Election campaign kicks off

From: The Jakarta Post

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)

JP/Election campaign kicks off