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)