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All quiet after Indonesia's poll tragedy

Source
Asiatimes - May 26, 1997

Ong Hock Chuan, Jakarta – Indonesia ended 27 days of electoral campaigning on Friday with yet another surge of violence in several spots throughout Jakarta and other parts of the country.

The day also saw a riot which registered the highest election-related casualty count so far. According to police, more than 130 people are believed to have died when rioters set fire to a shopping center in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan, about 900 kilometers northeast of Jakarta.

Rescue workers said they had found at least 130 bodies in the burned-out Mitra Plaza shopping and cinema complex in the center while police said four others died of burn or stab injuries.

Witnesses said what began as clashes between supporters of the ruling Golkar party and the rival Muslim-oriented United Development Party (PPP) deteriorated into widespread rioting and looting.

One rescue worker said the dead were all rioters or looters who were afraid to emerge when troops and police arrived .

Saturday, which marked the first of a five-day "cooling off" period before polling day on May 29, passed without incident.

As the three political parties are not allowed to carry out any campaigning during this period, including street rallies which have been the catalysts of inter-party clashes and riots, the emotions whipped up during the campaigning period are expected to be kept in check until election day.

The ruling party, Golkar, is still expected to win comfortably. Observers said that there is a strong possibility of it achieving its target of 70.02 percent of total votes cast, especially when there is an apparent split between non-establishment icons Megawati Sukarnoputri, the deposed head of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), and Abdulrahman Wahid, who heads the country's largest Islamic organization, the Nadlathul Ulama, which has about 30 million followers.

Megawati, whose stature is buoyed more by anti-establishment feelings than her own popularity, told a press conference last Thursday that she would not be voting at the May 29 elections. She also asked Indonesians to exercise their political rights according to their own consciences. This was seen by political analysts as an oblique and Indonesian way of urging her loyalists to abstain from voting since persuading others not to vote is against the law in Indonesia. They said that Megawati, who has been banned by the government from standing in the elections, wants to undermine the legitimacy of the elections through Golput - the Indonesian term for blank votes.

Megawati's message, however, was itself undermined by Abdulrahman the next day. He said her message should be disregarded by PDI members, including Megawati loyalists, because her decision was personal in nature and should not affect how others choose to exercise their right to vote.

The big winner from this rift between Megawati and Abdulrahman, who were considered allies before Abdulrahman began a political courtship with President Suharto's daughter and Golkar leader "Tutut" Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana in recent months, is expected to be the PPP.

During the campaign period the PPP emerged as the strongest contender against Golkar, attracting tens of thousands to its campaign rallies. The party was helped by the participation of Megawati loyalists who not only wanted to support another party but also were active in disrupting electioneering efforts staged by the current leadership of the PDI.

There is a strong possibility of the PPP winning seats in Jakarta and Aceh in northern Sumatra, two constituencies in which it managed to beat Golkar in the past.

A victory, especially in the capital of Jakarta, would help morale but analysts are skeptical that it would amount to anything more significant.

"Have no illusions about it," said a political observer. "The general election is not about democracy as practiced in other countries.

"In Indonesia it is about a five-yearly event to legitimize the government, and perhaps to provide a safety valve for releasing political frustrations among the people."

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