National Politics

The passing of the technocrats

Despite being a scene of destruction and heartache, there is a strange beauty in the new landscape created in the wake of the Sidoarjo mud disaster.

An unstoppable flow of mud from an explosion in a gas well in Sidoarjo, East Java, has unleashed a plethora of political issues.

Indonesia’s premier historian

About cooking, studying Java, and other serious pleasures

Intellectual, Chinese, atheist, gay - and wholly Indonesian

Tension within Cabinet has once again become public. But while many see it as a religious clash, the more serious conflict, writes GERRY VAN KLINKEN, is over the protection of special business interests.

'Human Rights' is no longer a dirty word within Jakarta's establishment. An official National Human Rights Commission, now in its third year, is overwhelmed with work. KRISHNA SEN caught up with Marzuki Darusman, its deputy chairman. Joining in was academic Arief Budiman. She asked them what 'human rights' actually mean in Indonesia, and what difference the Commission has made.

Authorities blame the recent Jakarta riots on the coalition PRD. It has hundreds of members, but military leaders liken it to the PKI of the 1960s, which had millions. Who are these 1990s activists? VANNESSA HEARMAN visited with one of the coalition partners earlier this year, and filed this inside story.

Amidst great enthusiasm, Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected chairperson of the small political party PDI in December 1993. But last June she was ejected from the leadership by military-backed rivals. Many now look to her to lead a democratising movement wider than the PDI. To find out how she felt about this wider role, SAILENDRI recorded this exclusive interview with Megawati in her home.

The events of 27 July have led many to speculate about a more democratic order after the end of Suharto's powerful rule. MICHAEL VAN LANGENBERG warns such speculation may be misplaced.

Transition to a post-Suharto era in Jakarta could be window of opportunity for East Timor. What might that window offer, asks COKI NAIPOSPOS?

As riots erupt across the country, Suharto is forcing rich companies to contribute to a private anti-poverty foundation. But, for DAVID BOURCHIER and IAN CHALMERS, the move smacks of personal greed.

Parliament, Aberson Marle Sihaloho explains to SHARON TICKLE over lunch, can never do a good job under Suharto.

Is Indonesia a 'tinder-box'? A potential Bosnia in Southeast Asia? Or is it essentially peaceful, but someone is stirring the pot, perhaps to make a point before the 1997 elections? GERRY VAN KLINKEN visits the sites of three riots.

Despite an impression that Islam has lately become a potent force of opposition, GREG BARTON thinks many Muslims have a stake in the status quo.

Remember the election last May? MAS SUJOKO was there and listened in to the people's vote, recorded on walls all over Yogyakarta.

What are the prospects of Islamic opposition? How democratic will it be? GEORGE ADITJONDRO finds much to be hopeful about.

Many private banks set up by Indonesia's super-wealthy in the 1980s are reeling under the weight of mismanagement. But connections sometimes allow them to evade the laws of financial gravity, as SUARA INDEPENDEN shows in these two reports.