C. Java villagers clash with PPP supporters<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Locals in Gandon, Central Java, hurled stones
\nSaturday at a passing convoy of hundreds of United Development
\nParty (PPP) supporters, who retaliated by ransacking the village
\nhall and two houses.<\/p>\n
One person was injured in the village in Temanggung regency.<\/p>\n
Sources and witnesses said the motorcade of four or five
\ntruckloads of PPP supporters were on their way home from a party
\nfunction in Ambarawa, Central Java, when a group of people
\noperating motorcycle taxis began stoning them.<\/p>\n
P.M. Imron of the PPP's Temanggung branch said the convoy
\nstopped and the supporters jumped down to chase their assailants
\nwho escaped. The supporters then vented their anger by destroying
\nthe hall and several motorcycles.<\/p>\n
After the convoy moved off, four PPP executives drove to the
\nvillage to investigate. There they were attacked by locals. One
\nexecutive suffered minor injuries.<\/p>\n
A villager, Arifin, told The Jakarta Post that the PPP
\nsupporters had waved their fingers in the party's sign at the
\nmotorcyclists, urging them to do likewise.<\/p>\n
He said the motorcyclists had ignored the gesture, but the
\nconvoy stopped and the PPP supporters jumped down to chase them.<\/p>\n
"They were chased because they refused to make the one finger
\nsign as the supporters had demanded, and so they (the locals)
\nattacked the four PPP members who arrived later," Arifin said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, another clash involving PPP members
\nerupted in Gandon, a tobacco-producing town, about 65 kilometers
\nsouth of the Central Java capital of Semarang.<\/p>\n
The PPP supporters later clashed with supporters of the
\ndominant Golkar at Ngimbrang village, Bulu subdistrict.<\/p>\n
Seven motorcycles, a car and a house were damaged during the
\nriot in Ngimbrang, while eight of the parties' supporters were
\nwounded.<\/p>\n
Clashes among supporters of the PPP, Golkar and the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party have recently erupted in four other Central Java
\ntowns: Pekalongan, Wonosobo, Rembang and Surakarta.<\/p>\n
The three parties will contest the May 29 general election to
\nvie for 425 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives.
\nElection campaigning will officially start on April 27; from this
\nday on until the last day of campaign on May 23, the ban on
\nstreet rallies is effective. (har\/aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/c-java-villagers-clash-with-ppp-supporters-1447893297",
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