Suwardiman – The image presented by elite leaders and a political party appears to be the main consideration that will increasingly be taken into account by prospective voters in the 2009 general elections.

Denpasar – In the campaign to eradicate illiteracy, women need special priority because the illiteracy rate among women is more than twice as high as men.

Suwardiman – The geo-political map in the 2009 general elections could be very different from previous elections. Shifts in regional control may be largely coloured by the growth in the self-confidence of political parties following the election of regional heads (pilkada).

Jakarta – The national banking industry appears to be controlled by foreign interests. The proportion of foreign ownership has steadily risen to almost half of the total capacity of the banking industry.

Laurencius Simanjuntak, Jakarta – In the lead up to the 2009 general elections many legislative candidates are using advertisements in the mass media to campaign for themselves. Some however are only being polished up by the media without informing the public about what they have done for the nation and state.

Laurencius Simanjuntak, Jakarta – It appears that fasting is not deterring some people from taking to the streets to voice their protests. The evidence being that four demonstrations will take place in Jakarta on the first day of the Ramadan fasting month.

Hadi Santoso, Jakarta – The retreat of key cadres to other parties has left the Labour Party overwhelmed in its attempts to compose a list of legislative candidates.

Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – ExxonMobil is to be taken to court for allegedly supporting human rights violations by the Indonesian military (TNI) in Aceh.

E. Mei/Amelia. R, Jakarta – At least four protest actions will strike the capital city today and motorists are advised to be on the lookout for areas that could potentially become congested.

Riky Ferdinanto, Jakarta – There have been many incidences of violence against journalists over the last year. “The perpetrators of violence have generally been [the participants of] mass actions”, said Eko Maryadi, the coordinator of the Alliance of Independent Journalist’s (AJI) advocacy division.