Erwida Maulia, Adianto P. Simamora and Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Thu, 06/18/2009 10:03 AM
The campaign trail saw Megawati Soekarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla head to the markets Wednesday, with Mega enjoying her lunch with traders at Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta while Kalla chatted with merchants at a traditional market in the South Sumatra capital of Palembang.
Elsewhere, incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono introduced First Lady Kristina Yudhoyono, sporting a brown headscarf, to more than 6,000 scouts from Islamic boarding schools across the country at Sumedang, West Java.
Speaking before hundreds of textiles traders, Megawati vowed to transform the site into a prestigious traditional market. She also called for the wealthy to shop at the market, saying it would directly impact traders and improve the grassroots people’s economy.
Megawati also welcomed dozens of people living with disabilities to her residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta. They asked Megawati and her running mate Prabowo Subianto to pay more attention to the concerns of those living with disabilities if elected to the top office.
Megawati said she was a volunteer for people living with disabilities at an orphanage in the 1970s and since then had launched a number of programs for the community.
She vowed to continue the programs if elected, including promoting Braille and constructing schools for people living with disabilities.
Before thousands of supporters at the Sriwijaya stadium in Palembang, Kalla said he would empower the capacity of the Sriwijaya fertilizer company to meet the increasing demand for subsidized fertilizers nationwide. The incumbent vice president also said that if elected, he would revive village cooperatives across the archipelago to speed up the distribution of low-cost fertilizer to farmers.
“We will stop exporting gas. We will channel it to fertilize plants and increase production,” he said.
After paying a visit to the traditional market in the city, Kalla flew to Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, later that same day. At a campaign there he said the resource-rich province must better manage its wealth and materials by improving the performance of workers.
“The control of natural resources, such as forests, by external organizations has only led to natural disasters and forest destruction in Central Kalimantan. We don’t want to experience that again,” he said.
Wearing a scouts uniform, Yudhoyono said the Islamic scout movement had great potential to contribute to the development of “the national character” and “strong work ethic”.
The government was ready to develop and modernize Islamic boarding schools, the President said, by providing the students with general science, arts and technology in addition to religious studies.
“That is why the government will continue pushing the use of English and Arabic, as well as information technologies in Islamic boarding schools across the country,” he said.
The scouts in attendance, mainly aged around 17, will be able to vote in the next election. They received a copy of SBY’s biography and a CD of an orchestra performing SBY’s songs. They applauded SBY, who responded with “Lanjutkan” (go on), while the first lady, wearing her scout uniform and headscarf, stood by his side.
Accompanying SBY in his entourage was the Minister of Information and Communications Muhammad Nuh, Religious Affairs Minister Mahtuf Basyuni, Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo, Coordinating Minister for Law, Security and Political Affairs Widodo AS, Minister/Secretary of Cabinet Sudi Silalahi and presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng. In his speech the President asked the relevant ministers to offer their full support to the scout program, including the use of computers, at Islamic boarding schools.
The event concluded with the audience singing “SBY the Leader” as the VIP departed for Jakarta.
Yuli Tri Suwarni contributed to this story from Sumedang
