Tempo
Interactive - June 7, 2009
Kurniasih
Budi, Jakarta – A group of workers who have declared themselves as a voluntary
team to support Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto believe that Kalla’s performance has
been better than the other presidential candidates.
“I feel
comfortable with JK (Kalla’s) style of working, which is quick to act, quick to
find solutions and dynamic. In addition to this, he has the courage to be
himself and has his own way of resolving problems”, said labour activist Dita
Indah Sari following the declaration of the Courageous Volunteers for
Resurrecting Self-Sufficiency (Relawan Berani Bangkit Mandiri, Relawan BBM) at
the Perwari Building in Jakarta on Saturday June 6.
Hundreds of
workers took part in declaring themselves as a volunteer team to support the
Kalla-Wiranto presidential bid. Dita said that the political stand taken by the
labour group supporting Kalla represents a positive step. “Increasingly large
numbers of workers are becoming involved in politics so political policies will
be pro-worker”, she said.
Sari is also
optimist that Kalla will not break his promises because his concepts are the
same as those of the working class. Moreover Kalla will prioritise the
development of small- and medium-scale enterprises by keeping down interest
rates on credit for small businesses. In addition to this, the Kalla-Wiranto
ticket has a program to develop the agricultural sector. These two programs,
said Sari, will support those economic sectors that absorb large amounts of
labour. “If lots of people have jobs then purchasing power will increase,” she
said.
Labour
representative Adam Syah Wahab said, “We are ready to ensure the victory of Pak
(Mr) JK as president.”
Kalla and
Wiranto, who have the backing of the Golkar Party and the People's Conscience
Party (Hanura), will be competing with candidates championed by the Democrat
Party and several other political parties, incumbent President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and former Central Bank governor Boediono, and the candidates put up
by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Greater
Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), Megawati Sukarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto
in the July 8 presidential elections.
[Translated
by James Balowski.]
