End of family feud caps rift-ridden PDI-P congress

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Dwi Atmanta, The Jakarta Post/Denpasar

It was a Hollywood film type of happy ending for most of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) members attending its second national congress here, which concluded on Thursday night.

Not only did the party keep leader Megawati Soekarnoputri's top post intact after months of moves to unseat her in the name of reform, but they were awarded with an extra two days of leisure on Bali as well.

The cheerful closing ceremony saw Megawati's supporters join the choir group in singing one of local boyband Jikustik's top tunes. "I'm still here due to my faith in Mbak Mega," they sang.

The floor burst into boisterous applause when Megawati announced the appointment of her brother Guruh Soekarnoputra as the party's deputy leader for educational and cultural affairs, effectively settling the family feud that had haunted the congress.

Tension had marked the congress as the reformist camp tried to pit Megawati against Guruh. But the showdown never came about after the latter made a last-minute jump onto the bandwagon of the majority who wished to retain Megawati.

Guruh's refusal to attend separate gatherings organized by the reform-minded faction dealt the dissenting group a major blow. Guruh suggested that the splinter group's idea of holding a breakaway congress should be scrapped and they should fight for reform from the inside.

With the party back in business, the demand for sweeping reforms remain an uphill challenge the party must respond to.

Former deputy leader Roy B.B. Janis said the congress demonstrated the party's reluctance to reform itself and, therefore, he feared it would slump further to a point of no return.

"No changes were made during the congress, even though everybody knows there is something wrong with the party, as shown by how we've suffered six defeats in a row," he said.

Roy was referring to the party's failure to win the legislative election, the first round and the second round of presidential elections, the House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly speakership posts in addition to a considerable number of Regional Representative Council seats.

"Judging from pre-congress targets, PDI-P has failed to make substantial changes. Instead the party maintains an atmosphere in which all members depend on one individual and shrug off the need to build a strong system," he said.

The congress was held when the party was embarking on a recovery program that was aimed at winning back people's trust.

Former treasurer Noviantika Nasution shared Roy's disappointment with the way the congress was organized. She said the congress was plagued by a number of serious violations of the party's statutes, which she termed "the seven sins".

All delegates to the congress, she said, had to go through approval procedures by the organizing committee, although the statutes agreed upon in the 2000 congress, spelled out approval of the schedule and agenda of a congress only. Each delegate had the right to vote and speak according to the statutes, but the congress adopted a bloc vote and introduced spokespersons who represented their respective delegates during debates.

The other "sins" were that participants received materials only one day before the congress began, there was no discussion of the accountability report as it was never sent to the regional branches and party executives chaired the sessions (the sessions should have been led by speakers elected during the congress).

Noviantika suspected the failure to adhere to the statutes stemmed from an intense anxiety among certain people over the move to challenge Megawati in the race for the party's top post.

"Even without these violations, we have no doubt that Megawati still would have won. But what happened was outrageous. We have nothing to be proud of when we go beyond the guidelines that we had agreed upon," she said.

Noviantika, who has been with the party for more than 15 years, emphasized that it was the first time every that the party leaders betrayed the statutes.

Those violations were also the reason why the reform group opposed the congress. The dissenting group is now contesting the legitimacy of the congress in court.

PDI-P's new secretary-general Pramono Anung Wibowo described the tension as "the flowers of democracy" as the party respected pluralism of views and opinions.