Indonesia on News

Golkar Waiting for SBY's Call in Coalition Evaluation Threat

2011-02-27T22:49:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post, 27 February 2011

The Golkar Party downplayed threats from its coalition partner, the Democratic Party, to evaluate Golkar's membership in the government party coalition after a disagreement over a legislative tax inquiry proposal.

Golkar strongly backed the proposal, which sought to form a legislative inquiry on corruption within the Indonesian taxation system, while the Democratic Party led the push to reject it.

Democratic Party executives said they had asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the founder and chief patron of the party, to evaluate Golkar's membership in the coalition in relation to the disagreement.

Golkar spokesman Lalu Mara Satriawangsa said, however, that Golkar would not do anything to respond to the Democratic Party executives' moves until the President really had a say in the matter.

“The Golkar Party has not conducted any meetings to respond [to the evaluation request],” Lalu said on Sunday in Jakarta, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added there had been no talks yet regarding the requested evaluation of membership or possible reshuffling of Golkar ministers from the Cabinet between Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie and Yudhoyono.

“That [reshuffle] is the prerogative of the President, and the President already has a tool to perform the evaluation,” Lalu said, reiterating that Golkar would wait for the President's reaction on the matter.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Mt Merapi Disaster Victims Still Need Govt`s Help

2011-02-27T22:28:00.000+07:00

AntaraNews, 27 February 2011

The Sleman district government has requested for the disbursement of social safety net funds for the survivors of Mount Merapi`s eruptions until December 2011.

The request had been to the central government through the ministry of social affairs, Head of Sleman district, Sri Purnomo, said here Saturday.

"The Mount Merapi disaster victims, who remain at shelters need time to rebuild their lives by themselves. Therefore, we ask the central government for social safety net funds until December 2011," he said.

Speaking to journalists when joining Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri`s visit to shelters for the Mount Merapi eruption survivors in Plosokerep village, Cangkringan subdistrict, he said each person needed only Rp5,000 per a day.

"We do hope that the social safety net fund is not only given for a month to enable the Mount Merapi disaster survivors currently staying at shelters could rebuild their life," he said.

In response to this demand, Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri had yet to make a decision because he should consider what was left the ministry`s budget.

"We are going to consider the proposal. If it is possible and the budget is still available, we will provide the money," he said.

He said his ministry is still paying serious attention to the fate of the volcanic eruption survivors. During the emergency response period, all of their needs were the government`s responsibility.

"This emergency response period was extended in every two weeks by considering the real condition. At that time, all refugees` needs were fulfilled by the government," he said.

The district government noted that 680 families or 1,965 survivors of the Mount Merapi eruptions had received the government-sponsored social safety net funds.

Mount Merapi had erupted repeatedly last year but its most fatal eruptions occurred on October 26 and November 5, 2010.

As a result of the eruptions, at least 259 people had perished and many others sustained burns and became displaced.

Mount Merapi, on the border between two provinces, lies geographically close to Yogyakarta but is officially part of Central Java.

Besides killing and injuring several hundred people, eruptions had also damaged 867 hectares of forested land on the volcano`s slopes in Sleman District, Yogyakarta, with material losses estimated at Rp33 billion.

The damaged forests included the Merapi National Park, community forests and local people`s plantations.

Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, which had been erupting several times since 1548.

Source: AntaraNews

President Back in Jakarta

2011-02-27T22:23:00.000+07:00

AntaraNews, 27 February 2011

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived back in Jakarta on Sunday after paying a working visit to Riau Islands province and a state visit to Brunei Darussalam.

The president and entourage including First Lady Ani Yudhoyono arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta by a special presidential plane at 02.30 p.m. after a one-hour flight from Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands.

Yudhoyono was in Riau Islands for two days during which he handed assistance to Tanjungpinang residents. The aid was in the form of smallholder business credit, social aid and national program for community empowerment (PNMN) aid.

While in Riau Islands, the head of state also visited Lagoi, Bintan district, to inaugurate Pesona Lagoi Bintan integrated economic zone.

The president arrived in Tanjungpinang on Friday (Feb 25) after a two-day state visit to Brunei Darussalam where he met with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

During the visit, both countries agreed to establish cooperation in various fields including defense, industry, trade, and manpower.

The president was during his state visit in Brunei Darussalam accompanied by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Education Minister M Nuh, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Darwin Saleh.

Source; AntaraNews

Golkar Seen Pushing Back With Century

2011-02-26T23:43:00.000+07:00

JakartaGlobe, 26 February 2011

After its failed push for a special inquiry into corruption in the tax office, the Golkar Party has come up with a new issue: the leadership of the Indonesian House of Representatives’ Bank Century bailout monitoring team.

Analysts and critics, though, say Golkar’s reviving of the Century issue could be its response to threats by the Democratic Party to kick it out of the ruling coalition over the tax inquiry push.

Setya Novanto, Golkar’s chairman in the legislature, said on Friday that the Century monitoring team’s leadership — currently rotated among House leaders — had been ineffective and would be better if it was given permanently to one of three deputy speakers.

“It could be Priyo, Anis or Pramono Anung,” Setya said, referring to the deputy speakers representing the three parties most critical of the controversial 2008 bailout.

Golkar’s Priyo Budi Santoso is deputy speaker of the House taking care of political, legal and security issues; Anis Matta, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), oversees financial and economic affairs; and Pramono Anung, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), takes care of industrial and economic development issues.

The monitoring team was set up last year to make sure that law enforcers followed up on House findings that laws were violated in the Rp 6.7 trillion ($757 million) bailout of Bank Century.

The timing of the reminder, however, is not a coincidence, according to a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute, Hanta Yuda.

He said Golkar’s latest push to strengthen the Bank Century monitoring team was just another move to fortify its position in the coalition, given all the threats the Democrats have made in the wake of the tax office corruption inquiry controversy.

“This Bank Century talk is a result of their failed maneuver with the tax inquiry,” Hanta said. “This is political hostage-taking.”

The Century inquiry was widely seen as Golkar targeting former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Vice President Boediono.

“They were never serious about the tax inquiry, it was just another tool to hold each other hostage. Sadly, it was never for the sake of the people,” Hanta said, echoing the view of several other political observers and insiders.

