Alleged defection may worsen conflict in PDI
Alleged defection may worsen conflict in PDI
CIAWI, West Java (JP): The rival executive board of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) claimed yesterday that party secretary general Alexander Litaay has defected to its camp.
Rival board chairman Jusuf Merukh told journalists that party rebels, who ended a three-day meeting here yesterday, had appointed Litaay a deputy chairman of the rival board.
Jusuf said Litaay was present at the meeting that proceeded smoothly without the authorities' intervention although it had no official permit. The meeting was attended by about 200 disgruntled party activists.
Neither Litaay, nor the legitimate PDI chief, Megawati Soekarnoputri, were available for comment on Jusuf's claim.
"Once you see Alex Litaay is at the party's headquarters in Jl. Diponegoro (Jakarta) that means the new board starts working there," he said when briefing journalists on the results of the meeting.
Jusuf's claim was the latest development in the seemingly never-ending story of bitter conflict within the minority party.
Jusuf and several disgruntled party members set up the rival board to challenge the leadership of democratically-elected Megawati, the eldest daughter of the late president Sukarno.
The government, which reluctantly endorsed her election, has repeatedly reaffirmed its support for Megawati and denied charges that it covertly backs party rebels.
Head of PDI's center for research and development Kwik Kian Gie told The Jakarta Post yesterday he did not believe that Alex joined the rival board.
"I dare to say that Jusuf Merukh's claim is not true," he said, adding that he also failed to make contact with Litaay.
Jusuf said that Litaay and another party rebel, Said Kuntjoro, had agreed to assume posts in the rival board he set up last year. They are among 24 other disgruntled PDI activists listed in Jusuf's board of leadership.
The authorities' failure to stop Jusuf's three-day unlicensed gathering angered Megawati's camp yesterday.
"I can't stop wondering why an illegal party board can hold an illegal gathering without intervention by security authorities," said Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, one of Megawati's deputies.
"But it happened in Cengkareng, where people face arrest if more than five gather without the official permit," he said.
Tense
Eastern Cengkareng is tense at the moment due to area residents' violent rejection of a West Jakarta administration plan to evict hundreds of residents to make way for a housing project.
Jusuf said that he had obtained "a verbal permit" from the authorities to hold the congress at Hotel Satria. He declined to name the authorities.
"The meeting needed no permit because the authorities knew very well that it would not spark rioting, let alone disrupt stability," said Merukh, who is also known as a businessman.
He pointed at police and security guard posts outside of the hotel.
Major organizations are required to obtain a permit from the police, with a recommendation from the Ministry of Home Affairs, before organizing mass meetings.
Around 140 participants signed a statement saying that Jusuf was a "nationalist" and had no links with the defunct Indonesian Communist party (PKI). They also urged Merukh to sue PDI deputy chairman Suparlan for accusing him of being a communist.
Jusuf, a former legislator for the PDI faction, said he planned to hold an extraordinary congress in April to elect a "permanent" PDI executive board and to adopt party programs for the next five years.
Besides that, the new board plans to screen all party members to make sure that they have no past links with the defunct communist party, or any other outlawed organizations, he said.
Meanwhile, an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs claimed that it was not aware of the PDI rival board meeting, saying no recommendation had been given to Jusuf.
"The ministry knows nothing about the meeting," spokesman for the ministry HSA Yussac said.
Yussac said the ministry would check to confirm that the meeting had taken place.
Earlier Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S.M. denied Jusuf's claim that the government had committed itself to donating part of the Rp 3 billion (US$1.3 million) he needs for the April extraordinary congress. (rms)