Government in Indonesia
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INDONESIA, 2014/10/09
A bill that will transfer the election of local leaders in Indonesia from the people to the Regional Legislative Councils is currently being contested. The Indonesian parliament passed the bill to end direct local elections on 26 September.
But outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced on 30 September that he is preparing an emergency presidential decree to overturn the decision and replace elections. Direct elections at the local level — or Pilkada — have been in place since June 2005.
Proponents of the abolition of direct local elections cite the high cost of national funding inclunding uncooperative regional heads once elected. The controversial bill, if it is not overturned, will take result less than a month before the inauguration of president-elect Joko Widodo (Jokowi), himself a beneficiary of the Pilkada system.
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EAST TIMOR, 2013/08/04
Indonesia and neighboring Timor Leste have agreed to enhance what they deemed “good relations”, inclunding shoring up support for Timor Leste’s bid for membership of ASEAN, both leaders said on Friday.
Timor Leste President José Maria Vasconcelos, popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak, paid his initial official visit to Indonesia next he took office last year and met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday at Merdeka Palace.
Yudhoyono told a joint press conference next the conference that he and Ruak shared the same “commitment to continue to improve the partnership someday”.
