Kerosene sold to woo voters

Kerosene sold to woo voters

SEMARANG: Political parties are relying on a variety of tricks to
woo voters during the election campaign, including the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) in Semarang, the capital of Central Java
province.

As the election is a few days away, the PKS has intensified
its campaigning here by selling cheap kerosene to residents in
Tambaklorok fishing village, North Semarang district.

Party officials sold some 2,500 liters of kerosene during a
function on Thursday to Tambaklorok residents at a very low
price, only Rp 500 per liter, way below the normal price of Rp
1,500.

"Each resident has been given a coupon to get the cheap
kerosene. Each family can buy a maximum of 10 liters of
kerosene," said Dawam, chairman of the Usaha Mina Group of
fishermen in Tambaklorok.

The function was attended on Thursday by PKS leader Hidayat
Nur Wahid, who held a meeting with local fishermen.

It is unclear whether the distribution of cheap kerosene can
be categorized as vote buying. A similar move at the same
location was made by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P) in the early part of the campaigning period, without
complaint from the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu). --
JP