Three political groups face internal dissent<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The three recognized political groupings --
\nGolkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party (PDI) -- which have monopolized the political
\nscene for over 25 years, are facing growing internal dissent
\nwhich is boiling over into public rows.<\/p>\n
Demonstrations and public statements of discontent plagued the
\nthree major political groups yesterday.<\/p>\n
The PPP headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, was
\nbesieged by 300 party members yesterday.<\/p>\n
They demanded party leaders hold an extraordinary congress to
\nelect a new chairman to replace the incumbent Ismail Hasan
\nMetareum, no later than June 30. The congress is currently
\nscheduled for August 1999.<\/p>\n
The PPP Reform Committee, as they called themselves, asked
\nIsmail to step down and accused him of manipulating the party
\ninto supporting the renomination of Soeharto for president in
\nMarch.<\/p>\n
Emron Pangkapi, spokesman for the committee, said that Ismail
\nhad manipulated the decision not to support Soeharto reached by
\n20 out of 27 provincial councils across the nation during the PPP
\nleadership meeting in January.<\/p>\n
\"This manipulative and collusive political act caused the
\nnation to fall into a crisis of confidence and has hampered the
\nprocess of smooth and peaceful reform,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Emron said that he and his committee would continue to
\n\"occupy\" the headquarters until their demands were met.<\/p>\n
Next door, 200 members of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) calling themselves the Committee of Megawati Supporters
\n(KPM) staged a separate rally in front of the PDI office.<\/p>\n
The protesters demanded that Panangian Siregar, a PDI
\nlegislator loyal to Soerjadi, resign from his new position as
\nState Minister of Environment because of his involvement in the
\nnotorious July 27 incident.<\/p>\n
They also demanded that Coordinating Minister for Defense and
\nSecurity Feisal Tanjung and Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen.
\nSyarwan Hamid step down for their alleged involvement in the same
\nincident.<\/p>\n
Followers of the government backed Soerjadi faction forcibly
\ntook over the PDI headquarters on July 27, 1996, which was at the
\ntime occupied by supporters loyal to the ousted chairman Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
The protesters, lead by Ribka Tjiptaning from the Tangerang
\nPDI office, later marched to the nearby Legal Aid Foundation
\noffice to hold a press conference.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the grounds of the Ministry of Home Affairs, a
\ngroup of students staged a demonstration demanding the
\ndissolution of the ruling Golkar grouping and reform of the other
\ntwo authorized parties.<\/p>\n
The ministry oversees the activities of the three recognized
\npolitical groupings.<\/p>\n
Thirty fully-armed soldiers watched the demonstration closely
\nbut did not intervene.<\/p>\n
Sundani Abadi of the group calling themselves the Student
\nAction Front for the Purification of Reform said: \"The people now
\nno longer trust Golkar. I believe it is logical to say that
\nGolkar, who have been in power, should take responsibility for
\nbringing the nation into the current crisis.\" (ivy\/aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/three-political-groups-face-internal-dissent-1447893297",
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