Govt says campaign must go on

Govt says campaign must go on

JAKARTA (JP): Despite heightening tension and widespread fears
of more violence, the government is allowing the three parties to
continue campaigning.

Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. said yesterday he
understood public worries about further unrest but stressed that
campaigning would not be terminated until the end of the
scheduled period on Friday.

But he said that in the remaining four days the campaigning
should take the form of indoor dialogs and that street rallies
were strictly banned.

Yogie acknowledged that the recent violence in Jakarta,
Yogyakarta and several Central Java towns had exceeded the
tolerable limit.

"It's a mistake to say that the violence was acceptable,"
Yogie said in a message relayed to journalists by his spokesman
H.S.A Yusacc.

The minister said the government meant to stick to the
original consensus with the three contestants, the United
Development Party (PPP), Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI), that the campaigning period was from April 27 to May
23.

Yogie said no contestant had asked the government to terminate
the campaign.

Fears of more open conflict among the parties have been
aggravated after Golkar's street rallies in Jakarta, Yogyakarta
and Central Java on Sunday disintegrated into brawls with PPP
supporters.

Today, the Moslem-backed PPP is scheduled to hold indoor
rallies across Java, Maluku and Irian Jaya.

Deployment

Jakarta PPP chief Rusjdi Hamka said yesterday the party would
deploy more party security personnel to coordinate with the
police and military to secure the PPP's campaigning.

He said the party was well aware that most of the PPP
supporters would be unlikely to comply with Saturday's agreement
to hold only indoor rallies attended a limited number of
participants.

"So I call on all the security personnel, who have been doing
their jobs extremely well so far, not to let our supporters roam
all over the place. Help us guide them to the campaigning sites,"
Rusjdi said.

Most of yesterday's campaigning proceeded without serious
incident. PDI supporters reportedly ran riot in the Irian Jaya
capital of Jayapura yesterday. They vandalized buildings and
threw stones at the police after hearing rumors a party supporter
had been shot dead by a police officer.

PPP deputy chairman Jusuf Syakir said his party rejected any
calls to stop campaigning, arguing the security authorities were
in firm control.

But he agreed that if people wanted a shorter campaigning
period, the government and the parties should discuss it for the
next election, scheduled for 2002.

Jusuf said he saw no strong reason why the campaign should be
stopped.

"I see no anxiety among the people. I see happiness in their
faces," he said. "Of course there are always unwanted aspects to
every game ..."

The government's insistence on continuing the campaigning
received support from the Independent Election Supervision
Committee (KIPP) and an activist of the National Commission on
Human Rights.

KIPP Secretary-General Mulyana W. Kusumah said that street
rallies and indoor dialogs were a good political education for
the public, especially for would-be first-time voters.

"Street rallies remain a good method for the parties to
attract potential voters," he said.

National Commission on Human Rights member Muladi said in
Semarang yesterday that indoor dialogs should continue otherwise
people who wanted to see the election fail would have won.

Muladi, who is also rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro
University, said he believed the unrest in various areas had been
triggered by interest groups wanting to topple President Soeharto
unconstitutionally.

"I believe the groups do exist. I have seen anonymous leaflets
circulating on campuses and other public places -- all suggesting
that such a plot is real," he said.

Jakarta Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang refused
yesterday to give details on the number of victims or violations
that had occurred during the latest three days of campaigning.

"Let's support the three organizations' commitment to cool
down. Let's not expose the number of violations committed by each
or all the three organizations," Aritonang said.

Speaking about the Police's preparations for today's
campaigning in Jakarta, Aritonang said the City Police would not
reduce the number of its personnel on the streets. Ten thousand
policemen have been deployed in Jakarta to safeguard the
campaign. (imn/aan/nur/cst/ste/38/har)

Effectiveness -- Page 4