town. Instead, they were met by the provincial administration secretariat's assistant II overseeing economy and development, Didi Purwadi.

Another protester, Tri Sumarni of Glagah subdistrict, said that the farmers did not want to sell their fields because they had been earning a living from the fertile coastal agricultural fields. "We plant vegetables, fruits and crops. We can earn tens of millions of rupiah," Tri said.

She said that during an informational meeting on the project, the administration never discussed compensation for farmers who would be affected by the airport project. She said WTT members were not allowed to attend the informational meeting held at the Glagah subdistrict hall on Sept. 23. "Police blocked us from entering the forum," she said.

In response to the protestors, Didi Purwadi said he would convey the farmers' aspirations to the governor. He also encouraged the protestors to attend informational meetings so they could convey their aspirations to the administration. Didi also said that despite the protest, the administration would carry on with its plan to build the airport.

He said that farmers could choose from different forms of compensation for the fields needed for the development project: cash, replacement fields or a combination of both. "We will discuss the matter during the public consultation forum," Didi said. He also called on the farmers to calm down because development of the airport was meant to boost incomes.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/08/farmers-say-no-new-airport-development.html

Indigenous people want control of their forests

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2014

Jakarta – Indigenous peoples across Indonesia have high hopes that the new government will award them the management of customary forests.

Chalid Muhammad, the Management Board Chairman of the Association for Community and Ecologically-based Law Reform (Perkumpulan HuMa), said on Wednesday that a lot of indigenous people depended on the forests for their livelihoods, but had difficulty accessing them due to a lack of specific regulations.

In March 2012, the Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) filed a judicial review request with the Constitutional Court, accusing the government of frequently violating the rights of indigenous peoples by enforcing state control of customary forests.

In its request, AMAN cited data from the Forestry Ministry and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) listing 31,957 villages whose residents interacted with the forest; 71 percent of the villages depended on forest resources.

In mid-2013, the Constitutional Court granted the request and stipulated that customary forests no longer belonged to the state. There are now two categories of forest: state forests and public forests, with the latter again divided into two: customary forests and individual forests.

Chalid claimed, however, that the government had failed to implement the court's decision.

He cited two benefits of returning management of forests to the people. "The first benefit would be the subsequent lower rates of deforestation," he said.

The second one, said Chalid, was the improvement of indigenous people's welfare, adding, furthermore, to Indonesia's economic growth.

Zulfikar Arma from Aceh's Indigenous Communities Network said that the government was reluctant to hand over forest to the people because of fears of overexploitation.

"We think that the government still worries that the forests will disappear if they are handed over to the people, but that won't happen," he said. Zulkifar said that indigenous people were wise, and would not overexploit the forests that they relied on.

Chalid said that forest management had failed in the hands of corporations, without even any economic benefits, adding that the vast majority of forests were still managed by corporations.

"More than 90 percent of forest management in Indonesia is conducted by corporations," he said. "This causes high rates of deforestation, conflict and environmental degradation, as well as poverty in the communities that live in the forest regions."

HuMa Program Coordinator Nurul Firmansyah added that the indigenous people were ready to manage the forests, but their lack of formal recognition meant they had no legal basis on which to manage the forests.

The outgoing House of Representatives recently failed to pass a bill on the recognition and protection of the rights of indigenous people (PPHMA) into law.

Democratic Party lawmaker Himmatul Alyah Setiawaty, who led the House's special committee on the bill deliberation, blamed the government's lack of support for the failure of the bill.

She claimed that the government, supposed to be represented by the forestry minister, had never once attended the deliberation process. (ask)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/03/indigenous-people-want-control-their-forests.html

Regional autonomy & separatism

Maluku trial highlights Indonesia's 'zero tolerance' of dissent

Jakarta Globe - October 3, 2014

It all started with a prayer and a bit of jazz. On the morning of April 25, some 20 South Moluccan nationalists gathered in Maluku province's capital, Ambon, where they had planned to hold a peaceful "long march" to mark the anniversary of the Republic of South Maluku's declaration of independence from Indonesia.

The activists, all Christian, took a moment to pray, and then several began playing trumpets they'd brought along. Simon Saija, one of the organizers of the event, had emerged after years of hiding to read a text he had composed about the history of the RMS movement.

But before Saija had a chance, about 50 local police arrived and began detaining the activists. More than a dozen were arrested, including three children who were later released.

A grainy video of the demonstration, obtained by ucanews.com, shows Saija, 47, speaking with law enforcement officers before he and other activists were escorted to a police vehicle.

The activists had brought RMS and United Nations flags with them, but according to rights monitors, were not able to raise the flags before being detained.

The arrests were another example of Indonesia's quick and heavyhanded reaction to independence movements, however small, across the sprawling archipelago. South Moluccan nationalists are part of a small and already marginalized movement that has not had a significant military presence in half a century.

The RMS attempted to secede from Indonesia in 1950, but was defeated by Indonesian forces in November of the same year. A low-level armed struggle continued on Seram Island until 1963.

Like in Papua and West Papua provinces, the Indonesian government has reacted in recent years by handing down stiff prison sentences to individuals taking part in acts of civil disobedience such as the raising of the RMS flag.

A touchy subject

The Indonesian government has grown extremely sensitive toward pro- independence agitation in Maluku following an embarrassing incident during a 2007 visit to Ambon by outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

On June 29, 2007 a group of South Moluccan dancers passed uninhibited through several layers of security at Ambon's stadium, and confronted Yudhoyono by performing a traditional cakalele war dance and unfurling an RMS flag.

The stunt – thought to have been masterminded by Saija – garnered a harsh reaction from the government. More than 70 people were arrested, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented evidence that many were tortured during detention and questioning.

Ambon's district court subsequently convicted more than three dozen of the men and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from five to 20 years.

Andreas Harsono, a researcher for HRW in Indonesia, warns that the nine men arrested in April "might face severe jail terms," like the infamous cakalele dancers. He called on the government to uphold freedom of expression guarantees outlined in Indonesia's constitution.

"The Yudhoyono government refuses to acknowledge the substance of the issue [which is] that these Moluccan people go to jail because of their peaceful political activism," said Harsono.

The April rally "was not violent" and the participants "had no plan to be violent," said Harsono, adding that the group should have been allowed to air their "political aspirations."

But with such a sensitive subject, observers say that the non-violent nature of the movement is immaterial to the government.

"For the Indonesian government, whether it is peaceful or not is irrelevant; it is disloyalty that alarms them," said Sidney Jones, director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.

Amnesty International's (AI) Indonesia campaigner Josef Benedict said that authorities have "consistently failed to make a distinction between violent armed groups and peaceful activists."

"Dozens of individuals have been imprisoned for their peaceful political activities and protests, or possessing, raising or waving prohibited pro- independence flags," he said.

One question that remains unanswered is why Indonesia's government is so concerned about the political aspirations of a group that has such a small following.

Both rights groups and RMS activists agree that in its modern incarnation, Maluku's pro-independence movement lacks any significant political punch.

"There are still pro-independence activists, including myself... scattered across Maluku," said Semuel Wailerunny, a lawyer and prominent RMS activist. "But our power is weak. We realize that we are physically weak."

Benedict points out that the armed wing of the RMS hasn't been active since the late 1960s. "Since then, pro-independence actions have mostly consisted of organizing peaceful flag-raising events, particularly around April 25, the anniversary of the RMS declaration of independence," Benedict said.

Wailerunny, who has authored a book on the RMS' struggles, says that Moluccan nationalists have turned away from violence and now focus their efforts on more "rational" means of resistance.

"What we are doing now is consolidating [the movement] and conducting discussions" aimed at educating local people about the independence movement, said Wailerunny. "We have learned from other nations' struggles in terms of changing peoples' minds through scientific means."

Hendry Apituley, an RMS activist and history lecturer at Ambon State Polytechnic college, has taken it upon himself to educate students about the RMS.

"The history books issued by the government often fail to tell the real truth... so I explain about the history and the status of RMS" in lectures, he said.

Such lectures prompt many questions from students. "'Why were the facts never revealed? Why did the government keep things secret?' In the end, the students felt like they were being cheated," Apituley said. "Some became pro-independence activists after hearing about the facts."

An impending verdict

The nine men arrested on April 25 have been charged with makar, or treason.

Indra Baskoro, secretary to the general director of the National and Political Unity desk at the Home Affairs Ministry, said that the April 25 demonstration was "a violation against the Criminal Code's articles 104, 106 and 107."

Article 104 carries a sentence of "the death penalty or life imprisonment, or a maximum of 20 years in prison", said Baskoro, while articles 106 and 107 carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

By the time police arrived on the scene, "at least 150 sympathizers and supporters" of the RMS and Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) had already gathered for the march, said Baskoro. "Simon Saija's reaction drove security personnel to arrest him. Also, a participant tried to raise the RMS flag kept inside his shirt."

Local authorities have an obligation "to protect the people, to maintain the unity, and to maintain the national harmony and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," added Baskoro.

The trial got underway last month in Ambon district court. A verdict was initially expected in October, but now could take as long as December to be announced, said Yanes Balubun, the lawyer representing the nine activists. He expressed concern that an example would be made of the men. The authorities "already arrested them so they would feel shame if they let them go," he said.

Wailerunny said that the April 25 demonstration had been intended "to show the Indonesian government that we still exist and our struggle continues." Some of the activists "carried flags and pamphlets", Wailerunny said. "That's all they did. The claim that they did something subversive isn't true."

Rights monitors including HRW and AI have slammed the Indonesian government over the arrests and treason charges. AI considers the nine activists "prisoners of conscience," said Benedict. "They were arrested and charged solely for their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and assembly."

Benedict said the men "must be immediately and unconditionally released." Harsono echoed these sentiments. "The Indonesian authorities should immediately release the nine activists arrested in Ambon," he said, categorizing the men as "political prisoners."

Meanwhile, Saija has already suffered some health problems since his incarceration, according to a relative who has visited him in prison.

"His condition wasn't that good. He looked much skinnier. The food isn't enough," said the relative, who requested anonymity. "When I asked him about his condition in the prison, he said that he wasn't safe there."

The arrests are taking a toll on the families of the accused as well. Izaak Leatemia, 58, a retired civil servant, was arrested alongside Saija. His wife, Jermina Leatemia Leihitu, 59, is now worried that the government might cancel Leatemia's monthly pension of Rp 2.3 million ($190) if he is found guilty – as has been the case with other government employees convicted of crimes.

"If there is no pension any longer, how can we eat? My husband's pension is our only real source [of income]," she said. "I just sell snacks at a school. But the profit isn't that much."

Old rifts

One of the root causes of intense discord between Moluccans and the central government is Indonesia's decades-old transmigration program.

A hangover of the 1950s, this ethnic gerrymandering program has drawn thousands of Javanese and other Indonesian Muslim migrants to the Maluku Islands with the tempting offer of free land and agriculture subsidies.

