POOR PEOPLE RALLY OUTSIDE KPU BUILDING

Jakarta, June 15 (ANTARA) - Hundreds of people claiming to be members of the Indonesian Poor People's Federation (SRMI) staged a rally outside the General Elections Commission (KPU) building here Monday to oppose pro-neoliberalism presidential and vice presidential candidates.

The protesters arrived at the KPU building compound in 10 buses. They held oration and distributed leaflets among passers-by.

"We come here to voice our objections to pro-neoliberalism presidential and vice presidential candidates," SRMI spokesman Henry Anggoro said on the sidelines of the rally.

According to him, the three presidential and vice presidential tickets which were conducting electoral campaigning ahead of the July 8 polls had objected to being labelled as neoliberals.

"We see the three presidential and vice presidential tickets hiding behind their campaign themes all of which favor the people's interests," he said.

"But in reality we, the poor, see the themes raised by the three presidential and vice presidential tickets as nothing more than political pledges," he said.

Incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who has picked former Bank Indonesia governor Boediono as his running mate will vie with incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in the upcoming presidential race.

Kalla will pair with former Indonesian military (TNI) chief Gen (ret) Wiranto, while Megawati will pair with retired general Prabowo Subianto. ***