Animals, dancers set rally alight

SEMARANG: Good times were had by all when thousands of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) here painted the Central Java capital red on Tuesday.

A group of partisan supporters brought with them wild and domestic animals, adding life to the campaign rally across the city. Amid deafening drums beaten by the marching crowd, ducks, chickens, birds, snakes and orangutans stole the show.

In another rare exhibition, some party supporters dressed in traditional costumes for a wayang puppet dance and drew much attention with their comical gestures.

Earlier in the day, the tandem of PDI Perjuangan deputy chairman Mochtar Buchori and chief of the party's provincial branch Soeratal reminded party supporters to keep an eye out for possible vote-rigging on election day June 7.

"We have lots of people but we must be careful of possible malfeasance during the vote count. If the elections run in a free and fair manner, we will emerge the winner," Mochtar said. (har)