'ABRI not behind PDI congress'
BANDUNG (JP): A top military official has denied speculation that the Armed Forces (ABRI) is behind the clamor for an extraordinary Indonesian Democratic Party congress and a fresh chairmanship election.
ABRI sociopolitical chief Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid stated on Saturday that the military was not to blame for the deepening rift within the nationalist-Christian alliance party.
"ABRI did not engineer the division within the party...because ABRI considers PDI a national asset that should be protected.
"The demands for a congress by PDI branches supported by 16 members of the central executive board were not engineered by ABRI in order to divide the party," Syarwan insisted.
"The demands are a pure political process taking place in the party," he said.
The 28 member central board split into two camps earlier this month. A group of 16 members, led by deputy chair Fatimah Achmad, plans to conduct a congress to contest the leadership of party chief Megawati Soekarnoputri. The other camp insists the congress has no validity.
Rapidly gaining the support of civilian and military leaders, the splinter group said the congress will be held some time between June 19 and June 25, with the venue being in Medan, North Sumatra, Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, or Manado, North Sulawesi.
Syarwan also denied rumors that military officers will pay the expenses of PDI activists wishing to attend the planned congress.
"Get real. ABRI has enough difficulties paying the expenses of its soldiers and operations in the regions," he said.
Even if there was such financial assistance from regional military commanders, then it's only because the officers admire PDI, he conceded.
The most officers would do was introduce PDI members to donors, he said.
"This is not ABRI management of conflicts," he added, after taking part in the popular talk-show Perspektif Live.
He pointed out that scheming is acceptable in politics as long as it's done by the rules. "There isn't politics which consist of only prayer. I'm not prohibiting engineering," he said.
"ABRI won't take sides or defend anybody in this rift. If the congress eventually chooses Ibu Mega, there's no problem," he said.
Meanwhile, Megawati maintained her composure and called on party branch executives to continue drawing up the lists of prospective PDI representatives for the House of Representatives and regional legislative councils.
"Don't let the process be hampered... carry it on in accordance with my instruction," she said while receiving supporters in her residence yesterday.
Support continues to pour in for Megawati.
Chairman of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), Bambang Widjojanto, said over the weekend in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi that the government should leave PDI alone to solve its own conflicts.
"Any external support for one of the rival camps would cause the condition to deteriorate," Bambang said. "The government shouldn't have thrown itself behind Fatimah's camp without listening to Megawati's camp first."
In Semarang, Central Java, the police evicted some 100 supporters of Megawati who had camped out in the Central Java PDI branch office for the past four days in defiance of branch chairman Soemario. He supports the extraordinary congress.
Police locked the office, much to the protestation of Megawati's supporters.
In Yogyakarta, hundreds of Moslem and nationalist students marched in support of Megawati.
In Surabaya, East Java PDI chapter chairman Sutjipto, a staunch supporter of Megawati, said he would mobilize all PDI members in the province and fight against the planned congress. (17/har/20/15/imn/swe)
Politics -- Page 2