Basofi may choose easy way out of PDI rift
Basofi may choose easy way out of PDI rift
By Ainur R. Sophiaan
SURABAYA (JP): Under pressure to resolve the chairmanship crisis in the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) local chapter, East Java Governor Basofi Soedirman may eventually choose the easy way out of openly favoring one rival over the other, an observer believes.
Ramlan Surbakti, a political scientist at Airlangga University, thinks Basofi's may reject the two neutral options of either holding a fresh chairmanship election or leaving things as they are and the PDI seat on the regional committee for the 1997 general elections vacant.
Indications abound that Basofi has had a favorite all along and that it's only a matter of time before he announces his preference, Ramlan said on Tuesday.
"The option of openly choosing Latief as the chapter chairman seems to be the most likely now. Latief is a figure who can be 'tamed' most easily by those in power," he told The Jakarta Post.
Basofi will consequently have to garner the support of his political allies and come up with a legal justification, but choosing Latief over Soetjipto will only spawn other problems, Ramlan said.
The PDI central executive board, led by Soetjipto supporter Megawati Soekarnoputri, will refuse to recognize Latief's leadership. Problems will continue to arise and pose risks to the order of the general election procedures.
Basofi has been squeezed by the conflict for more than two years. Pressure on him to resolve it has been increasing as the 1997 general election approaches and before that when he has to carry out a number of scheduled activities, such as the registration of voters.
Last month Basofi was forced to leave PDI unrepresented on the regional election committee because, he said, he could not just pick one over the other to sit in the body.
Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. first set Feb. 29 as the deadline for the party to resolve the conflict and the governor to complete the membership of the committee.
He later changed the deadline to the last day of May.
Soetjipto told the Post that Basofi will probably use the extra time to stall.
"The problem comes from outside. It only involves which one of us the provincial administration is willing to recognize. It could be solved right now." Soetjipto said.
He did not comment on the possibility that Basofi would eventually choose his rival.
"This chapter board is like a locomotive which is forced to travel on a road rather than on the railway track," he said, implying that it is impossible to act properly when the fundamentals are disrupted.
Latief also refused to comment apart from saying that he was optimistic that the problem would eventually be resolved. "If everybody involved in this situation is willing to place the national interest over their personal or group's interests, then we'll have a solution," he told the Post.
Soetjipto accused Basofi of rigging events, despite his declaration of impartiality, so that support for Latief appears to be growing.
A well-informed source told the Post that Basofi created the support for Latief by appointing to the election committee the activists Megawati had dismissed from the executive board. Among them are Harun Al Rasyid, Mas'ud and Sany Setiadi, who are known to be Latief loyalists.
The source, requesting anonymity, cited another example of Basofi's support for Latief. The governor held a closed meeting with Golkar local leaders and admitted he planned to recognize Latief as "the legitimate chapter chairman of PDI for the period 1994 - 1999".
When asked for confirmation, Basofi refused to comment. He said, however, that he has been preparing a "complete explanation" on the conflict for the public. He did not say when it will be announced.