A chance not to be missed

A chance not to be missed

With a crucial party congress only days away, millions of
Indonesians must be disgruntled to find that the country's
biggest political party -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) -- is still in serious disarray months
after it emerged as the country's largest party in last year's
general elections.

Since attaining its leading position in Indonesian politics,
the party has managed to disappoint millions of Indonesians who
voted for it in the hope that it could become an effective
leading element in the nation's transition from totalitarianism
to democracy -- a promise that it has held out to the Indonesian
public since the days of its suppression by the previous regime.

All across Indonesia, where the party lost key positions in
either the local legislative assemblies, the government, or both,
protests by party members and supporters erupted over what
critics suspected was the involvement of popularly elected PDI
Perjuangan legislators in "money politics" -- that is to say, in
selling their votes and leading positions in PDI Perjuangan to
candidates with far less political acumen outside the party.

The latest discouraging news involving PDI Perjuangan is that
the party's central board in a meeting on Tuesday voted to block
Eros Djarot -- a well-known journalist, film maker, businessman
and aspiring candidate for the party's upcoming chairmanship --
from participating in next week's scheduled party congress in
Semarang, thus effectively killing his chances of running for the
chairman's position.

Another up-and-coming candidate, Dimyati Hartono, has thus far
fared relatively well. Though opposition against his running for
the chairmanship has come from several quarters within the party,
no outright attempt has yet been made to force him to give up his
candidacy.

But what is motivating those apparently powerful persons in
the party to "block everyone except Megawati", in Eros' words,
from participating in the election?

Obviously, the party at this stage of its relatively brief
existence still depends heavily on the name and charisma of its
current chairwoman, Indonesia's Vice President Megawati
Sukarnoputri, to hold it together and hopefully lead it towards
another election victory in 2004. There is no denying that 29
years after his tragic death under virtual house arrest, the name
of this country's founding president, Sukarno, still casts a
spell over millions of Indonesians.

This is, naturally, recognized by everyone, including Eros
Djarot and Dimyati Hartono, whose only stated ambition is to come
out of the election process with leadership positions strong
enough to help turn PDI Perjuangan into a modern, well-organized
party ready to take on the challenges of the new millennium.

But why the angry opposition to their candidacies? Some
observers and critics have suggested that fear of the loss of
vested interests among certain leading party members could be the
reason.

As has been stated earlier, a commitment to democracy and
improving the plight of impoverished, underprivileged Indonesians
is what the party has promised throughout the many years of its
heretofore suppressed existence. That is the party's true appeal
to the people, with Megawati Sukarnoputri as its symbol.

It would be a shame if it should fail to fulfill this mission
by missing the opportunity to modernize and broaden its appeal to
include not only its traditional supporters but also the millions
of better educated people who would be voting for the first time
in the 2004 general elections.