When President Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's charismatic founding father Sukarno, came to power in July 2001, many Indonesians hoped she would bring peace, justice and economic stability.

Two years later separatists are still waging armed struggles for independence throughout the archipelago; intelligence documents suggest the infiltration of groups linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network; and fundamentalists are pressing for the incorporation of the strict interpretation of Islamic texts,Shariah law, into the country's 1945 constitution.

While the nation's lowest levels of society are continuing to bear the brunt of the economic hardships, the fragile democracy of the world's most populous Muslim nation continues to be put to the test.