PPP cancels public gathering in Medan
JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) canceled its campaign in Medan, North Sumatra yesterday, fearing possible further clashes with supporters of rival political groups.
Branch chairman Hasrul Azwar said three PPP supporters were injured in a brawl with Golkar supporters Sunday. Hasrul said his organization had filed a complaint over the incident to the local office of the Election Supervision Committee.
Prior to the election campaign which kicked off Sunday, the Moslem-based PPP had threatened to pull out of electioneering if the authorities did not guarantee security for its supporters.
But PPP secretary-general Tosari Widjaya said party activists in Medan spent yesterday hanging more flags around the city.
"The activists didn't have enough time to do those things during the first round of campaigning Sunday," he said.
Chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum kicked off the party's campaign at the Merdeka soccer field in Medan Sunday, addressing a gathering of more than 15,000 supporters.
Yesterday, Hasrul said that 55 of the 125 PPP flags along the ring road of Sukamaju-Medan-Johor were "missing".
PPP had its hands full yesterday with problems faced by its campaigners. The chairman of the Jakarta chapter, Rusjdi Hamka, was summoned by the police over the street rallies by PPP supporters in the capital city.
Secretary of the chapter Achmad Suaidi shrugged off the summons as "a mere consultation on better campaign methods".
He apologized for the public inconvenience caused by Tuesday's rallies which led to traffic congestion.
Yesterday, PPP staged its second round of campaigning in Banda Aceh, Aceh, in West Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu, Lampung, Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara, and East Timor.
In Lampung, before some 1,000 supporters, chapter chairman Sadeki Yakub protested against the local office of the Election Supervision Committee over an alleged "abduction" of a party campaigner by a local military officer.
According to Sadeki, Chief Sergeant Alkat took the PPP official out and got him drunk so that he was unable to speak when he arrived for the campaign Sunday.
From Irian Jaya came report that PPP branch there held a gathering in the remote Demta village on the northern coast of the island, some 135 kilometer away from the capital city of Jayapura.
Secretary of the province's branch of PPP Yahya Adam blasted a certain political grouping for claiming the New Order administration's success in development. He was obviously referring to Golkar.
"That's a lie," he said. (aan/swe)