Moluccans, the majority of which are Christian, say the program has created a significant economic gap due to the favoritism and subsidies that trans- migrants receive from the government.

Andreas Andhikolly, a local legislator for West Seram district, said there are two primary areas where inequalities exist between locals and trans- migrants: infrastructure and government assistance.

"The main issue in Maluku is development. This is what makes local people upset with the central government," explained Andhikolly. "The access to transmigration areas on Seram Island is much better than the access to villages where local people live.

"The government pays more attention to trans-migrants by providing them with agricultural equipment. The government also offers trans-migrants skills training programs, and these run continually."

Andhikolly said that locals are not offered the skills training programs or given equipment like tractors or farming utensils. Locals also lack adequate access to healthcare professionals, he said.

"There is a public health center in every village, but there is no doctor. Some local people have to walk about two days to get to a public health center with doctors," said Andhikolly.

The Home Affairs Ministry's Baskoro said it was untrue that the government had not provided development and opportunities "for the people of Maluku," and sought to highlight "the development of infrastructure and superstructure such as the construction of a flyover on Ambon Island" and a program aimed at promoting "safety, peace and welfare" in the province.

But Augustan Tibali, a 58-year-old farmer from Kawatu village on Seram Island, said the "gap" between locals and trans-migrants has existed for years and remains a sore spot.

"Many times we have requested the government to provide us with agriculture equipment, like tractors, so that we can clear the land of trees," Augustan said. "But until now the government has not given us what we have requested.

"Equipment is essential. Then, we could clear more land and plant more crops, so our lives can be better."

The gap extends to other areas as well. Tibali and other villagers in Kawatu say they need better local infrastructure, more modern schools, and job opportunities outside the agriculture sector.

"We don't know where or how to even express our concerns to the government," said Tibali. What's even more frustrating, he said, is that "the government must already know about the concerns of people on this island, but the government doesn't do anything about it."

Activists like Apituley say it would be wise for officials to start addressing such needs. The people of Maluku "have the right to self- determination," but under Jakarta's tight grip, there is "no freedom of expression," Apituley said.

Many people have already been "sent to jail" for expressing their opinions. "Do we have to shed blood first before the government pays attention to our welfare?"

[This story is a publication of ucanews.com and is edited for style by the Jakarta Globe.]

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/maluku-trial-highlights-indonesias-zero-tolerance-dissent/

Parliament & legislation

Zulkifli Hasan inaugurated as new speaker of People's Consultative Assembly

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2014

Jakarta – Supreme Court Chief Justice Hatta Ali swore in Zulkifli Hasan of the National Mandate Party (PAN) as the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for the 2014-2019 period on Wednesday, along with four new deputy speakers.

The four deputies are Mahyuddin of the Golkar Party, E.E. Mangindaan of the Democratic Party, Hidayat Nur Wahid of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Oesman Sapta Odang of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

In his first speech as the 14th speaker of the MPR, Zulkifli promised that he would uphold the interests of the entire nation, and not solely the interest of his backers, the Red-and-White Coalition led by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

Prabowo lost to president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in the July 9 election. "There is no agenda for package A [Jokowi's coalition] and package B [Prabowo's coalition]. [My only agenda] is the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," Zulkifli said as quoted by Antara News Agency.

Zulkifli, a 52-year-old Lampung-based former forestry minister, promised not to impede the inauguration of Jokowi and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla, which is set to be conducted on Oct. 20. The new speaker promised that he would ensure the success of the inauguration for the sake of Indonesia.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Prabowo's coalition beat Jokowi's coalition in the MPR speakership race. Zulkifli, along with his deputies, was named champion after the Red-and-White Coalition garnered 347 votes, compared with 330 votes for Jokowi's coalition.

The latter proposed Oesman as MPR speaker with four deputies, namely Ahmad Basarah of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Imam Nahrawi of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Patrice Rio Capella of the NasDem Party and Hazrul Azhar of the United Development Party.

On Oct. 2, Prabowo's camp also beat Jokowi to win the speakership of the House of Representatives (DPR). Setya Novanto of the Golkar Party became speaker with four deputies, namely Fadli Zon of the Gerindra Party, Fahri Hamzah of the Prosperous Justice Party, Taufik Kurniawan of the National Mandate Party and Agus Hermanto of the Democratic Party. (alz)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/08/zulkifli-hasan-inaugurated-new-speaker-people-s-consultative-assembly.html

PPP's disloyalty forces Prabowo's coalition not to nominate it for seats

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2014

Jakarta – Centre for Strategic and International Studies political expert J Kristiadi said that the United Development Party (PPP) should understand with "political acrobat" played by its coalition, the Red-and-White Coalition, for having not nominated one of its politicians as speaker candidate of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

"The PPP has become a victim as well as an actor in the political acrobat [played by its coalition]," he said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

He explained that if the coalition led by the Gerindra Party's losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto decided to not nominate the PPP's politicians either as speaker for MPR or speaker for House of Representatives (DPR), because it saw that PPP previously had also played "political acrobat" that had to be anticipated by the coalition due to its potential dangers.

For example, Kristiadi said, PPP secretary-general Romahurmuziy once tried to jump ship to coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)'s winning presidential candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

He said that Prabowo's coalition was afraid that PPP truly jumped ship to Jokowi's coalition after the former awarded speaker's seats of MPR and DPR to the latter. "Inside PPP, there is still a group that supports Prabowo's camp and a group that supports Jokowi's," he said.

PPP executive Hasrul Azwar previously said that his party was very disappointed as its coalition did not nominate one of its members as a candidate for new speaker and deputy speakers of MPR.

He said that the party's disappointment had emerged since one of its 39 lawmakers was not nominated as new speaker and deputy speakers for DPR last week.

Hasrul said that his party had a large number of reputable politicians that deserved to become one of the MPR's speakers, such as Syaifullah Tamliha and Arwani Thomafi.

"If the coalition does not select at least one of our politicians as the speaker's candidate, we cannot accept that," Hasrul, who is also the head of PPP faction at the House, said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

Gerindra Party deputy chairman Fadli Zon previously said that his coalition had decided not to nominate PPP's members as the candidate of the MPR's speakers. He, however, hoped that PPP could still accept such a decision and would not jump ship to coalition led by PDI-P.

On Tuesday morning, members of the House and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), whose members represent the different regions in the country, were scheduled to meet to elect the speaker and deputy speakers of the MPR, a bicameral assembly that comprises members of the House and the DPD. (alz)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/07/ppps-disloyal-signal-forces-prabowos-coalition-not-nominate-it-mpr-dpr-seats-analyst

Red-and-White Coalition poised to control the MPR

Jakarta Globe - October 6, 2014

Jakarta – The Red-and-White coalition of Prabowo Subianto is set to gain control of the leadership of the People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR, in a plenary session today after sweeping the House of Representatives' leadership posts last week.

Full control of the People's Consultative Assembly by the Red-and-White coalition, known as Koalisi Merah Putih or KMP, is seen by many as part of a master plan to change the Constitution, allowing the coalition to appoint the next president after scrapping direct elections entirely.

The People's Consultative Assembly consists of the 560-seat House and the 132-seat Regional Representatives Council, or DPD.

With the Red-and-White controlling 353 of the 560 House seats, against 207 seats held by the parties supporting President-elect Joko Widodo, as well as Red-and-White politicians' proven negotiation skills, analysts agree that the election process of the MPR leadership is merely a formality.

"They have firm control, and there's no doubt that they will also control the MPR just like when they seized control of the House," Fachry Ali, a senior researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said.

The coalition comprises six parties: Golkar, Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), Democratic Party, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), National Mandate Party (PAN) and United Development Party (PPP).

Joko's coalition comprises four parties: Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), National Awakening Party (PKB), National Democrats (Nasdem) and People's Conscience Party (Hanura).

After giving Golkar a House speaker post, the Red-and-White coalition will now allocate the post of speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, with four deputies representing the PPP, Golkar, PAN and Regional Representatives Council.

"Yes, [the MPR speaker position] is for the Democrats. That's our plan," said Fadli Zon, Prabowo's right-hand man and now deputy speaker in the House. He said Gerindra would also likely give up its MPR deputy speaker post to keep the coalition solid.

Meanwhile, Hidayat Nur Wahid of the PKS, confirmed that the PPP would likely get a deputy speaker post in the People's Consultative Assembly because the party did not get a House deputy post. "Yes, we have to accommodate the PPP by allocating one post to them," he said.

While the strength of the six-member Red-and-White coalition could boost its chance to capture the People's Consultative Assembly leadership, the Regional Representatives Council could prove to be a stumbling block.

Although Red-and-White has allocated one MPR deputy speaker post to the Regional Representatives Council, this promise will not be enough. DPD Speaker Irman Gusman said the Regional Representatives Council should get the People's Consultative Assembly speaker post because with 132 seats, they are the biggest faction in the assembly.

"It's only logical that we get the speaker post. We are even bigger than the PDI-P's 109 seats," Irman said.

Seeing an opportunity to break Red-and-White's control, Joko's coalition quickly supported the People's Consultative Assembly speaker post going to the Regional Representatives Council, announcing they preferred a consultation process to achieve an agreement rather than using voting to determine the leadership composition of the People's Consultative Assembly.

"This is a middle ground. The speaker will be from the DPD while the deputies can be from the KMP," PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar said.

Despite the possibility that the Regional Representatives Council could seize the People's Consultative Assembly speaker posts, the nine candidates proposed by the Regional Representatives Council are mostly Red-and-White supporters, or had prior political links with the coalition.

"So, even if a figure from the DPD become the speaker, the KMP can still be in control," Fachry said.

He said the whole process at the House and the People's Consultative Assembly, which will have a big impact on Indonesia as whole, is determined by the elites and not necessarily what most of the country's people want. "It's an elitist process without anything people can do about it," Fachry said.

Considering the Red-and-White coalition's alleged plan to change the Constitution to allow it to scrap direct presidential elections and impose a system where the president is appointed by the People's Consultative Assembly, Fachry said all Indonesians must be involved opposing it.

"We have seen from one election to another that people will punish those who took away people's rights," he said. "In this case, in 2019 people will not vote for those changing the system from direct to indirect elections."

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/red-white-coalition-poised-control-mpr/

Indonesia's businesses not amused by power play at the house

Jakarta Globe - October 4, 2014

Kennial Caroline Laia, Jakarta – The appointment of the Golkar Party's Setya Novanto as speaker of the House of Representatives elicited disappointment in the general public and concerns among the business community that the strengthening grip on power of the bloc that backed losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto will lead to political instability.

Chairul Tanjung, the chief economics minister, said on Friday that members of the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or Kadin, had expressed their concerns about the fallout from the ongoing political feud on Indonesia's business sector.

"Kadin has expressed its concerns. I have also heard directly from entrepreneurs who are worried about the current condition," Chairul said at the State Palace in Jakarta.

He said many entrepreneurs he had spoken to feared that the so-called Red- and-White coalition, known as the KMP and which dominated the House, could prevent President-elect Joko Widodo from running his administration effectively.

