Only 4,000 people attend 'peaceful poll' gathering
Only 4,000 people attend 'peaceful poll' gathering
JAKARTA (JP): Some 4,000 people, including housewives and
children, attended a gathering to promote a peaceful general
election at the 110,000-seat Senayan soccer stadium in Central
Jakarta on Sunday morning.
The number of attendees, mostly attired in sports apparel,
appeared to be fewer than it was due to the vastness of the
stadium, which has a more than 110,000-person capacity.
Most of the participants in the gathering, called "Indonesian
Families for a Peaceful Poll", were couples and their children
who had just completed their weekly jog around the sports
complex.
The corners of the stadium were covered with large banners
carrying messages in black writing. Some of them read: "Let's
Prevent Violence" and "Peaceful Poll '99."
The three-hour gathering, which started at 8 a.m., was held by
young professionals, such as political analyst Eep Saefulloh
Fatah and an executive of SCTV television station, Riza Primadi,
and NGO activists.
No incidents occurred in the meeting, which was secured by
dozens of soldiers and People's Security (Kamra) civilian
militia.
Led by comedian Deddy Gumelar, popularly known as Mi'ing from
the Bagito group, the gathering featured poetry recitals, music
and scenes from the popular television drama Si Doel Anak
Sekolahan.
Some entertainers performing on the 10 meter by five meter
stage were noted poets W.S. Rendra and Taufik Abdullah, six-year-
old singer and millionaire Joshua, and the TV drama's stars
Mandra, Basuki and Cornelia Agatha.
Out of the 48 political parties invited by the organizers,
only 15 of them sent representatives to the gathering.
Big audience
The organizers earlier boasted that the gathering would
attract some 20,000 people.
"We're not aiming for a big audience. The most important thing
is that our message will reach the public," Eep Saefulloh,
chairman of the organizing committee, said.
During the meeting, Joshua read a petition titled "Hope of
Indonesian Families", calling for the 48 parties contesting the
June 7 general election and all poll monitoring bodies to be just
and fair.
The petition also asked the political parties and the
monitoring bodies to do their utmost to avoid clashes between
party supporters during the campaign period and on voting day.
In response to the calls, representatives of the 15 parties,
who mostly wore no party attributes, vowed to meet the requests.
"The petition is hopefully to be signed by representatives of
all parties as well as many Indonesian families," Eep Saefulloh
said on the sidelines of the meeting.
According Eep Saefulloh, thousands of Indonesian families had
already signed the petition directly or through facsimile and
executives of 39 political parties had voiced commitment to
signing the petition.
"The petition will be handed over to the General Elections
Commission (KPU), the police and the central government on May
18," he said.
The campaign period will officially start on May 19 across the
country.
Eep Saefulloh said the gathering was designed as a medium to
articulate Indonesian families' concern of possible clashes or
uproar during the campaign period and on voting day.
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The meeting, he said, would be followed by simultaneous
advertisements through print and broadcast media.
The activities have been financed by several donors, including
individuals and groups, Eep Saefulloh added.
The United Nations Development Program, for instance, donated
US$10,000 (about Rp 80 million) to the organizers.
"This gathering alone cost Rp 330 million," he said.
"We'll continue to run this antiviolence campaign even after
the general election," he said.
Most families attending the Sunday gathering expressed hope
that the upcoming polls would see no rioting.
"I hope there will be no riots during the poll. I'm afraid the
price of basic needs will go up further should riots be ignited
again," said Eva, a housewife living in Kebayoran Baru, South
Jakarta.
She said she had no purpose in joining the gathering with her
sister, she just happened to be in there jogging around the
sports complex.
Housewife Rusti of Pluit Dalam in North Jakarta said she and
her two children went to the complex specifically to attend the
meeting after reading an advertisement on it in a newspaper.
"It's the artists that lured us here, but I also understand
the importance of the meeting," said Rusti.
Jobless Iswahyudi of Petamburan, Central Jakarta, strongly
hoped that the city would see no mayhem during election
activities.
"If it's a big success, our country's economy will be better
and it will be easy for me to get a job soon," he said.
Similar gatherings were also held in the West Java capital of
Bandung and in Yogyakarta on Sunday.
In Bandung, the "Peaceful Parade for 1999 Polls" involved
supporters of all political parties, which sparked the anger of
other participants when members of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) turned up with hundreds of
followers.
All parties previously agreed to take part in the parade,
kicked off by West Java Governor R. Nuriana, with a maximum of 50
supporters and three vehicles.
PDI Perjuangan supporters, however, arrived in dozens of
heavily packed trucks, cars and motorcycles.
But no incidents took place.
In Yogyakarta, about 3,000 people prayed together for a
peaceful general election in a mass gathering led by Governor Sri
Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. (01/43/23/44)