Susilo bounces back with presidential bid
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,
Former Cabinet minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued an appeal for respect of political differences, as both he and his former boss President Megawati Soekarnoputri enjoyed a warm welcome on Saturday from their respective supporters.
In the East Java town of Banyuwangi, Susilo called on the Democratic Party followers to give him the support he needed to resolve the country's chronic and multidimensional problems.
He also urged party supporters to respect pluralism in political aspirations.
"All party supporters are good friends. I ask Democratic Party members to build amity as they are our brothers," Susilo said.
He was accompanied by his wife Kurniati, who is a deputy chairperson of the party.
Susilo will go on to Bali, the stronghold of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), in an apparent test of the Balinese people's long-standing loyalty to the incumbent president.
Susilo was officially dismissed on Friday as the coordinating minister for security and political affairs, following a well- publicized rift with Megawati over his role in her Cabinet.
Hundreds of kilometers apart in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, Megawati called on party supporters to fight it out to win as many seats as possible in the legislative bodies, saying it would boost her chances of winning a full five-year term.
In Jakarta, meanwhile, indoor campaigns managed to lure more people on Saturday than on the previous day.
The United Development Party (PPP), the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PPIB) and the United Democratic Nationhood (PDK) emphasized the importance of education as a sound foundation for the country's future.
PDK chairman Andi Mallarangeng delivered the party platform before some 1,500 supporters in the Rawamangun Velodrome, saying that it would be impossible to elevate the quality of life in the country if the government maintained the current small budget policy.
PDK also held similar campaigns at a bus station in East Jakarta and the Ragunan Auditorium in South Jakarta.
Rosita S. Noer, top executive of PPIB, also aired such a concern, blaming the current government for failing to allocate an adequate budget for education.
A clash reminiscent of the clash between PDI-P and Golkar Party supporters in Bali last October almost broke out in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi.
About 100 supporters of the country's two largest parties, were involved in an argument on Saturday morning when a group of PDI-P supporters tried to erect flags and other symbols of the party in Tamanlanrea area, but were blocked by their Golkar rivals.
Police intervened just in time and detained one PDI-P supporter. He was freed later on as representatives of the two parties met and agreed on a truce.
In Yogyakarta, at a number of strategic places, brochures and pamphlets bearing the faces of Megawati and Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung were spotted.
"Choose Mega and Akbar", "Coalition of PDI-P and Golkar", the brochures read, suggesting an alliance between the two political giants.
The local leaders of the parties, however, said they did not know who had distributed the brochures.
Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas visited Boyolali in Central Java and the West Nusa Tenggara capital of Mataram and painted the two towns red. Taufik reiterated a possible coalition between PDI-P and Golkar, in view of their common nationalist platform.
In Serang, Banten, State Minister for Cooperatives and Small, Medium Enterprises Ali Marwan Hanan campaigned for the United Development Party (PPP). He said the party would fight for Islamic values and provide inexpensive education and health services for the people.