On the second day of this year’s election campaign, the elites of various political parties have tried to convince people to vote for them in the upcoming polls.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, chairman of the Democratic Party, said his party wanted to ensure that the situation in Indonesia continues to improve in the next five years.
“We are gathered here to ensure that our country will continue to improve in the next five years. I have run this country for the past 10 years with the full support of the Democratic Party and we have achieved a lot. We don’t want to see our country to experience a setback in the next five years,” Yudhoyono said in front of thousands of people in Bantul, Yogyakarta, on Monday.
Yudhoyono said the Democratic Party will become a strong, modern, party that will guide the nation to a better future.
“I am a true Democratic Party member. I will be a Democrat forever because I believe that the Democratic Party will turn into a strong and modern party that will guide and take the country forward,” he said.
Karyono Wibowo, a researcher from the Indonesian Public Institute, said that by sending Yudhoyono to Bantul, the Democratic Party was trying to capture votes from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) because the district is one of that party’s strongholds.
“Bantul is a PDI-P stronghold because the district heads have been from PDI-P for three consecutive terms. Political rivals such as the Democratic Party will definitely try to fight in their competitors’ strongholds and there’s political pride at stake if they succeed. That’s why the Democratic Party has sent its top campaigner, SBY,” Karyono said.
But Karyono was also of the opinion that Yudhoyono’s campaign would not contribute much to the Democrats.
“In my opinion, [Yudhoyono] will not have as much impact as he did in the 2009 general election, even though the party sent SBY as a campaigner in this 2014 general election,” he said.
Puan Maharani, chairwoman of the PDI-P’s central executive board, told the party’s supporters that now was the time to reclaim power.
“After struggling for years, after all the efforts, we now have to prove it, we have to reclaim what was lost from us,” Puan said in Surabaya, East Java.
She said the PDI-P could reclaim power if the party’s members united as a big family.
“What you have to understand is that if we want to have our own president and vice president, the PDI-P has to obtain over 20 percent [of the votes]. As members of the big PDI-P family, it is time for all of us to believe and to help by voting for the PDI-P,” Puan said.
Meanwhile, Aburizal Bakrie, chairman of Golkar Party, said the people had to vote for his party, claiming that Golkar had the experience to bring Indonesia to a much better condition if it won the elections.
“God’s willing, if Golkar wins in the gubernatorial race, legislative election and presidential election, Indonesia will be a better place. Why? That’s because Golkar has 32 years of experience in governing this country,” Aburizal said in a campaign in Pringsewu district in Lampung, Sumatra.
Aside from the legislative and presidential elections, Lampung will also hold a gubernatorial election this year.
Aburizal said poor people would no longer have to worry about their children’s education if Golkar returns to power.
Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/electioneering-full-swing-parties-se...
