Eros to plug on with candidacy

Eros to plug on with candidacy

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) executive Eros Djarot affirmed his commitment to go
ahead with his plan to contend for the party leadership despite
having his candidacy rejected by the South Jakarta party branch.

"The party's South Jakarta branch has no authority to prevent
me from contending. I believe it is an attempt by certain figures
to block me from competing against Megawati," he said during a
media briefing here on Wednesday.

He would not identify who he thought was sabotaging his
attempt but insisted that incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri was
not among the saboteurs.

The party's South Jakarta branch, in its meeting on Tuesday
evening, blocked Eros, whose membership in the party is
registered in the mayoralty, from running in the leadership race
in the upcoming PDI Perjuangan congress in Semarang, Central
Java, later this month.

PDI Perjuangan Deputy Secretary-General Haryanto Taslam, who
accompanied Eros in the briefing, urged the party's executive
board to take strict measures against the undemocratic way it was
blocking the candidacy of alternative nominees.

"Democracy should be upheld in the party. The more candidates
that contend the election the more democratic the congress will
be. I'm sure that Megawati will win a majority of votes in the
election, but let the competition proceed democratically," he
said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Party's branch in Makassar, South
Sulawesi, Nadham Yusuf called on Megawati to annul the South
Jakarta branch meeting's decision.

"We should all respect democracy in our own home before the
outsiders laugh at us," he said. (rms)