Public bear the brunt of rallies

Public bear the brunt of rallies

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The leader of the well-organized, Muslim-oriented Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS), Hidayat Nur Wahid, was evidently pleased to
see the number of people attending the party's final campaign in
Jakarta at the Bung Karno Soccer Stadium on Tuesday, although in
terms of substance, the campaigners only made their oft-repeated
big promises.

The huge crowds in the stadium and on the streets were clearly
a result of the party's hard work -- after it failed to meet the
three-percent threshold in 1999 -- to expand its membership and
network in the last five years.

Hundreds of thousands of supporters entered the stadium and
turned it into a sea of people dressed in the party whites,
chanting and yelling the PKS slogan. Thousands of others milled
outside the stadium and paralyzed the surrounding traffic.

Despite the severe traffic jams across the city mainly caused
by campaign activities, the PKS was able to live up to its
reputation in organizing public rallies. The party's outdoor
campaign was one of the most merry and crowded events in Jakarta
since the campaign period started on March 11.

The Muslim-based Reform Star Party (PBR) also held a campaign
on Tuesday centered in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta. Meanwhile,
the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) elected not to hold an outdoor
campaign in the capital.

In between Islamic-style acapella and dance performances,
Hidayat pledged to fight for justice for the people and for a
clean government, and to do its utmost to stamp out corruption.

"If not for the rampant corruption, we could have allocated
more funds for the people's welfare. But due to rampant
corruption, we are a country with a low human resources index. We
have to stand up and fight against corruption," he addressed the
crowd.

Hidayat said the big turnout indicated that a great number of
people were still willing to make a stand against corruption.

Also present at the campaign were Muslim scholar Nurcholish
Madjid, self-styled king of dangdut music Rhoma Irama, economist
Faisal Basri, businessman-cum-musician Setiawan Djody and former
Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Noegroho Djajoesman.

During his tenure, Noegroho initiated the formation of the
Panswakarsa militia guards, which helped the police and military
secure the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) in 1998 to examine the validity of Habibie's accession to
the presidency after Soeharto's ouster. On several occasions, the
guards clashed with student demonstrators. His name is often
linked with some hard-line Islamic groups.

Meanwhile in Tanah Abang, around 10,000 supporters gathered in
a show of support for the PBR, which splintered from the Hamzah
Haz-led United Development Party (PPP). The PBR is led by the so-
called Muslim cleric of a million followers, Zainuddin MZ.

In Semarang, Central Java, thousands of Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) supporters clogged traffic for hours as
they paraded down the city's main street in the party's last
campaign round.

PDI-P leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, addressing supporters who
gathered in the city's fairground after their hectic parade, said
she was optimistic that the party would garner around 80 million
votes in the April 5 legislative election.

She jokingly asked supporters to take on more girlfriends and
boyfriends -- on the condition that they promised to vote for
PDI-P.

In the West Java town of Indramayu, board member of the
National Awakening Party (PKB) Nur Muhammad Iskandar said the
party anticipated the possibility that PKB co-founder Abdurrahman
Wahid, or Gus Dur, might drop his plan to join the presidential
race.