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.