Man: Were we fooled? Doesn’t matter... the more we’re lied to the smarter we get...

Branches: Ruling Coalition Joint Secretariat. Label: Political Fuel

Man: Deputy regents (wakil bupati – regent’s representative) want to be regents! Deputy governors (wakil gubernur – governor’s representative) want to be governors! So Mr representative of the people (wakil rakyat) why don’t you want to be one of the people!

More than a few eyebrows were raised when relatively unknown legal activist and lawyer Abraham Samad (pictured left) emerged as the country’s new anti-graft czar on Friday.

According to the Supreme Audit Agency there were irregularities of US$33 billion in Social Assistance Funds (Dana Bantuan Sosial) in 2007-2010.

Syahrul Hidayat, Palembang – Student activists from the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) held an action to commemorate the second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono at the Air Mancur traffic circle in the South Sumatra city of Palembang on Thursday October 20.

Syamsul Hadi and Marcus Suprihadi, Jember – The second year of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono was marked by a protest action by scores of students at the Jember Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) in East Java on Thursday October 20.

PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport McMoran Cooper and Gold – of which 90.64 percent of the shares are owned by Freeport CEO James R. Moffet – is the largest mining company in the world. Freeport contributes 95 percent of the entire production of gold by Freeport McMoran and a significant percentage of its copper production.

The political, economic, social and cultural situation, over which there has been great apprehension of late, has resulted in the public almost entirely loosing trust in those who run the country.

As President Yudhoyono (holding woman with ‘political parties’ written on dress) begins short-listing the names of new ministers for his first cabinet reshuffle during his second term in office, political analysts warn that it is critical for the president to resist the political pressure or horse-trading that characterised his first cabinet lin

Jakarta – For two years now, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has ignored the House of Representatives’ (DPR) recommendations on the forced abduction and disappearance of 13 activists in 1997-1998. There were four recommendations issued by the DPR on September 30, 2009 in relation to the case.

Jakarta – The political elite in this country should use the holy fasting month of Ramadan as a moment for introspection and evaluation, to ask whether their policies side with the ordinary people or not.

Jakarta – The number of floating voters is tending to increase. This can be seen not just from the decline in participation levels in elections between 1999 and 2009, but the political parties in general would be unable to hold on to their constituents if an election was held today.

Jakarta – The tales of the New Order regime’s successes, which are being used as a selling point for the Golkar Party, are misleading.

M Hernowo – Case of human rights violations that took place around the time of the fall of the New Order regime have still not been fully resolved. Moreover President Suharto’s decision on May 21, 1998 to release his grip on the reigns power, which he held for 32 years, has been taken advantage of by some groups.

Yohan Wahyu – If we look at the still sidelined state of workers and employees, the need to unite and organise oneself should be a big one. The historical facts in Indonesia however show the reverse, with political parties claiming to be based among workers not in fact “selling well” in the eyes of the voting public.

Indra Subagja, Jakarta – The National Republic Party (Partai Nasrep) has registered itself with the Department of Justice and Human Rights (Kemenkum HAM).

Hendra A Setyawan, Jakarta – The discourse on the simplification of political parties such as by increasing the parliamentary threshold (the minimum number of votes required to obtain a seat in the national parliament) is the principle challenge facing new political parties seeking to get into the parliament through the 2014 general elections.

Medan – Protesters calling themselves the Women’s Liberation Progressive Committee (KP3), which is an alliance of the North Sumatra Islamic University (UISU) Islamic Students Association Commissariat (HMI-KOM) faculty of agriculture, the UISU HMI-KOM faculty of literature, Free Women (Perempuan Mahardhika), the Political Union of the Poor (PPRM)

Exhaust: Bank Century, Lapindo disaster, racial, religious & ethnic conflicts, judicial & tax mafia, migrant workers, Yogyakarta gudeg, tiwul food poisoning.

Adi Nugroho, Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has concluded that serious human rights violations were committed by the Indonesian military (TNI) against people in Puncak Jaya, Papua.