Parties change to woo the crowds<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The public's lackluster response to election campaigns has forced
\npolitical parties to draw up new strategies to attract people to
\ntheir campaign sites.<\/p>\n
Rully Chairul Azwar, Golkar's campaign team secretary, said on
\nThursday that his party had prepared different approaches for
\nvarious situations in order to draw a large crowd of people.<\/p>\n
"A monologue campaign attended by a large number of supporters
\nis still important to gauge our strength, but we realize that we
\ncannot get our message across effectively in such a situation,"
\nRully said.<\/p>\n
However, he did not reveal the different approaches his party
\nwas preparing.<\/p>\n
Secretary-general of the United Democratic Nationhood Party
\n(PPDK) Rivai Pulungan said his party preferred campaigning in
\nworkplaces like factories, fishermen compounds, and farming areas
\nover indoor campaigns at designated areas.<\/p>\n
"We talk with them about their problems in an informal
\natmosphere. In such a situation, they can explain their problems
\nfreely and intensive dialog can take place," he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Djafar Badjeber, secretary-general of the Reform Star Party
\n(PBR), said his party had deployed campaigners to visit informal
\nleaders, such as ulema, to introduce the party's platform.<\/p>\n
"I just visited a influential Muslim cleric in East Jakarta
\ntoday to introduce our platform. Other PBR leaders also visited
\ndifferent figures. We believe that it is an effective campaign
\nstrategy as such figures have many followers," he said.<\/p>\n
This year's election campaigns seem a far cry from the
\neuphoria of 1999 when crowds of supporters flocked to street
\nrallies.<\/p>\n
The presence of celebrities also failed to attract crowds,
\nwith most people leaving campaign sites before speakers had even
\nfinished their speeches.<\/p>\n
The National Awakening Party (PKB) said on Thursday it had
\nchanged its strategy by focusing on visits to mosques and Islamic
\nboarding schools to hold dialogs and exchange views on a wide
\nrange of issues.<\/p>\n
The party's vote-getter Imam Anshari Saleh said PKB had also
\nallocated Rp 4 billion for advertisements and commercials in
\nnewspapers and on television.<\/p>\n
"We have realized that voters come to our campaigns to have
\nfun, not to hear the party's platform. With or without knowledge
\nof our platform, they will vote for PKB," he said.<\/p>\n
According to Rully, television ads were the most effective way
\nto convey messages to the public. He said such ads could reach
\nthose who were reluctant to attend campaigns for fear of violence
\nor inconveniences, such as heavy rain or the heat of the midday
\nsun.<\/p>\n
He said his party had allocated nearly Rp 10 million (US$1.19
\nmillion) for television campaigns.<\/p>",
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