Megawati will have 10 days to campaign for her party

Megawati will have 10 days to campaign for her party

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri will spend 10 days campaigning
for her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), taking
turns with Vice President Hamzah Haz in running the government.

Without taking any leave from their state duties, Megawati and
Hamzah of the United Development Party (PPP) will take turns
touring the country beginning on Thursday, when the election
campaign begins.

PDI-P deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung said on Tuesday
that Megawati would not attend to any state duties during her
scheduled campaign stops, adding that the PDI-P would finance the
stops.

"We will not combine her campaigning with state duties, to
show the public that Megawati is not using any state facilities
to campaign," Pramono said after a party meeting.

He said that Gianyar, Bali, had been selected as Megawati's
first campaign stop on Friday, to be followed by East Nusa
Tenggara province on the same day.

Hamzah will travel to Situbondo, East Java, on Thursday to
campaign for the PPP.

"The chairwoman (Megawati) will address the party's
strongholds and those areas that need her presence to attract
voters," Pramono said.

Megawati will also campaign in North Sumatra, South Sulawesi
and provinces on Java island.

Pramono said Megawati would visit as many provinces as
possible during her 10 days of campaigning.

Indonesia will hold a legislative election on April 5, with
the campaign period running from March 11 to April 1.

State officials are permitted to take leave for two days
consecutively or three days with intervals to campaign for their
parties. This regulation, however, does not apply to the
President and Vice President.

Besides Megawati and Hamzah, 14 Cabinet members have been
listed as campaigners for their respective parties.

Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno,
State Minister for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises
Alimarwan Hanan and State Minister for Social Affairs Bachtiar
Chamsyah have notified the State Secretariat that they will not
be taking any leave during the campaign.

On Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf
Kalla submitted his request for leave on Feb. 23 and Feb. 29. He
is a national campaigner for Golkar, the second largest party in
the country after the PDI-P.

Earlier, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea,
State Minister for Research and Technology Hatta Radjasa, State
Minister for Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Soemaryoto and State
Minister for Communications and Information Syamsul Muarif
submitted requests for leave.

As the leader of the PDI-P, Megawati decided on Tuesday to
withdraw National Intelligence Agency chief A.M. Hendropriyono as
a campaigner for the party.

PDI-P's original decision to list Hendropriyono as a
campaigner had been criticized because his strategic position was
seen as prone to abuse for the interests of the party.

"Megawati ordered us to remove Hendropriyono from the list of
campaigners submitted to the KPU (General Elections Commission),"
PDI-P secretary-general Soetjipto said after the meeting.
Hendropriyono is a member of the party's consultative board.