Sources have said the tax office inquiry proposal needed to be seen in the context of political maneuvering ahead of the 2014 elections, and that despite claims to the contrary, the whole episode was never really about the so-called tax mafia.

Marwan Jaf’ar, the House faction chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), one of the coalition members loyal to the president’s Democrats, agreed that Golkar might be engaged in political maneuvering after the tax office inquiry was blocked by the government’s supporters.

“We should act like a family. Please, don’t try to compete to show who’s the real winner,” he said, adding that Golkar’s proposal ran counter to an agreement among all the House factions on the monitoring team.

But Golkar’s secretary general, Idrus Marham, denied the proposal had anything to do with the tax inquiry failure, insisting that all of Golkar’s moves were, in fact, aimed at strengthening the administration.

All Golkar wants, he said, is for the Bank Century saga to be resolved. “If it isn’t monitored properly, our credibility will be affected,” he said.

The PKS, which sided with Golkar on both Century and the tax office inquiry, said it would support a shakeup in the monitoring team’s leadership.

“The monitoring team must be firmer. It could also be expanded into a right to express an opinion,” the PKS’s Anis said, referring to the first step in the impeachment process.

Achsanul Qosasih, a Democratic Party lawmaker and member of the Bank Century monitoring team, said he had no problems with Golkar’s proposal.

“It’s not a problem for us,” he said, adding that a permanent leader would ensure more consistency. “Anyone can be appointed to chair the team. Even if the chairman were appointed from among members of the team, we would agree.”

A political analyst from Surabaya’s Airlangga University, Airlangga Pribadi, said there would always be political maneuvering in the House, but regardless of what the motivations were, the public must not remain silent on the Bank Century issue.

He said civil society needed to get involved in the matter and demand more transparency.

Source: JakartaGlobe

Regional Indonesian Politicians to Ban Or Curb Ahmadiyah

2011-02-26T23:40:00.000+07:00

JakartaGlobe, 26 February 2011

Regional chiefs in some Indonesian provinces are moving ahead with plans to either ban completely or restrict the activities of Ahmadiyah followers in their areas, claiming the Muslim sect has stirred up community conflicts.

The mayor of Samarinda, Sjahrie Jaang, said he would curb all Ahmadiyah activities in the East Kalimantan capital and would also soon move to close down its mosques.

“The regulation on halting the activities of the Ahmadiyah was signed today,” he told reporters after a meeting with local police, religious leaders and community representatives on Friday.

He said he would meet with Ahmadiyah leaders in the area to enforce the regulation, advising them to halt their activities and close their houses of worship.

“This decision was taken as a form of firm action by the city administration on the Ahmadiyah issue in order to maintain security by preventing potential sources of conflict in society,” the mayor said.

When asked about the size of the Ahmadiyah community in Samarinda, Sjahrie said it was “insignificant” but if no firm action was taken immediately, it was likely to grow. “This is why we need to stop their activities now,” he said.

Representatives of the Indonesian Council of Ulema in Samarinda lauded the administration’s plans.

“The mayor’s decision is a relief to us all,” said Zaini Naim, the local chapter’s chairman. “This will stop the people from taking the law into their own hands.”

According to M. Faozal, a spokesman for West Nusa Tenggara’s provincial government, the governor was about to issue a bylaw that would outlaw the spread of Ahmadiyah teachings. “Ahmadiyah often triggers conflict in many regions, including West Nusa Tenggara,” the spokesman said on Friday. “The governor wants to prevent conflict; We’re calling on the Ahmadiyah to stop causing conflict.”

Limiting the Ahmadiyah community’s activities was necessary as a way to prevent potential conflicts, Faozal said, adding that the government hoped its followers would return to the “rightful path of Islam.”

Some Muslim leaders in West Nusa Tenggara said they welcomed the plan and hoped the governor would issue the regulation as soon as possible to prevent more clashes.

“They [Ahmadis] persist that there is no difference between Ahmadiyah and Islam, while there is a significant difference,” Saiful Muslim, head of the provincial branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), said. “No dialogue held with them has produced any solution to the problem.”

Some Muslim groups have accused Ahmadiyah of heresy, saying that they profess their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, to be the final prophet — a tenet that runs against Islamic beliefs that reserve that claim for the Prophet Muhammad.

Ahmadiyah community leaders, however, say that it has never claimed Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a prophet but rather as the promised messiah, a concept that is accepted in mainstream Islam.

Saiful also claimed that Ahmadiyah followers refused to integrate with surrounding communities, which caused anxiety among their neighbors.

According to Saiful, the MUI also disagreed with a plan to forcibly relocate a group of Ahmadis to a remote area in Lombok’s southwest, saying that such a policy would only cause more conflict.

“I fear that once they are moved to Sekotong they will be attacked by the people there,” he said. “It is better for them to integrate with their neighbors and assimilate to accepted norms.”

East Nusa Tenggara’s governor, Frans Lebu Raya, meanwhile, said residents should ignore calls to take part in a rally in Kupang over the weekend to express solidarity with the besieged Ahmadiyah community in other parts of the country. The governor said the call was a hoax instigated by agitators.

In Jakarta, Edwin Pamimpin Situmorang, deputy attorney general for intelligence, said that his office was still examining a 2008 government regulation that put restrictions on the Ahmadiyah community. “We are still examining the joint decree on Ahmadiyah to assess its effectiveness, and how the recent incidents could have happen,” he said.

“In my opinion, it hasn’t been effective yet because most people do not fully understand its contents. For instance, there is a view that the decree bans Ahmadiyah, while in fact it doesn’t.”

The decree was issued in June 2008 by the Attorney General’s Office and ministries of religious and home affairs. While it does not expressly ban the existence of Ahmadiyah, it does stop Ahmadiyah followers from spreading information contrary to mainstream Muslim interpretation.

Source: JakartaGlobe

Judicial Taskforce Wants to Maintain KPK’s Authority

2011-02-26T23:37:00.000+07:00

tempointeractive, 25 February 2011

The Judicial Mafia Eradication Taskforce says the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) authority should not be weakened for any reason. “The KPK is very much needed because it is not easy to eradicate corruption,” said taskforce secretary Denny Indrayana at the KPK building yesterday.

He said the idea to reduce the KPK’s authority had been firmly rejected by the government. The government, he said, believes the KPK should have a solid and strong authority in investigations, lawsuits and wiretapping.

KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said the KPK’s authority was warranted. “Corruption is an extraordinary crime so it needs to be handled in extraordinary ways,” he said. House of Representatives deputy chairman Priyo Budi Santoso’s idea to weaken the KPK, was not an opinion shared by the rest of the parliament, he said.

Priyo Budi Santoso and Golkar Party chairman have previously said the KPK has too much power.

Denny Indrayana yesterday visited the KPK office without other taskforce members to conduct a routine coordination. “As usual, we discussed the national strategy on corruption eradication,” he said after the meeting, adding the KPK and the taskforce were preparing a new strategy. “It will be launched soon,” he said, without providing details.

The government prepared a National Strategy for Corruption Prevention and Eradication at the end of last year. The strategy has been worked on since 2007. The plan is to apply the strategy next year given it is approved by the cabinet and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Source: tempointeractive

Regent Rejects Lapindo’s Plan to Exploit Gas

2011-02-26T23:35:00.000+07:00

tempointeractive, 25 February 2011

Sidoarjo Regent Saiful Ilah has rejected the plans of Lapindo Brantas to exploit natural gas in the area. The exploitation was to take place in six points in Kalidawir village, Tanggulangin sub-district and Kebonagung village, Porong sub-district. The major rejected the plan based on the problems caused by the Lapindo mudflow in Sidoarjo.

“There mustn’t be any operations,” he said following a meeting with Lapindo Brantas and downstream oil and gas regulator BPH Migas. So far, he said, Lapindo had exploited natural gas in Kalidawir village. A total 4,000 people use natural gas from Lapindo’s gas wells.

“The exploration in Kalidawir was successful. There were no problems,” he said. Three points in Kalidawir have not yet been exploited. The exploitation permit from BPH Migas was granted before the mudflow incident at Banjar Panji-1 Lapindo Brantas well.

The 2-hour meeting between Sidoarjo regent, Lapindo Brantas Incorporated and BPH Migas was closed to the public. “There are no activities yet, only the annual report was discussed,” said Anita Ariyanti, Lapindo Brantas Incorporated’s public relations spokesperson.

Source: tempointeractive

Indonesia's Fuel Subsidy Cuts May Be Shelved

2011-02-25T08:42:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, 25 February 2011

The country’s top economic minister on Thursday said planned fuel subsidy cuts might be postponed “indefinitely,” citing soaring world oil prices and accelerating inflation. “The government sees that this is not the right time to implement the restriction plan because global oil prices keep rising,” said Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for the economy.

The government had planned to gradually restrict the sale of subsidized Premium fuel only to motorcycles and public transportation vehicles starting in April.

The news came a day after the government launched a trial run of the restriction in Jakarta. Public minivans plying the busy Kampung Melayu to Pasar Senin route will be monitored to gauge their daily gas needs and to check the effectiveness of measures to ensure they do not stockpile and resell the subsidized fuel.

Premium sells for Rp 4,500 (50 cents) a liter compared with unsubsidized Pertamax fuel, which is now priced at Rp 7,950.

World oil prices surged more than 7.5 percent on Thursday to reach their highest level since August 2008 on concerns unrest in Libya could spread to other major oil producers in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude futures for April rose $8.54 per barrel to peak at $119.79 before easing back to around $114, Reuters reported. Disruptions stemming from bloody, unrest in Libya, the world’s 12th-biggest oil exporter had cut at least 400,000 barrels per day from its 1.6 million bpd output, the report added.

Hatta said there were concerns that rising oil prices would compound already high inflation if motorists were forced to use the more expensive Pertamax. He said the government was still waiting on the results of a study conducted by researchers from University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada University to assess the impact of the curbs on subsidized fuel.

Effendi Simbolon, a member of House Commission VII, which oversees energy issues, criticized the government’s flip-flopping over the issue, saying the rise in oil prices should have been anticipated.

The lawmaker from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the government should scrap the subsidy cuts and instead increase the price of Premium.

Effendi argued a price hike would have “less risks” than curbing the use of subsidized fuels. Restrictions mean forcing people to use [unsubsidized] high-octane gas, which is more expensive than Premium,” he said. “This is not right.”

Evita Legowo, director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said the decision to shelve the subsidy cuts was not yet final as the government had to discuss the issue with lawmakers, who would have the last say.

Separately, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said any delay in the cuts would significantly swell the state budget. “If postponed, it could increase the cost of subsidies by Rp 3 trillion to Rp 6 trillion this year,” he said.

The 2010 budget allocation for fuel subsidies was Rp 88.9 trillion. This year, Rp 95.9 trillion has been earmarked for subsidies based on an average oil price of $85 per barrel. “We are carefully watching global oil prices, particularly regarding the situation in the Middle East,” Agus said.

The other risk identified by the minister was the potential impact of production shortfalls. “We may not be able to reach our target of producing 970,000 barrel a day,” he said.

Source: Jakarta Globe

Cabinet Secretary to Air Out His Dispute With Broadcasters

2011-02-25T08:38:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, 25 February 2011

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam, who caused a stir with his call to boycott certain media organizations, has agreed to mediation with the groups in question but has ruled out issuing an apology. At a discussion hosted by the Press Council on Thursday, the secretary said he had made the controversial statement this week to put media organizations in their place.

“I criticized the media so that they don’t become institutions that [think they] can do no wrong,” he said. Dipo said he was often asked by discouraged foreign investors about the social conflicts and political bickering widely reported in some of the country’s media outlets.

“Does that kind of news reporting benefit all of us?” he asked the room full of journalists. He said the point of his criticism was that the media had not provided enough information to the public about what the government had achieved in spite the challenges it faced.

“This is for the nation’s own interests,” Dipo said, adding that his lambasting the media was not meant to please anybody. “I’m doing my task and my job and I’m not afraid of being reshuffled [as a consequence]. If it has to happen today, I’m ready.”

Dipo also used Thursday’s discussion to stress that a Twitter account set up in the wake of his controversial remarks, @dipoalam46, was a hoax and did not belong to him, saying “I’m not that tech-savvy.”

He further stated that no government ministries or institutions had actually taken up his call to boycott placing ads in the media outlets in question, or turned down interviews with their journalists.

“I’m not that powerful,” he said. “The public relations department of each ministry is answerable to the respective ministries’ management, and I can’t order them to [start a boycott].”

