1. XANANA: 12 x 4 lines
1. XANANA: 12 x 4 lines Gusmao ends two-day state visit to Jakarta Visiting East Timor President Xanana Gusmao wrapped up his two- day state visit to Indonesia by paying tribute at the Kalibata National Heroes cemetery in East Jakarta on Wednesday.
Gusmao was accompanied by Indonesian State Minister for Acceleration of Eastern Indonesia Development Manuel Kaisiepo during a wreath-laying ceremony.
Later in the day, the president flew back to Bali and would spend the night on the island with his family before heading back to Dili on Thursday.
Unlike previously stated, Gusmao would not be the key-note speaker at an economic seminar at Makassar in South Sulawesi on Thursday.
2. KOMNAS: 22 x 2 lines Rights body urged to form regional chapters A candidate for the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), H.S. Dillon, expressed hope on Wednesday that in the future the government would establish commission chapters in the provinces to increase awareness of human rights.
"Commission chapters in provinces are badly needed to improve our appreciation for the issue," Dillon said following a hearing with House of Representatives Commission II for legal affairs and human rights.
Dillon is among the 41 candidates for membership on the commission expected to attend the hearings, which will end on Thursday.
3. OTDA: 22 x 2 lines Governors demand autonomy law revision Demanding more authority in the decentralization era, governors from across the country asked President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Wednesday to revise the Regional Autonomy Law.
Speaking with the president on Wednesday, the governors said the 18-month-old law had created internal conflicts between the governors and the regents or mayors.
"The conflicts emerged because the law did not provide authority for governors to give sanction or coordinate with the regents or mayors," West Java Governor R. Nuriana said.
Nuriana, also chairman of the Association of Indonesian Provinces (APINDO), was presenting the results of a three-day governors' meeting in April to discuss the law.
4. HAM: 30 x 1 line Public accountability needed for democratization In a campaign to safeguard democracy, the country is in dire need to develop a new system that ensures public accountability of the politicians sitting at the House of Representatives, scholars said on Wednesday.
They shared the same thought that the latest move by the House to foil an inquiry into a corruption allegedly involving House Speaker Akbar Tandjung has damaged the public's high hopes on reform movement.
Azyumardi Azra of the Jakarta State Academy of Islamic Studies (IAIN Jakarta) and noted Catholic scholar Mudji Sutrisno accused that the ongoing trial on the misuse of Rp 40 million (US$4.4 million) in nonbudgetary funds of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) was merely a cruel joke.
5. MILISI: 30 x 1 line Police chief backs banning of armed civilian groups National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar expressed support on Wednesday for a policy to ban militant organizations, but said it would be difficult to carry out in the absence of a legal umbrella for its implementation.
Da'i said civilians had no authority to possess weapons and anyone doing so would face stern sanctions.
"Civilians are not allowed to possess both firearms and homemade weapons as it is against Emergency Law No. 12/1951. Should the civilians use their weapons to fight against other civilians, the police are authorized to seize them.
"But disbanding these groups is impossible, because we (the police) can only dissolve an organization if the government declares it unlawful," Da'i told The Jakarta Post after attending a special meeting on political and security affairs in Jakarta.