The campaign season is due to begin March next year, according to the General Election Commission’s timetable. But the warmup drum has begun its beating. Several presidential aspirants seem impatient to enter the rip-roaring political race. Though the campaign is still months away, some VIPs have started their maneuvers. Apart from touring remote areas, they also plan to launch special media campaigns. A number of tabloids and websites have appeared, carrying big names.

Just name Megawati Sukarnoputri, general chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who is also the incumbent president. Some of Mega’s followers publish a periodical called Mega Demokrat. It was launched in a festive atmosphere, attended by activists of this “Red Bull” party at Hotel Borubudur, Central Jakarta, on Friday.

To supporters of Megawati, this publication is nothing new. In the 1999 campaign season, they relied on the Demokrat tabloid. It was once under the management of the Jawa Pos Group. But three years ago, Demokrat’s popularity waned. Its circulation dropped as political tabloids declined from their peak. “We finally closed it because of bankruptcy,” said Herdy Mas Peter, 44, its general manager.

There was an attempt to rescue Demokrat. According to Herdy, six months back, several PDI-P activists tried to revive the tabloid in a dummy form. It expects to get a boost in the next election period. But Taufiq Kiemas, Megawati Sukarnoputri’s husband, had another idea. The climax of the coming polls is the direct election of presidential candidates. So, as the need arises, Demokrat should change into Mega Demokrat. “That was proposed by Taufiq Kiemas,” Herdy revealed.

Taufiq Kiemas is the patron of the weekly tabloid. While Demokrat had its office in Pecenongan, Central Jakarta, Mega Demokrat is now headquartered on Jalan Perjuangan 40, Kebon Jeruk. The building belongs to Herdy himself, who was previously active in investment. Herdy refused to reveal the total money invested to publish Mega Demokrat. “It’s a trade secret,” he said, laughing.

With around 26 employees—including journalists—the editorial staff of the tabloid with a circulation of 15,000 is under 60-year-old Yunus Inuhan. Yunus is a senior journalist once working with Berita Yudha daily and the Pos Kota Group. Additionally, said Herdy, “Panda Nababan, a former Sinar Harapan journalist now in the PDI-P faction in the House of Representatives (DPR), will also assist the weekly.”

There are signs that Mega Demokrat will serve as a vehicle to ensure Megawati remains in office. Just examine the special report of its first edition titled “Mega’s Move in Response to Challenges”. It contains some “defense” for Mega, whose popularity is now reportedly on the wane. “This journal continues to express nationalist ideas,” said Yunus.

Herdy is convinced of the tabloid’s bright prospects. In his argument, Megawati has no special media that can bring the masses closer to the daughter of first president Bun g Karno. However, despite being Mega’s mouthpiece, the publication strives to remain critical. “Yes, we try to be independent,” added Herdy, concurrently general of the Mega Defense Command, a mass organization of Megawati’s fanatical followers.

The National Mandate Party’s aspirant, M. Amien Rais, is apparently a step ahead. Since the end of July, Amien has started a tabloid, MAR alias Media Amanat Rakyat (people’s mandate). The 20-page publication appears twice monthly. Its contents give prominence to the actions and thoughts of Amien Rais as a presidential candidate. “We don’t want to pretend,” said Edy Kuscahyanto, chief editor of the tabloid, to Faisal Assegaf from TEMPO News Room.

With its office in a luxury house on Jalan Sinabung, Kebayoran Baru, MAR seems to be prepared to compete with media of the type. It shares the house with The Amien Rais Center, headquarters of the intellectual and political activities of Amien’s supporters. With a circulation of 30,000 and a production cost of Rp100 million per edition, MAR will be promoted to become a weekly. According to Edy, his tabloid receives no party funds. “All costs are fully borne by donors who back Amien Rais,” said the former journalist of Warta Ekonomi.

Hamzah Haz is no exception. Since May, the General Chairman of the United Development Party has shown up in the virtual world. Via the Internet website www.hamzah-haz.com, Hamzah seems confident that he can move to the top executive seat. The site is managed by senior journalist M. Said Budairy. The total costs according to Said, are indeed lower than those of the printed media. “They reach only Rp25 million to Rp30 million a month,” he disclosed. The contents are mostly reports on the regional working tours of Hamzah Haz.

The medium presented by K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid—popularly called Gus Dur—is slightly different. Like Hamzah, Gus Dur relies on the virtual world via www.gusdur.net. The difference is that the General Chairman of the National Awakening Party is more relaxed on the site. In addition to the series of Gus Dur’s political views about democracy and Islam, there are amusing anecdotes Gus Dur narrated while he was president. “We are straightening out the image of Gus Dur,” Gamal Ferdhi, editor of the website, told Ucok Ritonga from TEMPO News Room.

Gamal also emphasized that there was no special message from Gus Dur that the site should serve as a campaign forum for his return to the presidency. But in one of its columns, a reader asked what strategy Gus Dur would apply to face the general elections. With ease, Gus Dur replied: “No way, it’s a secret.” J. Widhi Cahya, the site’s webmaster, said for the personal web class, the site has a lot of visitors, totaling around 2,700 daily.

Amid the media rivalry between presidential hopefuls, a good idea has struck Yon Hotman, 40, an ex-journalist of Neraca, who publishes a magazine called Kandidat. It has a fairly luxurious format with 90 color pages and attractive graphic design. With the mission of accommodating all presidential candidates, Yon expressed the conviction that his glossy would be welcomed by aspirants with creative concepts. “Don’t merely think of winning by money politics,” he said.

According to Yon, Kandidat challenges all the contenders to convey their political views. Nonetheless, his magazine will remain neutral. What about the survival of this publication, which has appeared since August? Yon said as a campaign medium, Kandidat would rely on “campaigntorial”. He coined this term from “advertorial”, the local name for ad pages in the printed media. “Candidates are invited to include their campaigns in the relevant space,” offered Yon. Yet, as an independent journal, Kandidat will make critical analyses of their programs. “It is part of our political education,” he added suggestively.

With a capital of about Rp3.5 billion, Kandidat will visit readers monthly. Its official price is quite high: Rp25,000. It is rather expensive because of the priority given to the quality of its designs and contents, as Yon put it. In the editorial department, Kandidat has recruited some contributors—besides journalists. “They are generally researchers, activists and young intellectuals,” said Yon, whose office is in Patra Kuningan XV-19, South Jakarta.

What happens ater the elections? Yon was not worried. He believes Kandidat would survive as long as the election of local political figures proceeds. “Many governors and regents need campaign media,” he insisted.

Nezar Patria