The dispute began on Monday when Dipo called on government institutions to begin an advertising boycott against media organizations that portrayed Indonesia as a “messy and dark” country.

On Tuesday, he accused TVOne, Metro TV and Media Indonesia newspaper of spreading hatred toward the government through their news reports.

TVOne is owned by influential tycoon and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, while Metro TV and Media Indonesia are the properties of media magnate Surya Paloh, a former Golkar heavyweight who now chairs the National Democrat social organization.

In the wake of the boycott call, Surya had demanded that Dipo apologize. However, a representative from TVOne, Agung Ruliyanto, said the broadcaster would take Dipo’s criticism as feedback and would not demand an apology from the cabinet secretary.

“We’ll just follow the mediation process being facilitated by the Press Council,” Agung said.

Press Council deputy chairman Bambang Harymurti, speaking at Thursday’s discussion, said he supported limiting government advertising in media outlets that failed to adhere to journalistic ethics.

“We don’t want the hard-earned taxpayers’ money to be spent on media organizations ignorant of the code of ethics,” he said.

Press Council member Ridlo Eisy said that while the press was independent of the government, each outlet’s reporting was not entirely free of the interests of the company that owned it.

“The press can boldly criticize the president, and in this case the cabinet secretary, but do they ever criticize their owners?” he asked.

“I guess it would be difficult to do so.”

He added that despite their main task of voicing public opinion, journalists should also understand the agenda set by the owners of their respective media outlets.

Bambang said the Indonesian public were growing increasingly media literate and could weed out news reports that were not credible.

“The public can always easily sympathize with the party [being unfairly covered],” he said.

Source: Jakarta Globe

No apologies: Cabinet Secretary

2011-02-25T08:32:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post, 24 February 2011

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam says he will not issue a formal apology for his recent statements regarding a government boycott of media outlets that were critical of President Susilo Bambang Yuhoyono. “No pardon. No apologies,” he said Thursday.

Dipo had previously threatened to halt the placement of government advertisements in three media outlets, and also block their access to information on the government.

The three outlets he mentioned were Media Indonesia daily newspaper, Metro TV television station and TV One television station, for their criticism of the government.

In response, Media Indonesia and Metro TV parent company, Media Group on Thursday said that if Dipo refused to apologize for the statement it would seek to charge him for violations of the press law and freedom of information law.

Dipo said that his explanation to the House of Representatives regarding his comments was sufficient.

“Rather than paying attention to the demands [of Media Group], the House is a respectable forum [to give explanations to],” he said, as reported by tempointeraktif.com.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Govt to evacuate Indonesians from Libya ASAP

2011-02-25T08:29:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post, 24 February 2011

Indonesia says it will make immediate arrangements to evacuate its citizens from turmoil-ridden Libya.. “The communication situation between Indonesia and Tripoli is unlike that in Egypt. Therefore, we must confirm tonight the technicalities of the rescue mechanism,” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said on Thursday in Jakarta after meeting with ministers and senior officials, as quoted by Kompas.com.

Djoko said there were two options: initial evacuation to a third country before repatriation, which would be done if needed, or direct evacuation to Indonesia, which would require assembling all Indonesians in Libya at the airport at the right time.

“Hopefully, the technicalities will run more smoothly than Egypt,” Djoko said. Hasan Wirajuda, who coordinated the evacuation of Indonesian nationals from Egypt, was chosen to lead the Libya evacuation.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Rejection of Inquiry Motion Reveals Political Party Map

2011-02-24T08:42:00.000+07:00

Antara News, 23 February 2011

The rejection by the House of the tax mafia inquiry motion clearly shows the map of political parties which want to safeguard the nation and which become part of the tax mafia, an activist said.

"Now we can see clearly the map of political parties in the House of Representatives (DPR). We are surprised that Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement Party) turned out to be part of them only because it can enjoy a short-term benefit," Adhie M Massardi, coordinator of the Clean Indonesia Movement (GIB), said here on Wednesday.

He said that since the beginning civil society groups had taken distance from the political forces in Senayan (the DPR). They deliberately ignored using public pressures as they did when the House was processing an inquiry during the Bank Century bailout scandal.

Massardi, who was a presidential spokesman during president Abudrrahman Wahid`s era, said that public pressures were not used to push the tax mafia inquiry because the public wanted to see which political parties were willing to safeguard the nation and which had become part of the tax mafia.

He admitted however that inquiry was not the only means that could be used to uncover tax mafia in the country.

"But with the inquiry, it could at least discover the dons in the body of a tax mafia such as what had been discovered during the House inquiry into the Rp6.7 trillion worth Bank Century bailout scandal," Massardi said.

He said that sooner or later, the people would find their way how to disclose evils in this country. "The fact now is that it is difficult to do so, even if by means of political channels, let alone by other means such as legal ones," he said.

The House of Representatives (DPR) in its plenary meeting on Tuesday evening rejected a proposed tax mafia inquiry motion through voting with 266 legislators against and 264 others in favor of the proposal.

Source: Antara News

North Sumatra Home to Country’s Most Corrupt Officials: Watchdog

2011-02-24T08:37:00.000+07:00

JakartaGlobe, 23 February 2011

The country’s leading antigraft watchdog has released new figures on corruption in the regions for 2010, and the news is not good for North Sumatra and East Kalimantan. Agus Sunaryanto, head of the investigation unit at Indonesia Corruption Watch, said on Wednesday that based on the number of graft cases involving government officials, North Sumatra was the most corrupt province in the country.

The organization recorded 64 corruption scandals involving North Sumatra government officials at the provincial and district levels last year.

“North Sumatra’s provincial administration has to pay serious attention to corruption practices [involving government officials] plaguing the province,” Agus said. “The government must establish greater transparency and impose strict monitoring in regard to the use of its coffers.”

He added that losses incurred from graft in the province amounted to Rp 288 billion ($32.5 million) over the year.

One of the more prominent examples of corruption in the province was the case of North Sumatra Governor Syamsul Arifin, who was arrested in October in connection with alleged graft committed while he was head of Lankat district.

And in 2008, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Abdillah, the mayor of the provincial capital, Medan, and his deputy, Ramli Lubis, for two cases of graft.

North Sumatra administration spokesman Edi Sofyan denied the government had failed to carry out reform in the province.

