Golkar office attacked in Ujungpandang

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Resentment against Golkar continued to be expressed on Tuesday when supporters of the United Development Party (PPP) attacked a local office of the ruling party here.

The supporters threw stones at the heavily guarded office and some of them were also seen attacking the office with arrows.

Security personnel, however, were able to control the situation and there were no reports of injuries.

In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, at least two people were injured and two cars and a house damaged in a clash between supporters of Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) on Monday.

The clash erupted after a group of Golkar supporters reprimanded another group of PDI Perjuangan supporters who were seen removing Golkar's flags and symbols on Jl. Jamin Ginting.

In the West Sumatra capital of Padang, Golkar and PDI Perjuangan supporters held street convoys in shifts to avoid a head-to-head meeting on Monday.

Police also barred supporters of the two rival parties from plying the same routes, with the PDI Perjuangan mass diverted to the outskirts and their Golkar counterparts staying in town.

Separately, deputy secretary of the Central Java office of Golkar, Sutoyo Abadi, said on Tuesday that some 5,000 flags and banners of the ruling party in Batang, Pekalongan and Semarang have either gone missing or were set on fire.

In Grobogan, some 60 kilometers east of Semarang, a group of passengers in a passing truck threw stones at a group of Golkar supporters in front of a cafeteria in Wirosari on Tuesday, injuring two of them.

In Kudus, some 30 kilometers east of Semarang, local Golkar secretary Kurnen said a group of people wearing the symbols of PDI Perjuangan were seen removing and vandalizing hundreds of Golkar's flags on Monday evening.

Since campaigning began on May 19, Golkar has been besieged by the public for its alleged corruption and abuse of power during the 32-year regime of former president Soeharto who resigned amid deadly riots, student protests and the country's worst economic crisis in decades last May.

"Golkar leaders' repeated statements that the party is a proreform force are (so irritating that they are) only adding fuel to the fire," political observer Sunyoto Usman from the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Analysts said the party committed "political suicide" when it named President B.J. Habibie its sole presidential candidate recently. Following the revelation by Time magazine that Soeharto and his family are sitting on an allegedly ill-gotten fortune of US$ 15 billion, Golkar leaders said they would reconsider Habibie's nomination because of his poor record in investigating Soeharto.

Leader of the Southeast Sulawesi office of Golkar, Hino Biohanis, however, was optimistic the ruling party would still win in the province.

Southeast Sulawesi has been the ruling party's stronghold where more than 95 percent of eligible voters supported Golkar during Soeharto's rule.

Hino was quoted as saying by Antara on Tuesday that having the South Sulawesi-born Habibie as the party's sole presidential candidate has also strengthened the party's chance of winning the vote in the province.

"We believe 65 percent to 70 percent of Southeast Sulawesi's 900,000 eligible voters will still vote for Golkar," Biohanis was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, in the Central Java district of Pegandon, some 25 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Semarang, one supporter of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and another of the United Development Party (PPP) were slightly injured in a clash between supporters from both parties on Monday evening.

A house owned by a local PKB Muslim cleric was also damaged in the clash.

Local PKB official Nasikin said on Tuesday the clash erupted after supporters from both parties met in the streets on their way back from party meetings earlier on Monday and began jeering and throwing stones at each other.

Aceh

Separately, Bukit Barisan Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. A. Gaffar, who oversees security in Northern Sumatra including Aceh, admitted on Tuesday it was difficult for political parties to campaign in the troubled province due to the escalating tensions between the military and the alleged members of the Free Aceh Movement.

"I must admit the situation is unstable in North Aceh, Pidie and East Aceh. It is unlikely the political parties can hold proper campaigning there," Gaffar was quoted by Antara as saying.

Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh were the three regencies which had been affected by a decade of anti-rebel military operations that were only halted last year.

Residents have demanded the right to determine their future through a referendum, a demand which has grown stronger since earlier this month when security forces opened fire on protesters and left 41 people dead.

Resentment against the military and Jakarta has also risen with soldiers accused of widespread human rights violations during anti-rebel operations.

The Free Aceh movement has been fighting for independence since the mid-1970s.

A battalion of riot troops, however, was dispatched to Aceh last week to jack up voter turnout. (23/27/28/29/30/44/amd/byg/har)