Campaigns light on the festivities<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In comparison with the legislative campaigns across the city in
\nMarch, the ongoing presidential campaigns are obviously muted.<\/p>\n
Despite sprawling banners, posters and other paraphernalia
\ndepicting the candidates and their slogans on the streets, the
\npeople's enthusiasm appears to be low.<\/p>\n
Colorful parades are noticeably absent, while many events
\norganized by the various campaign teams are attended by a sparse
\naudience.<\/p>\n
Most campaign teams, especially in the regions, blamed funding
\nshortages for the relative quiet, while others claimed that they
\nwere intentionally restraining from "going all out", as festive
\ncampaigns might not be effective in garnering more votes.
\nInstead, they believed that direct interaction with constituents
\nwould be much more effective and less costly than lavish outdoor
\ncampaigns.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim Sakti Batubara, the Amien-Siswono campaign coordinator
\nfor North Sumatra, bemoaned the limited funds for campaigns in
\nthe province, which he estimated at Rp 1 billion (US$105,263).<\/p>\n
Amien-Siswono are scheduled to campaign in the province mid-
\nmonth, but Ibrahim said the team had only received a partial
\ndisbursement and they would have to scramble to procure the
\nremainder from the central team before the day of the event.<\/p>\n
Syaifuddin D.J., the Susilo-Kalla campaign manager for
\nSamarinda, said the team had a mere Rp 2 billion budget to
\nfinance all campaigns in the province, so it had to be highly
\nefficient and creative in their arrangement.<\/p>\n
The small budget also meant the team could not hold many
\noutdoor campaigns.<\/p>\n
"It takes a lot of money to mobilize people to campaign. As we
\nhave a limited fund, we have replaced outdoor campaigns with
\ndirect campaigns or dialogs with a select audience," he said.<\/p>\n
Jamaludin Amien, an Amien-Siswono campaign team member for
\nSouth Sulawesi, commented that while public participation might
\nbe smaller in these types of campaigns, they could be more
\neffective in influencing people's decisions through dialog and
\nperson-to-person meetings.<\/p>\n
Also in South Sulawesi, Muhammad Roem of the Wiranto-
\nSolahuddin camp also agreed that the available campaign funds
\namounted to much less than that of the March campaigns.<\/p>\n
He believed that more people were eager to finance the
\nlegislative campaigns because they knew they would receive a
\ndirect benefit from participating, particularly if "their"
\ncandidate won a seat.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, people were not clear about any personal
\nbenefits to be gained from campaigning for a presidential
\ncandidate, he explained.<\/p>\n
"This is why campaign teams or individuals affiliated with
\nparticular parties here wait for funds to arrive from the central
\ncampaign team or presidential candidates," he said.<\/p>\n
Ranny Emilia, a political observer at Andalas University in
\nPadang, West Sumatra, said at least two factors explained the
\nrelative dullness of the presidential campaigns: First, most
\nparty members were exhausted and out of funds from the March
\ncampaigns; and second, people were generally interested in only
\nthose campaigns attended by their presidential favorites.<\/p>\n
Another observer, Andreas Pandiangan of Soegijapranata
\nCatholic University in Semarang, said people were confused by the
\npolitical alliances formed by the candidates, which dampened
\ntheir interest in participating.<\/p>\n
"During the legislative campaigns, they were certain to vote
\nfor their preferred parties. But now, they are confused. They
\nlike a presidential candidate, but don't like their running mate
\nand vice versa, which has made them apathetic," he said.<\/p>",
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