Hopefuls stick to Jakarta on 2nd last day of campaigns

Erwida Maulia and Adianto P. Simamora ,  The Jakarta Post ,  JAKARTA   |  Sat, 07/04/2009 10:41 AM  |  Presidential Election

Speaking Chinese: Accompanied by businessman Sofjan Wanandi (right), presidential hopeful Jusuf Kalla (wearing hat) chats with Indonesian businesspeople of Chinese-descent on Friday. Kalla held the dialogue with the Indonesians of Chinese Descent Organization (INTI) the day before the official conclusion of the presidential campaign season. (JP/J.Adiguna)

As the open campaign period neared its conclusion, the three presidential candidates stayed close to the capital on Friday, while their running mates again reached out to voters further afield.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a meeting with representatives of the Indonesian Association of Blind People (Pertuni) and had a teleconference with participants at the Indonesian Students Association (PPI) symposium in Den Haag.

Receiving around 200 Pertuni members at his private residence in Cikeas, Jakarta, the President said the government would provide more assistance for people with special needs, including the visually-impaired.

“Soon after July 8, I will hold a cabinet meeting to follow up on what Pertuni has proposed,”

Yudhoyono said, adding that the meeting had to be held after the election day to avoid suspicion it was aimed at increasing his popularity.

Yudhoyono then asked regional heads to build public facilities for people living with disabilities, and called on Pertuni members to vote on July 8.

During the teleconference with PPI members, Yudhoyono told the students to develop “service” and “outstanding” cultures.

Presidential hopeful Jusuf Kalla — during a series of meetings with various community groups — insisted that anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or background had an equal right to lead Indonesia.

“We all have the same right to lead the country, and pluralism should be our main asset in building the nation,” he said in a meeting with hundreds of members of the Association of Indonesians of Chinese Descent.

Kalla made a similar statement during his meeting with community leaders and Muslim clerics in Depok, West Java, the same day.

He also promised that if elected there would be no energy crisis after 2011.

“We will prioritize supplying energy for domestic demand instead of exporting it.”

Meanwhile presidential hopeful Megawati Soekarnoputri held a discussion with foreign journalists at a hotel in Central Jakarta during which various topics — including her personality and campaign preparations — were discussed.

While the three presidential hopefuls stayed in Greater Jakarta, their running mates campaigned in regions.

Megawati’s running mate, Prabowo Subianto, continued his political safari around Bandung, West Java. Prabowo attended several discussions with local groups, and visited a local mosque for the Friday prayer.

Prabowo then headed to Palembang, South Sumatra, to campaign, while Yudhoyono’s running mate, Boediono, was in the same city, wherein he attended a closed-door joint prayer and visited local Islamic cleric Zen Sukri.

Kalla’s running mate, retired military chief Wiranto, campaigned in the Central Java town of Purwokerto. Before a crowd of thousands of supporters, he said if he and Kalla were elected they would annul the outsourcing system.

The open campaign period ends on Sunday, and will be followed by  a cooling-down period until July 7.

Dicky Christanto, Khairul Saleh and Agus Maryono contributed to this story from Jakarta, Palembang and Purwokerto.

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