Council speaker told to resign

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: Some 400 members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) in Banyumas regency staged a protest on Tuesday demanding that the local legislative council speaker, Tri Waluyo Basuki, resign from the post.

The protesters accused Tri Waluyo, who is also a party member, of having committed crimes, such as kidnapping the party's branch leader and threatening journalists. He has been named a suspect in a torture case related to a dispute over 1,000 square meters of land here.

"We urged the branch executive board of the central executive board of PDI Perjuangan to boot Tri Waluyo Basuki out of the party," the protesters said in a statement.

The rally followed a meeting which was also attended by the party's central board of executives member Imam Mundiyat and provincial branch chief Hadi Wasikun.(45/dja)