1. KOMNAS: 12 x 4 lines
1. KOMNAS: 12 x 4 lines Only half rights body nominees 'qualified'
House of Representatives (DPR) Commission II wrapped up on Thursday the screening of 41 member candidates for the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), with the preliminary conclusion that the number of feasible nominees was below expectations.
The final results will be available on Monday, but some legislators hinted that the number of feasible candidates would be only around 20 people.
"At best, those qualified represent only half of the total number of candidates," said legislator Akil Mochtar of the Golkar Party faction on the sidelines of the hearing.
2. PDIP: 30 x 1 line PDI-P steps up lobbying efforts PDI Perjuangan intensifies lobbying
Striving to maintain its political domination ahead of the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) is intensifying lobbies with other major political parties.
PDI Perjuangan executives held breakfast with their Golkar Party's counterparts on Thursday, in a bid to smoothen the upcoming annual session next month.
"We have not yet discussed about the detail, but we've agreed that in the deliberation of the amendment of the 1945 Constitution, we have to try to find equal opinion," Slamet Effendy Yusuf of Golkar Party told The Jakarta Post.
3. KERING: 40 x 1 line Government gears up to face water crisis Responding to the nationwide outcry about the possibility of a water crisis in the wake of a prolonged dry season, President Megawati Soekarnoputri raised the issue at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
And it was agreed at the meeting to take immediate measures to contain the problem, including to minimize the number of rice fields affected by drought.
Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno said after the meeting the government had allocated some Rp 900 billion (US$100 million) to distribute water to provinces at risk of drought.
The government also has allotted approximately Rp 10 billion for cloud seeding in 13 provinces prone to droughts, the minister said.
4. PROBO: 42 x 1 line Court date looms for Soeharto's half-brother Probosutedjo soon to face the music
Business tycoon Probosutedjo, the half-brother of former president Soeharto, will soon face trial over a corruption scandal causing Rp 44.4 billion (US$4.9 million) in state losses, a report said on Thursday.
Spokesman for the Attorney General's Office Barman Zahir said Probosutedjo, the director of timber company PT Menara Hutan Buana, and the case file would be handed over to the Jakarta Prosecutors' Office next week.
"We are now examining the indictment to make sure it has no flaws," he told reporters at his office, quoting Tarwo Hadi Sadjuri, assistant for special crimes to the head of the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors' Office, who is also in charge of the prosecution.