300 people protest Golkar's campaign
300 people protest Golkar's campaign
SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Some 300 people staged a
peaceful rally yesterday to protest against what they claimed to
be a blatant political campaign by Golkar, the ruling political
organization, in violation of the electoral laws.
The demonstrators have established the Movement Against
"Yellownization", a reference to Golkar's color, which they said
has become over-dominating in Central Java in recent weeks.
The demonstrators included students, artists, workers and
farmers, some of them hailing from Medan, Semarang, Jakarta,
Cilacap and Madiun.
They converged on the Sebelas Maret University campus for the
rally, with some of their leaders condemning Golkar for what they
perceived as "illicit" electioneering ahead of time.
The 1985 electoral law stipulates that electioneering is only
permitted about one month before the general election.
Similar complaints have been echoed by both minority parties,
the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party,
who say that the activities of Golkar chairman Harmoko, in
stomping across the nation in the past year, each time receiving
huge media coverage, amounted to electioneering.
Harmoko has denied the accusation.
He said that his travels across the nation have been to meet
with Golkar cadres ahead of the 1997 general election. Because of
Golkar's huge following, such meetings quite often had to be
conducted in open fields, or sports stadiums.
Wherever Harmoko went, Golkar's yellow color greeted him,
leading to the coining of the phrase of "Yellownization". Many of
the flags have remained in place long after Harmoko left town.
Some local officials have defended the flying of Golkar's
color, saying that this is also the appropriate color to mark
Indonesia's 50th independence anniversary.
The demonstrators tried yesterday to march to the Surakarta
legislative council, to convey their displeasure at the
"Yellownization" campaign. They failed in their mission because
their path was blocked by about 100 police officers in anti-riot
gear.
A clash was avoided after the demonstrators decided to return
to the university and continue their protest within the campus.
Bambang Cahyo, one of coordinators of the demonstration, told
The Jakarta Post that similar protests against "Yellownization"
would be held in other cities in the future.
He cited Semarang, Cilacap and Ungaran, as well as cities
outside the Central Java province, like Surabaya, Medan and
Jakarta as places where they planned to hold "Anti-
Yellownization" protests. (har/emb)