PPP blames Golkar for rain

BANDUNG: Rain men and shamans specializing in holding back the rain have been in very high demand by political parties to make their election rallies a success.

They have also been used in an attempt to cause downpours to foul up their rivals' rallies.

Superstitious townspeople have said Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) hired upscale shamans who were able to move clouds away from Bandung by magic on their campaign days.

When heavy rains threw the United Development Party's (PPP) rallies into disarray last Sunday, a journalist asked a party functionary if the Moslem-oriented party had bothered to hire shamans.

"No. Believing in a power source other than God is forbidden in Islamic teachings," the party official replied.

But another PPP official approached the reporter and whispered, "We heard that Golkar was (that rainy Sunday) out cloud seeding."

The government, which backs Golkar, recently said it successfully seeded clouds to raise water levels of major reservoirs in West Java. (ahy/pan)