Candidates busy day on eve of polling day

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Blitar

Presidential candidates Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were all set Sunday after they both spent busy days on the eve of election runoff.

Front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited his mother's hometown in Blitar, Central Java, on Saturday and returned to Jakarta later on Sunday, while President Megawati Soekarnoputri toured the capital.

Megawati began the day by attending a mass prayer at her official residence in Central Jakarta, accompanied by the leaders of the political parties backing her re-election bid.

She also visited one of the capital's business centers, Pasar Baru, where she met with thousands of retailers and vendors in the area.

"I urged everybody to maintain peace and order during the election. Do not hesitate to notify the authorities should you become aware of anything suspicious," Megawati said.

She insisted she was not campaigning and that she just wanted to see the situation around the capital on the eve of the election. The three days prior to Sept. 20 are a cooling-off period when the candidates are officially supposed to refrain from campaigning.

Megawati also visited a slum area in Plumpang, North Jakarta, where she handed over clean water tanks for the residents in her capacity as President. Under the electoral law, candidates are banned from giving gifts to voters, but many candidates ignore the regulation.

Megawati and her family are slated to cast their votes at the polling station near her private residence on Jl. Kebagusan in South Jakarta. Her running mate, Hasyim Muzadi, will cast his vote in his home town of Malang, East Java.

Meanwhile, Susilo visited his mother, Siti Habibah Soekotjo, in Blitar, East Java, on Sunday morning to ask for her blessing.

He said that he always did so at crucial times in his life.

Susilo, accompanied by wife Kristiani, were greeted by hundreds of supporters. He left for Jakarta on the same day.

Initially, Megawati had also planned to visit the tomb of her father, founding president Sukarno, in the same town of Blitar on Saturday. However, she canceled the plan as she had to attend a family gathering at the former residence of her mother, the late Fatmawati, on Jl. Sriwijaya in South Jakarta on Saturday night. The most conspicuous guest at the gathering was former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who is the most influential cleric in the country's largest Muslim organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

Fresh from his visit to Blitar, Susilo held a press conference on Sunday at his residence in Cikeas village near Bogor in West Java, when he urged the people to ensure a peaceful and fair election.

He called on unnamed parties to stop their smear campaigns, saying that "the country has to leave all of the processes involved in the election to the right mechanisms."

His comment was a vague reference to a tabloid that reported that Susilo had married a Filipino woman before being admitted to the Military Academy in 1970. The little-known Fakta (Fact) tabloid only gave one side of the story.

Susilo and his family are slated to cast their votes at the polling station near his residence. His running mate, Jusuf Kalla, will cast his vote near his private residence on Jl. Brawijaya, South Jakarta.