Candidates wrap up electoral campaign period peacefully

Candidates wrap up electoral campaign period peacefully

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Makassar/Serang

The five presidential candidates wrapped up their campaigns on
Thursday, with some of the candidates warning supporters to
beware of vote buying, which they said could tarnish the
election.

Speaking to the press at the Golkar headquarters in West
Jakarta, Solahuddin Wahid urged supporters and the public not to
give in to vote buying, especially during the morning of the
election on July 5.

Every vote in the election will be important for Indonesia's
future, stressed Solahuddin, the running mate of Golkar's
presidential candidate Wiranto.

"Every vote will be meaningful for efforts to resolve the
economic crisis and improve the people's welfare," he said during
an appearance with campaign chairman Slamet Effendy Yusuf and
Golkar secretary-general Budi Harsono.

Amien Rais, the presidential candidate from the National
Mandate Party (PAN), also warned people to watch out for vote
buying ahead of the election.

During his final campaign rally at the Karebosi field in
Makassar, South Sulawesi, Amien also called on the Elections
Supervisory Committee to look into the financial sources of all
of the candidates.

The practice of vote buying, he was quoted by Antara as
saying, would only damage the country's developing democracy.

Incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri's running mate,
Hasyim Muzadi, thanked the people, the General Elections
Commission and the security forces for helping to ensure a
peaceful campaign period.

Thursday was the last day of the one-month campaign, which
began on June 1.

Hasyim, who temporarily stepped down as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
chairman to accept the invitation to be Megawati's running mate,
called on all of the presidential candidates and their running
mates to maintain the peace during the last few days before the
election.

During the five-day "cooling-off period" in which campaigning
is banned, Hasyim said he would stay at his Al Hikam Muslim
boarding school in Malang, East Java, but would cast his vote in
Central Jakarta on July 5.

He expressed optimism that he and Megawati would take part in
an expected second-round of voting on Sept. 5, even though polls
show Megawati's popularity falling and minimum NU support for
him.

On the final day of the campaign, Megawati was in Tangerang,
Banten, where she opened a public health center during her visit
to Suradita village, Cisauk district. The center is aimed at
helping poor people in need of medical treatment.

Also campaigning in Banten were United Development Party (PPP)
presidential candidate Hamzah Haz and his running mate Agum
Gumelar.

Addressing supporters in Serang, Hamzah pledged to provide
free education for elementary school, junior high school and high
school students within the first two years of his presidency.

Free education is vital, he said, because almost 80 percent of
the country's 210 million people can only afford to continue
their educations as far as junior high school.

Candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke out on how he plans
to fight corruption, saying there should be regular audits of
state officials' wealth to determine whether they are enriching
themselves while in office.

"Regular audits are necessary to identify if increases in
officials' wealth are reasonable or not," he said in Jakarta.

Susilo emphasized that corruption eradication would be among
the top priorities of his administration. He vowed to reopen or
continue the investigations into all past graft cases.

Ending his campaign, Susilo delivered a speech detailing his
economic-heavy policy platform, which includes creating more
jobs, increasing economic growth to 5.5 percent next year, ending
separatist and sectarian conflicts, and fighting terrorism.

Susilo, a retired four-star general, also promised to tackle
endemic graft and ensure that the law was enforced equally
against all people.

"To create a better Indonesia within the next five years, I
will do everything to wipe out corruption. We have to create a
clean, accountable, transparent and efficient government and
bureaucracy," he said.

Susilo's running mate Jusuf Kalla did not appear at the rally
on Thursday as he was still en route to Jakarta from Cirebon,
West Java.