Violence mars PAN congress<\/p>\n
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post\/Semarang<\/p>\n
Violence marred the second day of the National Mandate Party's
\n(PAN) national congress on Friday after a significant number of
\nparticipants failed to obtain registration cards.<\/p>\n
The violence has not only blemished PAN's reputation as being
\na middle class and reform-minded party, but also made the
\ncompetition much fiercer among those vying for the PAN
\nleadership.<\/p>\n
The fracas began in the morning when a group of PAN members
\nwere about to register as congress participants. The registration
\nprocess went smoothly. But later, it turned violent when some
\npeople, who said they were PAN members from Papua, Bali and other
\nareas, were still not given registration cards even though they
\nhad been issued with cards by the committee on the first day of
\nthe congress on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The cards are required in order to be able to vote for the PAN
\nleader, who will head the party from 2005 and 2010.<\/p>\n
Enraged by their failure to get cards, those who had been
\ndenied went on a rampage, turning over tables and breaking
\nglasses on the floor of the lobby of the Patra Jasa Hotel in
\nSemarang, the capital of Central Java province. The congress
\ncommittee attempted to calm down them down but to no avail.<\/p>\n
Amien Rais, the outgoing PAN leader, who is still very popular
\namong PAN members, stepped in to stop the violence.<\/p>\n
Along with outgoing PAN secretary-general Hatta Radjasa, Amien
\nassembled the chairmen of all of the party's chapters and
\nbranches nationwide in order to resolve the dispute peacefully.<\/p>\n
After the meeting, Amien explained to the media that the
\nproblem had arisen as some executives of party's chapters and
\nbranches claimed that they had been elected by the PAN central
\nboard as party regional executives, while at the same time others
\ncontested the legality of the resolutions. "Thus, all those
\npeople were claiming that they had the right to participate in
\nthe congress," said Amien.<\/p>\n
At last, the committee selected those participants who were
\neligible to participate in the congress, much to the
\ndisappointment of those who were not selected. Among these were
\nNurhasan, a secretary with PAN's Cimahi regency branch, who
\nclaimed that he was in possession of a resolution dated Dec. 20
\nlast year stating that he was a PAN regional executive. "There is
\nare efforts afoot to ensure the victory of a certain candidate in
\nthe leadership race," said Nurhasan, who was barred from
\nparticipating in the congress.<\/p>\n
The dispute, which had brought the congress to a standstill,
\nfinally dissipated after Amien led a prayer to cool things down.
\nAs of last night, 18 out of a total of 33 party chapters had
\naccepted Amien's accountability report.<\/p>\n
The dispute, nevertheless, raised the tension in the
\ncompetition for the PAN leadership. Seven people have nominated
\nthemselves for the leadership post, but there will only be two
\ncandidates left on the final day of the race, namely, Soetrisno
\nBachir, who is backed by Amien Rais and rich businessman Fuad
\nBawazier. Hatta Radjasa was also one of the chairman hopefuls,
\nbut there is speculation that he withdrew from the race after a
\nmeeting with Amien Rais.<\/p>",
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