ABRI calls on PDI members to end dispute
ABRI calls on PDI members to end dispute
JAKARTA (JP): An end to the struggle for control over the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)'s East Java branch must come from the party's rank and files in the province and not the Central Executive Board, a senior Armed Forces (ABRI) officer said yesterday.
ABRI Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid said that to break the current impasse the branch leaders in East Java should hold an extraordinary congress and elect their new leader.
Syarwan stressed that the row is essentially an internal affair but that ABRI would guarantee the security of the meeting should the party's leaders hold a congress.
Two rival camps have been vying for control of the party's leadership in East Java, where the party has found much support in past general elections.
Groups
One group, led by Sutjipto, has the support of the party's Central Executive Board chaired by Megawati Soekarnoputri in Jakarta. The other is led by Latief Pudjosakti, a staunch critic of Megawati and, until 1994, the chairman of the chapter.
The East Java administration recognizes neither of the two leaders and has left vacant the PDI's seat on the provincial election committee, which was set up in January for next year's poll.
Syarwan, who held his first meeting with journalists following his recent promotion to the post, defended the stand taken by East Java Governor Basofi Soedirman.
He admitted, however, that the Golkar chapter in East Java, to which Basofi belongs, is ultimately benefiting from the prolonged PDI conflict.
The governor has been criticized by some PDI leaders in Jakarta for allowing Latief to continue undermining the party's leadership in Jakarta.
Syarwan said ABRI believes that both Sutjipto and Latief have valid claims to the chairmanship because one has the support of the party leaders in Jakarta and the other was elected during the last congress in 1994.
He said the only solution is for the party to hold a new congress and elect the leaders.
The 1994 regional congress was marred with allegations of cheating, but the electoral college later appointed Latief to the post. His election was not recognized by the party's leaders in Jakarta who then appointed Sutjipto.
Syarwan noted that the PDI's own statutes stress that the chapter chair must be elected by the party's leaders in the province. The central executive board only "endorses" the result. (rms)