Surabaya – Dangdut singer Rhoma Irama touched on the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) in a speech at a campaign rally for presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto and running mate Sandiaga Uno at the Delta Sidoarjo Sports Stadium in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya on Sunday March 31.

Vincentius Jyestha, Jakarta – National Police Public Information Bureau Head Brigadier Dedi Prasetyo says that people inviting others to golput – to abstain from voting – in the April 17 presidential and legislative elections could be prosecuted.

Muhammad Fida Ul Haq, Jakarta – The country’s peak Islamic body the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) has reiterated that the fatwa (edict) declaring that golput – to abstain from voting – is haram (forbidden under God’s law) that was issued at the Assembly of Islamic Scholars in Padang in 2014 is still valid.

Jakarta – The country’s peek religious body, the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), is calling on the Indonesian public to use their right to vote on voting day in the 2019 presidential and legislative elections on April 17. Taking a position of not voting or golput is haram – forbidden under Islamic law.

Jakarta – A survey by the Voxpol Center found that the majority of Indonesians don’t care about or aren’t interested in the promises made by the presidential (capres) and vice presidential (cawapres) candidates in the 2019 presidential elections (pilpres).

The following is a statement by the Organisation of Socialist Youth Groups (OKMS) on the terrorist attack against worshipers performing Friday prayers in Christchurch New Zealand.

Lisye Sri Rahayu, Jakarta – Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is known to hold land use rights (HGU) over thousands of hectares of land in Aceh and East Kalimantan. Prabowo has promised to return the land to the state within 10 days after being inaugurated as president.

Jakarta – The younger brother of missing radical street poet and labour activist Wiji Thukul, Wahyu Susilo, is urging presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto to go to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) and testify on the abduction and the forced disappearance of democracy activists by the Rose Team in 1997-98.

Jakarta – Dionysius Utomo Rahardjo, the father of pro-democracy activist Petrus Bima Anugrah who was abducted in 1998 for challenging Suharto’s New Order regime, is pessimistic that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will resolve the human rights violations that took place in 1997-1998 if he is re-elected in April.

Dimas Jarot Bayu – A recent survey by Concept Indonesia (Konsepindo) shows that only four political parties will gain seats in the national parliament in the 2019 general election (pemilu).

Indah Mutiara Kami, Jakarta – The deputy chairperson of Prabowo Subianto’s Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), Fadli Zon, has again met with fugitive Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Habib Rizieq Shihab in Mecca where they posed together making the two-finger salute.

Samsudhuha Wildansyah, Jakarta – Presidential candidate incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo personally attended an event on March 10 to hear a declaration of support from the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR).

Dewanto Samodro, Jakarta – International Women’s Day (IWD), which is commemorated every year on March 8 in Jakarta, was marked by a march from the Bank Indonesia traffic circle to the Aspiration Park in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

Jakarta – Scores of people have been arrested and convicted using the “rubber” (catchall) articles in the Information and Electronic Transaction Law (UU ITE) as a result of a rise in criticism against the government.

Women’s rights activists commemorating International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8 gathered near the Horse Statue monument before holding a long-march to the Aspiration Park in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

Kosim Rahman – Former members of the recently banned Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) group, which had previously campaigned for radical Islamic ideas, is believed to be supporting the 02 presidential campaign ticket (Paslon) of Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno in the 2019 elections.

Jakarta – The results of the latest LSI Denny JA survey show that support for the number 02 ticket in the 2019 presidential elections – Prabowo Subianto and running mate Sandiaga Uno – has increased among voters who want Indonesia to become like the Middle East or Saudi Arabia.

Block reads: Election regulation?

T-shirts reads: Vox Popoli, Vox Dei, Absentee voter.

With only a month to go before Indonesia holds simultaneous presidential and legislative elections, tens of thousands of people may not be able to vote.

Oktaviani – The “sumpah pocong” challenge thrown up by Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Wiranto to former Army Strategic Reserves Command (Green Berets) commander Major General Kivlan Zein is inappropriate.

Andhika Prasetia, Jakarta – Incumbent presidential candidate President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has emphasised that the ideology of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) is Pancasila. If anyone wants to replace this, he said, they will have to face the Pancasila Youth (PP).