"There are certainly fears. The business community hopes to see a harmonious relationship between the government and the House, for the executive and legislative branches to build good and constructive ties in order to improve business confidence," Chairul said.

The coalition controls 52 percent of the 560 House seats (or 63 percent if President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's notoriously fickle Democratic Party is included), and earlier this week successfully claimed the House speaker's seat and four deputy speaker seats.

Coalition members now say they are gunning for the chairs of the House's various oversight commissions too. "The commissions and other bodies in the House will likely also be snapped up by the KMP," said Bambang Soesatyo, a Golkar Party politician.

Litany of suspicion

Legal observers have also expressed concern at the appointment of Setya as the House speaker, citing his implication in a litany of corruption cases.

Setya has been linked to or questioned, though never charged, in cases including the embezzlement of bailout funds for Bank Bali in the wake of the 1998 Asian financial crisis; bid-rigging in the awarding of contracts to build a sports complex in Riau province; and a project to issue electronic identity cards, or e-KTP, that ran well over budget.

Veteran lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said that given the current composition of the House leadership, it appeared that legislators were ramping up their efforts to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, rather than help it in its fight against graft.

"The House indeed has the authority to weaken the function of the KPK by amending the [anti-corruption] law, which will reduce the KPK's authority to question legislators who are allegedly involved in corruption cases," Todung said on Friday.

He said he would not be surprised to see the KMP-controlled House use its powers to weaken the KPK. "No one can argue that many legislators are unhappy with KPK, especially given the antigraft body's track record in putting legislators behind bars. It's undisputed that the KPK is disliked [by politicians]," Todung said.

He said the Constitutional Court's recent rejection of a judicial review of the law on legislative bodies, known as the MD3 law, would become "the new shield" for legislators to keep the KPK at bay.

The MD3 law, passed almost unnoticed a day before the July 9 presidential election, requires the KPK to seek permission from House leaders to question legislators believed to be involved in graft cases. "The MD3 law provides immunity for legislators who have allegedly committed corruption," Todung said.

However, he said the KPK had the backing of the Indonesian public, who would not let it be weakened. "The legislators must remember that the Indonesian public are there to keep an eye and they will not allow them to weaken the KPK," he said.

Only getting started

Donal Fariz, a researcher with Indonesia Corruption Watch, a nongovernmental organization, also agreed about the likelihood of efforts by the KMP legislators to undermine the KPK's authority.

"The new composition of the House leaders, who were appointed by their parties and not voted by other House members, is a threat for the KPK as an institution whose duty is to fight corruption," Donal said.

He cited Setya as the prime example of a legislator unfit to serve, saying the Golkar stalwart had long been linked to several corruption cases but always managed to evade being charged.

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Fahri Hamzah, who was appointed one of the four House deputy speakers, previously suggested disbanding the KPK. Donal said the controversial MD3 law was part of the KMP's "political agenda to threaten Indonesia's democracy."

The KMP-controlled House has also passed a bill that abolishes direct elections for mayors, district heads and governors, and instead gives local legislatures the authority to pick regional leaders.

"This is an undisputed fact that shows their intention to sabotage not only law enforcement efforts, but also democracy all together," Donal said. "This is only an initial step for them to carry out their agenda to go against the efforts to build a better democracy in our country."

Legal expert Frans Winarta said any move by the KMP to weaken the KPK would only hurt the credibility of the coalition's legislators.

"They will not only weaken the KPK's authority, but more importantly, they will further hurt the credibility of the House, which is already the subject of a lot of negative perceptions among the general public," he said.

"So instead of hampering the KPK, this is the time for both camps to introspect. The House should be clear of all indications of corruption."

[Additional reporting by Novy Lumanauw & Robertus Wardi.]

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesias-businesses-amused-power-play-house/

Prabowo's camp seeks to amend 'liberal' laws

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2014

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – The Red-and-White Coalition of the defeated presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, is planning to cap foreign investment in the country's banking, mining and telecommunication sectors through amendments of several laws that they deem "liberal".

"In coordination with the government, the Red-and-White Coalition plans to amend numerous laws that are too liberal or leaning toward foreign [interests]," coalition spokesperson and Golkar Party lawmaker, Tantowi Yahya, said on Friday.

The plan was first proposed by Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who called for the need to review 122 existing laws he said contradicted "the spirit of democracy in the country's Pancasila ideology."

Aburizal, whose Bakrie Group has portfolios in the mining and telecommunication sectors, said that the 2009 Mineral and Coal Mining Law, the 1999 Telecommunication Law and the 1998 Banking Law would be among the first laws to be amended.

Golkar lawmaker Misbakhun confirmed that the amendment plan had received support from all political parties under the coalition, which controls 292 of the total 560 seats in the newly inaugurated House of Representatives.

"We have conducted serious discussions on this issue. We believe that the incoming administration of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will support our plan, considering that during his campaign, Jokowi repeatedly expressed his vision about reforming the banking and mining sectors," he said in a telephone interview.

Misbakhun, who is aiming to serve in the House's Commission XI overseeing finance, banking and national development planning, said he would work to revive discussions on the draft of a banking bill that was ditched by the previous House.

Under the bill, the House sought to limit foreign ownership of a bank to a maximum of 40 percent, jeopardizing existing foreign shares for some Indonesian lenders.

"I believe that 40 percent of foreign ownership is an ideal standard. However, we need to improve the draft to shut all the loopholes that allow foreign companies to retain ownership, such as by shifting its shares to its affiliated company in the country," said Misbakhun.

The limitation on foreign ownership could also be applied to telecommunication companies through the amendment of the 1999 Telecommunication Law.

Golkar Party politicians have consistently advocated the takeover of telecommunication firms Telkomsel and Indosat, arguing that telecommunications is a strategic sector that should be controlled by the government.

The ownership of Telkomsel is 65 percent controlled by state-owned telecommunications firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and 35 percent controlled by Singtel Mobile, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.

Meanwhile, 65 percent of Indosat's shares are owned by Qatar-based Ooredoo, 14.29 percent by the Indonesian government and the remaining 20.71 percent by the public.

The voting mechanism in choosing leaders of the House's 11 commissions and other House bodies could give ample opportunity for Prabowo's coalition to dominate the commissions and eventually realize its goal of amending the so-called 'liberal' laws.

A circulating document shows that the coalition has offered three commission chairmanships to the Golkar Party and two chairmanships each to Prabowo's Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/04/prabowo-s-camp-seeks-amend-liberal-laws.html

Dems plot to win MPR speakership position

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2014

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – After successfully securing the leadership of the House of Representatives with the political factions of the Red-and-White Coalition, the Democratic Party is now plotting to win the speakership of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Earlier this week, Democratic Party lawmaker Agus Hermanto was voted to be a House deputy speaker, with the Golkar Party's Setya Novanto as the new speaker and the Gerindra Party's Fadli Zon, the Prosperous Justice Party's (PKS) Fahri Hamzah and National Mandate Party's (PAN) Taufik Kurniawan as the three other deputies.

With that result, the camp of Prabowo Subianto, the loser of the July 9 presidential election, swept the House leadership posts out from under the coalition of parties supporting president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, which is led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The Democratic Party politicians touted to be strong candidates for the MPR speakership are the former leader of the party's House faction, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, and party executive chairman Syariefuddin "Syarief" Hasan.

Hasrul Azwar, a lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP), which is a member of the Red-and-White Coalition, confirmed that the "Democratic Party was most likely to get the seat", with Nurhayati and Syarief as two of the strongest candidates.

Golkar Party deputy chairman Agung Laksono also confirmed the seat "could be allocated for either the Democratic Party or the Gerindra Party".

The MPR leadership selection has been postponed until next Monday after being initially scheduled for Thursday, adding an extra three days for both camps to lobby for support.

The three-day break, however, could allow the Democratic Party to switch sides in the race for MPR speakership. Syarief was non-committal when asked on Friday about his chances in the race. "[We] do not know yet."

Agus, the newly installed deputy House speaker from the Democratic Party, also said the party has yet to decide on its candidate.

Responding to a question about whether the Democratic Party would stay in the Red-and-White Coalition, Agus hinted his party could jump ship. "We'll see; politics is dynamic," Agus said.

Other members of the Red-and-White Coalition have also said that they could accept the MPR leadership being controlled by the PDI-P-led coalition.

"It [allocating the MPR speaker seat to the Democratic Party] is only a plan. We will make a final decision tomorrow night [Saturday]," said Fadli Zon of the Gerindra Party.

Fadli said that executives of the parties under the Red-and-White Coalition would have another round of meetings to decide their strategy for the election of the MPR speaker.

Jokowi's coalition had run short by one party to be able to nominate its candidate for the House speaker and deputy speakers, following the collapse of a plan to forge a political coalition between Yudhoyono and PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Some PDI-P politicians have said that Megawati, through her representatives, had demanded on Wednesday that Yudhoyono first support the PDI-P coalition's bid for House leadership in order to regain her trust. Yudhoyono, however, had turned down the request.

Yet, the prospect of a reconciliation was once again on the table after Yudhoyono issued a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on Thursday night, in a bid to annul the newly passed regional election law, which is supported by the Red-and-White Coalition.

Hasrul of the PPP hinted on Friday that the Jokowi camp might have a chance to win the MPR leadership, saying that "in politics anything can happen".

Arie Sudjito, a political analyst from Gadjah Mada University, said that once again Yudhoyono showed off his craft as a formidable kingmaker. "The nature of the Democratic Party is to be a kingmaker. They will do any maneuvers, including some that are not so courteous," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/04/dems-plot-win-mpr-speakership-position.html

Gerindra slams KPK chief for criticizing House speaker over alleged graft

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2014

Jakarta – Gerindra Party deputy chairman Edhy Prabowo has expressed disappointment over criticism by Abraham Samad, the chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), of Setya Novanto, the newly elected speaker of the House of Representatives for the 2014-2019 term.

He said that Samad, as a law enforcer, had no right to make the criticism, which, he said, was very political in nature.

Setya Nugraha comes from the Golkar Party, a member of the Red-and-White Coalition formed by Gerindra chairman and losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. The lawmakers of the coalition now dominate the House, outvoting the lawmakers of the coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which won the legislative election in April.

Edhy said that Setya deserved to be elected as the House's speaker because he was a clean politician. Therefore, he demanded that Samad stop criticizing Setya.

"Please don't mix legal issues with politics. The KPK has no right to play politics. It would be much better if the KPK focused on eradicating corruption only," he said on Thursday evening as quoted by kompas.com.

Abraham previously said that the KPK was very disappointed by the decision to elect Setya to the top House job as he claimed the politician was potentially involved in graft cases being handled by the anti-graft body.

"The KPK is concerned and deplores the election of Setya Novanto as the House speaker because he will potentially be involved in a legal case [in the future]. If this turns out to be the case, the image of the House as the most-respected institution could be tarnished," Abraham said on Thursday night.

