Food could be used as a political weapon in Indonesia's election campaign next year as people's ability to buy rice erodes, senior United Nations officials warned yesterday.
UN officials also told a Jakarta Foreign Correspondents' luncheon the Indonesian Government was not reacting quickly enough to avert food shortages and distribution problems.
Country representative for the World Food Programme, Philip Clarke, said certain groups would possibly use food as a vote buyer in general elections next May.
'Food is used as a political weapon everywhere in the world. That someone will try to use food for their own benefit, that's for sure,' Mr Clarke said.
He said food politicking would most likely occur in urban areas where many people had lost their jobs and fallen through the social safety net.
Mr Clarke said food strife in cities and towns would reach its highest point at the elections.
He estimated four million of the current 17 million households below the poverty line could not afford even cheap rice subsidised by the Government.