July 15, 2014 edition

Hundreds of people formed a long line at Hong Kong's Victoria Park, a favorite haunt of migrant workers. It was Sunday two weeks ago, and Indonesian nationals were arriving at the polling station set up there to cast their ballots.
Instead of receding, the line got longer as the day wore on. Seeing that, Syaiful Anas, a poll observer from the Migrant Care organization, took the initiative to suggest the Overseas Election Committee for Hong Kong open an alternative access to the station. "After negotiations, the committee availed another access on the right side of the main entrance," Syaiful recalled last week.

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More National articles in other editions

January 1, 1970 edition

Rob Allyn, Prabowo Subianto's American spin doctor, has worked with politicians outside the United States before.
Allyn helped Mexico's Vicente Fox win the country's top job in 2000. That year, Fox knocked off the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which had been in power for 71 years.

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July 1, 2014 edition

Having led Muhammadiyah's youth organization for the past two decades, Hajriyanto Thohari has become a magnet for young members of the Muslim organization, one of Indonesia's largest. The official residence of the deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has also become a favorite haunt for young people. Practically once a month, the speaker hosts a gathering to discuss trending issues including the upcoming presidential election.
The meeting participants, said Hajriyanto, the former chair of the Muhammadiyah Youth Center's Management Board, are mostly supporters of either Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo, while some shy away from expressly supporting either candidate. Prabowo supporters fly the flags of Surya Madani Indonesia (SMI) and Forum Matahari Indonesia Raya (Formasi), whereas members of pro-Jokowi-as Joko Widodo is commonly called-come together under the Relawan Matahari Indonesia (RMI) group.

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January 1, 1970 edition

It was 9pm at the Hotel Acacia in Central Jakarta last week when Biak Numfor Regent, Yesaya Sombuk, received a guest in his room. The visitor was Teddy Renyut, CEO of Papua Indah Perkasa.
Teddy, a construction businessman from Maluku, was escorted by Yunus Saflembolo, head of Biak Numfor's Natural Disaster Control, who picked him up at Promenade Cafe & Restaurant on the hotel's ground floor. Teddy and Yesaya had agreed to meet a week earlier.

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June 17, 2014 edition

Backstage at Sarbini Hall, Central Jakarta, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo stretched his tired legs while talking with Jusuf Kalla, his running mate for the upcoming presidential elections. The first debate between the candidates had been paused momentarily, and on television advertisements filled the space, but at Sarbini Hall, the interlude was filled with slogans called out in support of the two tickets: Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa and Jokowi-JK, as the latter is known.
In the debate's final segment, moderator Zainal Arifin Mochtar, director of Gadjah Mada University's Corruption Studies Center, asked each candidate to give closing remarks. Prabowo orated, declaring he would work hard to conserve the national wealth. "So that the democracy we struggle for is a democracy that is productive and delivers prosperity, and not just some wani piro democracy," he said, using a Javanese term that refers to how much one has to pay to get something done.

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January 1, 1970 edition

The middle-aged man visited residents of Cideng in Gambir, Central Jakarta, on Sunday afternoon two weeks ago. He wore civilian clothes, carried a walkie-talkie and had a small notebook tucked in his shirt pocket. Most residents turned the man away, but one of them, Rifky, 50, invited him in.
The man said his name was Ruspanji and that he was a non-commissioned officer (NCO) village guidance (Babinsa) officer of the 0405 Gambir District Military Command. However, he displayed no identity card. Ruspanji told Rifky that his commanding officer had ordered him to collate voter data approaching the July 9th presidential elections. "Initially, he wanted to record data on my Chinese neighbor, but the neighbor refused," Rifky said on Friday last week.

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January 1, 1970 edition

Marzuki Alie's cell phone rang one evening early last month. At the other end was the voice of Hatta Rajasa, chair of the National Mandate Party (PAN). Hatta invited Marzuki, a high official in the Democrat Party, to support him and Prabowo Subianto in the upcoming presidential election. Later the two met in person. "Pak Hatta asked me to become team secretary," Marzuki told Tempo.
Hatta's invitation came at a time when the Democrat Party's presidential convention was uncertain. Marzuki-also Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR)-participated in the convention along with 10 other prospective candidates gunning for the Democrats' nomination. When Hatta called Marzuki, Hatta was almost a lock-in to be the vice-presidential candidate chosen to pair up with Prabowo, chair of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party. The Prabowo-Hatta pair officially registered with the General Election Commission (KPU) on Tuesday two weeks ago. Six parties backed them: Gerindra, PAN, the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP), the Golkar Party and the Crescent Star Party (PBB).

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