Alex toppled in battle for Jakarta PDI top position

JAKARTA (JP): Lukman F. Mokoginta was elected as the new chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in a surprisingly nonviolent regional congress yesterday.

Lukman, 45, toppled the party's controversial outgoing boss MAS Alex Asmasoebrata, the top-seeded nominee until the closing hours of the two-day congress at the seaside Hotel Horison.

Alex lost the post he had held for two consecutive 10 year periods to Lukman in a closed election attended by representatives from the board's five branches throughout the city.

Lukman, a city councilor, businessman and boss of the Young Democrats, a youth organization affiliated with PDI, won 15 votes to Alex's six.

Two contenders in the race for the party chairmanship, Hendro S. Subroto and Subur Budiman, got three and one vote respectively. Meanwhile, Hamad Ginting and Marwan Adam received no votes.

Lukman's election virtually ended weeks of speculation that the congress would turn chaotic like the recent one in Surabaya in which the PDI central executive board intervened and chose its own figure instead of the government-favored nominee.

In the new board of executives formed early yesterday by the electoral board he controlled, Lukman chose Sahala Sinaga as his secretary. Sinaga is known as one of his staunch supporters.

Members of the electoral board included the party's chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Lukman appeared to be the strongest contender in the chairmanship race with support coming particularly from the North and Central Jakarta branches.

The East Jakarta branch was split between three candidates: Alex, Lukman and Subur, while South Jakarta had two candidates, Hendro and Alex.

Inside sources said that the anticipated potentially explosive situation leading to deadlock in the conference failed to materialize because the participants "were simply accommodative and respectful of each other."

Recognize

Contenders in the chairmanship race have pledged that they would duly recognize whomever the congress elected and would not set up rival leadership boards.

Megawati's chairmanship is facing dissension in a number of regions, including Aceh, North Sumatra and East Java in which the party has split with the formation of rival boards, one pro- Megawati and the other in opposition.

Some party members in the regions have openly opposed her over-intervention in local party affairs, especially in the election of a local chairman.

Lukman had earlier assured that he would make PDI an even better alternative for youths, students and the poor.

He received support mainly from the party's cadres who considered Alex's chairmanship a failure because it was filled by "stage politicians," a reference to those who like jockeying for positions but do little to develop the party.

Alex has also been widely blamed for letting PDI slip in Jakarta during the 1992 election. The party's seats in the City Council dropped from 14 out of 60 seats in 1987 to only 13 of the expanded 75-strong council.

Alex was acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court last year of the charge of ordering the beating of PDI supporters in 1992.

Alex, a wealthy businessman and avid car racer, is believed to have close relations with the city government which, given the reputation of the party, could either be a major asset or a liability for a PDI leader.

Despite his waning popularity, Alex has said that he was not deterred and insisted on running for a third five-year term of office. (par)