"Setya's status as House speaker will not deter the KPK from continuing its investigation. There is no immunity for the House speaker, as he is not 'untouchable' by the law. Everyone is equal before the law," Abraham added.

Setya's status is currently a witness, although he has been questioned several times by the anti-graft body in a number of graft cases, including that related to projects at the venue of the National Games in Riau.

Setya has also been dragged into the bribery case involving former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar, who has been sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes from a number of regional heads. (alz)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/03/gerindra-slams-kpk-chief-criticizing-new-house-speaker-over-alleged-graft.html

Graft allegations taint House speaker's credibility

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2014

Hasyim Widhiarto and Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Overnight, Golkar Party lawmaker and newly inaugurated House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto may have found himself becoming the most controversial figure in the history of Indonesia's legislative body.

Even before his name was officially proposed by his party to lead the House, Setya had received widespread criticism on the prospect of his leading the House because of his alleged role in various graft cases during the past several years.

He was sworn in early on Thursday as House speaker along with four deputies – Fadli Zon of the Gerindra Party, Fahri Hamzah of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Taufik Kurniawan of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Agus Hermanto of the Democratic Party (PD).

The criticism immediately turned into growing anxiety after the coalition of political parties supporting the losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto successfully endorsed Setya and his four deputies to secure the House leadership during a chaotic plenary meeting held between Wednesday evening and early Thursday.

Born in Bandung, West Java, 59 years ago, Setya made his name as a successful businessman long before he started his career as lawmaker in 1999. Having served as a Golkar legislator for four consecutive terms, the Golkar treasurer was appointed head of the party's House faction during the last legislative session.

In 1999, Setya was implicated in the Bank Bali scandal, which centered on the transfer of Rp 546 billion (US$44.8 million) from that bank to PT Era Giat Prima (EGP), a company he controlled, but a court quickly acquitted him of graft charges.

The payment was described as a "commission" for EGP's assistance in helping the bank recoup Rp 946 billion in interbank claims from closed banks that had been under the supervision of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency.

More recently, Setya has been implicated in a number of graft cases handled by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), but his status in those cases remained as a witness, although court testimonies have confirmed his roles in those cases.

Setya, for example, was dragged into the case of former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar, who was sentenced to life in prison for receiving bribes from a number of regional heads, after court evidence showed that Setya might have acted as financial backer of East Java Governor Soekarwo to bribe Akil in connection with the East Java gubernatorial election dispute being handled by the court in 2013.

Setya and fellow Golkar lawmaker Kahar Muzakir have also been accused of receiving Rp 9 billion from former Riau governor Rusli Zainal to help expedite the disbursement of funds from the state budget for the Riau 2012 National Games (PON).

On Thursday, KPK chairman Abraham Samad said the antigraft body regretted Setya's appointment as House speaker, saying that he had "a potential issue with the law" that could hurt the image of the House.

He also gave assurances that the KPK did not see Setya's new role as hindering the commission from pursuing action against him, should the occasion arise.

"The KPK is concerned and deplores the election of Setya Novanto as the House speaker because he has the potential to be involved in a legal case [in the future]," he said.

"Setya's status as House speaker will not deter the KPK from continuing its investigation. There is no impunity for the House speaker position. Everyone is equal before the law."

Setya's status as of today is still as a witness, although he has been questioned several times by the antigraft body in a number of graft cases, including that of the Riau National Games (PON) case.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that the antigraft body's investigation into a number of graft cases implicating Setya had yet to be completed, as it was currently still collecting evidence to build up the cases.

"With regard to Riau's PON graft case, the case is currently at the appellate court. After we hear the result from the appellate court we will make a follow-up move [to go after others] in the case," Johan said.

Rusli, who is also a Golkar politician, was sentenced in March to 14 years in prison for his role in the Pelalawan forestry permit and Riau PON graft cases.

More than 70 lawmakers have been implicated in graft cases since 2007, according to the KPK.

In his inauguration speech, Setya responded to criticism directed at him by offering a promise that he would make the House become more transparent and responsive to public demands. "I want to open up the House for the people who want to share their aspirations according to existing mechanisms," he said.

Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) investigation coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi was not convinced. "The appointment of Setya as House speaker has clearly become a major setback to the antigraft movement," he said.

"Looking at the newly passed MD3 (legislative institutions) Law that potentially shields lawmakers from corruption investigations, we must suspect that Setya's presence as a House leader will damage the efforts of law enforcement agencies, especially the KPK, to eradicate corruption."

How strategic are the roles of House speaker and deputy speakers?

1. Chair House meetings and conclude the results of the meetings before seeking final approval from lawmakers.
2. Prepare the work agenda as leaders of the House.
3. Coordinate efforts to synergize the implementation of the House's work schedule and other legislative activities.
4. Take the role as House spokespersons.
5. Implement and disseminate House decisions with support from other lawmakers.
6. Represent the House when liaising with other state institutions.
7. Consult with the president and leaders of other state institutions.
8. Represent the House in court or appoint legal advisors to do so.
9. Implement House decisions to impose sanctions or status rehabilitations on lawmakers according to existing laws.
10. House leaders, along with the House's Household Affairs Committee (BURT), plan the House's budget and propose it to a plenary meeting.
11. Report the House's work progress to a plenary meeting.

Source: Article 86 Law No. 17/2014 on legislative institutions

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/03/graft-allegations-taint-house-speaker-s-credibility.html

Chaos over House leadership

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – A House of Representatives plenary session failed late on Wednesday to select its leaders after several lawmakers disrupted the selection process by intimidating the temporary speaker.

Legislator Popong Otje Djundjunan, 75, who was appointed temporary speaker for the session, decided to cease discussion after a number of legislators rushed the stage to protest her leadership. As of 12:30 a.m. Thursday, lawmakers remained unable to reach a decision regarding the selection of House leaders.

In spite of the small number of votes it controls in the new House, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party was able to play a key role in deciding the next speaker and deputy speakers in the House.

The new House was deadlocked in its effort to pick its leaders, an impasse that could only be settled by the Democratic Party deciding which side it would pick.

Despite its control of only 61 out of the House's total of 560 seats, the Democratic Party had been wooed by both the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)-led coalition, which had nominated president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla, and the Red-and-White Coalition, which endorsed the loser of the presidential race, for its support in their conflicting bids for the House speakership position.

The Democratic Party's assumption of a "neutral" stance led both coalitions to engage in intensive lobbying, which resulted in a delay in the plenary session to fill the influential House speaker position.

However, the intensive lobbying failed to break a deadlock between the Red-and-White Coalition, which wanted the election to be held late on Wednesday, and the PDI-P-led coalition, which wanted the vote to be held on Thursday.

After an eight-hour closed-door meeting, lawmaker Tjatur Sapto Edy from the National Awakening Party (PAN), with fellow lawmaker Fadli Zon from the Gerindra Party standing next to him, announced that the meeting "agreed to hold the plenary session today because the majority requested it".

Tjatur said that the option was endorsed by six factions, consisting of the five members of the Red-and-White Coalition – the Golkar Party, Gerindra, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development Party (PPP) – and the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, the PDI-P and two other parties in its coalition demanded a delay to allow further discussion on the House's newly endorsed internal regulation, which has changed the mechanism for the selection of the House's leaders as well as for the leaders of its internal bodies.

Lawmaker Aziz Syamsuddin of Golkar said that the National Awakening Party (PKB), an official member of the PDI-P led coalition, decided to abstain over endorsing an option.

Although the Democratic Party has yet to formally announce its decision, the party's support to have a vote on the House leadership signalled that the House leadership is for the PDI-P to lose.

The House's internal regulation allows for the House leadership to be elected in a "package" comprising the House speaker and the four deputy speakers, which represents different factions in the House.

The Red-and-White Coalition, which secured the majority of seats in the House, has agreed to nominate Golkar Party treasurer Setya Novanto as a candidate for the position.

As for his deputies, Gerindra has nominated Fadli Zon, the PKS' Fahri Hamzah and PAN's Zulkifli Hasan.

Meanwhile, speculation was rife that the Democratic Party would nominate Edhie "Ibas" Baskoro, Yudhoyono's youngest son, to be in the package if the party decided to join the Red-and-White Coalition.

The PDI-P-led coalition nominated Puan Maharani for the House speaker position.

Earlier in the day, the Democratic Party's acting chairman and newly elected lawmaker Syarief Hasan had expressed optimism that the party would join the PDI-P-led coalition.

Earlier, the Democratic Party was pushing for a delay in the plenary meeting picking the House leadership before finally backing down from the proposal.

A source within the PDI-P-led coalition said a deal between the PDI-P and the Democratic Party crumbled after PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri declined to personally meet with Yudhoyono to discuss the issue.

Planning for a Yudhoyono-Megawati meeting was one of the things that came out of a meeting between the outgoing President and Jokowi on Tuesday evening.

Jokowi acknowledged that he met with Yudhoyono at the latter's residence in Cikeas, West Java, on Tuesday night. The president-elect, however, was tight-lipped when asked for details about the meeting.

"We discussed many issues, about the nation and the people," he said at his official residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Jokowi, however, confirmed the meeting was also aimed at lobbying the Democratic Party to join his coalition in an effort to secure the House leadership.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/02/chaos-over-house-leadership.html

Widodo faces uphill battle as opponents secure key positions in parliament

Sydney Morning Herald - October 2, 2014

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo faces a hostile parliament and an uphill battle to govern after parties loyal to his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, voted as a bloc to dominate its key positions.

The crucial votes for speaker and deputy speaker were rushed through amid rowdy scenes in the early hours of Thursday in the same session in which the new house was sworn in.

The move confirms that, despite his vacillating in recent days, outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democrat Party remains loyal to Mr Prabowo's six-party "Red and White" coalition, giving it 63 per cent of the 560 house seats.

Golkar Party treasurer Setya Novanto was elected as the house speaker. He has been questioned as a witness in several corruption cases involving rigged local government elections and a corrupted sports stadium contract. He has not been named a suspect.

Mr Setya's four deputy speakers are also from the coalition parties, among them Mr Prabowo's right-hand man and spokesman, Fadli Zon.

The crucial head of committee positions have not yet been selected but are also expected to be taken by the majority coalition, including the heads of the budget and legislative committees and the ethics council.

Committee heads are disproportionately powerful in the Indonesian parliament because most decisions are the result of closed door deal-making in that forum before they are rubber-stamped by the parliament.

"I thought the presidential election was the end of the oligarchs but, in fact, it was premature to say that," Centre for Strategic and International Studies political analyst Philips Vermonte said. "Recent developments show that they are consolidating."

Mr Joko's budget, key appointments, including judges, and the passage of government legislation requires parliamentary votes. The parliament also has the power to impeach the president.

Mr Joko's party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and its head, Megawati Sukarnoputri, have the largest single number of seats in the new parliament – 109 out of 560 – but have failed to use them to secure a better outcome. Their four-party coalition controls 207 seats.

