Golkar prepared for poll debates

Golkar prepared for poll debates

JAKARTA (JP): A senior Golkar member said yesterday that the ruling political group is ready to campaign for the 1997 general election in indoor debates rather than outdoor rallies.

State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said Golkar had been pushing, since 1987, for electoral regulations which lay stress on political debates instead of outdoor political rallies.

"Dialog campaigns are safer," Sarwono said, as quoted by Antara, during a meeting with Golkar leaders in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

He said Golkar had tested the method in the last election in 1992 and it had proven "quite successful" in terms of winning votes.

The government is currently still formulating guidelines for election campaigns for the 1997 polls. The guidelines are expected to ban, or at least restrict, massive political rallies on the basis that they have the potential to lead to security troubles.

There has also been talk of election contestants publicizing their messages through paid advertisements on televisions or in newspapers.

Golkar is contesting the election against the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party. Because most of the mass media are owned by Golkar, the two minority parties have in previous election campaigns depended on open-air rallies to get their message to voters.

Sarwono said he was confident that Golkar would have a sufficient number of speakers to argue its case in election debates against representatives of the two other parties.

He said stress should be placed on improving the communication abilities of Golkar's campaigners, as well as their knowledge and perceptions. (emb)