Parties start beating war drums

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta and other cities throughout the archipelago will be much more colorful starting on Thursday morning and lasting until April 1, as the 24 political parties contesting the April 5 legislative election take their campaigns to the streets.

The flags of the 24 parties will fly everywhere. Traffic jams and traffic violations will increase as supporters of the parties parade through cities in every type of vehicle imaginable.

The election campaign will begin in Jakarta on Thursday morning with a joint parade by the 24 parties. Governor Sutiyoso will officially see off the parade at City Hall.

Beginning on Friday, the parties will begin holding indoor campaign stops. On March 21, however, Jakarta and the rest of the country will take a breather from the campaign to recognize the Hindu Day of Silence, or Nyepi.

During the indoor campaign stops, the parties are expected to deliver their platforms for the next five years, with audience members getting the chance to question politicians directly.

However, as many leaders of the parties have already admitted that it can be very difficult to convince people about their plans to improve the country, these question-and-answer campaign stops may prove to be a tad boring. Most people are probably more excited at the chance to see dangdut performances rather than hearing campaign slogans.

"People will not trust our promises," Eros Djarot, the leader of the Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK), told The Jakarta Post.

The Golkar Party, whose members were unable to wear T-shirts with the party's symbol for fear of harassment during the 1999 general election, will fully participate in this year's campaign.

"We are going to turn the country yellow. We are going to launch a nationwide campaign right after midnight," said Golkar executive Bomer Pasaribu.

The Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), which hopes to nominate Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana, the daughter of former president Soeharto, as its presidential candidate, will try to steal the show during the carnival. During the 1999 general election, the Soehartos were often described as the enemies of the nation.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who won the most votes five years ago, will be sending out on the campaign trail actors and actresses who are among the party's legislative candidates.

The New Indonesia Alliance Party (PPIB), a relative newcomer on the political scene, is only counting on a total of 103 campaigners across the country to lure voters.

With a lack of financial resources, the party will be relying on its platform to attract voters.

Elsewhere, in Bali, the local elections commission (KPUD) will mark the first day of the campaign by organizing a cultural festival involving performances and a colorful parade of traditional horse carts involving all 24 parties.

The chairman of the KPUD, A.A. Gede Oka Wisnumurti, said the parade was aimed at encouraging the political parties to hold a peaceful campaign.

Other cities such as Bandung, Yogyakarta and Mataram, in West Nusa Tenggara, held the first day of campaigning on Wednesday with peaceful parades.

More than 120 cars and trucks and hundreds of motorcycles paraded down the main street in Bandung to promote a peaceful campaign.

In Yogyakarta, thousands of motorcycles, horse carts and bicycles decorated with symbols from the parties circled the city to promote a peaceful campaign. Thousands of party supporters crowded the main streets of the city

In Mataram, six members of the Indonesian Unity Party (PSI) was hospitalized after their Toyota Kijang van collided with a tree during a parade. The parade was concluded peacefully.