Soerjadi gets final seal of approval<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): After one month of waiting, Soerjadi was
\nreceived by President Soeharto yesterday to get the official seal
\nof approval for his election as chairman of the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party (PDI) at a controversial congress in Medan.<\/p>\n
\"The government recognizes the PDI congress. The congress is
\nthe party's supreme assembly and all PDI members must abide by
\nits results,\" Soerjadi quoted the President as saying.<\/p>\n
This means the government regards the executive board elected
\nin Medan last month as the legitimate leaders of the party,
\nSoerjadi said.<\/p>\n
When the request for the meeting was conveyed immediately
\nafter the Medan congress, Soeharto had told Soerjadi to carry out
\nconsolidation within the party first.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi said yesterday the fact that the President accepted
\nto meet him meant that he had carried out the consolidation.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi's leadership of the minority party had been
\nchallenged by Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was officially the PDI
\nchairperson until the Medan congress. Many PDI leaders in the
\nregion have also refused to recognize his leadership. Thousands
\nof Megawati supporters have occupied the PDI headquarters in
\nJakarta to prevent Soerjadi and his board from moving in.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi was accompanied by 10 fellow executives, including
\nSecretary-General Butu Hutapea and deputy chairperson Fatimah
\nAhmad during the meeting with Soeharto at Bina Graha.<\/p>\n
The President urged Soerjadi to continue with the
\nconsolidation efforts. He said if some problems remained, they
\nshould be settled at the next PDI congress in 1998.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, Soerjadi said, stressed that the internal PDI
\ndispute should not affect the greater national task of holding
\nthe general elections in 1997.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi did not say whether a reconciliation with Megawati
\nwas also necessary as part of the consolidation efforts.<\/p>\n
The President stressed that PDI must be able to ensure harmony
\nin spite of differences among its members. He branded those who
\nrefused to live in harmony as \"being outside the system\".<\/p>\n
Soeharto also noted that some anti-government forces have been
\ntrying to take advantage of the PDI conflicts for their own
\npolitical goals. This, Soerjadi said, reminded the President of
\nthe method used by the Indonesian Communist Party of mobilizing
\nforces before they launched their rebellions.<\/p>\n
\"The PDI members must remain vigilant to these forces, or
\n'bald evils',\" Soeharto was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
Separately, a senior U.S. State Department official confirmed
\nyesterday that she had met with Megawati and received an update
\non the party's situation.<\/p>\n
\"We just had a very useful meeting in which she described to
\nme her perspective of the situation here,\" Under Secretary of
\nState Joan Spero said of the Wednesday meeting.<\/p>\n
Spero was in Jakarta as part of Secretary of State Warren
\nChristopher's entourage to the dialog meetings with member states
\nof the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.<\/p>\n
\"It really was sort of a factual exchange and very useful.
\nNothing more than that,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said that
\nthe U.S. delegates' concern should not be considered as
\nintervention in domestic affairs.<\/p>\n
\"(They should) just go ahead if they want to,\" he said after
\nclosing the two-day Post Ministerial Conference yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"It isn't interfering. We are an open society. We're not
\nworried about it,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Some local politicians and scholars have criticized Megawati
\nfor turning to the U.S., including her meeting last week with
\nAmerican civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mangara Siahaan, a PDI executive loyal to Megawati,
\ntold reporters that Soerjadi's meeting with Soeharto did not
\nautomatically mean he was the legitimate leader.<\/p>\n
\"The legitimacy of a political party's leader is not
\ndetermined by the President, but by its members,\" Mangara said.
\n(imn\/mds)<\/p>\n
Press -- Page 2<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soerjadi-gets-final-seal-of-approval-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }