Golkar supporters rally in the streets

JAKARTA (JP): Golkar supporters could not fail the temptation to rally in the streets of the capital and elsewhere in Java yesterday in an obvious breach of the election campaigning rules.

Thousands of Golkar supporters took to the streets in deafening motorcades across the city, disrupting traffic in several areas. Chanting slogans and making Golkar's one-finger sign, they forced motorists and bystanders to make way for them.

Golkar campaigners rode motorcycles and crammed into pickup vans, chanting slogans and clad in yellow attire.

The traffic was not as congested as Tuesday when the United Development Party (PPP) showed its strength in unruly rallies.

Yesterday's rallies in the capital and elsewhere in Java occurred only a day after Golkar executives complained against PPP's breach of the campaign rules Tuesday.

Fahmi Alatas, chairman of Golkar's media relations department, told Antara Tuesday night that PPP violated campaign rules when holding street rallies and, in some areas, removed Golkar flags.

But Rully Chairul Azwar, who heads Golkar's department in charge of election strategies, said that motorcades are "OK" as long as they were orderly.

"What's wrong with peaceful, orderly motorcades?" he asked last night. He added that he was collecting information on the extent of the rally.

Three parties will compete in the May 29 election -- Golkar, PPP and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). Campaigning began Sunday and will end on May 23.

Surjadi Soedirdja, chairman of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Elections Committee, reprimanded the three contenders yesterday for breaching campaign rules.

Election supervision officials said yesterday that PPP supporters were liable for criminal charges for various violations during Tuesday's campaign.

The Jakarta City Police summoned Rusjdi Hamka, chairman of the Jakarta chapter of PPP, Tuesday night for questioning on PPP's street rallies earlier in the afternoon.

Towns in Java, Maluku and Irian Jaya became a sea of yellow, Golkar's color. The dominant group repeated its promise to create more jobs and alleviate poverty.

In Yogyakarta, two groups of people participating in Golkar rallies vandalized two offices of the local PPP branch, injuring one party supporter.

Spokesman for the Armed Forces Brig. Gen. Slamet Supriadi told The Post in Jakarta last night that the authorities were tracking down the vandalists.

In Jakarta, more than a dozen cabinet ministers held an indoor campaign dialog in which they addressed supporters and answered questions on various matters.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro told people to report officials who embezzled teachers' salaries as often reported in the mass media.

"It's true that some officials have deducted teachers' salaries but this does not mean that the whole system is corrupt," he said.

State Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman said Golkar would get rid of government officials who demanded illegal levies, embezzled people's money and abused their power.

"Golkar is committed to creating a clean governance at all levels of bureaucracy," he said when addressing hundreds of Golkar supporters in South Jakarta.

Meanwhile, PDI's first campaign dialog in Ujungpandang ended in a news briefing after almost all of the participants left the room as soon as campaigner Budi Hardjono was about to start.

The minority party also held its first campaign dialog televised on the state-owned television station TVRI, featuring senior politician Fatimah Achmad.

With some 30 participants, Fatimah focused on PDI's wish to empower women. (team)

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