JUNE 25 2009 afternoon, one o’clock. The day is blazing hot. I and a friend from the university walk through the streets of Banda Aceh. All the way, we look to presidential election banners in our rights and lefts.

“Atribot Mega-Pro pakon hana leumah bak jalan meusaboh tan (Why there is no Mega-Pro attribute on the street)?” Miftahul Umam asks.

“Maybe they are not displayed yet,” I say.

Mega-Pro is the nickname of Megawati and Prabowo Subianto president and vice president candidates. Megawati is from Indonesian Democracy Party of Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia-Perjuangan /PDIP) and Prabowo is from Great Indonesia Movement Party (Partai Gerakan Indonesia Raya/Gerindra).

Megawati is Indonesia’s fifth Indonesian president from 2001 to 2004.

In 1999 general election, PDIP is the winning political party with 33.74 per cent votes nation-wide. What happen 10 years ago stays does not transform to today’s success though. PDIP secures only 14.03 per cent of votes nation-wide in the 2009 election. Two parties – Partai Gerindra and Labor Party (Partai Buruh) form a coalition with PDIP.

A couple of minutes after one o’clock, I arrive in front of the Regional Leadership Council (Dewan Pimpinan Daerah/DPD) office of PDIP Aceh, a three-story shop house painted in bright red. Wind blows the flags of the party on the front yard. There is only one Mega-Pro banner displayed here.

I want to see Karimun Usman. He is the head of Mega-Pro campaign team in the province.

In the office, three men are busy with paperwork. My greeting is unnoticed.

“Sorry, can I see the head of Mega-Pro campaign team?” I ask.

“He is in Jakarta,” Rusli Arbi answers, as he piles all paperwork on his desk. He is DPD secretary of Partai Gerindra.

“I want to interview him on the activity of Mega-Pro campaign team in Aceh,” I add.

“Nyoe masalah nyan lon han jeut bi komentar brangkahoe  (I cannot help you with that then),” he says.

He asks which media I work for. I show him my letter of assignment. He adjusts his glasses and reads thoroughly.

“Nyoe hubungan dengan media, nyan urusan Thamrin Ananda (any media-related affairs should go to Thamrin Ananda),” he answers firmly.

Thamrin Ananda is the secretary of DPP Aceh People’s Party (Partai Rakyat Aceh/PRA). It is one of six local parties in Aceh comprising of young people and former student activists.

In legislative election on April 9 2009, PRA secures only 1.07 per cent of votes. Since it secures below five per cent of votes, it does not pass the Electoral Threshold (ET) and cannot take part in the upcoming 2014 election. Thamrin now works for Mega-Pro campaign.

“Bek lee, peu masalah sakyoe wawancara jih (Wait a minute, what is the interview about?),” Rusli asks.

“It is about the activity of Mega-Pro campaign team in Aceh and strategies in creating image to the people in Aceh,” I explain.

“Nyoe masalah pencitraan bek bak Thamrin Ananda, bak Pak Zainal Sabri mantong meunyoe meunan (If it is about image creation, I think you should go to Zainal Sabri instead of Thamrin Ananda).” Rusli opens his mobile phone.


THE sky is dark. Lightning strikes a couple of time. Rain drops fall on earth. That afternoon, I meet with Zainal Sabri in the office Regional Leadership Council of Partai Gerindra.

This four-wheel vehicle parked in front of the office has the writing “Gerindra” on it. A number of party flags are placed neatly. The office is decorated with banners of Prabowo Subianto. Three men are playing chess.

“Go right ahead to his office,” they say after I inform them my intention.

Zainal’s room has glass walls. Inside is rather stifling. He is alone. Only two chairs are available for guests.

”Please sit down. What do you want to know about?” he greets warmly.
He is the head of Partai Gerindra Regional Leadership Council and vice head of Mega-Pro campaign team for the province of Aceh.

”We have our banners. Campaign for Mega-Pro is focused to our basis of supporters in North Sumatera, South Sumatera, Lampung, Bali, the island of Jawa and part of Kalimantan,” he explains Mega-Pro campaign preparation.

Campaign strategies of these candidates focus on internal consolidation of both PDIP and Gerindra. They also provide information on Megawati and Prabowo in numerous cities and districts. In Aceh, the target is to obtain 20 to 30 per cent of the vote. There are 5.000 members of the campaign team scattered all over Aceh. Regarding the cost of the campaign, Zainal refuses to state the exact number. He simply states that fund is donated by many.

Reputations of both Megawati and Prabowo are rather dimmed in Aceh. Megawati is infamous for declaring Aceh as Military Zone on May 19 2003 when she was president. This status is issued when the Government of Indonesian and Free Aceh Movement failed to reach a peace agreement by 2002. Megawati demands Free Aceh Movement to comply with three demands from the Government of Indonesia: Aceh remains as part of the country, Aceh is provided with a special autonomy status and Free Aceh Movement surrenders all their weapons. Free Aceh Movement refuses to follow.

”Our role as a team is to change this unfavorable image. Megawati is not fully responsible of the implementation of Military Zone status. The government is a system, there are ministers in the cabinet who should be held responsible as well,” Zainal defends his candidate.

”SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) as a consequence is also involved with the government system which implement the Military Zone status in Aceh,” he adds.

SBY was the Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security in Megawati administration.

Zainal also defends Prabowo who is often linked to kidnapping of activists and shootings of students when he led the Army Strategic Command (Komando Strategis Angkatan Darat  /Kostrad), prior to the downfall of Soeharto in 1998.

”He is not involved in human rights violations. In the chain of command, Wiranto as Military Chief should bear the responsibility,” he argues.

Wiranto is a candidate for vice president of Jusuf Kalla. The duet is popularly known as JK-Win.

Explanation provided by Zainal gives me a different understanding. Come to think of it, none of the candidates have their hands clean from crime against humanity. From the president to the soldiers, all of them are involved and should be held responsible.

July 1 2009, afternoon time. I go through the streets of the city of Banda Aceh. Today is a bit different. Mega-Pro banners are available on every intersection, snuggled among banners of other candidates - SBY-Boediono and JK-Win.


*) Jufrizal is Aceh Feature contributor in Aceh. He is a student of Faculty of Religious Teaching in Ar Raniry State Islamic Institute.