Election campaigning begins in slapdash manner

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)