Gen. Edi backs establishment of 'new PNI'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Government officials have given qualified
\nsupport to the establishment yesterday of a new organization
\ncalled Indonesian National Unity (PNI).<\/p>\n
\"Let's just hope that it was established because the founders
\nwant to participate and feel responsible (for national
\ndevelopment),\" Minister of Defense Gen. (ret.) Edi Sudradjat said
\nof the organization which was formally founded last night. \"We
\nhave to think positively.\"<\/p>\n
The acronym of the new organization is identical to that of
\nthe Partai Nasional Indonesia socialist-nationalist politically
\nparty, established in 1946, which was later merged with other
\nparties to form the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in 1973.<\/p>\n
In the days before its establishment, people began referring
\nto the proposed organization as the \"new PNI\".<\/p>\n
About 200 people, including leading government critic Ali
\nSadikin, attended the inauguration of the organization yesterday.<\/p>\n
Former diplomat Supeni was elected chairwoman. Her five
\ndeputies include Djathi Koesoemo, a PDI legislator.<\/p>\n
Another of the deputies, Sutan Ali Asli, called on the public
\nyesterday not to associate the new organization with the PNI
\npolitical party.<\/p>\n
In her speech, Supeni said the organization wants to address
\nthe questions of moral decadence, corruption, public unrest and a
\nhost of other issues that have been neglected by government
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
The PNI will strive to strengthen nationalism, she said. \"We
\nwant to establish unity and to cooperate with various groups, as
\nlong as they are based on the state ideology Pancasila,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Other figures involved in the PNI are former minister of home
\naffairs Sanusi Hardjadinata; Usep Ranuwijaya, a professor at the
\nprivate-owned 17 August University; and Berar Fathia, who
\nannounced herself a candidate for the national presidency prior
\nto the 1992 presidential election.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know whether this PNI will be another form of the old
\nPNI, but it's better for us to see its establishment as
\nparticipation in the national life,\" Edi said.<\/p>\n
Another new organization is the National Brotherhood
\nFoundation, recently founded by 67 influential public figures,
\nincluding former House Speaker Kharis Suhud and former chief of
\nsocial and political affairs of the Armed Forces Bambang
\nTriantoro.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
\nSoesilo Soedarman called on the public yesterday not to draw
\nconnections between the widely-publicized birth of the foundation
\nand \"the current political situation\".<\/p>\n
The founders \"are old people who want only peace before they
\ndie,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"They are idealistic old soldiers who want to uphold the
\nmorality of the nation. They want to die peacefully...Let them
\nbe. Do we need to prohibit them?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
Chief of the State Intelligence Coordinating Body Lt. Gen.
\nSoedibyo welcomed the birth of both new organizations. \"But let's
\nwait and see what their programs are,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Political observer Purwoko of Diponegoro University in
\nSemarang, Central Java, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the
\nnew foundation was nothing more than a vehicle for certain
\ninterest groups to garner support for themselves ahead of the
\n1997 general elections. (anr\/swe\/har)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gen-edi-backs-establishment-of-new-pni-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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