City like ghost town as election fever strikes

Evi Mariani and Multa Fidrus, Jakarta/Tangerang

Usually a bustling metropolis, Greater Jakarta was more like a deserted city most of the day as office workers stayed home to cast their vote at polling stations in the first direct presidential election on Monday.

Few vehicles were seen on the city's roads and at intersections, which are often traffic traps for motorists. Roads are usually quiet only at Idul Fitri.

Polling booths were open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Traditional markets, such as Kramat Jati in East Jakarta and Pasar Rumput in South Jakarta, were also quiet for half of the day, as market tenants cast their vote first and opened their shops and stalls after lunch time.

"I'm not opening my restaurant at Mester market today, because other shop owners at this market said they wouldn't open their shops," Widyawati, who owns a meat ball soup restaurant at the market in East Jakarta, said on Monday morning.

Only a 10th of the usual number of customers went to Kramat Jati market, Antara news service reported.

Some supermarkets also closed their doors until after lunch time.

Different from regular days, food stalls that usually crowd sidewalks in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi were closed for the day, as most of the owners had returned to their hometowns to vote.

Kampung Rambutan, an intercity bus station in Jakarta, had been crowded since Friday with people returning to their hometowns to vote.

"Bus passengers on Friday soared to 19,766 people, whereas there are usually only about 9,000 passengers on regular Fridays," the head of security at the station, Sunardi Yafkur, was quoted as saying on Monday by Antara.

He said most of the passengers bought tickets to cities in West and Central Java.

However, some large shopping malls in Jakarta enjoyed a soaring number of visitors on the public holiday.

Plaza Senayan in South Jakarta, which opened its doors as usual at 10 a.m., was packed with visitors.

"I think the number of the visitors is even higher than on regular weekends," said Wanti, a worker at the shopping mall.

Plaza Indonesia in Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, was also jam- packed with people on Monday afternoon.

"It's crowded here, there are more people than on regular weekends," said Sandy, a customer service worker.

Both Sandy and Wanti said the managements of the shopping malls had arranged work shifts so all employees could vote.

"Employees who live near Plaza Indonesia were scheduled to work the morning shift," said Sandy. "So they could vote earlier in the morning."