SOEKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CLOSED DUE TO HEAVY RAIN

JAKARTA FEBRUARY 8, 2008


SOEKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CLOSED DUE TO HEAVY RAIN


(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR,rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)
INDEPENDENT-Indonesia was forced to temporarily close its main international airport Friday because of poor visibility during torrential downpours, an official said. More than 60 planes were delayed or diverted.
Hariyanto, a spokesman for the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, said he hoped the facility would reopen by early afternoon. Runways were not flooded, but visibility was less than 300 meters -- compared to the minimum standard of 500 meters, hesaid.

Forty-three flights were delayed and 21 diverted to other airports, Hariyanto said.

Indonesia was pounded by rain late Thursday and early Friday, bringing traffic to a standstill in much of the capital, Jakarta.

The rain was expected to continue until nightfall, Ahmad Zakir, a spokesman for the meteorological and geophysics agency, told El Shinta radio.

Citywide floods last occurred in February 2007 in Jakarta, much of which is below sea level. Environmentalists have blamed the flooding on garbage-clogged rivers, rampant overdevelopment and the deforestation of hills south of the city.

OBAMA TELLS FRECH MAGAZINE HE WOULD SEEK A SUMMIT OF MUSLIM NATION IF U.S.PRESIDENT

JAKARTA FEBRUARY 8, 2008

OBAMA TELLS FRECH MAGAZINE HE WOULD SEEK A SUMMIT OF MUSLIM NATION IF U.S. PRESIDENT

(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR, rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)

INDEPENDENT-U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama said in an interview with a French magazine published Thursday that if he wins he wants to organize a summit of Muslim nations for frank talks on bridging the divide between Muslims and the West.

His priority, he told Paris Match, would be ending the war in Iraq, removing one to two brigades per month with all troops out around 2009.

Obama also wants to set aright the U.S. image in the Muslim world, organizing a summit "with all the heads of state to discuss frankly how to bridge the gap growing each day between Muslims and the West."

He said he would like to ask Muslim heads of state to join the war against terrorism.

"We must also listen to their concerns," he added.

Obama also told Paris Match he wanted direct talks with countries like Iran and Syria.

"We won't be able to stabilize the region if we don't talk to our enemies," Obama was quoted as saying. His remarks were translated into French.

Obama, a senator from Illinois, is vying with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for the presidency ahead of the November vote.

Obama has worked to correct the misconception that he himself is a Muslim, emphasizing that he attends a Christian church. His father and stepfather were Muslim and he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country.

NU CALLS FOR UNITY AMONG NATION`S LEADERS

JAKARTA FEBRUARY 8, 2008


NU CALLS FOR UNITY AMONG NATION`S LEADERS


(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR, rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)
INDEPENDENT-Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has called on the country's leaders to unite to solve its problems.
"NU has invited them all because we think if they understand and help each other, half of the nation's problems can be solved. The most difficult thing is actually not to manage the people but to manage the leaders," NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said in hisspeech during the commemoration of the organization's 82nd anniversary at the Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday.

The anniversary was attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Kristiani Herawati, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and wife Mufida Kalla, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid, Constitutional Court chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie, Supreme Audit Agency chairman Anwar Nasution, Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsudin and some Cabinet ministers.

Speaking before 100,000 NU members, Hasyim said that NU "wants to uplift the country's dignity in facing all these challenges by making our ulema and pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) to be our main factors in working together with the country'sother elements," he said.

President Yudhoyono said that as the largest Muslimorganization, the NU already had a strategic position.

"The NU community has to stay as a pioneer in development and be a role model for the nation," he said.

OVERSEAS AMERICANS TO NOMINATE CANDIDATE FOR 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

JAKARTA FEBRUARI 8, 2008


OVERSEAS AMERICANS TO NOMINATE CANDIDATE FOR 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS


(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR, rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)
INDEPENDENT-Democrats living overseas will vote Tuesday in the 2008 U.S. presidential race, with the first ballots to be cast at the stroke of midnight in Indonesia, where Barack Obama lived as a child.
Over the next week, Americans in more than 30 nations will line up so their voices can be heard in the global primary, according to Democrats Abroad, an official branch of the party representing expatriates.

Others will cast ballots for the first time ever by Internet - an option Republicans remain unable to offer members - while others stick to more traditional means, mail or fax.

The Super Tuesday campaign kicks off in Indonesia, where Obama lived with his mother from the age of 6 until 10.

Two hundred Democrats are registered to vote in the predominantly Muslim nation, said Arian Ardie, chair of the Democrats Abroad Indonesia.

Many are expected to gather at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in the capital, where Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and Hillary Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, will speak to them by telephone.

Some 6 million Americans living abroad are eligible to vote in U.S. elections, but in the past only a fraction have done so, in part because their only option was to mail absentee ballot request forms to the last U.S. county of residence.

Republicans Abroad has operated independently of theRepublican Party since 2003, and therefore cannot hold in-person or Internet votes abroad.

DEFEAT FOR ISLAMIC PARTIES IN 2009 LIKELY: ANALYST

JAKARTA FEBRUARY 8, 2008

DEFEAT FOR ISLAMIC PARTIES IN 2009 LIKELY: ANALYST

(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR, rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)

INDEPENDENT-The weak leadership of Islamic parties and their ignorance of the principles of pluralism will lead them to defeat in the 2009 Legislative Election, said a political analyst.

