August 5, 2014 edition
It took some time to locate the office of the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) in a small town just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Last March, Tempo was able to meet with the Council's president, Muhammad Chaudry, 70, who is well known among businesses dealing in halal (allowed) products. In Indonesia, he is also known for inviting officials of the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) to attend conference he organizes.
Tempo's reason for interviewing Pakistan-born Chaudry was to query him on reports which cite him as bribing the MUI, as a commission for officially recognizing IFANCA as a halal certificate provider for food and drinks produced in the US. Excerpts of the interview:
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More National articles in other editions
January 1, 1970 edition
Prabowo Subianto's plan of attack against the General Elections Commission's (KPU) announcement that he had lost the race for president was formulated in the lounge of Akbar Tandjung's home in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. Prabowo's brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, and his campaign manager, Mahfud Md, had planned to attend the meeting, which went on until the wee hours of Tuesday morning last week. "Pak Mahfud only arrived at midnight; Pak Hashim didn't attend," Akbar told Tempo on Wednesday evening last week.
These three key figures of the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa campaign team were staring defeat in the face. Although the official results would only be announced the next day, they had estimated that the Prabowo votes lagged far behind those of Joko Widodo and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla. The meeting was to discuss other strategies to find a way round the loss.
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January 1, 1970 edition
KHAIRUL Hamzah hastened toward Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia, as soon as he received the call about suspected ballot rigging in that area on voting day last July 5. Upon arrival on the site 15 km north of Kuala Lumpur, the member of Kuala Lumpur's Overseas General Election Supervisory Committee (PPLN) found a heap of ballot papers in the mail box used as address by the residents of seven houses in the aforementioned neighborhood.
The ballot papers were fewer than 50 in number, as in accordance with the rule that ballot papers sent by mail should be less than 50 in number. If they exceeded the number, the drop box should be used. These ballot papers were still intact with no sign of punching. "We thought it was not a form of rigging because they were unpunched," said Khairul during the recapitulation of oversea votes at the General Election Commission (KPU), Central Jakarta, on Thursday last week.
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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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January 1, 1970 edition
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