Birds must be angry with PDI

YOGYAKARTA: Apparently scared by Indonesian Democratic Party activists' noisy street rallies, thousands of herons flew home very late over the weekend.

The herons, which have lived peacefully in the bushy trees near the Tamansiswa school complex, flew around the area and perched on trees wearily when Friday night closed in.

The birds only dared fly home only after the hundreds of PDI activists, most of them riding motorcycles with modified exhaust pipes which roared deafeningly, cleared off the Tamansiswa streets.

"The birds seemed confused and flew around the area for a while before the situation was back to normal," Antara reported yesterday.

The PDI yelling, banner-waving young activists, turned city streets into chaos as they jammed the streets, rudely asking bystanders to raise their hands with three fingers pointing to the sky.

The gesture symbolizes the minority party's number in next year's election.

"They scared me to death," said a civil servant who saw the untimely campaigning. Official electioneering usually kicks off a month ahead of election day. (pan)