In the past, the house speaker position has automatically gone to the largest party. However, changes to parliamentary procedures that were pushed through by the coalition in July allowed the majority to elect the speaker.

Dr Yudhoyono's support has been the decisive factor. A walk-out by his Democrat Party members last week allowed a controversial law to be passed in the dying days of the old parliament, abolishing direct elections for Indonesia's three lower levels of government.

But Dr Yudhoyono blamed Ms Megawati, saying she refused to meet him because of a grudge she held against him for beating her in the 2004 election.

"I have been wanting to meet her for so long, for 10 years now," Dr Yudhoyono said. "I have also sought to see her in the past few months... [but] God hasn't allowed it to happen."

The country's Electoral Commission on Wednesday refused permission for the parliament to swear in five MPs because they are under investigation for corruption. Three are from Mr Joko's party, PDI-P; one is from Golkar and one from the Democrats: Dr Yudhoyono's former energy minister Jero Wacik.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/joko-widodo-faces-uphill-battle-as-opponents-secure-key-positions-in-indonesias-parliament-20141002-10pe6j.html

Battle rages for House leadership

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Bagus BT Saragih and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – After the controversial passage of the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law, another challenge looms for president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla as the Red-and-White Coalition sizes up leadership of the new House of Representatives.

With the newly endorsed law on legislative institutions, known as MD3, as yet unchallenged, the opposition will wield power over all of the House's internal bodies, from the speaker posts and leadership of the 11 House commissions to the budgetary committee, the legislative body and the honorary council.

A document believed to be an agreement among members of the Red-and-White Coalition revealed the planned distribution of House leadership positions among members of the coalition. Golkar Party deputy chairman Fadel Muhammad, who is also a House speaker candidate, confirmed that such an agreement existed.

The distribution is proportional according to each party's number of legislative seats, allowing factions within the coalition to take turns picking their preferred House commissions as well as the leadership posts of other House bodies.

Golkar, for example, which secured 91 seats, the most among the coalition's members, will get the chairmanships of five internal House bodies, and 15 deputy chair positions. The Gerindra Party, with 73 legislative seats, will be granted four chairmanships and 12 deputy chair positions.

Meanwhile, with 49 seats, the National Mandate Party (PAN) is to be allocated three chairmanships and eight deputy chair positions. The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which secured 40 seats, gets two and seven, respectively, while the United Development Party (PPP), with 39 seats, gets two and six.

With the Constitutional Court recently upholding the voting mechanism for the selection of House speaker, Golkar will secure that post, while members of four other opposition parties will be given the deputy speaker positions.

Along with Fadel, several senior members of Golkar have been touted to fill the House speaker post, including Setya Novanto, a businessman and senior lawmaker who has served in the House since 1999. "House leadership positions are strategic for determining the House's agenda," Pol-Tracking Institute executive director Hanta Yuda said.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that the Red-and-White Coalition could hold Jokowi's administration hostage if they secured the entirety of the House leadership.

"The Red-and-White Coalition can demand that their agenda and interests be prioritized by the government under threat of the House not approving government programs. That's only one example," Ikrar said.

In control of 292 of the total 560 seats in the newly inaugurated House, the Red-and-White Coalition might easily impose bills that require a voting mechanism for approval.

Golkar deputy secretary-general and reelected lawmaker Tantowi Yahya, for example, said that the coalition had compiled a list of laws that needed review due to their "favor of foreign agencies".

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, could side with the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the election of the House leadership and chairmanships of House bodies. "The Democratic Party has said it wants to be a balancing power. This is their chance to keep the balance [by joining us to propose a draft of House leaders]," PDI-P executive Pramono Anung said.

The PDI-P, for its part, has named several candidates from its central executive board to be House speaker, including Puan Maharani, Tjahjo Kumolo and Pramono himself.

Meanwhile, Jokowi indicated that he was prepared for any eventuality. "I'm not worried at all," he said.

Kalla said on Tuesday that although he regretted the passage of the new mechanism to establish House leaders, he, too, was not overly concerned. "The House speaker cannot make decisions alone. Decisions have to be collective," he said.

It was also not a problem if the coalition tried to make it difficult for the government to pass new laws, Kalla claimed. "Our country has a presidential system. Therefore, the MD3 law does not diminish the government's authority," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/battle-rages-house-leadership.html

New fresh-faced, star-studded House feared inept

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Lawmakers at the House of Representatives ended their tenure Tuesday leaving a string of appalling legacies, with the recent and most devastating being their decision to end the direct elections of regional heads.

As new House members are slated to be sworn in today, hope abounds over their willingness to improve upon the legislative performance of their predecessors, who were only able to pass 51 percent of the 247 bills that were targeted.

All 560 lawmakers and 132 members of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) will take their oaths in a lavish inauguration ceremony that will officially kick off the five-year legislative term.

As the election winner, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P), which spent a decade functioning as an opposition party, will lead the coalition camp supporting the incoming government of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The new House will also welcome 36 NasDem Party legislators in that party's House debut.

While 58 percent of House members are new faces, doubts linger over their integrity and capacity to legislate. The new House will have more celebrities than ever before, most of whom are in the twilight of their careers in the entertainment industry.

Singer Anang Hermansyah, soap opera actor Lucky Hakim and actress Desy Ratnasari will begin their first terms as members of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Former TV presenter Junico Siahaan of the PDI-P and actor and dangdut singer Krisna Mukti of the National Awakening Party (PKB) will also be making the transition from entertainer to lawmaker.

Krisna, who secured a House seat from the seventh West Java electoral district, said he would give up his entertainment job, if necessary, to ensure that he performed his duties as lawmaker.

"However, if Primus Yustisio and Eko Patrio can make TV appearances during their spare time as lawmakers, it may be possible for me to remain in the industry," he said, referring to two PAN celebrities-turned-politicians who won their legislative reelection bids this year.

The inauguration ceremony will also be marred by controversy, as three graft suspects – PDI-P politicians Idham Samawi and Herdian Koosnadi and Jero Wacik of the Democratic Party – will be sworn in as lawmakers.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) recently sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono questioning their eligibility, but Yudhoyono never responded.

Regarding House members' legislative competence, Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) investigation coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi said that political parties should provide new lawmakers with technical assistance to bring them up to speed, particularly with respect to arranging and supervising the state budget.

"Lawmakers' lack of knowledge of state budget management will potentially put a drag on the government's performance," he said.

Center for Indonesian Legal and Policies Studies (PSHKI) researcher Ronald Rofiandri highlighted the importance of continuous assistance from political parties to help legislators improve their lawmaking abilities.

"Apart from regular briefings, political parties must support their new lawmakers by providing expertise during the deliberation of a bill," he said.

Notable newcomers in the House include Prananda Surya Paloh, the only child of NasDem founder Surya Paloh and Dave Akbarshah Fikarno, the son of Coordinating People's Welfare Minister and senior Golkar politician Agung Laksono.

Gerindra Party founder Prabowo Subianto's nephew, Aryo Djojohadikusumo, and the Golkar Party's Andika Hazrumy, the eldest son of graft convict and former Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, are also in the club of newcomers.

Gerindra legislator Ade Rezki Pratama, the youngest among the 560 new lawmakers, acknowledged the public's doubt over the aptitude of the new legislators, particularly in crafting legislation.

"I will take learning about my job seriously since I want to make significant changes," said Ade, who is a month shy of his 26th birthday.

[Haeril Halim and Margareth S. Aritonang contributed to the article.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/new-fresh-faced-star-studded-house-feared-inept.html

House leaves hundreds of unfinished bills

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – At the end of its five-year term on Tuesday, the House of Representatives failed to reach its ambitious legislation target, leaving 121 bills in limbo, most of which would likely be dropped given the absence of a carry-over mechanism for unfinished bills.

In a speech during the final plenary session on Tuesday, House Speaker Marzuki Alie said that the House had endorsed a total of 126 laws, including 69 that had been deemed crucial. Those included, among others, the laws on mass organization; indirect elections of local heads; and regional administration, halal certification; and haj fund management.

"The legislative performance of the House for the 2009-2014 term must not be solely judged by the quantity [of bills] but also by the number of populist laws that we passed," said Marzuki, a politician from the ruling Democratic Party.

Marzuki said that one of the best examples of the populist legislation that was passed was the 2011 law on Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) and the 2014 law on villages.

The outgoing House speaker also said in his speech that special committees tasked with deliberating bills had made a proposal to the new batch of lawmakers – which will officially take office on Oct. 1 – to resume deliberation of the unfinished bills.

Marzuki, however, said that there was no guarantee the new House would act on the proposal given the absence of a mechanism that would force them into deliberating the unfinished bills.

According to the House Legislation Body (Baleg), the deliberation of one bill can cost between Rp 4 billion (US$341.588) and Rp 7 billion.

On the sidelines of the plenary session, Marzuki, accompanied by his four deputies – Golkar Party's Priyo Budi Santoso, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) Pramono Anung Wibowo, Prosperous Justice Party's (PKS) Sohibul Iman and National Mandate Party's (PAN) Taufik Kurniawan – said that the House had written an accountability report recommending the inclusion of a carry-over mechanism.

"We have included a recommendation to establish such a carry-over mechanism in our accountability report that will be officially handed down to the new House team tomorrow," he said.

Among the bills that will likely languish are amendments to the Criminal Code (KUHP) and the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP); an amendment to the 2001 Oil and Gas Law – which was expected to enhance legal certainty in the sector following last year's dissolution of the Upstream Oil and Gas Executive Agency (BP Migas) – and an amendment to the banking law.

The list also includes an amendment of the 1999 law on human rights, which was expected to grant subpoena power to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM); a bill on the rights of indigenous groups; and a bill on people with disabilities.

The lack of a carry-over mechanism has also put the fate of several human rights initiatives, including bills on involuntary disappearances and the international criminal court, whose adoptions had been long overdue, in limbo.

In addition to political tension between lawmakers and the government, Baleg chairman Ignatius Mul-yono highlighted that lawmakers' poor knowledge about legislative processes had led to such a dismal performance.

"The current House [2009-2014 terms] could not work to our top [potential] because most of us don't have the capacity to produce legislation," Mulyono said.

As part of the effort to prepare new lawmakers to carry out their work, the House has collaborated with the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) to provide training for lawmakers.

"We hope that the new House will be better equipped," said Mulyono of the Democrats, who failed to get reelected in the April 9th legislative election.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/house-leaves-hundreds-unfinished-bills.html

Armed forces & defense

TNI's upcoming lavish anniversary parade raises eyebrows

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2014

Yuliasri Perdani and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Jakarta/Surabaya – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has criticized lavish plans to mark the Indonesian Military's (TNI) 69th anniversary, branding them "wasteful" and "insensitive to soldiers' welfare".

The TNI has earmarked Rp 20 billion (US$1.63 million) for its military parade on the anniversary in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday. This year's budget is a Rp 5 billion increase compared to last year's. The celebration will involve 18,580 military officers and showcase the aerobatic maneuvering of 217 planes by the Air Force.

