Tensions escalate in 2nd day of campaigning

Tensions escalate in 2nd day of campaigning

JAKARTA (JP): Tensions marked the second day of campaigning in
several volatile areas across the country, including Pidie in
Aceh, where hundreds of Geulumpang Tiga villagers attacked and
burned a United Development Party (PPP) van to drive home the
message that they do not want a general election but a
referendum.

"What do we need elections for? The poll is only for
Javanese," said Suleman, while hundreds of other residents
shouted for a chance to determine their own fate through a
referendum.

Demands for a referendum or outright independence have
intensified in the troubled province, while resistance against
the planned June 7 elections has grown since the military
shooting of North Aceh residents recently claimed at least 41
lives.

Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto responded to
the unrest by sending out even more troops. Wiranto's
instructions included ensuring a high voter turnout.

The PPP van was moving through the village announcing with
loudspeakers that the party would campaign on Friday. The four
occupants were left unharmed when the van was set ablaze at about
11 a.m.

Hours before, in Kendal, Central Java, a group of unidentified
people pelted the house of a local National Awakening Party (PKB)
chief, Slamet Imron. No casualties reported.

In another Central Java town of Pekalongan on Wednesday, four
Golkar supporters were seriously injured and three motorbikes
damaged when crowds attacked their convoys. Hours later, four
houses belonging to PKB officials were damaged in another attack,
causing the authorities to beef up security in the area.

In the nearby town of Batang, local Golkar official Sunarto
said on Thursday that about 2,500 Golkar flags in 12 different
districts in the area were missing, some of them set on fire.

In Jember, East Java, supporters of PKB intercepted a convoy
of PPP supporters in Kalisat district, but the two groups avoided
a clash.

Meanwhile in Lubukpakam, 27 kilometers east of the North
Sumatra capital of Medan, the campaign rally of Muslim leader
Abdurrahman Wahid of PKB drew about 6,000 people.

Abdurrahman, who is among the country's top presidential
candidates, told party supporters the new alliance between PKB
and two other leading opposition parties -- the National Mandate
Party (PAN) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) -- was the only way to block the remnants of the
status-quo forces.

The alliance was evident on Thursday as hundreds of members of
PDI Perjuangan's security force were seen at the three-hour
rally.

Referendum

Abdurrahman was driven out of a university hall in Banda Aceh
on Wednesday by students, who said he was against a referendum.

In Jakarta later on Thursday, Abdurrahman said he understood
why the students chased him away. "They have seen their relatives
shot," he said, referring to victims of military violence.

His most important impression from his visit, he said, was
that it was clear that campaigns and the June 7 polls cannot be
conducted in Aceh, where military operations to crush separatists
lasted from 1989 to 1998.

Officials have been threatened and have not been able to sit
on election committees, while people in civilian clothing walk
freely with AK-47 and M-16 firearms, he said. Threats came from
paid retired officers in the "Taliban Movement" as well as from
the Free Aceh Movement, he said.

The PKB report regarding Aceh would be submitted to Gen.
Wiranto, he said, "who I'm sure has only received pleasant
reports" of security in the province. He spoke of reports of
continuing terror.

The student body of the Syah Kuala University had conveyed
apologies, he said, and had explained that students were "sick of
parties only interested in votes without heeding demands of a
referendum".

Abdurrahman also expressed his skepticism toward an intended
alliance between PAN and PPP, saying he was not sure if PPP
people could be trusted to uphold fair politics.

Separately, Wiranto called on political parties, the
government, the military and the National Police to do what they
could to make the June 7 general election a success.

"The elections are a gateway for the nation lift itself out of
the prolonged crisis in a democratic and constitutional manner,"
he wrote in a speech delivered by National Resilience Institute
(Lemhannas) Governor Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar on the occasion of the
military think-tank's 34th anniversary.

Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, PKB chairman Matori Abdul Djalil
spoke before about 15,000 supporters calling on Golkar to
withdraw from the elections.

"Why did Golkar name B.J. Habibie as its presidential
candidate, regardless of the fact that he was the student of
Soeharto, and should be reformed?" Matori said.

In Purwokerto, 100 students rallied peacefully to support the
alliance between the three top opposition parties to fight
against the status-quo forces.

"The coalition between pro-reform forces is needed to end the
rule of the oppressor," student leader Harnoning said.

In the East Timor capital of Dili, hundreds of PDI Perjuangan
supporters attended the party's campaign in the Matahari Terbit
building on Thursday. (23/30/33/39/44/45/byg/har/nur/swa/edt)