Campaigning off to noisy start

Campaigning off to noisy start

JAKARTA (JP): The capital turned into a sea of colorful flags,
balloons and banners on Wednesday as the 16-day campaign period
began, but red-clad supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) dominated the multiparty "peace
parade" here by sheer weight of numbers.

People young and old, even mothers with babies on their arms,
clambered onto the backs of decorated trucks. Traffic was far
lighter than on normal days, with many people deciding to stay at
home in case the campaigning turned violent.

Seen off by Governor Sutiyoso at the National Monument (Monas)
Square, the parade ended at the local offices of mayoralty
election committees in West, North, South, East and Central
Jakarta.

The capital was awash with red as crimson-clad members and
supporters of PDI Perjuangan filled the streets on trucks,
motorcycles and other vehicles.

Onlookers lining the capital's main thoroughfare cheered and
clapped as parading PDI Perjuangan supporters raised their fists
and shouted "Long live Mega!" for party chairwoman Megawati
Soekarnoputri.

The joint parade of all 48 contesting political parties,
however, was marred by clashes and vandalism. Trouble started a
few minutes after Sutiyoso kicked off the parade, which was
attended by an estimated 100,000 party supporters and hundreds of
floats and vehicles.

Onlookers pushed forward to attack the Golkar Party's four
floats shortly after they passed the stage where the governor
stood.

The crowd then started booing and jeering at a number of
artists on the floats, including rock singer Renny Jayusman, pop
singer Lilis Suryani and comedians Komar and Ginanjar.

People pelted the floats with plastic bottles and other
objects, forcing the artists to flee to safety. Renny Jayusman
was seen taking off her yellow Golkar blazer.

Security guards from parties such as PDI Perjuangan and the
National Mandate Party (PAN) attempted to calm people who
proceeded to tear away decorations from the floats. Security
personnel moved in to save the cars from being damaged.

Sutiyoso expressed regret at the vandalism. "I have repeatedly
urged the public to help make the campaign a success, I hope that
every party will prevent their supporters from doing any harm,"
he said.

Parade organizer Muchamad Taufik said more than 240 vehicles
were included in the event. Each of the 48 parties were allowed
to enter only five floats in the parade.

Protest

The deputy chairman of Golkar's Jakarta chapter, Ade
Surpriatna, protested the harassment and blamed the Jakarta
provincial elections committee (PPD I) for its inability to
maintain security in the parade.

"We have submitted an official protest to PPD I. We strongly
demand that the authority immediately reveal the persons behind
the occurrence," Ade said in a media conference at his office in
Central Jakarta.

Ade said Golkar would continue with its campaigning despite
the incident.

The head of the Operation and Control Department of Jakarta
Police, Col. Soenarko, said no one was arrested over the
incident.

In a related development, he said at least 20 police officers
were injured when a truck carrying them overturned on Jl. Puri
Kembangan in West Jakarta. The officers were to be deployed to
secure the campaign parade at Monas square.

Seven of the officers were severely injured, and are now being
treated at Kramatjati Police Hospital and Graha Medika Hospital.

Asked to comment about the harassment suffered by Golkar,
Indria Samego, a political expert from the University of
Indonesia, said violence could not be stopped as long as the
political elite thought that power existed only when it was
showed in a concrete form.

"This paradigm should be changed if we want to reduce such
violence," he told reporters after speaking at a seminar on
political violence in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

Indria criticized those who urged Golkar to withdraw from
campaigning in order to avoid unrest.

"Golkar has the right to campaign even in such conditions," he
insisted. "What is important now is that security officers should
guarantee the safety of every political party when they are
campaigning."

Jacob Tobing, chairman of the National Elections Committee
(PPI) said the committee will meet with the Election Supervisory
Committee (Panwaslu) and the National Police to discuss further
arrangements for handling party followers and regulation
violations in following days of campaigning.

"We are very concerned about reports that people burned
Golkar's flag and its campaign attributes. We are calling on the
public to show restraint," he said.

"Shortly after the completion of provincial legislative
candidate lists, PPI, Panwaslu and the National Police will meet
and find solutions to such violence," Jacob said.

He called on the election supervisory body to be more active
as it held the authority to impose sanctions against parties that
broke campaign rules. (ind/edt/jun)