Police on full alert as campaign kicks off<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar ordered police across
\nthe country on Wednesday to be on full alert, as the three-week
\ncampaign period officially kicks off on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Da'i also instructed police in Central Sulawesi, Aceh and
\nAmbon to ready additional personnel to strengthen efforts to
\nsecure the campaigning period and legislative election on April
\n5.<\/p>\n
National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said on
\nWednesday that at least 5,518 police were sent as reinforcements
\nto Aceh, 800 to Poso and Morowali in Central Sulawesi and 1,002
\nto Ambon.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Jakarta Police chief Ins. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara
\nplayed down on Wednesday possible clashes between supporters of
\npolitical parties during the campaign period, which will run
\nuntil April 1.<\/p>\n
\"Guarding soccer games is more challenging than securing
\nelection campaigns as all leaders of political parties have
\nexpressed a commitment to holding peaceful campaigns,\" Makbul
\nsaid after holding a meeting with party leaders.<\/p>\n
Soccer games here are often marked by brawls between
\nsupporters of respective soccer teams.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, East Java police announced they had assigned
\n26,000 officers to secure both the legislative and presidential
\nelections.<\/p>\n
East Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Sad Harunantyo said the
\npolice had also set up posts to follow up on security complaints
\nduring the campaign period.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta Police chief Brig. Gen. Sudirman, meanwhile, said
\nthat his officers were ready to maintain peace and order during
\nthe campaign period.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta has deployed some 5,000 of its 8,000 personnel.<\/p>\n
In Palu, the Central Sulawesi administration announced that it
\nwould pay close attention to the four restive areas of Poso,
\nMorowali, Donggali and Tolitoli respectively.<\/p>\n
Syafri Alikadir of Central Sulawesi said that previous bloody
\nconflict in the areas had been taken seriously into account by
\nthe police and the local administration.<\/p>\n
\"Tension still exists between local residents. We must be
\ncareful,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-on-full-alert-as-campaign-kicks-off-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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