First week sees candidates unprepared for campaign<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta<\/p>\n
The opening days of the presidential campaign saw the candidates
\nengaged in an assorted mix of publicity gimmicks and public
\nrallies, which were overshadowed by occasional outbursts of
\nintriguing behavior.<\/p>\n
Most of the five candidates seemed to suffer from stage
\nfright, but they can be forgiven for this as the month-long event
\nis the first presidential campaign in the nation's history.<\/p>\n
In the candidates' attempt to capture the hearts of the common
\npeople, Wiranto of the Golkar Party stole a precampaign event by
\nlunching on the roadside with people, as well as setting up
\nnumerous warung (food stalls) in dozens of towns.<\/p>\n
However, the retired Army general and former military
\ncommander ran into trouble when a former aide claimed that
\nWiranto had financed the establishment of Pamswakarsa (civilian
\nguards) to secure the People's Consultative Assembly convention
\nin November 1998. Wiranto has denied the charge.<\/p>\n
On the first day of the campaign last Tuesday, most of the
\ncandidates visited markets in different towns, while making sure
\nthat the television cameras were rolling.<\/p>\n
Candidates were soon off to cities outside of Java following
\nthe schedule established by the General Elections Commission
\n(KPU) to avoid two candidates campaigning in the same province.
\nIn those provinces not visited by the candidates, their campaign
\nteams organized indoor rallies.<\/p>\n
Amien Rais and his running mate Siswono Yudohusodo tried their
\nhand at driving pedicabs in the Central Kalimantan town of
\nPalangkaraya last Thursday. The pair also ate bakso (meat ball
\nsoup) with street singers and street children in the East
\nKalimantan capital of Samarinda on the same day.<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday in East Jakarta, a sports hall where the
\nWiranto camp was holding a rally was filled by about 250 people,
\nbarely one-fourth its capacity. The audience of mostly elderly
\nmen and women wore new T-shirts bearing pictures of Wiranto with
\nhis running mate Solahuddin Wahid.<\/p>\n
When speaker Slamet Effendi Jusuf said Indonesia ranked 138th
\nout of 140 countries in tourism, he asked the audience if that
\nwas a good or a bad sign. The response was a resounding "Gooood!"
\nto the dismay of Slamet, who promptly corrected them.<\/p>\n
Last week also saw the incumbent President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI-P) show the people a different side of her personality. The
\nusually reticent leader popped up at numerous public events,
\nincluding with the mother of Nirmala Bonat, an Indonesian maid
\nwho was tortured by her employer in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
She held her first ever press conference with foreign
\njournalists in Jakarta last week and also gave a number of
\ntelevision interviews. These attempts seemed to close the gap
\nwith her rivals, who are not at all media shy. Yet the
\nPresident's body language gave the impression that she was still
\nnot entirely comfortable dealing with the public and the press.<\/p>\n
To be fair, most candidates appeared to be less than prepared
\nfor the campaign while exploiting loopholes in the KPU's rulings.
\nExamples were the lack of transparency in the origin of donors
\napart from precampaign events.<\/p>\n
The candidates also seem to have failed to exploit all of the
\navailable venues, as the cancellation of campaigning in North
\nSumatra last week attested. It turned out that not all of their
\ncampaign teams registered as required by KPU regulations.<\/p>\n
Hamzah Haz and his running mate Agum Gumelar, who are running
\nunder the banner of the United Development Party (PPP), like
\nother candidates, have set up a campaign team. But at the PPP's
\nimpressive Central Jakarta office, only security guards and a
\nsecretary were to be found.<\/p>\n
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla opened their first
\nweek of campaigning by visiting the eastern-most province of
\nPapua. The pair promised to create more job opportunities if
\nelected.<\/p>\n
There was some bad news at the end of the week, when the KPU
\nannounced that the official presidential debates that had been
\nurged by some groups would not be held.<\/p>\n
As Indonesia has had no experience in presidential debates,
\nKPU said, toward the end of the month voters will watch the
\ncandidates being grilled by selected panelists rather than
\nengaing in a debate on their television sets.<\/p>",
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