Military gives safety assurance<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The military guaranteed national security
\nyesterday despite the rising incidence of mob violence ahead of
\nthe May 29 general election.<\/p>\n
Armed Forces (ABRI) spokesman Brig. Gen. Slamet Supriadi said
\nthe public had nothing to fear because the authorities had
\nsecurity under control.<\/p>\n
\"ABRI has made an all-out effort to maintain security so that
\npeople can go about their daily business without fear,\" Supriadi
\ntold a press conference on its assessment of the campaign, which
\nbegan on April 27 and will end on May 23.<\/p>\n
The campaign has been marred with violence, mainly involving
\nUnited Development Party (PPP) and Golkar supporters in Java.
\nSeventy-three people have died, mostly in traffic accidents
\nduring unruly street rallies.<\/p>\n
The Election Supervision Committee's chairman, Singgih, said
\nrecently that all three parties -- the PPP, Golkar and the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- had violated campaign rules.<\/p>\n
Singgih said traffic offenses topped the list of violations,
\nfollowed by the removal of party flags, which has caused many of
\nthe recent clashes.<\/p>\n
Supriadi warned that, as the election campaign wound up,
\npolitical tension was running high and fear was increasing. He
\ncalled on the parties to tone down their campaigns.<\/p>\n
\"We urge all contestants to shun campaigns which scare people,
\ncause traffic jams and endanger lives,\" Supriadi said.
\n\"Contenders should not provoke each other.\"<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces said that 73 people had died in campaign
\nviolence and accidents by May 15.<\/p>\n
Supriadi warned that \"antiestablishment groups\" were seeking
\nto foil the election. The authorities had identified the groups,
\nwhich he refused to name.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces has documented 914 cases of campaign-rule
\nviolations, 145 did not involve party supporters.<\/p>\n
Supriadi said this meant that rallies had been infiltrated by
\npeople wanting to see the election fail.<\/p>\n
No major campaign incidents were reported yesterday. The rift-
\nridden PDI attracted small turnouts to its rallies in Java.<\/p>\n
In Bogor, scores of Megawati Soekarnoputri's supporters roamed
\nthe streets wearing white T-shirts with her pictures. They
\nstopped PDI supporters from the rival party faction under
\nSoerjadi and forced them to change their red T-shirts for
\nMegawati T-shirts.<\/p>\n
In another area in Bogor, a clash reportedly erupted between
\nthe two rivaling groups and causing injuries to several people.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, traffic flowed normally as few PDI supporters took
\nto the streets after the last two days' huge rallies by Golkar
\nand PPP faithful.<\/p>\n
The government-recognized PDI chief Soerjadi thrilled
\nsupporters in the Central Java town of Pati with his scathing
\ncriticism of government protection for big business.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi said that economic disparity was widening because the
\ngovernment provided facilities and protection to conglomerates
\nbut did little to help small business.<\/p>\n
\"Conglomerates are expanding but small business is slowly
\ndying because the government's economic policy only benefits big
\nbusiness,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi promised to try and change this policy to empower
\nsmall business.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, about 50 students at the Indonesian Islamic
\nUniversity demonstrated their anger at Thursday's attack on the
\nuniversity by Golkar supporters.<\/p>\n
The banner-waving demonstrators condemned the attack, urging
\nthe election committee to reprimand Golkar and demanding that
\nlocal Golkar leaders apologize for the incident.<\/p>\n
But Golkar functionaries claimed the attack was carried out by
\n\"infiltrators\" who meant to tarnish the party's image.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Yogyakarta, the General Elections Institute's
\nsecretary, Suryatna Subrata, reiterated the government's
\ndetermination to do anything to enforce campaign rules.<\/p>\n
He said the government did not want any more street rallies or
\nviolence. (pan\/38\/24\/23)<\/p>",
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