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)