The Army will display its latest arsenal, such as Leopard main battle tanks, Marder infantry fighting vehicles and Caesar 155-milimeter gun- howitzers. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps will bring 35 warships and corvettes to the event.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya said the celebration was a homage to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's dedication to building the TNI in his 10-year presidency. "The budget rise is due to the mobilization of our weaponry and military vehicles from Jakarta to Surabaya," Fuad said on Monday in Surabaya.

TNI commander Gen. Moeldoko is expected to hold a dangdut music party on Tuesday as a token of appreciation for his hard-working soldiers, tempo.co has reported. "During the dangdutan [concert], I will give away money," Moeldoko said in Surabaya, which drew applause from hundreds of soldiers.

Kontras chairman Haris Azhar lambasted the TNI commemoration plan, including the dangdut concert. "It's unnecessary and wasteful spending. I believe that throwing money at the concert is an odd way to express concerns about soldiers' welfare. I guess Moeldoko is running out of ideas," Haris said in a telephone interview on Monday.

Moeldoko has persistently expressed his intention to improve the welfare of his soldiers, but at the same time, has sparked controversies over his apparent luxurious lifestyle.

In April, Moeldoko was caught wearing a $100,000 limited edition watch, which he later claimed was a knockoff. Haris added there was no need to throw a big party for Yudhoyono as the President had not made a significant contribution to reform the TNI.

"Yudhoyono has achieved nothing. He kept quiet when the TNI and National Police engaged in conflict. We're still unable to set up an ad hoc human rights tribunal to hear cases involving military officials," he said.

Kontras reported that there were 160 criminal cases implicating military personnel from October last year to September 2014, ranging from shootings, extortion to sexual assault.

Kontras and other human rights groups have called on the House of Representatives to revisit the military tribunal bill that would have authorized a civilian tribunal for military personnel. The House ditched the bill's deliberations in 2005 and instead passed the Military Discipline Law in September this year. The law, however, only regulates the internal supervision of soldiers.

"We appreciate the enactment of the law. However, it is not enough to regulate legal charges against TNI members," Kontras said in its latest report.

Rizal Dharma Putra, an analyst with the Indonesian Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies, suggested the Defense Ministry should play a greater role in supervising TNI personnel.

"We need to have good external and internal supervision to eradicate misconduct among soldiers. Thus, the supervision role of the Defense Ministry should be optimized," he said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/07/tni-s-upcoming-lavish-anniversary-parade-raises-eyebrows.html

Activists say Yudhoyono failed to reform TNI

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2014

Jakarta – Ahead of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) 69th anniversary, which falls on Sunday, activists have assessed that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has failed to reform the country's armed forces.

Al Araf, the program director of Imparsial, a human rights watchdog, told reporters on Friday that reform was needed to make the TNI more professional in conducting its duty, which was to protect the country.

"The reform is important because it could curb the militaristic culture inherited from the New Order regime, as well as ensure that the TNI will not be abused for political interests," he said in Jakarta.

He said that the reform process made good progress shortly after it was initiated in 1998, but then it stagnated during Yudhoyono's term.

"Former president Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid was the most progressive president who spearheaded reform, while Megawati issued Law No. 34/2004 on the Indonesian Military," he said. "President Yudhoyono did not leave us a decent reform legacy."

Imparsial researcher Ardi Manto said that the failure of President Yudhoyono's government could be seen in the rampant criminality involving TNI personnel during his 10-year tenure.

He said that during Yudhoyono's terms, Imparsial recorded 65 cases of violence and 19 cases of conflict between the TNI and the National Police. "We have not even counted cases like those involving illegal levies, of which we believe the number is huge," he added.

From January until September this year, Imparsial recorded eight cases of violence, most of which involved the abuse of civilians. In the last incident, which occured on Sept. 2, four TNI personnel stabbed an undergraduate student of Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, Papua.

On Sept. 21, a clash between members of the TNI and police officers occurred during an attempt to raid a suspected illegal fuel-storage facility at a housing complex in Batam, Riau Islands.

In early September, the National Police apprehended Niwen Khairani, an employee of the Batam administration for his involvement in an oil- smuggling case. The flow of funds from his bank account was believed to have reached high-ranking law enforcement officials within the police and the TNI who had responsibility for countering oil smuggling in Batam.

In March last year, 12 members of the Army's Special Forces' (Koppasus) Kandang Menjangan group raided Cebongan prison in Sleman, Yogyakarta, and killed four detainees who were suspects in an abuse case involving a Kopassus member, First Sgt. Heru Santoso.

Imparsial executive director Poengky Indarti described the number of cases of violence by members of the TNI as "only the tip of the iceberg" because many of the cases were not revealed to the public. "We believe that there are more cases, but they were not exposed," she added.

Al Araf further said that the new government should enforce the amendment of the 1997 Military Tribunal Law, which was stipulated in Law No. 34/2004, to remove the immunity from the law afforded to TNI personnel up until now. "President Yudhoyono failed to do this because he used the TNI as his political 'crutch'," she said.

Poengky added that the amendment could also open the possibility for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate TNI personnel who were involved in corrupt practices. "It will make all citizens, including TNI personnel, equal before the law," she said.

She said that the new government of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla could do more to improve the welfare of TNI personnel, which would be one way to improve their professionalism. (ask)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/04/activists-say-yudhoyono-failed-reform-tni.html

Analysis & opinion

Income inequality high, economic inequality higher

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2014

Mohammad Zulfan Tadjoeddin, Sydney – The true level of economic inequality is much higher that its official measurement and something must be done about it. The next president needs to be aware of this issue.

Economic inequality in Indonesia has been on the rise and recently reached a record high of 41 as measured by the Gini index of household consumption expenditure. Gini ranges between 0 and 100 and 0 refers to perfect equality when everyone has a similar level of income and 100 signifies perfect inequality when all income is accumulated in one person.

The issue of rising inequality is also socially and politically important as it may harm societal stability, especially in a large, diverse and young democracy plagued by widespread poverty and vulnerability amid rising expectations.

Rising inequality in Indonesia echoes global concerns about the issue. French economist Thomas Piketty argued that rising inequality was embedded in the capitalist economic system because capital returns had been increasingly higher than overall economic growth since the middle of last century.

Concerns with overall inequality in Indonesia have so far been driven by the evolution of the Gini coefficient of per capita household expenditure, derived from the national socioeconomic survey (Susenas).

Indonesia's Gini index reached a record high of 41 in 2011 and 2012, from the record low of 31 in 2004. This means that overall inequality increased by more than 30 percent during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidency. Globally, since 2011, Indonesia could be categorized as a country with low income and high inequality, from being a low income-low inequality country a decade earlier.

Despite current awareness of the already high level of economic inequality, the current official measure of inequality (41 on the Gini index) has been underestimated. The true level of economic inequality in Indonesia is much higher than that. There are two main reasons for this: conceptual and technical.

First is the conceptual level. The current measure is the Gini index of consumption expenditure and we know that consumption is different from income, let alone wealth or assets. Consumption expenditure is only part of income earned in a typical household. It has a smoothing effect through saving and withdrawal. In the longer term, income will be accumulated in the form of wealth or assets that will grow through capital gains or investment returns.

Therefore, by definition, expenditure inequality will be lower than income inequality and income inequality should be less than wealth inequality. Economic inequality can refer to any of these inequalities, whether consumption, income or wealth.

In a study commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO), I calculated the Gini index of labor earning based on the national labor force survey (Sakernas) that reached a record high in 2009, at a staggering level of 46.

The Gini index of labor earning was down to 44 in 2012. Labor earning data in the Sakernas is only available for the employment categories of self- employed, regular wage employment and casual employment, which account for around two thirds of total employment. During the past decade, the overall Gini earning figure was higher than that of expenditure, on average by 22 percent.

Labor earning is a better proxy for income, but this measure does not include the income of employers. Therefore, the incomes of wealthy businessmen are not covered by Sakernas earning data. If employers' income is included, the Gini index of earning would be much higher.

Jeffrey Winters of Northwestern University provided a sense of wealth inequality Indonesia. In 2011, although Indonesia's richest 43,000 citizens represented less than one hundredth of 1 percent of the population, their total wealth accounted for 25 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP); the average wealth of the 40 richest Indonesians is the highest in the region and their combined wealth is equal to 10.2 percent of the country's GDP.

Second is the technical level. The sampling nature of Susenas has tended to fail in capturing the consumption of very high and very low income groups, as these groups are largely untouchable for different reasons. Those who drive a Lamborghini or wealthy elite figures are very unlikely to be included in Susenas samples.

Therefore, if Indonesia is concerned with the recent rise in the Gini expenditure figure, surpassing the warning level, one can imagine the true magnitude of economic inequality based on income or wealth measures.

To conclude, the level of inequality is high and rising according to official measurements, but the true level of economic inequality is much higher and something must be done about it.

[The writer is senior lecturer in development studies at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/08/income-inequality-high-economic-inequality-higher.html

Support Ahok to end FPI's reign of terror

Jakarta Globe Editorial - October 7, 2014

Indonesians have seen enough violence inflicted by the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, and witnessed their seeming legal impunity.

For years, the militant group has roamed freely across the country, taking the law into their own hands, and acting as if they are above the law. Similar to terrorist organizations, they have hijacked Islam, and misused the religion for their own self-serving goals, or more specifically, for cash.

Self-purportedly on behalf of Islam, this group has attacked innocent, law-abiding citizens – who pay taxes to the state for security and legal protection – almost without resistance from authorities.

The FPI has become a tool for politicians and businesspeople alike who are willing to pay them. They continuously attack minority groups, rampage against restaurants and cafes and force residents to vacate property to be replaced by housing complexes or apartments.

The FPI has become a threat to our pluralistic society, as minority groups and the general public are under constant threat.

A violent demonstration against the installment of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or Ahok, on Friday as the Jakarta governor – to replace President-elect Joko Widodo – just because he is Christian and of Chinese descent, showed their true colors yet again.

More than a dozen police officers were injured when FPI members threw rocks at them, and one officer even suffered sword cuts to his arms.

This should be the FPI's last act of violence. We should stand firmly behind Ahok, who is calling for the organization to be forever disbanded.

Police rhetoric stating they will arrest one of the FPI leaders responsible for the incident will no longer be enough. For too long, we have been an international laughing stock, for our inability to enforce the law against this menacing organization.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-support-ahok-end-fpis-reign-terror/

Prevent new military discipline law from leading to impunity

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2014

Bhatara Ibnu Reza, Sydney – Amid recent debates on the controversial Regional Elections Law, the House of Representatives passed the Military Discipline Law to replace the 1997 Discipline in the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law.

The government said the law was the right response to several cases of indiscipline, especially last year's attack on a police detention center in Cebongan, Yogyakarta, by members of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus).

Instead of continuing to discuss amendments to the 1997 law regarding military courts, the government insists that discipline is the primary problem facing the TNI.

