National

When this teacher tries to explain the electoral system, he ends up in knots. SUGENG PERMANA listens in.

Abri officers are becoming more Islamic, but many do not want their Islam to become a political tool for the administration, according to MARCUS MIETZNER.

Senior ABRI intentions may be obscure now, says BOB LOWRY, but no one should assume they will remain that way.

DAMIEN KINGSBURY puts his money on five military winners in the presidential stakes. Indonesians call them the five Pendawa.

Facing a sceptical public, Abri has to talk harder to justify its political role. JUN HONNA listens in.

Air crashes, riots, smog, and a currency crisis dented tourist arrivals in 1997. But, says ANNA KARIN EKLÖF, newly rich Asian tourists will save the industry in the long term.

The currency crisis is making Thailand more democratic, but not Indonesia, says PRIYAMBUDI.

DAVID BOURCHIER looks at the new generation of military leaders, after a big shakeup between July and October 1997.

The World Bank has joined the IMF in a huge rescue package. Indonesian non-government organisations (NGOs) presented this memo to World Bank president James Wolfensohn in Jakarta.

Punk rockers turn to Yogya craftsmen for ‘guitar weapons’.

The IMF recipe is no cure for Asia's collapsed economies, says WALDEN BELLO. Instead, a people's strategy is emerging that looks to self-reliance and democratic control over capital.

Authoritarian Southeast Asian governments have been dealt a blow by market forces, says MICHAEL VATIKIOTIS, but democracy will not flourish until people begin to organise locally.

There are plenty of capable Indonesians who can take over from Suharto, says the activist group PIJAR.

What should democracy activists do in these last days of the New Order? DANIEL LEV offers some pointers.

When speaking off the cuff, Suharto sees himself not as a modern president but as a Javanese king. Ben Abel talks with BEN ANDERSON.

We, more than one hundred Indonesian and non-Indonesian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) participating in the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid), are deeply concerned about the ongoing economic turmoil in Indonesia which many fear may lead to political turmoil as well.

Indonesia has been brought to its knees by a small club of crony capitalists, says GOENAWAN MOHAMAD. The IMF deal offers hope because it will weaken their grip on the economy of 200 million other Indonesians.

GERRY VAN KLINKEN traces the spectacular financial events that paralysed the country's business and political elites.

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.