'Mega-Bintang' banners banned

'Mega-Bintang' banners banned

JAKARTA (JP): The government banned yesterday banners and
pictures which suggest a coalition of deposed Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri and the
United Development Party (PPP) during the campaign.

General Elections Committee's chairman, Moch. Yogie S.M., told
reporters yesterday that the banners and slogans breached
election rules and an agreement among the three parties
contesting the May 29 poll.

Yogie briefed reporters after a meeting with Attorney General
Singgih, in his capacity as chairman of the Election Supervision
Committee, Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen.
Syarwan Hamid and representatives of the three parties. They
evaluated the second week of the campaign in the meeting.

"I declare that people are not to use those banners. We never
recognize any party but the three poll contestants," Yogie said.

Banners and yells in support of Megawati have become the
highlight of many PPP rallies since the party's Surakarta,
Central Java, branch chief Mudrick Setiawan Sangidoe met her last
week to seek her blessing for many of her local loyalists who
wanted to join the PPP.

Megawati, who insists that she is the legitimate PDI
chairwoman despite a government-backed congress that reinstated
Soerjadi at the party's helm, is not allowed to stand for
election.

The Soerjadi-led PDI faction, the PPP and Golkar will vie for
425 seats in the 500-seat House of Representatives. The other 75
seats are reserved for the military, whose members do not vote.

Singgih confirmed the ban. He said election rules said that
campaign banners should carry the party's programs or themes and
must be approved by police.

Syarwan said the security forces would seize banners or T-
shirts and ban chants in support of the "Mega-Bintang" alliance.
Mega is Megawati's nickname and bintang or star is the PPP's
symbol.

Syarwan urged the PPP to persuade Megawati loyalists not to
join its rallies if they insisted on wearing or carrying the
banned slogans.

"I call on them (Megawati supporters) not to display the
outlawed banners in the next rally," Syarwan said.

He refused to speculate on who was behind the emerging
alliance, but said the security forces would closely look into
it.

PPP deputy chairman Djufri Asmoredjo, who attended the
meeting, said the use of Megawati's name at the party's recent
rallies had been spontaneous.

Cancellation

Thousands of Megawati loyalists showed off their numbers
yesterday in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, in an across-the-city
convoy, which forced local pro-Soerjadi PDI officials to cancel
their rally.

About 200 people had gathered for the rally, under tight
security for fear that Megawati loyalists would attack.

The Megawati loyalists' convoy proceeded peacefully, partly
because of persuasion from Maj. Gen. Agum Gumelar, the Wirabuana
military commander overseeing Sulawesi, and South Sulawesi Police
chief Brig. Gen. Ali Hanfiah.

Violations

Yogie urged the parties again yesterday to stop their illegal
street rallies.

"The street rallies are on the increase despite the ban, not
because we tolerate them doing so but because we lack the
security guards to stop them," Yogie said.

"It's not our responsibility alone (to stop street rallies),
but all of us, including the poll contestants," he said.

Street rallies have claimed at least 39 lives since
campaigning officially began on April 27.

Syarwan said that traffic law violations were the most common
offenses committed by the supporters of all three parties during
campaigning. He said more security personnel could be deployed
for the remaining 11 days of campaigning.

Bogor Mayor Edi Gunardi announced yesterday that children
would be banned from street rallies in the mayoralty. An 18-year-
old man died and five others were injured Sunday in a PPP street
rally there.

In Bandung, chief of the Siliwangi regional military command,
Maj. Gen. Tayo Tarmadi, said five people had been killed, six
seriously injured and 74 slightly injured in traffic accidents
during campaigning in the province of West Java.

In Padang, West Sumatra, PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum
asked the government to stop requiring bureaucrats to help Golkar
win the election.

In Pamekasan, East Java, Golkar leader Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana
continued to try to solicit support from influential ulemas
yesterday, while in Langsa, Aceh, PDI chairman Soerjadi called
for the abolition of "feudalistic practices" within the
bureaucracy. (amd/ahy/30/37/imn/nur)