Three parties rebuked for money politics

SEMARANG: The Semarang Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) rebuked three political parties in the city on Sunday for engaging in money politics.

Deputy chairman of Semarang committee Abdul Kholik said that they were the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Democracy Nationhood Party (PPDK).

The PDI-P was rebuked for distributing free basic necessities, including two kilograms of rice and sugar per resident, on Saturday to people in Mijen subdistrict, Gunungpati district.

The PKS was reprimanded after it sold cheap kerosene to residents in Tambaklorok fishing village in North Semarang district on Thursday, while the PPDK was rebuked for conducting an insecticide spaying operation in Kramas subdistrict, Tembalang district, on Sunday. -- JP

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Trail-campaign-Wiranto-cancel Wiranto rally canceled for lack of police permit JP/5/HELICOPTER

Wiranto rally canceled for lack of police permit

BATANG, Central Java: Gen. (ret) Wiranto, a presidential hopeful for Golkar Party, canceled his plan on Sunday to stage a Golkar rally at the Gelora field, Batang, after the helicopter he was aboard failed to obtain permission from the police to land in the field.

The helicopter flew over the field at around 12 midday for a few minutes, while thousands of Golkar supporters standing in the field cheered and waved at it.

The helicopter quickly flew off.

The supporters seemed disappointed by Wiranto's absence, but quickly cheered up again after a group of dangdut singers began strutting their stuff.

Moh. Hasbi, the chairman of the Golkar Party's Central Java chapter, said that Wiranto had continued his journey to the troubled province of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam to campaign there. -- Antara

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Trail-campaign-Democratic SBY hires security professionals JP/3/TRAIL

SBY hires security professionals

BANDUNG: Following frequent threatening phone calls, Democratic Party presidential hopeful Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, familiarly called SBY, has hired security guards from a company called 911.

Susilo, a retired four-star Army general, told reporters late on Saturday that he had often received disturbing calls from unidentified persons since the election campaign began on March 11.

Susilo, a former Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs, said that he needed to tighten up his security in order to avoid anything untoward.

"I don't know whether these threats are real or not, but I'd better to be prepared," he said.

He said that 911 was chosen as it had trained security guards, including ones who knew how to react to shootings and bombings.

"They are professionals. We are hiring them for the election campaign," he said. -- JP

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Party-Kediri-clash Family dispute almost triggers riot JP/3/PARTY

Family dispute almost triggers riot

KEDIRI, East Java: Two brothers, the supporters of different parties, clashed on Sunday, and almost spurred a major riot in the East Java town of Kediri.

The dispute began on Saturday night when a convoy of trucks from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) passed along a street in Surat subdistrict.

Suddenly, Mat Thoyib, 53, threw a stone at a crowd of PDI-P supporters riding on a truck. Sukiran, 50, the younger brother of Thoyib, quickly got off the truck and chased Thoyib.

He caught Thoyib, and tried to rebuke him. But Thoyib, an ardent supporter of Golkar, immediately punched him on the face.

Local residents calmed the two down and brought Thoyib to the nearby Mojo police district headquarters to save him from the angry PDI-P crowd.

The PDI-P supporters chased them to the police station and demanded that the police hand over Thoyib to them, but after they were assured by police officers that the case would be processed, the PDI-P crowd dispersed peacefully.

Kediri Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sutrisno confirmed the incident. "Thoyib is being held at Mojo police headquarters," he said. -- Antara