Protests about 'yellowization' still going on
JAKARTA (JP): The war of colors between two political groupings in Central Java gave no sign of abating yesterday with United Development Party (PPP) chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum stepping into the fray.
Ismail, at a breaking of the fast gathering at his home, declined to openly attack the controversial Central Java government's policy to paint objects in public places Golkar yellow.
The dispute began in Surakarta last week when a group of PPP activists repainted yellow objects white, the supposedly neutral color. The PPP will contest the May 29 election against Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
The action set Surakarta Mayor Iman Sutopo ablaze, ordering the activists to repaint everything, or face legal action for breaking the regional regulation. But PPP's Surakarta branch has vowed not to bow to Iman's pressure.
"Our (Surakarta) branch's activists did that because their protests were unheeded. We have repeatedly objected to the policy, but to no avail," Ismail said.
He said he did not know each branch's program. "I don't know whether they want to neutralize public objects," he said.
The government-sponsored "yellowization" scheme -- painting public facilities such as fences, electric poles, sidewalks, drums in mosques and trees yellow -- in Central Java has come under fire from Golkar's rivals, the PPP and PDI, and the public.
Central Java governor Soewardi has denied accusations that the painting public objects yellow had political overtones, claiming the government was only making prominent the province's favorite color.
Ismail questioned the legal basis for the scheme. "Why doesn't the regulation affect the governor's house for instance?" Ismail quipped.
Support
Support for the anti-yellowization policy loomed large yesterday, with deputy secretary of the PPP's Central Java branch, Harminto, calling on all party activists in the province to follow in the footsteps of their fellow Surakarta activists.
"The time has come to combat the yellowization which has proved harmful to the public. We are ready to take risks, including being locked up in prison," Harminto said in Semarang.
PPP's Central Java secretary Robani Toha urged police to stop yellowization, saying the scheme caused unrest.
"Government officials did not tell the truth when they claimed the program, now still underway, was due to public request," Rohani said.
Dean of the Semarang-based Diponegoro University's School of Social and Political Sciences, Kahar Bajuri, said Surakarta's PPP activists could not be punished for their "unprincipled" actions and called for a rational settlement to the dispute.
Kahar said the activists were unethical because they did not ask for permission from the mayor.
"Both parties have to solve the conflict through cool-headed deliberation. We have to stop the dispute from triggering riots like those in Tasikmalaya and Situbondo," he said. (har/amd)