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.