Golkar office attacked in Ujungpandang

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)