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

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.