Election campaign kicks off

Mon, 28 Apr 1997, 00:00 WIB | Source: JP

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia began yesterday the 1997 election
campaign with senior political leaders throughout the country
meeting supporters in peaceful and orderly gatherings.

The capital city Jakarta and other cities in the archipelago
were bathed in green, yellow and red -- the colors of the United
Development Party (PPP), Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI).

Traffic in Jakarta and many other cities was mostly normal as
this year's campaign rules restricted activities to designated
areas only, and banned street rallies and motorcades. There were
several incidents of groups violating election guidelines such as
Golkar supporters riding around in vehicles owned by state
agencies.

Chairman of the General Elections Institute Moch. Yogie S.M.,
and chairman of the Elections Supervision Committee Singgih,
a member of the institute's advisory board Gen. Feisal Tanjung and
National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo, toured campaign
sites in Yogyakarta, Central and East Java.

"We're not making this tour to campaign, but to observe
whether the contestants are adhering to the laws," Yogie said.

Some 15,000 people in yellow T-shirts, bandanas and other
attributes attended the Golkar gathering in Lebak regency, some
150 kilometers southwest of here.

Chairman Harmoko was the sole speaker and wooed the locals
with the local dialect. "'Rek pilih naon euy? (Which party will
you vote for on polling day?)" he asked, to which the audience
responded eagerly "Golkar euy!"

Harmoko spoke about poverty eradication and how the dominant
group will work to improve the local people's welfare. Some 190
of the 300 villages in the Lebak regency are currently recipients
of the government's poverty alleviation funds.

Harmoko also promised that the government-backed group would
appeal to major businessmen to invest more in the regency, which
was one of Golkar's strongholds in the 1992 general election.

In Central Java, Golkar deputy chairwoman Siti Hardiyanti
Rukmana addressed thousands of supporters in Semarang. Noted
dangdut singer Rhoma Irama, whose switch in political allegiance
from PPP to Golkar caused an uproar recently, campaigned in Blora
regency.

Hardiyanti, the eldest daughter of President Soeharto, told
the crowd not to abstain from voting.

"As responsible citizens of Indonesia, you must not become
Golput (polls abstainers). Of course, it'd be wonderful if you
choose Golkar," said Hardiyanti, better known as Tutut.

But not everyone in attendance were faithful Golkar
supporters. One participant said: "I joined the gathering because
I have been given a Golkar yellow T-Shirt and a cap. I'll join
the PPP and PDI campaigns if they gave me T-shirts, too."

In Medan, some 15,000 supporters of the United Development
Party (PPP) crowded the Merdeka soccer field yesterday.

Clad in the party's dominant green color, some painted their
face green, while others shaved their hair to form a star, the
party's symbol.

Addressing the campaign was party chairman Ismail Hasan
Metareum, who spoke on the issues of corruption, monopoly and the
lack of freedom of expression.

Amid loud cheers from supporters, Ismail, dressed in a
traditional Malayan outfit, pledged that the party would help
"the helpless" and the youth "get their political rights back".

"People should have the freedom to air their opinion which is
different from the government's without fear of being branded as
the state's enemies," he said.

Ismail, better known as Buya, also proposed that the
government increase the education budget from 12 percent to 20
percent of the overall state budget.

PPP is focusing its campaign on justice, democratization and
human rights. The theme was written on banners, headbands and
bandannas which the PPP supporters carried and wore.

One banner read: "Vote for Bintang (or the star)." Another
read: "Hey, young ones. Grab the nation's future from those
hypocrites."

In the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak, about 2,000
people, mostly youths clad in the party colors of red and black,
joined a rally at the Khatulistiwa soccer field, featuring
chairman Soerjadi.

A score of police and military officers guarded the soccer
field in anticipation of disturbances by supporters of the
overthrown PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

But no tight measures were applied on the first day of the 27-
day election campaign in this equatorial town that was regaining
its composure following ethnic riots, which shook the province a
few months ago.

A local party cadre, Johanes Polansuka, dismissed the
potential for such scuffles, saying the party's internal conflict
largely affects Java.

"We never feel involved with the continuing dispute. It seems
like a conflict within the party's leadership that has no impact
on the masses," Polansuka, secretary of the PDI's West Kalimantan
chapter, said.

"The split may affect the party's cadres here, but it is too
insignificant to change our mind," he added.

Opening his campaign speech, Soerjadi focussed on eradicating
corruption within the bureaucracy.

"We will urge the People's Consultative Assembly to adopt a
legislation on the national anticorruption drive, which will pave
the way for anticorruption law," Soerjadi said.

"Corruption has reached an alarming level in the country
because it has become common among the people," he said.

He blamed the lack of nationalism among Indonesians for
causing the overwhelming problem. The absence of nationalism, he
said, had led people to nurture their greed.

Soerjadi renewed the party's call for an abolition of the
controversial 1965 laws on politics, which include election laws
and laws on political organizations. (team)