Thousands of PPP supporters attend mass prayer in Sleman
Thousands of PPP supporters attend mass prayer in Sleman
YOGYAKARTA (JP): More than 7,000 supporters of the United
Development Party (PPP) attended on Saturday a mass prayer in
Ngaglik, Sleman, some 12 kilometers north of here, with ulema KH
Zaenuddin MZ from Jakarta as the key speaker.
The gathering also saw the establishment of a new PPP militant
youth wing -- based in the regency of Sleman -- called Gerakan
Militan Ka'abah (GMK)
One of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy
speakers, Husnie Thamrin and legislator Alfian Dharmawan, were
also in attendance.
Thousands of people, mostly youths from the nearby towns of
Surakarta, Magelang, and Klaten, started the gathering with a
parade of vehicles through the city.
The cars and motorbikes roaming the streets caused serious
traffic congestion about one hour before the event began at 2
p.m.
In his vigorous speech, Zaenuddin said that Indonesia had been
suffering for a long time since the multi-dimensional crisis hit
the country in 1998.
"Until today, we have yet to see any sign of change. The
political elite has been too selfish and not listened to the
people's aspirations," he said.
He hinted that in such a situation Indonesians needed
statesmen, instead of politicians. "(Unfortunately) this country
only has politicians. The only statesman Indonesia has ever had
was (former president) Soeharto,"
"When people forced Soeharto to abdicate, he bowed to the
people's aspirations and quit despite the fact that he still had
myriad supporters," Zaenuddin, known for his closeness to the
Soeharto family, said.
Zaenuddin campaigned for PPP from the '70s till the early
'80s. He withdrew his support for the party in 1997, and claimed
that he belonged to all (political) groups.
"The current national condition made me come back to politics.
I immediately said 'yes' when Pak Hamzah Haz asked me to assist
the party again," he said, referring to the PPP chairman.
"So don't say that I have come back to PPP, because actually I
never left the party," he said, which was applauded by the
supporters.
Such a huge mass gathering apparently worried many Yogyakarta
people, who have recently experienced much chaos.
Sleman Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Djoko Subroto told The
Jakarta Post that the police deployed all of their members to
secure the event, "We have more than 1,160 personnel in Sleman,
and all of them were on alert," he said.
Despite the security guarantee from the police, incidents
happened after the mass prayer ended. The first incident took
place when a group of supporters damaged a restaurant in the
Umbulharjo area on their way home. Another incident occurred on
Jl. Kaliurang, some 4 kilometers north of here, when another
group smashed and broke a car's front windshield.(23)