Devi Asmarani, Kupang – The provincial legislature building on this eastern Indonesian island some 2,000km from Jakarta looks abandoned just days after new councillors took over.
Most of its members have gone out of town, visiting their respective constituents in villages and on the dozens of islands that dot the province to work the ground for the presidential poll next week.
All activities have been suspended until after the election and party machineries have been cranked up in this predominantly Christian province to consolidate support for incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
She came in second in the July poll at the national level, behind front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, but here she won, getting 62 per cent of the votes.
Such victory came despite the defeat suffered by her Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) at the hands of Golkar in the province in the April legislative election.
It was thanks, in part, to the support she enjoys from the Catholic and other Christian communities here.
The large support base for her is expected to grow in the election run-off after the alliance she forged with one-time main rival Golkar.
In the national Parliament, the four-party coalition has 307 of the 500 seats, making it the largest representative bloc. But getting members of both the parties to work together has its problems in the regions, as has been the case in Jakarta.
In South Sulawesi, Golkar politicians have not been showing much enthusiasm for the coalition and have continued to support Mr Bambang's candidacy, albeit discreetly.
In East Java, disputes over power-sharing between Golkar and PDI-P legislators are causing cracks within the coalition.
Yet in East Nusa Tenggara, it is likely to work. The two camps have set up a common secretariat, appointing a local Golkar member as chief in the province, and drawn up strategies to win the poll.
They target to bring in for Ms Megawati most of the 24 per cent of votes that former general Wiranto won in the second round – in addition to the 62 per cent that she herself won – from the province's 2.5 million voters.
Mr Bambang won 13 per cent of the votes in this province in the second round while the remaining 1 per cent was split between the other two contenders, Dr Amien Rais and Mr Hamzah Haz.
Besides, party cadres and bureaucrats affiliated to the party have been instructed to secure victory for Ms Megawati in their localities.
This is in stark contrast to four months ago, when party workers hardly budged to support Mr Wiranto's candidacy.
Said Mr Melkianus Adoe, Golkar's deputy chief in East Nusa Tenggara: 'Frankly, the supplies never came for Mr Wiranto. We can't work without supplies.' He was referring to financial assistance for the campaign.
Golkar's support could be crucial in bringing in the much-needed votes for Ms Megawati in its stronghold areas. Over the three decades as a ruling party, Golkar has built a political network across the archipelago, especially in eastern Indonesia, with loyal followings from the bureaucracy and community leaders.
A PDI-P provincial legislator, Mr Victor Mado Watun, said: "Golkar people are the most experienced in politics. To tell you the truth, we are just rookies." The thinking among the likes of Mr Victor now is that even if Ms Megawati loses to Mr Bambang, Golkar and PDI-P will still have the upper card as they control much of the legislatures under the coalition.
"Without strong party support, Mr Bambang will never get his policy through to the regions," said Mr Victor. The combination of the two parties will make Mr Bambang's leadership shaky, he added.
Many predict if Mr Bambang wins, his presidency will be turbulent and he may face a similar fate to Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, who was impeached in 2000. But this all comes at quite a high political cost to PDI-P.
For one, money has not been the only incentive – although sources said Golkar has received a handsome US$20-million (S$34-million) bounty from the incumbent President to support her candidacy.
Central to Golkar politicians' willingness to work for her camp is her agreement to give a large share of power in the regional politics to Golkar.
So, will political partnerships influence voters? Many believe so, at least in less developed areas far from the centres of power like Jakarta. "About 60 per cent of people here have only elementary education," said PDI-P's councillor in Kupang, Mr Karel Yani Mbuik. "It's not like in America, where people vote based on issues. Here, they don't even know the difference between one candidate and the other."