PPP chief opts for sitting on yellow policy
JAKARTA (JP): United Development Party chief Ismail Hasan Metareum claimed yesterday he had neither encouraged nor prohibited his activists from attacking the government's promotion of the "yellowization" campaign in Central Java.
The Central Java government has been waging the campaign to promote the PPP's rival, the ruling Golkar, in the run-up to the May 29 general election.
However, Ismail denied he had opted for a double standard in the fray, leaving the colorful conflict unsettled.
"We can understand what our people did spontaneously there (in Central Java)," said Ismail.
The Central Java administration's policy of ordering Golkar supporters to paint public objects yellow faced its toughest challenge last week when PPP activists in Surakarta repainted everything yellow to white, a neutral color. Surakarta mayor Iman Sutopo has threatened PPP activists with legal action.
Yellow is the color of the political grouping Golkar, but Central Java governor Soewardi says the color belongs to the Black Naped Oriole bird, the province's mascot.
"Yellowization" has been intensifying in Central Java in the run-up to the May 29 general election which is expected to see Golkar notch up its sixth consecutive landslide win.
Golkar was the only contestant to suffer a decline in vote earning in the province in the 1992 general election, losing 16 seats to the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and one to the PPP.
Ismail said he didn't know how to solve the yellow problem. "It's all up to them (the Surakarta PPP activists). I heard they did it to let the local government know that there were objections to the policy," Ismail said.
He said he would not prevent party branches in other places following their fellow Surakarta activists. "I don't know what will happen. This movement is spontaneous," he said.
Ismail said the party would not lodge an official protest against the "yellowization" policy.
Defended
Ismail's deputy, Hamzah Haz, defended the Surakarta activists, saying their actions symbolized a correcting role against unfair government policies.
"The Central Java government should take this symbolic movement into consideration in order to encourage a better political environment in the province," Hamzah said.
Hamzah reminded the Central Java administration not to issue policies which could provoke the people's anger.
He said the PPP's central board would consider filing an official complaint against the Central Java governor's policy.
He also called on Golkar activists in the province to avoid taking a physical approach in response to their rivals' actions.
"Golkar should not consider the PPP activists' actions as challenging its existence," he said.
Despite mounting protests, "yellowization" in Central Java continued yesterday with the publication and distribution of yellow calendars by the city-owned bank, BPD Jateng.
The calendars carry the slogan "BPD Jateng is ready to help Golkar win the 1997 general election".
PPP's Central Java branch sent a formal protest signed by its chairman Karmani yesterday to the Central Java governor, the chief of the Diponegoro military command overseeing Central Java and Yogyakarta, the chief of Central Java police, the chairman of the provincial legislative body, the PPP chairman and the chairman of PPP faction at the House of Representatives.
Governor Soewardi took the protest easy. He said: "The bank is owned by the local government, so all staff must pledge allegiance to Golkar. Let's not heed the protests," he said. (har/imn/amd)