“Just the opposite, actually,” Edi said. “The high number of cases [in North Sumatra] shows that we are serious about tackling corruption.”

Data recorded by the ICW showed there were 448 corruption scandals involving local officials nationwide last year, with 176 cases recorded during the first six months.

“In the first half of 2010, state losses caused by corruption nationwide amounted to Rp 2.1 trillion,” Agus said.

“In the second half of the year, losses amounted to Rp 1.5 trillion. The trend is worrying. These figures suggest that law enforcers tend to touch on only petty corruption cases.”

According to ICW records, East Kalimantan suffered the greatest losses of the nation’s provinces to corruption in the second half of 2010 at Rp 601 billion. This figure came from just two cases that were handled by local law-enforcement agencies during the period.

East Kalimantan was followed by Jakarta, which recorded Rp 200 billion in state losses from six separate corruption scandals.

Gamawan Fauzi, the minister of home affairs, has painted a bleak picture of the country’s regional heads, saying too many have been implicated in graft scandals.

“Among the 155 regional heads who have been named graft suspects, at least 17 of them are [current and former] governors,” Gamawan said during a meeting with Committee I of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

In November, Transparency International Indonesia named Cirebon in West Java and Pekanbaru in Riau as the most corrupt cities in Indonesia. The results were based on the organization’s most comprehensive survey yet, which polled 9,237 members of the business community in 50 cities.

The two cities tied in last year’s Corruption Perception Index with a score of just 3.61, with 10 being the cleanest.

“Reports from local and national media on both cities are filled with cases of corruption,” researcher Frenky Simanjuntak said. “This has affected the perception of businesses operating there.”

Medan scored 4.65 in the Transparency International survey, ranking 22 out of 50 cities.

Source: JakartaGlobe

MUI Official Blames Government for Bogor Attack

2011-02-24T08:33:00.000+07:00

JakartaGlobe, 24 February 2011

A religious figure told a court on Wednesday that the government’s failure to outlaw Ahmadiyah was to blame for a 2010 attack on the Islamic sect in Bogor’s Cisalada village. Khaerul Yunus, a member of the advisory board of the Bogor branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), told Cibinong District Court that the existence of Ahmadiyah was in violation of a 1965 law on religious blasphemy.

That law, he said, makes it illegal to “publicize, recommend or organize public support” for non-orthodox versions of the six religions recognized by the state.

“From that, your honor, it is clear that Ahmadiyah has violated the law,” Khaerul said, to cheers from members of conservative Muslim groups who packed the courtroom.

Ahmadiyah preaches that there was another prophet after Muhammad, while mainstream Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last prophet, Khaerul added.

He told the panel of judges that the attack on the Ahmadiyah community was the result of the government’s lax attitude toward sects in the country.

“The government does not take strict measures [against sects]. There is an MUI edict from 2005 banning Ahmadiyah and the joint decree from three ministers in 2008 that bans Ahmadiyah from spreading its faith,” he said.

“The government merely issued the regulation but has failed to check whether it is being followed.”

The attack in October 2010 saw a mob burn down houses, schools and a mosque in Cisalada, which is home to about 600 Ahmadiyah members.

Also taking the witness stand on Wednesday was Rendy Apriayansah, a Cisalada resident who was allegedly stabbed by an Ahmadiyah member during the mob attack.

He told the court that he and 10 of his friends went to the Ahmadiyah housing complex to “have a discussion” with the leaders of the group after noticing that there was a television set inside the sect’s mosque.

“There should not be a television set inside a mosque,” he said. “But after we had spent about 15 minutes inside the mosque, the electricity suddenly went off and we ran outside. I was stabbed by an Ahmadiyah member when I tried to escape through the front door.”

When questioned by the presiding judge, Astriwati, about how he knew he had been stabbed by an Ahmadiyah member, Rendy went back and forth before being reminded by the judge that he was under oath.

“I think I was stabbed by an Ahmadiyah member,” he replied. Bogor Police deployed 150 officers to secure the hearing, which was adjourned until March 9. Vento Saudale.

Source: JakartaGlobe

Food Scarcity Threaten Industries

2011-02-23T23:47:00.000+07:00

tempointeraktive, 22 February, 2011

The chairman of the National Soy Council, Benny A. Kusbini, said that the industry sector, especially the small and medium industries, are worried of the food scarcity threat this year. In addition to concerns about its effect on production, it could possibly stop their operation for lack of their raw material. This could also lead to unemployment.

According to Benny, this happens because of the high dependence on imported soy. Indonesia’s need for soy beans is 2.4 million tons on average, but only 800.000 can be provided domestically. The rest must be imported, most of it from US and Brazil. In the last few weeks, soy prices kept rising and reached its highest level in January. In the meantime, soy stock has been reduced because of weather factors.

Meanwhile, Franiscus Welirang, chairman of the Indonesian Wheat Flour Producer (Aptindo) said that producers are not too worried about this tendency. Even though the production is less than the demand, global wheat supply is still higher than two years ago. “We do not need to worry, the current scarcity tends to be more speculation,” he said.

Domestic wheat stock, he said, was also secure, at least for the next three months. Usually, wheat flour supply was ensured by stocks or a purchase contract for three months.

However, even though there is sufficient supply, the price will tend to increase. The National Statistics Bureau (BPS) recorded that imports were stable until September last year. There was a rise in October 2010, when Russia announced that it had a failed harvest and limited wheat to export. The situation is predicted to lead to an increase in the price of wheat this year.

Source: tempointeraktive

Komnas HAM to Investigate Police and Millitary Officers

2011-02-23T23:38:00.001+07:00

tempointeactive, 22 February 2011

The National Commission on Human Rights (KomnasHAM) will question a number of police and military officers assigned too Cikeusik in Banten, at the time of the attack against Ahmadiyah members last February 6.

“Today (yesterday) we will interrogate the district police chief, the army administrative unit commander of the subdistrict, the subdistrict and village chiefs” said Nur Kholis, head of the Komnas HAM Cikeusik case, at a hearing between Komnas HAM and Commission III at the House of Representatives (DPR) yesterday.

Nur Kholis also said that Komnas HAM will question the Pandeglang Police Chief and the Banten Police Chief, who were dismissed from their positions.

