PKB turns Surabaya green

PKB turns Surabaya green

SURABAYA: The National Awakening Party (PKB) concluded its
campaign sessions here on Monday by turning the capital of East
Java into a sea of green with thousands of supporters roaming the
streets on all sorts of vehicles.

Heavy traffic jams resulted from the convoy, which the PKB
held in defiance of the Surabaya Elections Supervisory
Committee's warning. The party also held gatherings featuring
party leaders Said Aqiel Siradj and Chofifah Indar Parawangsa and
musician Franky Sahilatua, among others.

In his speech at the campaign venue on Jl. Demak, Said, who is
also secretary of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), called on party supporters to maintain
national unity.

He said if PKB wins the elections, national development will
be launched based on morality and professionalism.

Also campaigning on Monday was the Justice Party, whose
activists held various charitable activities at 25 different
locations. The programs included stalls selling cheap staple
food, free medical services, and hand-outs of second-hand
clothes, in Rungkut area, South Surabaya, and Margomulyo, West
Surabaya. The two areas are industrial estates.

Governor Imam Utomo said he was thankful because campaigning
so far had proceeded peacefully. "There have been minor
violations of campaign rules, but nothing of significance such as
what happened in Central Java," he said.

Imam was responding to a remark by chairman of the East Java
chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama, K.H. Hasyim Muzadi, that 25
provocateurs from Jakarta had recently entered Surabaya.

Hasyim said the provocateurs were seeking to create unrest as
he said they had done in East Timor, West Kalimantan, Maluku and
Pekalongan in Central Java. (nur)