The bill on military tribunals should be deliberated again by the legislature, given the many problems of military members involved in crimes. The Cebongan case was just one example where the perpetrators should have been tried in a civilian court for premeditated murder, as their actions had nothing to do with military duty, let alone a combat situation.

The debate to amend the law on military courts was tough since the government was reluctant to accept the principle of civilian supremacy in legal justice, where TNI members who breach a general criminal law would be tried in the general justice system.

From 2005 to 2009, particularly during the deliberations on the military court bill at the legislature, the Defense Ministry continued to buy time to retain supremacy over the military court in the event of defendants being military members, including the mechanism of the connectivity court where the panel of judges trying military defendants for general crimes comprises military and civilian judges.

In the end, the House of Representatives' special commission on the bill amending the military courts law failed.

The law on military discipline is thus a compromise. It should be followed by further rules on the acts categorized as breaching military discipline. What is also an urgent need is an enforcing mechanism, including procedures on punishment, complaints and reparations and internal and external supervision to enact the law.

It is a must that the armed forces be a disciplined institution. Their members are entitled to carry lethal weapons and also receive more specific training than anyone in civilian institutions.

But the borderline between merely breaking discipline and conducting crimes is unclear and this gray area often provides an exit strategy that saves military personnel from legal prosecution.

Military discipline emphasizes the conduct of military members and governs relations between superiors and subordinates – obedience forms the core of military discipline. Problems mostly arise when subordinates must carry out orders without the right to question the legality of those orders, while they cannot have immunity from crimes on the basis of following orders. If a superior's order causes a crime, this would involve command responsibility.

There are two kinds of command responsibility, first de jure, which focuses on the formal executive structure or the authority creating the relevant policy. Secondly, de facto responsibility, which focuses on the commander's ability and duty to have effective control over every act carried out by subordinates. The commander thus must prevent or punish any breach involving subordinates.

Rule 153 of the Customary International Humanitarian Law also clearly states that in armed conflict, commanders and other superiors are criminally responsible for war crimes committed by their subordinates if they knew, or had reason to know, that the subordinates were about to commit or were committing such crimes and did not take all necessary and reasonable measures in their power to prevent the crimes and to punish the persons responsible. This customary law was already adopted by the Nuremberg Tribunals held to bring justice to Nazi war criminals and by today's International Criminal Court.

Despite its limitations the procedural regulations of the military discipline law should maintain transparency and fairness, given that frequently punishments for both breaches of discipline and crimes are only issued to field commanders.

In the new law the superior officer has wide authority: first, to conduct or order an investigation into the conduct of a subordinate, second, to implement disciplinary sentences to each member under his or her command and third, to delay the implementation of a sanctioned disciplinary decision. Moreover, the superior can reduce punishments.

The principle of military necessity is often used to protect members, blurring the enforcement of discipline, which should be based on military necessity for the sake of state defense.

This principle is also recognized in international humanitarian law; it has mostly been invoked by military operators to justify violent measures deemed necessary to win a given conflict, a reasoning dismissed by critics as a typical military excuse to explain away shocking "collateral damage" in modern military operations.

The principle is a further rationale against legal investigation and punishment of military members to avoid the exposure that is claimed to endanger military secrecy or other military positions.

Furthermore, a superior can also delay investigation or punishment for a perpetrator whose ability is considered vital to military operations.

The new law has adopted an Advisory and Supervisory Council for Military Discipline, an ad hoc institution crucial to monitoring and supervising military discipline enforcement. The council should have equal composition of membership and leadership by military officers and civilians. Furthermore, this council should apply equal rights to both high ranking officers and non-commissioned personnel.

During the New Order, an officers' honorary council was established to investigate high and middle ranking officers and to punish them with administrative measures, but ranks from field officers to non-commissioned personnel were tried in the military court.

The council was set up in the notorious case of the forced disappearances of 1998 that involved the army elite special forces, Tim Mawar (Rose Team).

The high ranking officers, notably the then Kopassus chief Prabowo Subianto, were never prosecuted and tried for their individual criminal responsibility before a court of law.

The new law on military discipline needs further monitoring to ensure the law fulfills its purpose, which is to build a disciplined and professional national defense force and prevent prolonged impunity.

[The writer is a PhD candidate with the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia researching military politics and international humanitarian law. He is also a researcher for human rights watchdog Imparsial, an NGO that led the advocacy for the amendment of the military trial law.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/06/prevent-new-military-discipline-law-leading-impunity.html

Take a stand to save nation's democracy

Jakarta Globe Editorial - October 6, 2014

The House of Representatives, or DPR, and People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR, are two state institutions through which the people's will is supposedly voiced.

But the careless manner in which the House passed a law scrapping direct elections for regional leaders, despite overwhelming objections from the Indonesian public, and how one coalition of losing political parties controls the council for a self-serving agenda, show that our politicians are out of touch with the very people they are supposed to represent.

Their recent decision would insinuate they are actually against the will of the people.

The way members of the Red-and-White coalition, or KMP, self-indulgently decide which of their comrades receive this position or that post at the DPR or MPR paints a clear picture of how the people's interests is the very last item on KMP's greed-fueled list of priorities.

Today, we will witness yet another round political horse trading that will decide who will be appointed speaker and deputy speakers of the MPR. Again, based on numerous statements Prabowo Subianto's coalition has made on the matter, we have reasons to believe that by controlling both the MPR and DPR, KMP aims to turn back the clock and yank Indonesia back into the New Order era, a totalitarian time when a handful of political elites controlled the fate of the entire archipelago.

We are powerless as we witness the slow demise of the country's democracy; all we can do is wait for another five years to get involved and – hopefully – use our votes to take the power away from KMP.

But should we wait that long? Is our middle class too divided, blinded and too lazy to fight back? With a divided mass media, it's not easy, but we must take a stand before it's too late.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-take-stand-save-nations-democracy/

On the precipice

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 6, 2014

There are concerns that the new government will face a period of political instability as soon as president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla take office on Oct. 20.

Given that their detractors are ruling the roost in the House of Representatives, fears loom that the House, dominated by opposition to the incoming administration, will hold new government programs or draft budgets hostage, rendering Jokowi's government ineffective and lacking credibility.

We are not being alarmist, but the lust for power blatantly displayed in the House over the past week signals such a scenario could become reality.

The market reaction to the squabbling augurs the damage the political divide will do to the Indonesian economy, which also happens to be bearing the brunt of global pressure. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) fell below the psychological level of 5,000 for the first time in about three months on Friday, while the rupiah weakened to 12,144 per US dollar. Capital flight reached Rp 7 trillion (US$576 million) in only a span of nine days.

Unsurprisingly, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto and other business players have called for a quick end to the political mudslinging, which they say will only generate uncertainty. Such concerns should be taken into account as the business sector, according to Suryo, contributes 70 percent to state revenue.

A series of dramas before and after the new 560 House members were installed on Wednesday are evident of the politics of anger, if not vengeance, and unfortunately by democratic means.

Holding 353 out of 560 seats at the House, the Red-and-White Coalition, comprising the Golkar Party, the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), has easily swept the House speaker and four deputy speaker posts in a mechanism it set up in favor of itself.

The coalition has reportedly also allocated among its members leadership posts in the House's 11 commissions and supporting bodies, and has vowed to take all the leadership jobs in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

If the coalition continues unchallenged in seizing control of the House and MPR, the temptation to block the programs of the new government and direct the course of national policies will be difficult to resist.

The worst-case scenario is that the tyranny of the majority will step-by- step undermine the fruits of reform, the fight against corruption and, finally, our hard-won democracy.

The stakes are too high as in the end, only Indonesia's 240-million population will suffer. A nation tipped to become the world's seventh- largest economy in the world by 2030 will plunge into an abyss, sapping the country's efforts to increase human development.

Reconciliation is the keyword and this can start with everybody supporting our new legitimate national leadership, without sacrificing their differences.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/06/editorial-on-precipice.html

Beware of lawmakers setting sights on KPK

Jakarta Globe Editorial - October 5, 2014

Amid all the fracas of late, it is hard to believe that things could get any worse in Indonesian politics. Lawmakers have shown their clear intention to turn back the clock on democratization with the passage of the regional elections law that ends direct elections of mayors, district heads and governors, and – not long before that, when all eyes were on the July 9 presidential election – with the law on legislative bodies.

A year that should have been a feast of democracy could now go down in history as the one that saw the end of representative government as we know it. But things could still get a lot worse.

Experts are raising the specter of a House of Representatives bent on pulling out the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)'s teeth.

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, for instance, warns that the House has the authority to cripple the KPK, and can do so simply by amending the anti- corruption law. Already, the law on legislative bodies, or MD3 law, requires the KPK to seek permission from the leaders of the House to question legislators it believes to be involved in graft cases.

In this regard, it is not very surprising that some have expressed concerns over the appointment of Setya Novanto – accused of involvement, though never charged, in a number of corruption cases – as House speaker, and Fahri Hamzah – who in the past has suggested to do away with the KPK altogether – as one of his deputies.

Hopefully, now that not only the nation's netizens but also its captains of industry are sounding the alarm bells over the prospect of protracted political instability, lawmakers and other stakeholders will realize that it's not too late to continue on the path of democratization. All should realize, however, that on that path, an independent and assertive KPK is crucial to keep everybody honest.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-beware-lawmakers-setting-sights-kpk/

Logical flaws in Aceh's 'Qanun Jinayat'

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2014

Marsen S. Naga, Banda Aceh – The passing of Qanun Jinayat, an Islamic criminal code bylaw, by the Aceh legislative council has revived discussion on the formalization of sharia. This bylaw or qanun is among serial efforts of such formalization in Aceh since the enactment of Law No. 44/1999 on Aceh's special autonomy.

The move to formalize sharia in Aceh has at least two logical flaws. First, from the early history of Aceh, Islamic values and laws have become a way of life guided by local ulema. Thus sharia does not need to be formalized. Formalization would only trap living values in a dead book of law.

The second flaw is the assumption that the formalization of sharia was the central demand of more than three decades of Acehnese struggle until the armed conflict was resolved with the peace agreement in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the central government in Helsinki, Finland in 2005.

Formalizing sharia was seen as a concession to maintain Aceh as part of the Indonesian state. This assumption is wrong as the MoU, which is considered the pillar of peace in Aceh, does not demand the formalization of Islamic law.

The long history of Aceh confirms that for Acehnese, Islamic law and local customs cannot be separated. Historian Taufik Abdullah has elaborated on the four important periods in the formation of Acehnese' s world view and their cultural tendency, i.e. (1) early Islamization; (2) the golden age of King Iskandar Muda; (3) the war against the Dutch, 1873-1912; and (4) national revolution, 1945-1949.

Many artifacts of the early Muslim kingdoms were found in Aceh, including the tomb of King Malikulsaleh, the founder of the Samudera Pasai Kingdom who died in 1297. The role of this kingdom to spread Islam to the Malacca and Nusantara islands, which became Indonesia, is really important.

