Mudrick clashes with officials

Mudrick clashes with officials

SURAKARTA, Central Java: The chief of the United Development
Party's (PPP) local chapter, Mudrick Sangidoe, clashed with
public order officials over the party's banners Wednesday.

Mudrick tried to snatched a PPP banner from the officials in a
main street. The officials had been removing the banners, which
carried messages on cleanliness.

Officials said the banners, erected by the PPP and the
mayoralty, had to be replaced with ones on the city's 51st
anniversary.

No one was injured in the incident because PPP supporters and
bystanders quickly intervened.

Mudrick said the PPP had erected 300 banners in public places
in the ancient city to help the mayoralty's cleanliness drive.

The party's supporters put up their own banners because the
city's streets were dominated by yellow ones. Yellow is the color
of the government-backed Golkar party.

"We erected the banners because we need to express our love
for the city like people from other political groups do. Why
should they take them down?" he said.

City officials have stopped removing the banners since the
incident. (22)