Election campaigning begins in slapdash manner
JAKARTA (JP): Supporters and activists of the 48 political parties contesting the elections will formally launch their campaign activities on Wednesday morning, amid fears of unrest.
Election officials and party representatives on Tuesday held prayers for peaceful elections in cities across the country.
But fears of conflict were fulfilled on Tuesday in Pekalongan, Central Java, where 14 homes were burned and at least 11 people were injured in a clash involving thousands of supporters of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP). In Denpasar, looting and vandalism was reported on Monday.
In Bogor and Tangerang in West Java, hundreds of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) staged separate protests against party executives, accusing them of favoritism by naming only their close friends as legislative candidates for local councils.
In Jakarta, the General Elections Commission (KPU) office was deserted on Tuesday, as members have left to campaign for their parties. The office still has to announce on Wednesday the final list of 13,500 legislative candidates; the two-day period reserved for the public to raise objections over the candidates ended on Tuesday without notable reactions, mainly because the list had not been easily accessible.
The commission printed on Sunday 80,000 sheets of the provisional list in newspaper format and was supposed to have distributed them across the country, before printing the final list on Wednesday.
Also on Tuesday, the commission ruled that parties would only be allowed to spend a maximum of Rp 110 billion (US$14 million) on campaigning. The Indonesian Accountants Association will conduct audits of how the funds were generated and used.
Commission chairman Rudini explained that a party can spend in each village Rp 1 million, followed by districts with Rp 6 million each, regency with Rp 40 million and a province with Rp 100 million.
"There is a total of 68,000 villages in the country, plus 4,000 districts, 327 regencies and 27 provinces. We will discuss the auditing details later," Rudini said.
After opening the KPU media center at the Aryaduta Hotel in Central Jakarta, Rudini also said the commission has decided to extend voter registration up until balloting day on June 7 in several volatile areas, such as Aceh and Maluku.
"We will declare the poll a success if two-thirds of the 48 political parties endorse the final results of the voting," he said.
The printing and distribution of the list and the opening of the media center were a small part of preparations being made across the country. In Jakarta on Tuesday night, for instance, Governor Sutiyoso led representatives of the branches of 48 parties in a solemn vow to maintain unity and avoid violence during campaigning.
The party branches will start from the National Monument square this morning in a friendly convoy. Similar convoys are being prepared in other places in Indonesia, while open fields and sports stadiums are being readied to house gatherings to be attended by leading politicians.
Abdurrahman Wahid will see PKB supporters in Banda Aceh on Wednesday, but there are no details on where PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and National Mandate Party (PAN) Amien Rais will begin their respective electoral campaigns. Mega was in Lampung and Amien met with PAN cadres in West Java on Tuesday.
In another preparation, State Minister of Investment Hamzah Haz officially resigned from the Cabinet on Tuesday to enable him to lead the PPP during the campaign.
In a brief ceremony led by President B.J. Habibie at the State Palace, Hamzah handed over his portfolio to Minister of Tourism and Culture Marzuki Usman.
Hamzah said he would resign as the party chairman if his party failed to win at least 20 percent, as it realized in the 1997 general election. (41/24/prb/swe/ind/edt)