Leadership rift likely to damage PDI performance<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) will
\nsuffer in next year's general election if the party's leadership
\nconflict gets any worse, political observers predict.<\/p>\n
Soehardjo and Susilo Utomo of Diponegoro University said
\nWednesday that the PDI's showing will be affected because its
\nmost popular figure, Megawati Soekarnoputri, has been scrapped
\nfrom the list of candidates for the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Megawati was ousted by Soerjadi in a rebel government-
\nsanctioned congress in the North Sumatra capital of Medan in
\nJune. She does not recognize his leadership and has sued him for
\nholding the congress and the government for backing it.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court, which is hearing the case,
\nhas unsuccessfully suggested an out-of-court settlement.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi, who chaired the PDI until he was replaced by
\nMegawati in 1993, was the one who recruited Megawati for the PDI
\nin the 1980s.<\/p>\n
She is still a House member, representing the PDI until 1997.
\nSoerjadi has made it clear that he will not nominate a party
\nmember who rejects his leadership.<\/p>\n
Soehardjo said the PDI should use Megawati's popularity to
\nattract voters instead of dropping her name from the list of
\ncandidates simply because she refuses to recognize the Medan
\ncongress.<\/p>\n
\"If Soerjadi does exclude her, the PDI will remain the
\nsmallest among the three political parties with even fewer seats
\nin the House than it has now,\" Soehardjo said.<\/p>\n
Currently, the PDI has 56 seats in the House while Golkar has
\n282 and the United Development Party holds 62.<\/p>\n
Soehardjo predicted that if Soerjadi and Megawati, the eldest
\ndaughter of late president Sukarno, fail to make peace, the PDI's
\nnumber of seats will drop at least 30 percent next year.<\/p>\n
\"Now that Megawati has been dethroned and PDI under Soerjadi
\ncoopted by the government, many PDI sympathizers may be
\nfrustrated and turn their back on the party,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Susilo Utomo said that Soerjadi's move to oust Megawati was
\nunpopular and that the party under his leadership has lost the
\npublic's sympathy.<\/p>\n
The better educated can see that unlike Megawati, Soerjadi was
\nnot elected by popular vote. The party's current leadership
\ncannot preach democracy, he said.<\/p>\n
The PDI, a 1973 merger of nationalist and tiny Christian
\nparties, is the most outspoken of the three sanctioned political
\norganizations and is popular among younger voters who want to see
\npolitical reform.<\/p>\n
Susilo said that educated party members who sympathize with
\nMegawati might boycott the election or vote for one of the other
\ntwo parties in next year's election.<\/p>\n
\"What is certain to me is that the rift within the PDI will
\nboost Golkar's showing next year. Golkar's leaders have been
\nactively campaigning,\" he said. (har\/pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/leadership-rift-likely-to-damage-pdi-performance-1447893297",
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