According to Nur Kholis, there were two issues that his team will investigate from the Cikeusik tragedy, which is the incident itself and the state’s role during the attack, including its role as a law enforcement agency.
He added that Komnas HAM had questioned five witnesses as of Friday.

The five witnesses were all Ahmadiyah followers. They will also question people recommended by the Muslim Advocate Team, although they have not obtained their names yet.

Ruhut Sitompul, a member of Commission III, said that the police did their best in the Cikeusik incident. But they could not do more to dispel attackers for fear of violating human rights.

He said that Komnas HAM based their investigations on public opinion in sending law enforcers to go on trial. “The facts and proof proposed by the KomnasHam are weak,” he said. He cited as examples, human rights violation in East Timor and Alas Tlogo, East Java.

Komnas HAM Chairman Ifdhal Kasim denied they did not have enough facts and proof on law enforcer’s human rights violations. “We have obtained a lot of evidence,” said Ifdhal.

Source: tempointeactive

Politicians Ensure Arsenal Remains Well Stocked to Bully SBY

2011-02-23T23:32:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post, 21 February 2011

A recent proposal to pass a motion to launch an inquiry into tax corruption marks another chapter in the saga of heightened political bickering between the government and legislators. But it may well turn out that the politicians have more tricks up their sleeves. The controversy surrounding the recent sale of shares of state steel company PT Krakatau Steel through an initial public offering (IPO) is another card worth playing.

The IPO has caused a political rift between members of the ruling coalition camp of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, triggered by allegations that officials from the Office of the Minister for State Enterprises had undervalued the share prices so that politicians and well-connected businesspeople near Yudhoyono could buy the majority of the shares and then sell them for a hefty profit.

Krakatau sold 20 percent of its shares to the public in early November, pocketing around Rp 2.68 trillion (US$297 million) in proceeds.

The shares were sold at Rp 850 per piece, lower than a valuation of Rp 1,250 arrived at by independent consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was hired by the Office of the Minister for State Enterprises to value the company’s shares fairly.

The House of Representatives’ Commission XI for financial affairs deputy chair Harry Azhar Azis said it would take several months before legislators could form a special committee to investigate the case.

Legislators will need to hold several hearings with Minister for State-owned Enterprises Mustafa Abubakar before calling in the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to launch an audit of the IPO.

A BPK audit would take at least three months.

However, BPK member Rizal Djalil said the agency had yet to receive an official audit request from the House related to the Krakatau IPO.

According to Harry, the commission would prioritize discussion on the proposed “tax mafia” investigation because that would have a larger impact on the public compared to the Krakatau IPO case.

While the Krakatau case is surely being saved as yet another bargaining chip that could be used against Yudhoyono, politicians have already kept the President fairly occupied with demands to follow up the results of the Bank Century inquiry committee formed in late 2009.

The committee was the first outcome of an escalated political rift between the House and the government.

The committee was set up following a whopping bailout worth Rp 6.7 trillion (US$716 million) to salvage the small but ailing Bank Century during the height of the 2008 global financial crisis.

The bailout was authorized by then Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and then Bank Indonesia governor Boediono, who is now Vice President.

While politicians insisted the committee was aimed at improving the government’s accountability many believed it was merely a form of pressure to force reformed-minded Sri Mulyani out of the Cabinet.

Sri Mulyani left the Cabinet in May 2010 to become one of the World Bank’s managing directors.

After the outcome of the committee was finalized in March last year, little has been followed up by the government, which has left the legislators with more ammunition for further attacks aimed at government’s perceived lack of seriousness in settling the Bank Century case.

Since then, only Rp 295 billion, or 4 percent, of the bank’s assets have been recovered by the government.

Law enforcers have only prosecuted Mukhammad Misbakhun, a legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), in the case.

Former shareholders of the bank Robert Tantular, Hesham Al Warraq and Rafat Ali Rizfi, and several executives were prosecuted long before the inquiry committee was set up.

Analysts believe the tax mafia inquiry committee and a follow up to the Bank Century case are merely a political maneuver by political parties to strengthen their bargaining power with Yudhoyono.

Since his reelection in mid 2009, Yudhoyono has been unable to keep his own coalition camp intact due to various vested interest plaguing its politicians.

Purwo Santosa, a political observer from Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University, said that although he agreed with the House’s right to form inquiries to supervise government policies, there should be strong grounds and evidence to assure the public that such a move was not just political maneuvering.

Source: The Jakarta Post

House Votes Against Tax Inquiry Proposal

2011-02-23T23:24:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, 22 Februry 2011

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday evening against the proposal for tax inquiry, with those rejecting it winning very slightly over those in support.

Some 266 of 530 legislators attending the Tuesday House plenary session voted against the proposal while 264 legislators voted to support it. All members of the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Gerindra Party in attendance rejected the proposal, while all Golkar Party, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Hanura Party legislators who were present voted in support.

Two National Awakening Party (PKB) politicians voiced their support for the proposal, but the other 26 cadres in attendance rejected it.

The proposal seeks to form a legislative inquiry on corruption within the Indonesian taxation system.

Source; The Jakarta Post

Police Arrest 2 on Labor Day

2010-05-01T21:12:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, 1 May 2010

Central Jakarta police arrested two people during a mass rally to commemorate the International Labor Day outside the State Palace on Saturday. The police chief, Sr. Comr. Hamidin, said one of the demonstrators was apprehended for allegedly provoking others to commit violence, while the other was arrested for attacking a police officer.

“We will release them if we do not find any criminal motive behind their act,” Hamidin was quoted by kompas.com. Hamidin viewed the rally was organized peacefully in general, although he said security personnel had to use a water canon to calm the protesters following the arrest of a labor activist.

“We sprayed the water to prevent chaos as some demonstrators began to throw stones at the water canon vehicle. We were afraid the other rally participants would be provoked,” he said.

He thanked the demonstrators for dispersing themselves peacefully at around 3:45 p.m.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Police Use Water Cannons to Disperse Labor Day Protesters

2010-05-01T21:08:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Globe, 1 May 2010

Violence erupted in Central Jakarta on Saturday as thousands of workers marched on the Presidential Palace to mark Labor Day. Reports said that police responded with water cannons as elements of the demonstrators – marching to demand better pay and social security for workers – pushed against barricades and threw rocks and other objects.