Even the respected preachers in Java, Sunan Ampel and Sunan Giri came from this kingdom.

The era of King Iskandar Muda is considered the best example where Islamic teachings truly served as the foundation of everyday life, blending customs and Islam. The king was the reference for customs and religious leaders for sharia.

The period of war against the Dutch once again showed how Islam became the driving force of Acehnese resistance. The almost 40 years of war was the longest and most expensive war for the Dutch. Aceh's historical accounts say that Islamic values inspired its male and female warriors. It was in this period that Hikayat Perang Sabil (stories of holy war) became famous.

It was read and recited by people to encourage martyrdom in the war against colonial rule.

During the national revolution (1945-1949), the Acehnese overcame local sentiment and became the prominent supporter of the new republic. Although they had a chance to build their own nation based on Islamic law, they decided to join the new republic and contributed substantially in material forms.

Those important pillars in the history of Aceh vividly confirm that Islam is already a spiritual source of strength for its people. It is sometimes even said that "Islam is Aceh and Aceh is Islam". There is no need to formalize Islamic law because Islam is already a living value.

The earliest foundation for Aceh's autonomy – Law No. 24/1956 – which states Aceh's separation from North Sumatra, never used the term sharia. It was only in Law No. 44/1999 on Aceh's special autonomy that implementation of Islamic law was mentioned as one of the authorities of the provincial administration. Where did this idea of formalizing sharia come from?

Scholar Rodd McGibbon argued that Islamic law for Aceh was the product of a political deal between the central government and local elites in Aceh. Islam was used as political commodity. According to McGibbon, Jakarta elites often thought that the central demand of GAM was the implementation of sharia.

When Jakarta failed to address the Aceh conflict and attempted to cripple GAM with violence, the dominant view in Jakarta at the time was to weaken GAM's influence in the communities by reviving the important position of ulema in local communities. This was the logic behind giving Aceh the authority to implement Islamic law in all aspects of life.

Teuku Kamaruzzaman, a former GAM negotiator, had told McGibbon that, "Religious leaders have roles in religious matter but, in the world view of Acehnese, they never have political roles."

McGibbon stressed that the Islamic law "package" was proof of the central government's unwillingness to acknowledge that the core of the Aceh conflict was the imbalance between central and local (conflict over rich natural resources in Aceh) and gross human rights violations.

The Helsinki MoU focuses mainly on political and economic participation, and even explicitly delineates that the issue of religious freedom is the authority of the central government.

Law 11/2006 on Aceh governance, passed following the MoU, gives the Aceh government the authority to implement sharia. This inconsistency of the central government is like "sending fire in a husk" and has created the potential for new conflict among the Acehnese. This tendency has been very clear.

Strangely, the central government gave Aceh what it has already been living with for so long – Islamic values. At the same time, Jakarta still denies them what they need most: prosperity and justice for past human rights violations.

[The writer is a board member of the Aceh chapter of the independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Banda Aceh.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/06/logical-flaws-aceh-s-qanun-jinayat.html

Insanity the norm in Indonesian politics

Jakarta Globe Editorial - October 3, 2014

In Indonesia, people have always been forced to vote for figures they do not exactly know as their representatives. It is the political parties that decide who should be on the candidate list, of which the public then gets to vote into power.

Therefore, the quality of Indonesian politics and democracy, and in turn, law and policy, very much depends on the quality of the parties' candidates.

However, political parties are among the country's most corrupt institutions, which are known for recruiting people based on how much they are willing to pay. It is never about capacity, capability or achievement. It is always a matter of money and how close a candidate is to the party's powerful.

It is how close you are to Aburizal Bakrie, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Megawati Soekarnoputri, or Prabowo Subianto that is the foundation for a fruitful career in politics. There has never been a system of merit. There has never been proper recruitment that allows people to work their way up the ladder.

Out of nowhere, people with questionable track records, but fistfuls of cash, are nominated as candidates, and then become lawmakers.

Therefore, most of these people are of dubious moral and intellectual character. They are supposed to be the people's representatives, but they never have any intentions of becoming that. They fight for their personal interests, steal state money, misuse state facilities, horse trade and simply accumulate personal wealth and power.

What we saw in the past several days, as the outgoing lawmakers passed a law eliminating the right to directly vote local leaders, and how new legislators physically fought each others in a televised meeting, are blatant displays of insanity.

How can we allow these corrupt figures to determine the fate of more than 240 million Indonesians? It is time for a revolution in the way political parties are run and how we choose our representatives.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-insanity-norm-indonesian-politics/

Misleading 'qanun'

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 2, 2014

The National Commission on Violence against Women is pushing for the annulment of the new Criminal Code bylaw passed last week in Aceh, as the commission says it does not provide protection for victims, mainly victims of rape including minors.

Among other issues, rape defenders can walk free after pledging five times that they did not commit the crimes, and victims could be criminalized as adulterers if they fail to provide four witnesses, or results of DNA tests in the case of victims who were impregnated and bore children. The Islamic sharia-based bylaw also applies to non Muslims.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should use his powers and annul the bylaw, called the Qanun Jinayat, if Governor Zaini Abdullah fails to do so.

The 2005 Helsinki Agreement signed between the Indonesian government and the former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) paved the way for special autonomy, ending decades of war that had left thousands dead, mostly civilians. Aceh became the only province allowed to issue bylaws based on sharia.

Following the Dec. 26 2004 earthquake and tsunami in which Aceh was hit hardest, many residents said the disaster was a reminder of their sins and that adopting sharia would help bring peace to their land, dubbed Serambi Mekkah, the Veranda of Mecca.

While it was initially welcomed to end major crimes such as killings and widespread graft, as the years have passed many have questioned the interpretation and enforcement of sharia. What has become prominent in public view is caning for crimes such as gambling and adultery, even though among those caned were women who had reported being raped.

Activists failed in their appeal to delay the passing of the bylaw, saying consultations with civil society had been inadequate. Outside Aceh there was little attention paid; in part given Friday's shocking end to the direct election of regional heads – but also because of the dominant view that believes that the Acehnese themselves should deal with the consequences of their special autonomy, especially after causing so much anxiety over probable separation following the departure of today's Timor Leste. Any dissenting opinion raised over the implementation of sharia in Aceh earns the stigma of being anti-Islamic.

Many have congratulated Aceh over the new qanun. But those who disagree with many aspects of Islamic law in Aceh say it does not reflect the spirit of Islam which upholds compassion, and does not provide the intended better protection for citizens compared to national law.

On Tuesday the Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (APIK) commemorated a decade of the law on domestic violence, saying female victims had now come forward to report violence against them despite their husbands' treatment of them not having previously been considered a crime.

The Acehnese, including women, are known to be outspoken; however, under such an Islamic bylaw many will continue to suffer in silence, giving wide room for more violence and abuse within the presumed safety of homes and hamlets, even though the war ended almost 10 years ago.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/02/editorial-misleading-qanun.html

Commentary: A dangerous path ahead for divided Indonesia

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2014

Ary Hermawan, Tucson, Arizona – It is ironic that at a time when it has been hailed as politically mature, reformasi is facing its own death at the hands of the man who was midwife at its birth.

The political developments in the past few weeks surely boggle one's mind. They are as surreal as they are terrifying.

When the Constitutional Court ruled in July that there were no grounds to overturn the victory of president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, The Jakarta Post ran the rabble-rousing headline: "Game over, Prabowo!"

Obviously, nobody would think that upon reading the Post's headline the former general would just throw in the towel and mourn his mortifying defeat with dozens of his pretty horses in his idyllic residence in Hambalang. We just never thought he would be back in the game, which clearly wasn't over to him, so soon.

The Red-and-White Coalition has struck back and it caught us all by surprise. The coalition, which now controls about 60 percent of the seats at the House of Representatives, has abolished direct regional elections, effectively robbing us of our right to elect local leaders and blocking the possibility of reformists like Jokowi, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaya Purnama and Tri Rismaharini being able to emerge on the nation's political stage.

They are now reportedly plotting to end direct presidential elections and return the People's Consultative Assembly's (MPR) power to impeach and appoint presidents. The death knell has been sounded for democracy. This is a grim reality, but what is grimmer is that we have so few options to stop it all.

Jokowi, as president-elect, is a political novice. He is good at winning the hearts of the people, but he truly sucks at forging a strong political alliance. Megawati Soekarnoputri, as paramount leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is not going to be helpful either. She is not as politically savvy as her peers: the Golkar Party's Akbar Tandjung and the National Mandate Party's (PAN) Amien Rais, who once collaborated to sabotage her way to the presidency despite her party's victory in the 1999 legislative election.

Both Akbar and Amien played central roles in the ouster of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in 2002 and practically gave the presidency away to Megawati, then vice president. The two men have repeatedly outsmarted Megawati and can and will do so again.

The two veteran politicians, not Prabowo, are very likely the masterminds behind the Red-and-White Coalition's strategies to undercut Jokowi. Both were dubbed icons of reformasi and they now seem ready to kill it.

The only way for the Jokowi coalition to balance the legislative power of the Prabowo camp is by engaging the ailing Democratic Party. But seeing the party's political maneuvers during and after the presidential election, including its decision to walk out from a meeting that led to the scrapping of regional polls, we can only assume that the party is at best incompetent and at worst deceitful.

Many are hoping that hacktivism will save the day again, but we know that online petitions will only fall on deaf ears in the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, and since the election is over, we will have to get on to the streets to make our demands heard, just as the students did in 1998. The thing is, this is not 1998. At the time, there was only one enemy and the people were united. Today, we are so deeply divided that it would be impossible to set up a unified popular movement.

The July presidential election has crystallized the great divide between those who favor democracy and those who wish to make Indonesia more religious. Both sides believe that their conflicting values are irreconcilable and they have been competing for influence in post-reform Indonesia. They are the people who fuel political debates on social media.

The latest poll, which will divide Indonesia for quite a long time, was regarded as the final showdown between the two sides. The Prabowo coalition, though also comprising secular parties, is seen by the religious conservatives as the lesser evil to the Jokowi coalition, which is supported by the liberals. To them, a Jokowi victory could only mean the victory of the liberals.

Prabowo knew he had lost the election, but he also knew that Jokowi did not get a landslide win and nearly half of the country is still rooting for him. A political standoff will be inevitable should the people standing behind Jokowi, say, decide to besiege Senayan. It is perhaps not impossible for Indonesia to end up like Thailand or, God forbid, Egypt or Syria.

While it is crucial for Jokowi to win the political battles against the Prabowo camp to safeguard his administration, he can never be entirely safe if the country remains deeply and dangerously divided.

Needless to say politics is dirty and nauseating, but we are going to witness more tumultuous political years ahead – possibly far noisier than the ones we had with all the major scandals like the Hambalang or Bank Century graft cases. And what is worse is that we may have to get involved in it. And it could be really, really messy.

[The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post currently on a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.]

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/01/commentary-a-dangerous-path-ahead-divided-indonesia.html