Power of the poor can be bought for rallies

Power of the poor can be bought for rallies

By Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Those who glorify democracy may believe that the
voice of the people is the voice of God. But in Indonesia "voices
of the people" cost a mere Rp 20,000 each.

The "voice" belongs to poor people who will take to the
streets for money and shout slogans already formulated by the
interest groups which hire them.

So at times like this, when political tension is running high,
these so called professional demonstrators are pretty busy taking
orders to demonstrate, often in support of a variety of interest
groups.

General elections and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
general meetings are peak seasons.

Some politicians have to pay a lot of money to organize
demonstrations. After all, there is no such thing as a "free
lunch".

These days, you can see demonstrations for and against
President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in connection with his
alleged role in the Rp 35 billion scandal at the State Logistic
Agency (Bulog) and a US$2 million donation from the Sultan of
Brunei.

The politicians, who love to claim they are vanguards of the
Constitution (UUD), will certainly deny having hired people to
take to the streets in support of their cause. In fact, the
acronym UUD (Undang-Undang Dasar) has often been twisted into
ujung-ujungnya duit (on the top of everything is money).

People familiar with the trade say that each demonstrator can
be hired for between Rp 15,000 and Rp 25,000 per demonstration.

Unang and Dadang's story

Paid street demonstrators Unang, 47, and Dadang, 19, (both are
not their real names) have their stories to tell.

"I actually don't like the job. It's easy but risky. It's the
money which motivates me to join (the demonstrations). I believe
any poor people like me won't say no to do it," said the 47-year-
old man.

Unang and Dadang live in small, dingy rented houses in the
slum areas within Menteng, Central Jakarta, and Manggarai, South
Jakarta, respectively. Unang has to support a wife and two
children.

Unang's children, both in elementary school, appear
malnourished.

His wife Anah (not her real name) has always warned him to be
careful and disallowed him to take part in any demonstration when
she thinks violence in imminent.

"Even though we badly need the money, I always insist he
should not go if the condition becomes dangerous. For instance I
didn't let him go last Monday (during the House of
Representatives plenary session on the Bulog and Brunei scandals)
because the crowd was too big and clashes could occur anytime,"
Anah said.

Unang, who is a tailor, is choosy about which demonstrations
he will participate in.

"For example, I don't want to join street protests against or
for Gus Dur which feature the opposing camps at the same time
because clashes are highly probable."

Unang recalled that his first involvement in the demonstration
business was during the May 1999 election campaigns.

"At first, I joined a celebration of the Jakarta chapter of
Golkar Party's anniversary at the Horizon Hotel (North Jakarta)
in 1999. I was given Golkar's yellow T-shirt. I was asked to sit
inside a hall listening to speeches and was promised Rp 50,000 in
cash. But I only received half of the amount due to several
deductions," he added.

Predictably, organizations that demonstrators say have paid
them to stage street protests deny such money politics.

Deputy Secretary of Golkar Party's Jakarta chapter Amarullah
Asbah says, "The present Golkar Party is different from that in
the past. Now, we do not have money to recruit demonstrators," he
said.

When confronted with Unang's story, Amarullah said "anybody
can have claims but we never employ such policies (paying
demonstrators)."

Unang claimed that he did not personally know the individual
who recruited him because he only followed a jobless friend who
he met when taking his daughter to school in the nearby Cikini
area.

It was the same friend who encouraged Unang to (again) join
the Golkar campaign, and for the same amount of money. He
recalled a time when he received a head injury after Golkar
campaigners clashed with those of other groups.

"Then I promised myself not to join such rallies any more," he
said.

But the family's deteriorating financial condition forced him
to change his mind when recruiters were roaming around his
neighborhood in search of paid protesters to demand the
dissolution of the Golkar Party.

"My monthly income as a tailor is only Rp 200,000. The
additional Rp 15,000 to Rp 20,000 per demo means a lot," he said.

Over the past few weeks he has joined demonstrators taking
their demands to the House of Representatives building.

"We were just asked to parade in front of the House building
while things like posters and buses are arranged by somebody
else. At the end of the day I will receive Rp 20,000," he said,
adding that about 40 people from his neighborhood do the same.

"In the recent huge rally, I just sat in the minibus because
the crowd was so big at the House building that I was afraid to
get involved," he said.

The person who recruits people in Unang's neighborhood is a
mystery. His wife said she learned the "recruiter" lived in a
rented house in the neighborhood to make their job easier.

"I even heard that he enjoys a good income from the
recruitment project," she said.

Dadang, from a different neighborhood, said that slum areas
like Manggarai district in Central Jakarta where he lives, were a
favorite place for recruiters.

According to Dadang, brokers roam such areas and approach
locals who have become susceptible to recruiters.

"I was gathered with some jobless friends in Jl. Tambak (an
area prone to inter-neighborhood brawls) when a man approached us
and invited us to join a demonstration. Our job was easy, to
march to the parliament building, and we would each receive Rp
20,000 for it," he said.

Dadang said he learned later that the person was a recruiter
for the youth wing of a Muslim-based political party, which
offers Rp 20,000 in cash per demonstration with the main theme
being to topple Gus Dur from the presidency.

"There are about 20 youths from my neighborhood who joined the
street protest in front of the parliament building," he said.

"Actually I don't know anything about politics, I just did
what I was told to do. For me, what is important is the payment,"
he added.

For Dadang, joining the demonstrations is fun. "I can get
money to buy cigarettes," said Dadang, who works as a security
guard at an entertainment venue in downtown Kota.