Megawati, Zainuddin boost chances of candidates for local government
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The election campaign across the archipelago ran well and was full of merriment on Saturday as big shots flocked to the regions in support of candidates running for local government.
Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri flew to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi on Saturday to attend the campaign of Sinyo Sarundajang and Freddy H. Sualang. The candidates for governor and deputy governor are being nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party that Megawati leads.
In the lively event attended by thousands of people, Megawati warned the crowd that they had to be vigilant during the direct gubernatorial election on June 20, the first in North Sulawesi's history. "People have to watch the voting closely in order to prevent election fraud," Megawati was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.
Megawati, the daughter of nationalist and Indonesian founding father Sukarno, urged the people to vote for Sarundajang and Sualang.
In Medan, North Sumatra, popular cleric-cum-politician Zainudin M.Z campaigned for Abdillah and Ramli as candidates for mayor and deputy mayor. Before the crowd of thousands attending the rally in a large field in Medan city, Zainuddin, the chairman of the Reform Star Party (PBR), urged the crowd to vote for Abdillah, the incumbent mayor, whom he described as being close to the people.
Popular performing artists from Jakarta were a great crowd drawer. Ignoring the scorching sun, the crowd sang and danced along with the artists.
Medan city's streets were congested as thousands of his supporters paraded across the city with motorcycles and cars, confusing police personnel.
The campaign on Saturday was the second day of the campaign ahead of the Medan mayoral election on June 27. Abdillah and Ramli are set to hold 19 outdoor rallies, while contenders Maulana Pohan and Sigit Pramono will hold nine outdoor rallies. Election rallies were also held in other areas across the nation on the same day, with each candidate attracting voters in their own way.
In Yogyakarta, running mates Ibnu Subiyanto and Sri Purnomo held a public meeting in three separate areas in Sleman regency, while their opponents Sutrisno and Achmad Yulianto chose to provide free medical services in seven hamlets in the regency.
Ibnu Subiyanto promised the crowd that if he was elected, he would develop entrepreneurship programs and provide small industries with more soft loans.
In Depok municipality, West Java, mayoral candidates promised in separate public rallies that if they were elected, they would provide people with cheap medical services, free education and would fight unemployment.
In Bandarlampung, Lampung province, the first day of the mayoral election campaign was marred by traffic violations. Many supporters rode motorcycles into an open field where the campaign rallies were held without helmets. Some others even took the opportunity to parade across the town, while police officers seemed powerless to stop them.
Officials from Bandarlampung Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) complained that violations were rampant during the campaign, as many children were present in the campaign.
As people in many areas joined election rallies, people in Indragiri Hulu, Riau province, went to the polls on Saturday. The voting ran peacefully with regental candidates Emrizal Pakis and Thamsir Rachman leading the provisional tally, detik.com news portal reported.