Hadi Santoso, Jakarta – The retreat of key cadres to other parties has left the Labour Party overwhelmed in its attempts to compose a list of legislative candidates.

Marcellus Hernowo – As well as celebrities and family members of core political party leaders, the provisional list of legislative candidates that will take part in the 2009 general elections also contains a number of 1998 student movement activists.

Jakarta – The chairperson of the National Liberation Party of Unity’s (Papernas) advisory board, Dita Indah Sari, has decided to run as a legislative candidate under the Islamic based Star Reform Party (PBR).

Jumadi, Makassar – The elections for mayor and deputy mayor in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar is heating up. An activist from the South Sulawesi Indonesian Poor People’s Union (SRMI), Wahidah Baharuddin Upa, has declared that she will nominate himself to enliven the Makassar municipal electoral contest.

[The following is a compilation of abridged translations from Detik.com and Tempo Interactive covering protest actions around the country on May 21 against the Indonesian government's planned fuel price increases.]

Anti-fuel price hike protest in Bogor ends in clash

The battle drum of the Indonesian people’s resistance to the planned fuel price increases has been sounded – students, the urban poor, workers, farmers and women in every corner of the country are daily holding actions that are growing and uniting day by day.

Fery Firmansyah, Jakarta – In the lead up to the extended long-weekend holiday, Jakarta will be rocked by nine protest actions on Thursday March 6. Road users are advised to be careful or better still to avoid stretches of road being used for actions it they don’t wish to be caught in traffic.

Melly Febrida/M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Hundreds of victims of the New Order regime will witness a hearing into the crimes committed by former President Suharto between 1965 and 1998.

Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – On Thursday afternoon, January 31, hundreds of people from the Try Suharto People’s Committee (Koras) held a protest action in front of the North Sumatra Regional House of Representatives building on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Medan.

Wibatsu Ari Sudewo, Solo – Over the last two years, the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has become hot news in the Central Java city of Solo and other parts of the country. This new party has indeed triggered controversy after it was accused of being a reincarnation of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Pekanbaru – Around 1,000 people from the Central People’s Movement (SEGERA) have cancelled a May 1 overnight occupation of the offices of the Riau governor because their demands for an investigation into the appropriation of local people’s land by the company PT. Arara Abadi have been met.

[The following is a compilation of abridged translations taken from Detik.com on the May Day rallies held in Indonesia on May 1.]

State Palace 'attacked en masse' by thousand of workers

Kendal -- In the aftermath of the forced adjournment of a regional conference of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas), Papernas’ Kendal regional leadership board (DPD) intends to report the incident to the Central Java regional police.

Aries Witjaksena, Jakarta – The central leadership board of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) reported the Islamic Defenders Front IFPI) and the Islamic Defenders Militia (LPI) to the Metro Jaya regional police on Monday April 9.

[The following is a compilation of reports from Detik.com on the March 29 mass rally planned by the National Liberation Party of Unity against the ratification of the Draft Law on Capital Investment that was attacked and broken up by the Islamic Defenders Front. Translated by James Balowski.]

The following statement was to be presented during action by the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) at the Hotel Shangri-La in Jakarta on March 29 to protest a meeting on the Millenium Development Goals and the newly passed Foreign Investment Law.

Yogyakarta – The founding congress of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) that took place on 18-20 January in Kaliurang, Yogyakarta, Central Java, succeeded in reaching a number of agreements.

Bagus Kurniawan, Sleman – The National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) Congress has been unable to start because the national police have failed to issue a permit. The congress organising committee is questioning why the police are making things difficult for them.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Threats and intimidation still find fertile ground in Indonesia. The organisation of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has been threatened by a group of people calling themselves the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front (FAKI). Police are also guarding the congress.

Rafiqa Qurrata Ayun, Jakarta – Political parties are already starting to make preparations in the lead up to the 2009 general elections. New parties are also emerging. Like the case of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) that is targeting peasants, workers and the urban poor as its constituency.