Protesters from the Allied Congress for Indonesian Workers’ Union and Confederation for Indonesian Prosperous Workers' Union allegedly threw wooden planks and shoes at the police barricade, despite the attentions of the water cannon.

Detik.com reported that the riot began when police arrested two protesters for allegedly provoking the demonstrators to creep closer to the palace.

It is understood that three protesters were arrested.The demonstrations then continued peacefully and protesters have since began to leave the scene, leaving piles of rubbish.

The protests played havoc with traffic and the busway was forced to temporarily halt operations along the Kota to Blok M line.

Earlier, police said about 15,000 security personnel had been deployed as protestors gathered in the capital's main roundabout before marching to the State Palace, shouting "Today we unite" and "Stop oppression now".

"The social security system in Indonesia is still weak," Indonesian Workers Association head Saepul Tavip told AFP. "The system here only covers about 25 percent of the workers. The social security has to cover all workers and even small people," he said.

Muhammad Shihabudin, 26, who works in a car factory, said the marchers demanded health insurance and a pension fund throughout their lives.

"Many workers at private companies now only receive health insurance while they are still employed. But there is no health insurance after we are out of employment," Shihabudin said.

Indonesian Metal Workers Federation member Didik Suryanto, 31, called for May Day to be made a holiday. "We contribute a lot to the country's economy and industry. The government should declare May 1 as a public holiday to honor us better," Suryanto said near the palace.

Protesters in front of the State Palace sang the national anthem; some marched while carrying a banner that read "Realize social justice for all Indonesians". President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to visit a factory on the outskirts of the capital and have lunch with the workers, reports said.

State news agency Antara had predicted that tens of thousands of workers would march to demand better pay and improved welfare.

The Jakarta Regional Police said about 10,000 workers would stage rallies on Saturday while the Confederation of All Indonesian Workers' Unions (KSPSI) claimed that it would hold rallies on Monday with about 40,000 demonstrators.

Source: The jakarta Globe

`Cowboys in Paradise` Director to be Summoned through Interpol

2010-05-01T21:05:00.000+07:00

ANTARA News, 1 May 2010

The Bali police are to summon Amit Virmani, the maker of the "Cowboys in Paradise" documentary film who resides in Singapore, with the help of Interpol, a spokesman said. "We are going to do so after all the witnesses we have questioned and the evidence we have collected show Amit`s involvement in punishable acts," Bali police spokesman Sr Com Gde Sugianyar Dwi Putra said here on Friday.

He said police had questioned six witnesses and their statements as well as the available evidence had led to the conclusion Amit had violated Indonesian laws in making the controversial documentary.

"Amit can be charged with violating Law No 8/1992 on Film and be sentenced to a maximum jail term of one year and a fine of Rp40 million in lieu of an additional one year behind bars," Sugianyar said.

But as Amit was now in residing in Singapore, the Bali police would summon him through the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police Headquarters which had a permanent link with Interpol.

"We have already begun coordinating with the National Police Headquarters to have Amit summoned for questioning here," he added.

But Sugianyar admitted bringing Amit to Indonesia might not be an easy thing to accomplish as Indonesia did not have an extradition treaty with Singapore.

"However, this possible hurdle does not prevent us from building our case against the film director," he said.

Amit`s film which purports to depict the life of local young men as gigolos at Bali`s Kuta beach has drawn angry reactions from Bali`s authorities and community members as it was considered damaging the resort island`s image as respectable tourist destination.

Source: ANTARA News

Boediono Completes Questioning, More on Sri Mulyani

2010-05-01T21:02:00.000+07:00

tempointeractive, 1 May 2010

The Corruption Eradication Commission said it has concluded Bank Century bail out probing on Vice President Boediono and will not repeat questioning on the former central bank governor.

Deputy chairman of the commission Mochammad Jasin said “report from the (investigating) team said, the probe is finished, but there will be more session with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani. Jasin said the commission adhered to efficiency and decided to complete all Boediono's part after the vice president was difficult to be approached on the scheduled questioning day at his office, and fled to the State Palace to consult with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before he eventually ready for the session.

Four investigators spent almost 6 hours in the session with Boediono yesterday, while another team completed questioning Sri Mulyani in two and a half hours.

Questioning on the two officials has drawn controversy as the two refused to undergo the probe at the anti-graft commission's office and requested for questioning at their respective offices.

The next round for Sri Mulyani is set for Tuesday next week, which Jasin said probably to be held at the Finance Department.

Source: tempointeractive

Flight Permits to Two Russian Airlines Granted by Indonesia

2010-05-01T20:57:00.000+07:00

Kompas.com, 1 May 2010

The Transport Ministry looks set to licence two Russian airline companies to fly to Indonesia this year. The two Russian airlines, Transaero and Aeroflot, would serve direct flights linking the two countries starting at the end of this year, Air Transport Director Tri S Sunoko said in a press statement on Friday.

Transaero which had so far been conducting Russia-Denpasar charter flights twice a week planned to also operate scheduled flights, he said. Russia’s state-owned Aeroflot meanwhile would fly from Moscow to Denpasar vice versa as of December 2010, he said.

The issuance of flight permits to the Russian airlines was part of aviation service cooperation agreed upon by the two nations at their meeting in Russia on April 29-30, he said.

"The MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) made in Jakarta some time ago has been upgraded to RoD (Record of Discussion)."

The RoD contained a number of agreements related to exchange of traffic rights, code sharing arrangements, co-terminalization and aircraft leasing, he said. Code sharing arrangements are seat sales cooperation carried out by at least two airline companies.

As such, Indonesian-flag carrier Garuda could sell and promote flights to Moscow, Vladivostok, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk in Aeroflot planes, he said. On the other hand, Aeroflot could sell connecting flights from Denpasar to Jakarta, Solo and Manado in Garuda planes.

Source: Kompas.com

Jakarta Official Defends Bailout

2009-12-10T23:43:00.001+07:00

The Wall Street Journal, 10 December 2009

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said a parliamentary probe into the government's handling of a $700 million bank bailout last year is an attempt by rival politicians to unseat her because of her efforts to overhaul the country's bureaucracy.

Ms. Sri Mulyani and Vice President Boediono have become subjects in recent weeks of a parliamentary investigation into the bailout in November 2008 of Bank Century, a small Indonesian lender. As finance minister, Ms. Sri Mulyani oversaw the bailout; Mr. Boediono was central-bank governor at the time.

