National elections saw the ruling party come in barely ahead (21 to 20 percent) the Golkar party of the former dictator Suharto. Golkar has always been propelled by corruption and money looted from the government. A lot of the money is still out there. In the last (1999) elections, PDP-I beat Golkar 34.7 to 22.3 percent. Also gaining this time around were Islamic parties. These were moderate Islamic parties, stressing vows to deal with the corruption that is such a problem in the country. But the moderate Islamic parties provide lots of cover for the more radical Islamic groups, who pretend to be moderate while they support Islamic radicals and terrorists.

The fighting continues in Aceh, with the government claiming to have killed 1,800 rebels in about a year. Some 55,000 troops and police are confronting several thousand armed rebels.