Fighting breaks out across Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Violence hit vast parts of the capital and Yogyakarta yesterday as thousands of campaigning Golkar supporters fought their United Development Party (PPP) rivals and security personnel.

Golkar supporters started their street rallies early, despite an agreement by the three parties' Jakarta branches not to hold any public gatherings or rallies until after campaigning officially ends Friday.

Estimates of injuries, fatalities and damage are yet to be made, with the fighting in Jl. Warung Buncit Raya in South Jakarta, Jl. Matraman in East Jakarta, other parts of the city and Yogyakarta continuing well into the night.

In at least five parts of East, Central and South Jakarta, clashes erupted between Golkar supporters and residents who were apparently PPP supporters. Some fighting began because residents refused to give Golkar supporters the party's finger sign.

Hundreds of riot police and troops kept watch or fired tear gas canisters and warning shots to quell the unrest.

Thousands of people emerged from alleys and thronged the roads connecting the subdistricts of Senen, Salemba, Matraman, Tambak, Otista, Cawang and Dewi Sartika in Central and East Jakarta from 3 until 5 p.m. -- some came out of curiosity, but most were PPP supporters who jeered and taunted the convoys of Golkar supporters.

Streets fighting occurred in at least three places between 2:30 and 4 p.m. from Kramat Pulo in Central Jakarta to Matraman, East Jakarta. Hundreds of PPP supporters threw stones at Golkar supporters from the Matraman-Salemba flyover at about 3 p.m.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata was among the security officers working to disperse the fighting at the Matraman flyover.

He told The Jakarta Post that street brawls between rival supporters in the city were still tolerable compared with those in other regions. No arrests have been reported.

Riot police stopped PPP supporters joining their friends who were fighting on Jl. Tambak, Central Jakarta.

Shortly after police closed off Salemba to Matraman to traffic at about 3 p.m., a clash erupted between PPP and Golkar supporters near Gramedia bookstore in Matraman.

Hundreds of people were seen brawling with yellow-clad Golkar supporters in front of the bookstore, prompting riot police to fire warning shots.

The PPP supporters roamed in groups along Jl. Matraman Raya, despite a police order to disperse. The street was reopened for traffic at about 5 p.m.

Violence in the hot spots of Matraman, Kramat Jati and Cawang, East Jakarta, and in Menteng, Central Jakarta, had subsided by 6 p.m. yesterday.

But many people remained milling about on the streets of Pramuka, Matraman, Jatinegara and Otto Iskandar Dinata. Hundreds of police and security officers patrolled these streets in trucks and mini-vans, while hundreds of others guarded major intersections.

Sign

The worst violence began in Cawang, East Jakarta, at about 1 p.m. when a convoy of Golkar supporters passed under the Cawang flyover.

Residents said that Golkar supporters got angry with locals who had refused to give the Golkar finger victory sign. The locals had, instead, waved their index finger, the PPP finger sign.

Golkar supporters jumped off their vehicles and chased residents who escaped into neighborhood alleys. Golkar supporters and residents then started throwing stones at each other.

Four cars, several houses and street flower pots, adorned with banyan tree pictures (Golkar's symbol), were damaged in the melee. The sentry post and gate of the Suara Pembaruan daily's office suffered minor damage.

Tension remained high until late last night around Jl. Kebayoran Lama and Cipulir in West Jakarta and around Jl. Warung Buncit Raya in South Jakarta. Thousands of people took to the streets. There were reports of fighting and warning shots, but security personnel claimed the situation was under control.

On Saturday, police fired tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and warning shots to disperse thousands of PPP supporters in Jatinegara. They were protesting about being barred from a street which had been open to Golkar convoys.

Vandalism

In Yogyakarta, fighting erupted yesterday when about 30 members of Golkar's Cakra security force attacked and vandalized the Indonesian Islamic University's student regiment office.

One Cakra member said they smashed the campus' fence and tore down the office because the force had been attacked by students.

Hundreds of students then demonstrated in front of the campus and burned Golkar flags. They refused to disperse despite the order from scores of riot police and soldiers. At about 11 p.m., the security personnel forcibly dispersed the students, dragging some of them away from the street.

Nearby residents were told not to leave their houses, while the road in front of the campus was blocked by police.

In Bantul, a small town south of Yogyakarta, a mosque and a mushola (small mosque) were attacked by Golkar supporters on their way home from a rally.

Back in Jakarta, Fikri Zulfikar, the son of Golkar campaign speaker and singer Rhoma Irama, said that over 300 people had besieged and pelted Rhoma's home. They also burned a golkar flag and cut off a large balloon emblazoned with Golkar's logo moored in front of the home of the singer who had jumped ship from the PPP to Golkar.

Rhoma Irama had been campaigning in Bogor when the incident happened, Fikri said. (03/05/cst/38/01/aan/imn/jsk/swe)

Editorial -- Page 4