Campaign closes in violence<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The curtain to the violence-ridden election
\ncampaign came down yesterday with riots in several towns.<\/p>\n
Greater Jakarta, still licking its wounds from a week of
\nunrest, was hit by more clashes as thousands of campaigning
\nUnited Development Party (PPP) supporters braved tight security
\non the streets.<\/p>\n
The riots began after the PPP Jakarta branch launched glad-
\nhanding operations across the city in the vain hope that its
\nsupporters would not stampede like after earlier rallies. But
\nrioting broke out when security officials stopped the supporters
\nforming convoys.<\/p>\n
The party concluded its campaign in Java, Maluku and Irian
\nJaya. In Pasuruan in East Java, Kendal in Central Java,
\nBanjarmasin in South Kalimantan and Ujungpandang in South
\nSulawesi clashes broke out.<\/p>\n
Calm is expected to return to the country during the \"cooling
\noff\" period which starts tomorrow with all political activities
\nby the three parties banned until election day on May 29.<\/p>\n
While the financial and human cost of 26 days of campaigning
\nwere still being calculated, at least four people were seriously
\ninjured, including two police officers, in Pasuruan and Kendal.
\nThirty-five others suffered minor injuries.<\/p>\n
A young PPP supporter was shot in the foot in Ciputat, south
\nof Jakarta. And eight people died yesterday in campaign-related
\ntraffic accidents in Jakarta's neighboring towns of Bekasi and
\nBogor.<\/p>\n
Minor clashes broke out in Jakarta's outer subdistrict of
\nCiledug, Menteng Dalam and Grogol Utara in South Jakarta and the
\nRoxy business district near the city center.<\/p>\n
Police closed roads to traffic around the hot spots, forcing
\nthousands of workers and students to walk kilometers to get home.<\/p>\n
Riot police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse angry
\nmobs who stoned police stations, looted dozens of shops,
\ngovernment offices and banks in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta,
\nCiputat, Tangerang, Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta and
\nBanjarmasin in South Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of PPP supporters ransacked a Protestant
\nchurch in Kebayoran Lama, two churches in Pasuruan and a
\ncathedral in Banjarmasin. The crowds there burned scores of
\npolice cars and motorbikes<\/p>\n
Police arrested at least seven people for robbery in Ciputat
\nand four others for inciting riot in Kendal.<\/p>\n
Tanks and armored personnel carriers were deployed to help
\nsecurity authorities restore order.<\/p>\n
Tension remained until late last night as crowds loitered on
\nstreets affected by the riots.<\/p>\n
Fear began to grip the capital yesterday morning, with many
\nshops and offices not opening or shutting early. Police and
\nsoldiers stood guard across the city.<\/p>\n
The riots broke out sporadically in the afternoon, shortly
\nafter Moslems finished their Friday prayer.<\/p>\n
Thousands of PPP supporters started pelting stones at security
\nofficials when they failed to force their way through police
\nblockades. They then smashed windows in shops and buildings,
\ndamaged roadside flowerpots and burned stacks of tires and Golkar
\nflags.<\/p>\n
The police tried to disperse the crowds by beating the
\nsupporters or curious bystanders.<\/p>\n
Witnesses in Ciputat said the clash there escalated when
\npolice stopped PPP supporters, coming from Kedaung subdistrict
\nnear Ciputat market, joining a parade of fellow supporters in
\nPondok Pinang.<\/p>\n
Golkar supporters had tried to help security officials keep
\nthe PPP mob at bay which only caused the fighting to spread,
\nwitnesses said.<\/p>\n
Golkar civilian guard Andri Indra said that four truck loads
\nof Golkar supporters from Berlan, East Jakarta, had arrived in
\nCiputat.<\/p>\n
City military commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso said the riots had
\nbeen small and that his forces were in full control of the
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the riots in Banjarmasin had erupted because
\nGolkar campaigning started before Moslems had finished their
\nFriday prayer.<\/p>\n
Golkar ended its campaign in Kalimantan and Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
In Ujungpandang, riots marred a Golkar rally in the Karebosi
\nfield attended by party chairman Harmoko. The incident started
\nwhen PPP supporters stoned Golkar rivals who had taken to the
\nstreets in convoys.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
\nSecurity Soesilo Soedarman called on people to use the five-day
\n\"cooling off\" period to think over their choices before they go
\nto the polling booths.<\/p>\n
\"We hope people will be in clear mind when they punch the
\ncontestants of their choice then,\" he told reporters after a
\nFriday prayer yesterday afternoon. (team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/campaign-closes-in-violence-1447893297",
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