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June 5, 1999
Web posted at: 8:43 p.m. EDT (0043 GMT)

In this story: Troops rush to Lombok Golkar reign may end with election Election will test Megawati support Election posters disappear RELATED STORIES, SITES

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Protesters set fire to flags of the ruling Golkar party and threw stones at cars in a spate of pre-election violence.

Police fired warning shots in Jakarta and the central Java town of Pekalongan as clashes broke out between supporters of rival parties. The violent outbreaks marred the last day of official campaigning before Indonesia's first democratic election since 1955.

In the restive province of Aceh, the Indonesian military has begun implementing a curfew on the streets of the capital Lhokseumawe.

The National Election Commission will announce on Sunday whether voting will go ahead as scheduled in Aceh.

Armed Forces Commander General Wiranto has said polling for Monday's parliamentary elections may be delayed in some districts of Aceh by up to a month because of violence.

An Indonesian election official was killed and several people were injured in pre-election violence in Aceh this week.

Forty-eight parties are contesting Monday's elections in Indonesia's first taste of democracy in more than four decades.

An Indonesian military police officer tries to calm down a frenzied crowd Friday

Four people were injured on the eastern island of Lombok, where Hamzah Haz, leader of the Muslim-oriented United Development Party was attending a campaign rally, the Jakarta Post reported. Troops were rushed to the scene to prevent further violence, the Post said.

Despite the reported incidents, however, the campaign proved far less violent than the last election under former President Suharto in 1997. Hundreds died in that campaign.

General Election Commission head Rudini on Friday hailed the campaign, and said the stage was set for a successful parliamentary election on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of party supporters have flooded the streets of Indonesian cities during the past three weeks. Although there has been tight security and a number of clashes, nothing approaching the mass bloodshed feared before the vote has occurred.

No party is expected to win an overall majority in the new parliament, but the vote is expected to end the rule of the Golkar party, Suharto's former political vehicle.

Indonesia's most influential Muslim leader on Friday predicted a sweeping win by the opposition.

Indonesian elections workers check ballot boxes in Jakarta

Police fired blanks in Jakarta as protesters set fire to flags and threw stones at vehicles in a procession of party supporters.

"We fired some blanks to get the people to behave," one riot policeman told Reuters in Jakarta.

About four people were hurt and a motorcycle was torched, a witness said. Police reinforcements were sent in as crowds continued to burn Golkar campaign materials.

It was the latest in a series of attacks aimed at the ruling party, which is widely resented after decades of one-party rule, for its role as the parliamentary tool of long-serving former president Suharto, forced from office a year ago.

Golkar's reign is expected to end on Monday and a coalition of opposition parties is considered the likely outcome.

General Election Commission head Rudini said on Friday the stage was set for a successful poll on Monday.

"Up until today we have had 19 deaths, and all of them were due to accidents. In '97 about 329 people died during the campaign," Rudini told a news conference.

Golkar's rally on Friday was its last before the poll, but the party drew only a few thousand supporters onto the streets -- a far cry from the hundreds of thousands who flocked to an opposition rally in the capital on Thursday.

About 5,000 Golkar supporters converged on a Jakarta football field where they tried, with little success, to inject some enthusiasm into their campaign with music and dance.

A housewife at the rally, Ina, was unconvinced. "I have no idea which party would be best," she said. Asked if she had been paid to attend, she replied: "I would rather not say."

Golkar has failed in the eyes of many Indonesians to distance itself from Suharto since he quit in May 1998 in disgrace amid massive unrest and economic chaos.

The election will also be a test of support for Indonesia's presidential candidates, including popular opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, ahead of the November presidential poll.

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Indonesians woke up on Saturday to find virtually all traces of the country's historic election campaign gone from their streets.

Saturday is the first of two rest days before the country goes to the polls on Monday in its first democratic election since 1955.

Fire trucks were used to take down party flags and other paraphernalia.

Even in smaller Jakarta suburbs, bunting and flags of the most popular parties which had dominated the capital for the past three weeks were gone.

Under election rules all campaign material must be taken down on the two rest days before the election. Indonesians go to the polls at 8 a.m. on Monday, with voting booths opening first in the remote eastern provinces of Irian Jaya and the Moluccas.

Late on Friday, party workers scraped posters and other campaign material from walls around Jakarta, leaving only a few inaccessible flags and some graffiti as reminders of the election.

Correspondent Mike Chinoy in Aceh and Reuters contributed to this report.

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