Yogyakarta – Actions rejecting the 2004 general elections and calls to golput [white movement, not to mark the ballot paper] are becoming lively in Yogyakarta, Central Java. On Tuesday January 27, demonstrators from the People’s Democratic Party (PRD) openly rejected the 2004 elections. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Youth Front for Struggle (Front Perjuangan Pemuda Indonesia, FPPI) called for golput, that is to choose not to choose.

Around 50 PRD demonstrators held a long-march from Jalan Kusumenara to the central post office. They declared their rejection of the elections because they are no more than a theatrical drama which will bring disappointment to the people.

The PRD demonstrators also carried posters and banners complete with symbols of the PRD. Included among these were posters which read “Reject the Elections”, “Form a Government of the People”, “Reject the Elections or Continue to be Poor”, “The Elections are not the Solution” and “Reject the Elections in Aceh and Papua”.

The coordinator of the PRD action, Andi, said that at the moment the political elite is in a race to get into power. Andi said that without having any sense of right and wrong they are deceiving people mealy for the sake of seeking power. Meanwhile the Indonesian people themselves continue to be at the bottom of the heap and live in poverty.

What is needed by the people at the moment, Andi said, is a government which is prepared to resolve the crucial problems in society such as the elimination of corruption, collusion and nepotism, trying the corrupters and creating employment opportunities for the people.

Meanwhile, around 50 activists from the Yogyakarta FPPI also held a demonstration in front of the Yogyakarta regional parliament. During their action, FPPI called on the public not to use their right to vote in the 2004 elections.

The general secretary of FPPI, Dewa Alamsyah, said that the 2004 elections will just become an arena for the consolidation and restoration of the power of the New Order [regime of former President Suharto], for their return to the political stage. In reality it is clear that the New Order is actually one of the roots of the destruction of the Indonesian nation at the moment.

“The political game [being played out] in Indonesia at the moment, indicates perfectly that there has been no improvement [in people’s lives]. The legislative candidates and those who competing for the seats of power represent a profile of the status quo forces. Why use the right to vote if this will only result in those in power being like the New Order period”, said Alamsyah.

[Translated by James Balowski.]