A new beginning for the struggle in Indonesia?
21 May marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the dictator Suharto, who ruled Indonesia from 1965 until 1998 – 33 years; a very long time. This 33 years constituted a massive percentage of the time Indonesia has existed. The leadership of the national revolution proclaimed independence...CONTINUE READING
Stopping the boats is about smashing social solidarity
It seems fairly certain now that Australian Customs and Navy personnel paid the captain and crew of an Indonesian ship carrying 65 asylum seekers, including children and a pregnant woman, to take the Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis and Burmese back to Indonesia. Sixty-five desperate people, all...CONTINUE READING
Amsterdam students and staff demand self-organisation of universities
The University of Amsterdam chancellery building, the Maagdenhuis, has been occupied since 24 February, when students broke down the door and took over the ground floor. Since then, there has been a constant stream of teach-in discussions and organising activity. The occupation followed a...CONTINUE READING
Widodo scores presidency but direction still unclear
The Indonesian Constitutional Court has rejected all components of a legal challenge by Prabowo Subianto to the July presidential election results. The Electoral Commission declared Joko Widodo winner, 53 percent to 47 percent. The margin was just over 8 million votes out of around 120 mil...CONTINUE READING
Tensions rise as Indonesia awaits official election result
According to the majority of polling institutions that carried out “quick counts” on 9 July, Joko Widodo won 52-53 percent of the vote in the Indonesian presidential election. Widodo, accompanied by Megawati Sukarnoputri, president of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), dec...CONTINUE READING
Be prepared for active solidarity with the Indonesian people
According to most Indonesian polls, former provincial businessman, mayor of Solo and governor of Jakarta Joko Widodo has lost a substantial lead to former general Prabowo Subianto in the current general election campaign. The two are now running neck and neck. Prabowo is responsible for th...CONTINUE READING
Indonesia – the politics of May Day, 2014
Around 250,000 workers, members of various trade unions, mobilised in Jakarta for May Day, 2014. From all accounts, the mobilisations were similar to those of 2012 and 2013. The demands carried on workers’ banners and posters were for minimum wage rises and the banning of widespread labour...CONTINUE READING
Documenting Indonesian purges
The Act of Killing , the acclaimed documentary about the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of communists and leftists in Indonesia, did not win favour in Hollywood. The systematic, activist-oriented promotion of the documentary, however, has helped it impact public discussion of the mass...CONTINUE READING
Indonesia’s labour movement stirs
Widespread strikes and worker protests took place in many Indonesian town and cities on 31 October and 1 November. On the first day of the strike, the Indonesian police stated that they had noted actions in 50 towns and cities in 15 provinces. The protesters had three main demands: a 50 pe...CONTINUE READING