Military orders removal of all political banners
Military orders removal of all political banners
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The local military chief has ordered the
three political organizations to remove all flags and banners
from the city's main roads amid reports that campaigning has
already begun for next year's general election.
Lt. Col. Sukedi said yesterday he met with representatives of
Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) and they all agreed to take down the flags
and banners that have been displayed in the city for the past two
weeks.
The three political parties have until Friday to comply, he
said, adding that the order was "for the sake of our common
peace."
Sukedi made no mention of sanctions against the PPP and PDI,
the two minority parties, who staged major political rallies on
Sunday, raising suggestions that they were electioneering in
violation of the law.
By law, the political parties can only stage election rallies
at designated times, usually only in the month before the
election.
Thousands of supporters of the two parties held separate
marches, including motorcades, across the city on Sunday, yelling
their party slogans as if it was election time.
Leaders of the two parties said the motorcades were taking
supporters home after attending "meetings with cadres" in the
city.
The meetings were held to mark the 24th anniversaries of the
PPP and PDI, although their actual anniversary fell in January.
The leaders of the two parties said the behavior of their
supporters after the meeting was beyond their control.
Golkar has kept quiet about the incident, which was widely
played up by the media. "Meeting with cadres" is the term used by
Golkar chairman Harmoko in referring to the big political rallies
he has held in various cities in the country over the past two
years.
A senior official of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which
polices the behavior of the political organizations, said he did
not see anything wrong with the motorcades in Yogyakarta, so long
as the local police did not have any objections.
Director General for Sociopolitical Affairs Soetoyo NK said in
Surakarta, Central Java, yesterday that "meetings with cadres"
are permitted and are not regarded as electioneering.
Asked about the possibility of similar incidents in other
cities in view of the government's decision not to punish the
parties, Soetoyo said the final decision on whether or not to ban
such motorcades is in the hands of the local police.
"If they don't disturb peace and order, clearly there's
nothing wrong with them," he said.
Heru Nugroho, a political analyst at Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta yesterday said that the weekend rallies reflected the
growing discontent among PPP and PDI supporters with the present
political conditions.
"The incident was a manifestation of their rejection of the
rigid political system which does not tolerate differences of
opinions and views," Heru said. (har/emb)