Greg Fealy, a researcher from the School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, said weak leadership could be seen in almost all Islamic parties, including the National Awakening Party (PKB), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), United Development Party (PPP) and National Mandate Party (PAN).

Fealy was speaking at a public lecture jointly held by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and Islamic Publishing House Mizan.

Yudi Latif from the Reform Institute and LIPI's senior political observer Syamsuddin Haris were also speakers at the event and Mizan launched Jejak Kafilah, the Indonesian translation of Fealy's Joining Caravan.

Fealy said PPP's chairman, Suryadharma Ali, was not regarded as an influential figure among the party's members themselves.

"This definitely will hinder the party from gaining many voters in the upcoming election," he said.

Fealy said the leadership problem was long-standing. He said PKB's patron Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid had always tended to take a dominant position in the party's decision-making processes.

"This is not good because this may be harmful to the democracy within the party itself," he said.

Fealy said PAN was another figure-centered party which relied too much on its current leader Sutrisno Bachir.

"The party will face an uncertain future as soon as Bachir retires."

Syamsuddin said PKS faced a similar problem because it leaned toward exclusivity, which would make it difficult to attract voters.

He cited the party's support of the anti-pornography bill with its massive rallies and demands for the government to approve it.

"PKS regards the bill as supporting Islamic values and fails to understand that a large segment of public sees it as curtailing freedom of expression in society," he said.

The Reform Institute's political analyst Yudi said despite dire predictions by his peers, Islamic parties would still have a chance to duplicate their strong showing in the 2004 election.

In 2004, Islamic parties took 38 percent of the vote in the legislative polls, up from 36 percent in 1999 legislative election.

"PKS could reach a higher percentage from its 2004 election result of 7.3 percent, if they can make use of the swing voters," Yudi said.

He said swing voters, who do not prioritize ideology, are the prime sources of new voters for all the Islamic parties.

Without them, the parties would simply be recycling voters and never gain a clear lead," he added.

GOVERMENT CIVIL SERVANT`S VACATION LEAVE FOR 2008

JAKARTA FEBRUARY 8, 2008

GOVERMENT CIVIL SERVANT`S VACATION LEAVE FOR 2008

(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR, rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)

INDEPENDENT- State Minister for Administrative Reform Taufik Effendy announced Tuesday the government had revised its decree on national holidays and joint-leave days for 2008. Joint-leave days are non-public holidays which have been decreed non-work days for civil servants. They usually fall on weekdays immediately after or before national holidays.

Effendy said a joint-decree by the State Ministry for Administrative Reform, the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry had reduced the number of national joint-leave days from eight to five days, while the number of national holidays would remain 14 days.

"Civil servants therefore only have four more joint-leave days this year as we already had one on January 11, one day after the Islamic New Year," Taufik said Tuesday.

The previous decree stated joint-leave days were Jan. 11, Feb. 8, May 2 and 19, Sept. 29 and 30, Oct. 3 and Dec. 26.

"We reduced the number of joint-leave days by making Feb. 8, May 2 and May 19 regular work-days," said Effendy.

Effendy said the reduction of joint-leave days was part of an effort to increase productivity and efficiency among government employees.

The decree is a nonbinding for private enterprises, but allows them to arrange their holiday schedules in line with the new government schedule.

The minister also announced forthcoming legislative debate on four laws on public service. The bills, which aim to reform the bureaucracy, are scheduled to be passed by 2009.

FORMER ENVOY MAY FACE 20 YEARS IN PRISON

JAKARTA FEBRUARY 8, 2008

FORMER ENVOY MAY FACE 20 YEARS IN PRISON

(RACHMAD YULIADI NASIR, rbacakoran at yahoo dot com)

INDEPENDENT-Prosecutors told former Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Rusdihardjo he deserved 20 years behind bars for manipulating immigration fees at his first trial session at the anti corruption court in South Jakarta on Wednesday.

The prosecution team accused Rusdihardjo, along with the embassy's former immigration section chief Arihken Tarigan, of corruption during their time as officials in Kuala Lumpur between January 2004 and October 2005.

The defendants allegedly manipulated discrepancies in immigration fee regulations to siphon off Rp 15 billion (US$1.63 million) in government money.

Prosecutor Suwarji said Rusdihardjo had received a report from Arihken regarding two ambassadorial decrees on immigration fees, with one fee significantly higher than the other.

He added that Rusdihardjo submitted income statements to the state based on the lower immigration fee while charging the higher fee to applicants and embezzling the difference.

The former National Police chief received between 30,000 ringgit (approximately US$9,290) and 40,000 ringgit every month, which meant he stole up to Rp 2.2 billion.

Edy Hartoyo, another prosecutor, cited the case of one migrant who was charged 140 ringgit but was only reported as being charged 120 ringgit.

The corruption charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and up to Rp 1 billion in fines.

Rusdihardjo's legal advisor Warsito told reporters his client was completely innocent because the immigration section handled such matters.

The trial will resume next Wednesday to hear a statement from the defense team.