Political Parties

A law on pornography still divides the community

Hasan di Tiro returns to an Aceh in transition

Indonesia's biggest Muslim organizations are having second thoughts about partisan politics

Pesantren progressives defend constitutional religious freedoms

Or, the years of living with no one to blame

Political thugs and political Islam work together in Banten

PKS gets serious about recruitment in Malang

Controlling local corruption is one thing; tackling the big guys in Jakarta is quite another

A photo gallery

Democracy is feasible, but only if Indonesia’s democrats take on the elite

Political parties have stronger social roots in Indonesia than elsewhere in the region

What you see is what you get

Direct elections in South Sulawesi show that a new breed of political godfathers is coming to power in Indonesia’s regions. Parties are increasingly irrelevant, but electoral competition is real.

Direct local elections give Jakartans a say in their city’s future

ED ASPINALL finds that Golkar's massive electoral victory sits strangely with its loss of credibility on the streets.

The riot that engulfed Jakarta on 27 July 1996 started after army-backed gangsters invaded Megawati's PDI headquarters. JESSE RANDALL traces the strange relationship between government and criminality.

In this snapshot of politics at the end of January, ARIEF BUDIMAN worries that the embryonic alliance between Amien Rais and Megawati remains vulnerable to government attack.

Ethnicity now plays a role in local politics in South Sumatra but money still rules