Politicians sell election promises
JAKARTA (JP): Politicians of the three political groups were full of promises yesterday in their effort to attract voters in the May 29 election.
The United Development Party (PPP) attacked the widespread corruption in the bureaucracy, Golkar was defensive and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) demanded clean governance.
Blatant violation of the campaign rules continued unabated across the country with street rallies, the display of prominent figures' photographs and the insult of other election contenders.
During a question and answer session in Manado, North Sulawesi, Golkar campaigner Ginandjar Kartasasmita was overwhelmed with questions on corruption, the controversy surrounding the national car project and the Busang gold scandal.
PDI politician L. Abdul Kadir, in a campaign in the west Nusa Tenggara capital of Mataram, promised that the party was strongly committed to fighting corruption in the bureaucracy.
Kadir said it would be impossible for Indonesia to have a clean government if corruption, collusion and the abuse of power was not seriously addressed.
PPP enjoyed a huge turnout in Jakarta, Semarang and Yogyakarta yesterday, where hundreds of thousands of supporters poured onto the streets triggering massive traffic jams.
High spirited party supporters crammed trucks, pickups and motorcycles. Many carried the picture of ousted PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri who PPP has offered to form an alliance with.
The Moslem-based PPP officials said they were optimistic the party would repeat its 1977 success and win 50 percent of the votes in Jakarta.
PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum boosted the spirit of 20,000 people in Jakarta's Kemayoran fairground with promises to uproot corruption in the bureaucracy.
He also highlighted the weak law enforcement that allowed corruption to continue and hamper democratization.
Some shopping centers in the capital's business districts were quieter than usual.
Streets were so jammed that Jakarta governor Surjadi Soedirdja in a meeting at the military headquarters in Cawang had to go by helicopter to attend another meeting at the City Police headquarters, 10 kilometers away.
PPP deputy chairman Ali Hardi Kyaidemak told a rally of about 7,000 people at North Jakarta's Sunter Podomoro field that the party would do its best to stop corruption.
Kiaidemak lashed out at a claim that the country's 30 years of development was the hard work of Golkar alone.
"It's a big lie. It's been you, all the people, who have contributed the most to the country's development through paying your tax.
"Seventy percent of the total state budget in 1997 was derived from taxes you paid," he said.
Kiaidemak said the people are paying the country's current foreign debt that has now reached more than Rp 200 trillion (US$100 billion).
Eyewitnesses said yesterday's PPP street rallies were "annoying". Dozens of people marched on a toll road near Ciawi, south of Jakarta, chanting party slogans and disrupting traffic.
In Tangerang, PPP campaigners pelted stones at a bus that hit and injured a party supporter, Antara reported.
Police described the rallies as "brutal". Bystanders who refused to give PPP's one finger sign were harassed, they said.
A mob vandalized a car after the driver reprimanded people who wanted to place a PPP sticker in the Semanggi area.
In Yogyakarta, PPP activists resumed campaigning yesterday after they boycotted the campaign in protest of the attack by Golkar supporters on two local party offices on April 30.
About 100,000 people attended the rally in the northern square near the Yogyakarta palace where preacher Toha Abdurrahman called on party members not to be discouraged by the numerous incidents affecting PPP.
In Bogor two PPP supporters were killed and six injured in a road accident.
The Central Java capital, Semarang, was a sea of green as an estimated 60,000 PPP supporters poured into the streets. A countless number of residents lined the streets to watch the deafening motorcades.
Campaigners yelled pro-Megawati slogans and carried her picture.
Banners read: "Keep on fighting Mega, we'll always be faithful to you", "Megawati my idol", "Let my father vote for Golkar, I'll vote for PPP."
"Megawati mania" also hit Ujungpandang when some of the thousands of PPP supporters attending the party campaign at the Baddoka Daya field wore T-shirts with Megawati's picture on the front. (aan/har/wah/cst/01/23/31/30/37/38)
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