Hard times for campaign materials vendors<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The July 5 presidential election will probably produce no clear
\nwinner for the country's top job, forcing the two winners to
\ncontest a runoff scheduled for Sept. 20. In between, they are
\nlikely to exhaust all resources at their disposal in a bid to win
\nthe presidency.<\/p>\n
As a result, there could be a shopping spree for campaign
\nparaphernalia, from T-shirts and watches to handkerchiefs bearing
\nthe candidates' images, and it should be a moment when vendors
\nreap windfall profits from an intensified presidential campaign.<\/p>\n
Such was the prediction among vendors to entertain themselves
\nin the midst of a slump in the sale of materials related to
\npresidential campaigning, although campaigns have already been
\nrunning for two weeks.<\/p>\n
\"That is our only hope -- for earning a small profit after the
\ncurrent slump,\" Hasan, a vendor who runs a stall in the corridor
\nleading to the Senen electronics market, Central Jakarta, told
\nThe Jakarta Post on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said that the current situation was not comparable with
\nthat in the run-up to the April 5 legislative election.<\/p>\n
\"Back then, we could sell over 6,500 T-shirts bearing
\npolitical party logos or portraits of legislative candidates. But
\nnow, we are lucky to peddle just one- or two-dozen T-shirts,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He set the price according to how many garments buyers ordered
\nfrom him. \"If a buyer orders by the hundred, the garments are
\navailable at Rp 5,000 apiece. However, we set a higher price of
\nRp 6,000 to Rp 6,500 if orders are made by the dozen,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amid bearish sentiment, he said that, indirectly, the
\ncandidate nominated by the Democratic Party, Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono, had saved the day.<\/p>\n
\"When I was tired of waiting for customers, along came some of
\nhis supporters who ordered up to 1,000 T-shirts. Last time, his
\nsupporters from Manado, North Sulawesi, ordered 500 T-shirts,\" he
\nsaid, adding that T-shirts and watches bearing Susilo's image
\nwere the most sought-after items.<\/p>\n
In Southeast Asia's largest textile hub, Tanah Abang market,
\nWest Jakarta, garment vendors experienced similar conditions.<\/p>\n
Peggi, a garment vendor who usually sells children's apparel,
\nsaid that he was only able to strike a deal with customers for
\nprinting one or two dozen T-shirts.<\/p>\n
He blamed the infrequency of street rallies during
\npresidential campaigning for the slump in sales of campaign bric-
\na-brac.<\/p>\n
\"More rallies mean that more people take to the streets
\nwearing T-shirts depicting their candidate of preference, but
\nwe've seen none in the past two weeks,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
As with his fellow vendors in Senen market, times were good
\nwhen Susilo supporters ordered a large number of campaign T-
\nshirts.<\/p>\n
Moving eastward to Kenari market, Central Jakarta, conditions
\nwere no better.<\/p>\n
Yuni, a vendor who diligently watches her stalls on the side
\nof bustling Jl. Salemba, said that her greatest fortune so far
\nwas when a member of the campaign team of National Mandate Party
\n(PAN) candidate Amien Rais ordered five-dozen T-shirts.<\/p>\n
\"I'll probably vote for Amien, because his T-shirts sell the
\nmost,\" she said, chuckling.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hard-times-for-campaign-materials-vendors-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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