Protests about 'yellowization' still going on
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)