Candidates play on their roots to win potential voters' hearts
Candidates play on their roots to win potential voters' hearts
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bandarlampung/Kendari/Palu
Presidential and vice presidential candidates continue to exploit
ethnic sentiments during their campaign apart from delivering
promises of improved welfare.
The incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri told supporters
on Tuesday in Lampung's provincial capital of Bandarlampung that
she knew many Javanese had migrated and settled in Lampung, thus
she called on them to vote for candidates from Java.
"If you are all Javanese, then choose No. 2 (Megawati and
Hasyim Muzadi)," she told some 4,000 supporters.
Actually her rivals Amien Rais, Gen. (ret) Wiranto and Gen.
(ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are also from Java, however their
running mates are also using their origins or birthplaces to woo
voters from home provinces outside Java.
Megawati, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party for
Struggle (PDI-P) was born in Yogyakarta, while her vice
presidential running mate Hasyim Muzadi was born in Tuban, East
Java.
In her earlier campaign in Bali last week, Megawati's Balinese
ancestry was clearly still a powerful draw card. Numerous local
officials joined her campaign, leading to what may be the first
ban on a presidential candidate. Her grandmother from first
president Sukarno's side is from the island, a stronghold of PDI-
P. Her campaigners in southern Sumatra also point to the fact
that her mother was from Bengkulu.
Megawati also reminded supporters on Tuesday that she had done
a lot for farmers during her three-year tenure. "Now has the
price of pepper improved?" she said, to a resounding "Yes!"
Last week Susilo's running mate Jusuf Kalla, also pointed out
in a campaign in Sulawesi that his advantage in being a native,
was that he knew the region best compared to other candidates.
Political parties seeking to nominate presidential candidates and
their running mates had earlier strived hard to balance Java and
the eastern regions through their candidates. The eastern
provinces experienced less development under the 32-year rule of
president Soeharto.
Solahuddin Wahid, the vice presidential candidate of Wiranto,
told a crowd in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, that if elected they
would implement "a more just" development scheme given the
imbalance so far between the western and eastern regions.
The coordinator of the city's student association (BEM)
conveyed hopes that their Cabinet could have someone from the
province. "For years the Cabinet has not had anyone from
Southeast Sulawesi despite our rich human resources," La Ode
Abdul Salam said.
In Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Vice President Hamzah Haz,
who is running for president under the United Development Party
(PPP), reacted strongly to reports that Hamzah's supporters were
being enticed to vote for Amien to prevent a split in votes among
the country's majority of Muslims.
Actually all five candidates are Muslim.
"Do you think my supporters can be provoked (to vote for
Amien)? No. It is my party which is Islamic, not PAN," he told
journalists, referring to Amien's National Mandate Party. Its
platform is pluralist, but it relies heavily on the network of
Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Muslim organization
claiming 30 million members.
"I'm the only presidential candidate from an Islamic party,"
Hamzah said, as quoted by Antara. PPP only garnered 9.24 million
votes or around 8.15 percent of the total 113.4 million votes in
the legislative election.
In Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi, Wiranto also pledged to try to
include figures from the eastern provinces in the Cabinet. Also
addressing the crowd were Golkar executives from Sulawesi Marwah
Daud, AA Baramuli and Andi Mattalatta.
In Palu, Central Sulawesi, Gen. (ret) Agum Gumelar, the
running mate of Hamzah, reiterated that if elected they would
waive tuition fees for students from elementary school to senior
high school.