Parties set up rest areas to attract voter support

Nana Rukmana and Yuli Tri Suwarni ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Cirebon, Bandung   |  Thu, 09/25/2008 10:19 AM  |  The Archipelago

Political parties are taking advantage of the annual Idul Fitri exodus to attract potential voters by setting up rest areas in several strategic spots along Java’s renowned Pantura (north coastal) highway.

Some of campaign stations sit along the HR Dharsono Bypass in Cirebon, West Java, the busiest section of the route that connects Jakarta and Central Java.

The political parties that have set up posts include the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura).

Members wearing party uniform man the posts, which provide travelers with free ranging from massages, first aid and information on alternative routes snacks and beverages.

The stations are easy to notice thanks to the bright, colorful party flags, banners and billboards.
Some party members even take to the road, helping smooth the traffic whenever congestion occurs.

“We set up the posts to help travelers facing difficulties and in need of help while traveling. They can just come to our posts and ask for help there. Our members are ready to help them,” chairman of Golkar’s Cirebon executive board Ade Anwar Syam said.

Ade did not deny that attracting potential voters was one of the reasons for setting up such posts.

“If a political party can act sympathetically in society, then that can lead to support,” Ade said.
The parties’ stations have also helped ease the work of police, who face limited resources in dealing with the annual mass exodus, according to Cirebon Regional Police chief Sr. Comr. Nasser Air.

More than 25 million people across the country are expected to travel to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri, making them a good target for a political campaign.

Separately, in Bandung, migrant workers working in Malaysia have for the last three days been thronging the Husein Sastranegara International Airport, with the Air Asia Kuala Lumpur-Bandung flight filling 99 percent of its 148 available seats on Wednesday.

The usual load factor is between 30 and 70 percent.

State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II reported here that as of Wednesday, there were 2,471 passengers flying from Kuala Lumpur to Bandung on Air Asia’s Boeing 737-300s.

In another development, the West Java Transportation Agency on Wednesday opened the 600-meter Nagreg ring road in Bandung regency to switch previous traffic arrangements, in a bid to prevent traffic jams resulting from the Idul Fitri exodus.

In Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, hotels claimed they were fully booked in the lead-up to Idul Fitri, mostly by migrants originally from either Bukittinggi or Agam regency.

Head of the Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants’ Bukittinggi chapter Agam Syafroni Falian said all the rooms available at its 64 hotels, both star-rated and non-star-rated, had been fully reserved since last month.

Syofiardi Bachyul JB contributed to this report from Padang.

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