Ms. Sri Mulyani said in an interview that failing to guarantee Bank Century's deposits at a time of huge capital outflows from emerging markets could have sparked panic among depositors of other banks. "I felt like what I did was the right thing for the country," she said.

Mr. Boediono has also defended the bailout as necessary to stop wider panic in the banking sector.

The head of the investigation, Idrus Marham, who is secretary-general of the Golkar Party, said on Wednesday the investigation was backed by all major political parties and wasn't targeted at Ms. Sri Mulyani.

"We didn't do this to target Sri Mulyani. The focus is to get data and facts" on the bailout, Mr. Marham said.

He declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation, which began this month and he said will take two months to complete.

Mr. Marham and other Golkar Party lawmakers who are leading the probe claim the bailout of Bank Century was done without legal authority and without proving a capital injection was needed to stave off a run on other banks. Some politicians have said the bank wasn't eligible for a rescue because its problems stemmed from fraud that led to the bank's near-collapse. One of the bank's former owners, Robert Tantular, was sentenced in September to four years in prison for fraud.

Ms. Sri Mulyani said the bailout was legal.

A former university economics professor and International Monetary Fund senior executive, Ms. Sri Mulyani is respected by many foreign investors for her role in managing Indonesia's economy, which has included efforts to weed out endemic corruption.

She said she believed the probe was an attempt to discredit her by politicians that oppose her reform agenda, notably leaders of the Golkar Party, including Chairman Aburizal Bakrie, a billionaire businessman and former cabinet member in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first-term administration.

Ms. Sri Mulyani said tensions between her and Mr. Bakrie date to last year when she opposed the closure of Indonesia's stock exchange amid a run on companies controlled by Mr. Bakrie. Mr. Bakrie, one of whose coal-mining firms accounted for a third of daily turnover on the bourse at the time, ordered the closure, she said.

Mr. Bakrie, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the closure.

The finance ministry also last year imposed a travel ban on a number of coal-mining executives, including some from Mr. Bakrie's companies, after a dispute over the refusal of the companies to pay royalties on the sale of coal to the government.

"Abuizal Bakrie is not happy with me," she said. "I'm not expecting anyone in Golkar will be fair or kind to me" during the probe.

Mr. Bakrie denied there was any problem between himself and Ms. Sri Mulyani.

Many analysts say the claim that the bailout was illegal appears to be without merit.

"Under the circumstances, what Sri Mulyani and Boediono did was to prevent a crisis," said Umar Juoro, chairman of the Center for Information and Development Studies, a Jakarta-based think tank.

Other government officials involved in the bailout have supported Ms. Sri Mulyani. The head of Indonesia's Deposit Guarantee Agency told an Indonesian magazine, Gatra, last week that the rescue was lawful.

Some senior Golkar politicians have in recent weeks publicly called for Ms. Sri Mulyani and Mr. Boediono to hand their jobs to deputies while the investigation is under way.

President Yudhoyono won re-election to a second term this year on a graft-busting platform. Indonesia's natural-resources-powered economy is forecast by private economists to grow by more than 4% this year, a healthy clip compared with many developed economies, but economists question whether that growth will be sustained if the country can't get a handle on corruption -- a major deterrent to foreign investment here, which lags behind India and China.

Popular dissatisfaction with corruption continues to mount. On Wednesday, students armed with rocks and wooden planks clashed with riot police as more than two dozen rallies involving thousands of protesters broke out as part of annual events designed to mark International Anticorruption Day.

Any signs of an intensification of efforts to oust Ms. Sri Mulyani would also likely spook foreign investors who have applauded her antigraft drive and management of the budget. Since taking up her job at the finance ministry in 2005, she has overseen a reduction in public debt to 30% of GDP from 60%, making it easier for Indonesia to sell debt to foreign institutional investors, bankers say.

"There's no way you could fill the credibility gap that would be created by her departure," says David Fernandez, a managing director of J.P. Morgan in Singapore who heads the bank's emerging-Asia research.

Indonesia is serious about pushing through overhauls to clear up what Mr. Yudhoyono has referred to as a "judicial mafia" of corrupt officials in the courts, attorney general's office and police, Ms. Sri Mulyani said. But she acknowledged that Mr. Yudhoyono's first term was a "honeymoon" for her.

"I should become more realistic. I'm expecting a nasty battle if I'm going to do the reform," she said.

Priorities, Ms. Sri Mulyani said, include continuing to clean up her own ministry, where there is still corruption, and catching more tax cheats. Past efforts led by Ms. Sri Mulyani have included a war on graft in the tax office, greatly increasing the nation's tax base, and customs department.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Indonesia Unveils A Statue of Obama as A Schoolboy

2009-12-10T23:23:00.001+07:00

BBC News, 10 December 2009

US President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, but that is not the only honour that has been bestowed on him. In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, a statue of him as a 10 year old has been unveiled in a park.

The American president spent four years of his childhood in Indonesia with his American mother and Indonesian stepfather.

The two metre bronze statue shows President Obama as a 10-year-old child.

Wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, it bears a striking resemblance to the American president as a boy.

That is because the statue was modelled on old photos of Barack Obama when he used to live in Indonesia.

'Proud to be Indonesian'

The idea of erecting this statue, which cost about $10,000 (£6,140) to make, came from a local group called Friends of Obama.

"He only spent four years as a child, but you know what those four years may have been the ones that shaped him," said one of the group's members, Dalton Tanaka.

"No other US president lived abroad for this extended period of time, this had to have shaped him," he said.

The statue shows Mr Obama holding a butterfly in his left hand to symbolise hope and to inspire Indonesian children.

The American president went to school in Jakarta and is a local hero of sorts to young Indonesians.

Many school children turned up to watch the statue being unveiled.

"I feel so proud to be an Indonesian, and I feel happy too," said sixth grader Dominica.

"He lived here as a kid, and he is very loved in Indonesia he is one of the most important people here and everywhere," she said.

Barack Obama is a leader Indonesians can relate to because of the time he spent here as a child.

That experience has helped the American president develop a stronger relationship with Indonesia.

Indonesians feel the American leader is one of their own and are looking forward to welcoming him when he is expected to visit next year.

Source: BBC News