Deadline set for removal of communication posts

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday the city administration had set a June 5 deadline for all political parties contesting the upcoming general election to remove their communication posts from the capital.

"It is the deadline and I hope all parties will clear the posts by themselves. If not it will be the administration's officers who will do it," he said.

Sutiyoso said, however, he believed the parties were willing to abide by exiting regulations.

Political parties, most notably the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), have constructed thousands of communication posts, better known as Posko Gotong Royong, throughout the capital and across the country.

Previously, Toha Reno, head of public facility orderliness at the city public order office, said his officers would put the posts in order. He added a number of posts were set up in prohibited zones, including on sidewalks and in green areas.

Besides breaking existing regulations on public order, building the posts in public areas ruined the city's beauty, he said.

Sutiyoso said that on June 5, all the parties eligible for the June 7 general election also should remove their flags, stickers and posters from public places.

"I hope all of the parties will respect what they have agreed to," he said.

The Jakarta Provincial Elections Committee has issued a schedule of campaign activities, which includes the removal of political party attributes by June 5.

Contacted by The Jakarta Post on Friday, the head of PDI Perjuangan's Jakarta chapter, Roy B.B. Janis, agreed with the governor's call to clear party attributes from the city, but did not agree with the call to demolish the communication posts.

"The posts were established not for campaigning, but for security. I think we will need such places during the campaign period when violence is expected to escalate," he said.

According to him, PDI Perjuangan has more than 3,000 communication posts in Jakarta. (ind)