http://www.insideindonesia.org/edit58/net58.htm -- [Image] Indonesia on the net No. 58 Indonesian democracy on the internet - some interesting April- places and things to do for those who know a little June Indonesian 1999 Waruno Mahdi If current developments in Indonesia are a revolution, then it is the first revolution in world history to have been ushered in through the internet. First the wall of total censorship was breached, then the military cordons protecting palace and parliament from the people. The task of placing the news for easy access on the internet was first performed by online news services like John MacDougall's apakabar (gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:2998/7REG-INDONESIA) with its Indonesia-L mailing list (http://www.indopubs.com/). It was joined by Indonesian-run services directly tapping first-hand infomation sources even within the establishment: first Pijar at http://www.pijar.net/index.html, operating KdP-Net with Kabar dari Pijar (http://www.pijar.net/kdpnet/index.htm), and maintaining Mimbar Bebas (http://www.pijar.net/mimbar.htm); and then SiaR News Service (http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html), particularly valued for its specialised editorial teams, codenamed: Istiqlal (civic and social), MateBEAN (East Timor), MamberaMO (Irian Jaya), and MeunaSAH (Aceh). Much frequented as well are Indonesia Daily News at the University of Stuttgart (http://www.indo-news.com/), and the Indonesian Daily Reports at the KITLV Leiden (gopher://oasis.leide nuniv.nl/11/.kitlv/.daily-report). To these may be added alternative online journals like Xpos of Komunitas Informasi Terbuka (http://law.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/xp/) offering qualified analyses of current developments, the Suara Demokrasi of API - Aliansi Pemuda Independen Indonesia (http://www.geocities .com/CapitolHill/3924/suara.html) opening views seen from a youth perspective, and the Berita Bhinneka list (http://www.egroups.com/list/ berita-bhinneka/) with the choice from Joyo(@aol.com) and other monitors of the most important news of the day. The laxening of censorship after Suharto's resignation has made the mainstream press attractive as well. Note particularly the weekly Tempo (http://www.tempo.co.id/), the daily Jawa Pos (http://www.jawapos.co.id/), Kompas (http://www.kompas.com/), and Republika (http://www.republika.co.id/). The Medan-based daily Waspada (http://www.waspada.com/) also reports on the situation in Aceh (see also Serambi Indonesia at http://www.indomedia.com/serambi/). Appearing right next door to East Timor is Pos Kupang (http://www.indomedia.com/poskup/). Students were the moving force on the streets, and on the internet. Their and other sites host discussion forums, offer news reports, and document crucial happenings: e.g. Reformasi Total at http://reformasi.hypermart.net/ (interactive, very informative, up to date, hosts 2 mailing lists), Pro Reformasi Online Civitas Akademika of Gunadarma Univ. at http://reformasi.nyoss.or.id/ or http://w.ibi.co.id/proreformasi/ (black ribbon; interactive with discussion thread, some 1998 texts), and Setitik Kepedulian of the same university at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/5646/ (interactive, three discussion threads, report on May 1998 action in parliament), Halaman Mahasiswa Nusantara (Dari Medan untuk reformasi) at http://www.anakmedan.or.id/vegatech/reformasi/index.htm (black ribbon, chronology of 1998 Trisakti student shooting), and Bogie Soedjatmiko's elaborate Don't Cry for Suharto site http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~bsm/ (numerous documents, complete list of parliament members with postal addresses). There are many many more, some not kept up to date since mid-1998. The paths the students cleared are now open for political parties. The PDI Perjuangan is on the web with its official site, http://fullspeed.to/pdi-perjuangan/, and a Megawati Soekarnoputri Homepage at http://megawati.forpresident.com/. The National Mandate Party of Amien Rais maintains an official page at http://www.amanat.org/home.html and the National Awakening Party with Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) as presidential candidate can be visited at. http://www.pkb.org. The more radical People's Democratic Party's homepage is at http://www.peg.apc.org/~prdint1/. Most newer parties are not yet on the internet, but well-kept lists for keeping track here are maintained by DeTik.com at http://www.detik.com/analisa/199808/19980828-0950.html, and by Partai.com at http://www.partai.com/. See also links to political party sites at http://pc27.eas.purdue.edu/parta i98.html. To span the entire pluralistic spectrum of opinion, the 'other side' can be visited at the sites of ICMI - Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim se-Indonesia at http://www.icmi.or.id/, of the ruling Golkar at http://www.golkar.or.id/) and of the still influential Abri at http://www.abri.mil.id/. One respected government agency with a certain arbitrating function is the Komnas HAM - National Commission of Human Rights (http://www.komnas.go.id/index.html ). Waruno Mahdi is an Indonesian exilee since Suharto came to power, and is a free-time linguist in Berlin, Germany. His highly recommended homepage is http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/~wm/wm6.html. [Image] To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with in the message body the line: unsubscribe demi-demokrasi
