'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)