306 branches OF PDI to sue 1,000 rebels

306 branches OF PDI to sue 1,000 rebels

JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri is raising a nationwide
legal storm by filing 306 simultaneous lawsuits against
participants of an Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) rebel
congress which toppled her last month.

R.O. Tambunan, one of the lawyers representing Megawati's
central executive board, said yesterday that all of the 306 PDI
branches supportive of Megawati will sue 1,000 participants of
the congress in Medan, North Sumatra, which elected Soerjadi as
new chairman.

"They will file the lawsuits within the next several weeks,"
Tambunan said.

Megawati joined forces yesterday with the Indonesian Bar
Association and the Legal Aid Institute to establish her national
team of lawyers called the "Public Defenders for Indonesian
Democracy".

Megawati said the legal action was meant as a lesson for PDI
members and the public in general to have the courage to stand up
against injustices.

"I have come across many Indonesians, especially those living
in rural and remote areas, who have long lived in fear," she said
during a modest ceremony to establish the team. "Those people are
silent and become suspicious of people who ask them about their
personal affairs."

"They shouldn't be so fearful. They should realize that they
have the right to express their feelings, opinions and make their
own choices," she said.

Tambunan said the team of lawyers have already found a number
of "irregularities" committed by a group of party dissenters who
initiated the rebel congress. "The participation of PDI members
in the gathering did not meet standard procedures stipulated in
party statutes," he said.

In addition, civilian and military authorities have put
"pressure" on PDI regional executives into taking part in the
congress, Tambunan charged.

Led by Fatimah Achmad, a deputy chairperson whom Megawati
later dismissed, the congress was financed and endorsed by the
government. The event elected Soerjadi to replace Megawati, who
was elected by popular vote in 1993.

Separately yesterday, chairman of the Institute for Strategic
Studies of Indonesia Rudini suggested that Megawati and Soerjadi
sit together and negotiate.

"The best solution for the party's rival leadership is for the
two to consolidate," said the former home affairs minister. He
also offered to mediate.

Rudini called on the government and the Armed Forces to handle
the PDI dispute with care. "Please consider the adverse impacts
of the dispute. Careless handling of the dispute may plunge the
nation into disintegration," he said.

Rudini, who for the past several years has been an outspoken
political observer, said that the government and the military had
previously made wrong decisions in handling the PDI crisis.

"All of the necessary decisions should have been made with the
interests of the nation in mind, not those of a certain group,"
he said.

The leader of the Central Java chapter of the Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU) Moslem organization, Muslim Rifai Imampuro, said in Klaten
yesterday that the PDI rift would end only if President Soeharto
recognized Megawati as the party's legitimate leader.

"The crisis will then end and the nation's political situation
will return to normal," he said. (imn/har)