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.]
