PPP shows strength prior to general elections
JAKARTA (JP): More than 15,000 supporters of the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) held a rally here yesterday in a massive show of strength in the run-up to next year's general elections.
"I'm calling on you all, especially PPP supporters in Jakarta to help achieve again the success that this party achieved in the 1977 general elections," said chairman of Jakarta branch Rusjdi Hamka to loud cheers from the participants.
PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum and other party executives attended the rally. One notable figure present was poet and columnist Emha Ainun Nadjib, who declared support for the party last year in the hope of boosting its share of votes next year.
"PPP represents the aspirations of Islam in Indonesian politics," Najib told the crowd members, who waved banners bearing the party's golden star symbol.
The party received 18.74 million votes in the 1977 poll, while the ruling Golkar snatched 39.75 million and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) got 5.5 million. That general election was notable for the party because it managed to beat Golkar in its stronghold of Jakarta.
Votes for the party have declined since. In 1992, it received 16.6 million compared to Golkar's 66.6 million and the PDI's 14.6 million.
During the rally, which put an end to six months of celebrating since the party marked its 23rd anniversary last January, the activists made speeches and blasted the ruling Golkar and the PDI, which has been suffering a crisis in leadership over the past month.
"Golkar is confused and PDI members are squabbling among themselves! PPP is the only party for Moslems to vote for, it's the truth," shouted Fahruzuki Ishak, a PPP regional representative in his speech.
When asked if PPP would benefit from the controversial rift in the PDI which has left the party with two rival leaders, PPP Secretary-General Tosari Wijaya assented. "I think so," he was quoted by AFP as saying. He declined to elaborate.
Supporters clad in the party's trademark green packed the sports stadium for a three-hour ceremony, cheering "Long live PPP" and "PPP will win the elections."
"This rally is to showcase our upcoming election campaign which we plan to launch in April or May next year," Tosari told AFP.
PPP, PDI and Golkar will compete for 425 seats in the parliament. The remaining 75 parliamentary seats are reserved for members of the Armed Forces.
In his speech, chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum said that the public "has become tired of having to watch the declining morality in all aspects of the nation's life".
The weakening of the people's morality, he said, has influenced all aspects of economic, social, and political life. (swe)