After holding a direct presidential election, the Indonesian nation has taken another step to strengthen democracy. In June 2005 at least 176 regions will hold direct elections of regional heads. This move comes as a result of the approval of the Regional Government Bill by the People’s Representative Council (DPR). Article 24 of the bill requires that regional heads and their deputies be directly elected by the people in the region involved. Article 233 of the transitional provisions of the bill says that regional heads whose terms expire between 2004 and June 2005 must be replaced by direct elections in June 2005. The substance of the bill, however, has been criticised by political observers and activists such as Firmansyah Arifin, Hadar N Gumay and Teten Masduki. They complained that the bill prevents independent, non-party candidates from standing.

Kompas
30 September 2004

Known for its Islamic outlook, the emergence of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) as a major faction in the Jakarta City Council has raised concerns for businesspeople who own entertainment venues. This fear, however, was dismissed by Gunawan, the chairperson of the PKS faction in the Jakarta City Council. He said that a repressive approach would be counterproductive if the public was not ready to accept it. ‘We will not force society to adhere to certain values if they are not ready. We prefer to use a persuasive approach through a long process of education. We know it takes time.’ There are around 1300 companies operating a variety of entertainment venues in the city, which employ around 240,000 workers.

Bambang Nurbianto
The Jakarta Post
24 September 2004

The Commander of the Lilawangsa Military Resort, Colonel AY Nasution ordered his soldiers on duty in the field to shoot for the heads of anyone who pulled down the red and white national flag. A press release from the head of information for the Lilawangsa Military Resort explained that the commander made the statement because it was thought the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) would attempt to sabotage commemorations of Indonesia’s 59th anniversary of independence on 17 August. The commander said that the order to shoot suspects in the head was in accordance with standard military practice. Soldiers, he said, were not trained to disable suspects by shooting them in the legs. Rather, they were trained to shoot in the head or chest. The commander also ordered troops not to hesitate in taking action in the field. Any soldier who did not comply with these orders and shot suspects in the legs, he stated, would be investigated.

Analisa
18 August 2004

Military should not be deceived

Colonel AY Nasution, the Commander of the Lilawangsa Military Resort in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh said that members of GAM continued to infiltrate the town. He warned soldiers, especially those in the intelligence section, not to be deceived by GAM, adding that there were indications some government officials were quietly giving support to the organisation. He also asked intelligence agents to monitor ‘every step’ of every person, including ulama (religious scholars), government officials, businesspeople and the general community. Information about their daily movements should be recorded in order to speed Aceh’s path toward greater security.

Serambi Indonesia
6 October 2004

More Indonesians have begun to practice safe sex, with the use of condoms by sexually active people on the rise. The use of condoms with both regular and nonregular sexual partners increased to 40 per cent and 84 per cent respectively among young people last year, from 34 per cent and 75 per cent in 2002, according to a survey by DKT Indonesia, a non-governmental organisation dealing with reproductive health. The survey involved interviews with 1226 males between 20 and 34 years of age in the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya and Denpasar. About 55 per cent of the respondents were married, while the remaining were single and sexually active. Around 79 per cent of the respondents said they used condoms to avoid pregnancy, 52 per cent to avoid contracting sexually transmitted infections and 69 per cent to avoid other diseases and infections. Only 1 per cent of the respondents said they used condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS.

Sari P Setiogi
The Jakarta Post
9 August 2004

Revolution in Islamic law?

The Ministry of Religious Affairs launched a draft amendment to the 1991 body of Islamic law. The draft allows interfaith marriages, prohibits polygamy and promotes gender equality. It was compiled by a team led by Muslim gender expert Siti Musdah Mulia and introduces some major developments to Islamic laws adopted in Indonesia, which cover marriage, inheritance and waqaf or valuable assets donated for religious or community use. Team spokesperson Abdul Moqsith Ghazali said the Koran, which is the main source of sharia or Islamic law, allows Muslims to marry others of different religions. There is no verse banning Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men. If it is not ruled, it does not mean it is forbidden,’ he said.

Abdul argued one of Prophet Muhammad’s sons-in-law was not a Muslim, although he embraced Islam eight years later.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati
The Jakarta Post
5 October 2004

Correction

The article on genetic modification in edition 80 of Inside Indonesia was written by former Yayasan Duta Awam activist Haleluya Giri Rahmasih, not by Muhammad Riza, the Executive Director of Yayasan Duta Awam, as attributed.