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)