Bintang may link up with PPP or PDI

Bintang may link up with PPP or PDI

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Former legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas says
he may link up with one of the country's two minority parties to
strengthen the chances of his new party, the Indonesian
Democratic Union Party.

"If my party is not allowed to participate in the 1997 general
election, I will offer to form a coalition with either the United
Development Party (PPP) or the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI)," he told journalists here on Sunday.

Bintang, who once sat on the board of experts of the
Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals, said he was
working on the agenda of the Democratic Union Party, which he
plans to establish in May under the Indonesian acronym UDI.

"Our team is preparing the UDI's manifesto, which concerns the
party's basic framework and agenda," he said.

Bintang is a former member of the House of Representatives
representing the PPP. The Moslem-based conservative party fired
him on charges of "misconduct", including his strong criticism of
the government and the role of the Armed Forces in politics.

Bintang is also on trial in Jakarta for allegedly insulting
President Soeharto in one of his lectures in Germany last year.

He vowed on Sunday to quit the PPP as soon as his own party
comes into being.

"I was wrong when I joined the PPP. I thought its leaders had
adhered to Islamic principles when they made decisions and when
they defended oppressed people," he said.

The creation of another political party is not likely to
receive state approval due to the country's electoral laws, which
only recognize three contestants: the PPP, PDI and Golkar.

However, Bintang said he is prepared for the worst. "As long
as we adhere to the truth, the constitution and God there is
nothing to be afraid of."

Bintang decided to form his own party last year after finding
strong support during a series of visits to university campuses
in Indonesia.

Bintang said his future party would be backed by "hard working
people who are not dependent on the charisma of a certain figure
as in the other political organizations.

"Democracy is something you fight for, not something you
expect from the government. Citizens have every right to have
different opinions," he said.

Political parties should strive to bring the government down
by constitutional means in the forthcoming election, he added.
(har/pan)