Govt miscalculates with meddling in PDI rift: Observer
Govt miscalculates with meddling in PDI rift: Observer
SEMARANG (JP): The government may have made a mistake when it
backed Soerjadi to snatch the chairmanship of the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) in the June rebel congress, an observer
said yesterday.
Riswandha Imawan said Soerjadi has been openly rejected by an
overwhelming number of PDI members still loyal to deposed
Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of first president Sukarno.
Riswandha, a political scholar from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada
University, said the strong rejection of Soerjadi was not what
the government expected.
"Political engineering to settle the party's internal dispute
is not applicable here, because Indonesians are more aware of
their political rights nowadays," Riswandha said.
In the latest development in the leadership conflict of the
minority PDI, a senior government official said last week that
Soerjadi may be replaced if a majority of party members so wish.
Soerjadi has echoed the statement.
PDI chairman Soerjadi has had a hard time consolidating party
leadership in the provinces, as support for Megawati remains
strong. He was embarrassed by rejection from party members during
his recent visits to provinces in Java.
A series of demonstrations were held in several towns by PDI
activists when he visited Jepara, Grobogan, Wonogiri and
Surakarta in Central Java. He reportedly failed to meet
supporters in Surabaya, East Java, because the opposition to his
leadership was just too strong.
The PDI chairman was also rejected by party members as he was
about to hold a consolidation meeting in the Central Javan towns
of Cilacap and Kebumen on Saturday and Sunday.
Soerjadi was elected party leader in a congress, held in the
North Sumatra capital city of Medan in June. He overthrew
Megawati Soekarnoputri, who won the party election by popular
vote in 1993. Megawati claims she is still the legitimate party
chief.
Riswandha said political events in Indonesia and other parts
of the world have helped improve public awareness of political
rights.
In Indonesia, for example, the National Commission on Human
Rights defense of the oppressed since its establishment in 1993
has helped improved people's awareness of their basic rights, he
said.
"Global political and trade liberalization have boosted
people's consciousness of individual rights," he said.
Separately, a political observer from the University of
Indonesia Amir Santoso, said in Semarang that consolidation is a
tough test for Soerjadi.
"At the beginning, Soerjadi was optimistic about his chances
of consolidation but it has turned out that things are not that
easy," he said.
Amir warned that the dragging conflict within the PDI would
undoubtedly hurt the party's performance in next year's election.
Rudini, a former home affairs minister proposed that Megawati
and Soerjadi resolve their dispute amicably.
"Both Megawati and Soerjadi should sit together and dialog,"
he said.
Riswandha theorized that there was no reason to suspect that
Sukarno's offsprings do not support the New Order administration
under President Soeharto.
Good relations are well proven by the latest maneuver by Guruh
Soekarnoputra, Megawati's younger brother and a legislator
representing PDI, to establish relations with Kosgoro, an
organization affiliated to the ruling Golkar.
"The Sukarnos are not opposed to the New Order government," he
said. (har/wah/imn)