Soemantri heads new commission

Soemantri heads new commission

JAKARTA: The newly formed Constitutional Commission
unanimously elected on Wednesday senior constitutional law expert
Sri Soemantri as commission chairman at their first meeting.

The meeting also agreed to call a four-day break to allow
commission members to prepare their schedules and subjects of
discussion during their six-month term.

When resuming its work on Monday, the commission will discuss
how to assess and harmonize inconsistencies in the amended
Constitution.

Rights activist Albert Hasibuan and former legislator Ishak
Latuconsina were elected Soemantri's deputies.

Economist Sri Adiningsih from Gadjah Mada University and
communications expert NE Fatima from Padjajaran University were
named secretary and deputy secretary respectively.

One commission member, Andi Muhammad Asrun, skipped the first
meeting because he was in Germany. -- JP

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Algerian president to visit RI
JP/4/SCENE

Algerian president to visit RI

JAKARTA: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will visit
Indonesia from Oct. 12 through Oct. 15, aiming to boost bilateral
ties between the two countries.

The Indonesian trip, the first to be made by an Algerian
president since its independence, has been arranged at the
invitation of Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who
visited the North African country in September last year.

During his official visit, Bouteflika will hold talks with
Megawati on mutual steps to improve ties between the two
countries and on international and regional issues, Algerian
Ambassador Soufiane Memouni said on Wednesday.

The two leaders will also discuss various matters regarding
the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which will hold its
summit in Malaysia later this month. Both Bouteflika and Megawati
are scheduled to attend.

The Algerian President will bring with him 40 businesspeople
during his visit and will witness the signing of three
memorandums of understanding on small and medium scale
entrepreneurship, fisheries and tourism.

Trade between Indonesia and Algeria stood at US$212 million
last year, down from $480 million the previous year. -- Antara

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KPU boss gets black magic threat
JP/4/SCENE

KPU boss gets black magic threat

JAKARTA: After receiving live bullets last week, General
Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said on
Tuesday he recently heard from someone who had threatened to
exercise black magic on him.

"So the threats to us are not only in the form of something
physical or visible, but those that are intangible," he told a
discussion with Forum Rektor, an alliance of rectors of private
and state universities across the country that will carry out
election monitoring.

Last week, Nazaruddin and KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah
received a death threat when an unidentified man delivered a
package of 11 live bullets to them.

The police have not yet named any suspects in the case so far.
-- JP

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Feminist philosophy book launched
JP/4/BOOK

Feminist philosophy book launched

JAKARTA: University of Indonesia lecturer Gadis Arivia
launched on Wednesday a book titled Filsafat Berperspektif
Feminist (Philosophy with Feminist Perspective).

The launch of the book, which was based on the author's
doctoral dissertation research at the university, was marked with
a discussion featuring scholars Franz Magnis Suseno, Nurcholish
Madjid and Nori Andriyani.

In her 335-page book, Gadis showed that so far philosophy was
dominated by male philosophers, some of whom, including Jean-Paul
Sartre and Frederick Nietzsche, underestimated women.

Gadis, who is also a cofounder of Jurnal Perempuan Foundation,
said that many female philosophers such as Mary Wollstonecraft
and Simone de Beauvoir were never taken into account.

Magnis, of the Diryarkara School of Philosophy, praised the
book, admitting that he had not included a female philosopher in
his books.

"But in my next book on moral philosophy, I will include a
female philosopher, Iris Murdoch. But it's not because she was a
woman but because of her thoughts," he said. --JP