Candra Malik & Keno Gunawan

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being met by supporters during a sortie held in Solo, Central Java, on Monday. Yudhoyono and the presidential candidates are nearing the homestretch of the campaign period for the July 8 elections. (Photo: Dwi Oblo, Reuters)

Candidates Drum Up Support in Final Days

With only a week to go before the official campaign period ends, presidential candidates embarked on Monday for one last lap of the country to round up voters for their camps.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate, Boediono, headed for Solo to meet with supporters. The entourage, a who’s who of coalition heavyweights, included Democratic Party chairman Hadi Utomo; the chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Tifatul Sembiring; the chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Muhaimin Iskandar; and the chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), Suryadharma Ali.

Yudhoyono promised the residents of Solo that, if elected, his government would develop a hydropower plant “mega project along Bengawan Solo River to prevent annual floods, to irrigate rice fields and to reduce natural disasters.”

He also promised to pay more attention to small- and middle-scale businesses, particularly batik makers.

Yudhoyono touted his administration’s boosting of funds for such enterprises from Rp 14 trillion ($1.37 billion) last year to Rp 20 trillion this year.

“If we are elected, the fund will be bigger and the economy will grow even faster,” he said.He also promised more job opportunities, to reduce the unemployment rate, and to lessen the number of workers forced to look for jobs overseas.

Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, also a presidential candidate, took his campaign message to North Maluku. He pledged to empower young people to develop the areas they live in if he was elected.

“We should not be dependent on others. We must rely on our own strength and young people must be able to develop their potentials,” he said. Kalla later greeted thousands of his supporters on the street.

In Lampung on the southern tip of Sumatra, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri offered a menu of campaign pledges, including more affordable fertilizer for farmers, cheaper fuel for fishermen and revising a labor law to stem the outsourcing of jobs.

“I know prices are soaring now. Kerosene is not easy to find. I was a president, but only for two and a half years. In 2004, people did not vote for me. I am asking you, is life better now than when I was a president?” she asked her supporters. The crowd called out “no” in unison.

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