PPP central board okays election campaign boycott

PPP central board okays election campaign boycott

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Executive Board of the United
Development Party (PPP) has given the go-ahead for a plan by some
of its regional branches to boycott the general election
campaign, which starts next month.

PPP Secretary-General Tosari Wijaya told Antara that if the
branches felt that they could not organize the campaigns because
of the strict regulations, then they did not have to.

"In this upcoming election campaign, our strength lies in the
hands of the regional branches. If they cannot hold them, then
they don't have to have the campaigns," he said.

"Of course, PPP will lose out if it does not hold the
campaigns because it won't be able to convey its political
messages to the electorate.

"But if we cannot hold the campaigns, we can't force
ourselves. After all, there is no regulation compelling the
parties to hold campaigns," he said.

Tosari agreed with the branch leaders that the PPP leadership
finds the campaign rules too strict and that some branches are
finding it hard to comply.

The call to boycott the election campaign, which will be held
between April 27 and May 23, came last week from the Surakarta
branch's head, Mudrick Setiawan Sangidu.

Sangidu said six other branches in Central Java -- Boyolali,
Klaten, Wonogiri, Sragen, Sukoharjo and Karanganyar -- have
joined in the plan. In a joint statement, the branch leaders said
the campaign rules hurt PPP, hamper democracy and do not
guarantee a fair election.

The government, which organizes the election, has issued a
series of regulations for the campaign designed to prevent the
likelihood of clashes between supporters of the various parties.

The rules encourage parties to use the state-owned television
station TVRI to convey their political messages and place less
emphasis on massive rallies.

Tosari said the requirement that all vehicles to be used to
transport supporters to political gatherings must first be
registered with the local police is difficult to meet.

Based on past election campaigns, PPP will have difficulties
renting the vehicles in the first place, he said. "When we find
someone willing to rent them out, they'd jack up the price."

PPP will not force itself to use all the allotted campaign
time, he said.

The campaign regulations have introduced a zoning system to
prevent the likelihood clashes between supporters of the
different parties. This means each contestant will be given nine
days to campaign in any given district.

PPP is contesting the May 29 election against Golkar and the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Both PPP and PDI leaderships have criticized the campaign
regulations as being designed to ensure the maximum victory for
Golkar. (emb)