Habibie to open Soerjadi-led PDI congress
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie has kept to the rigid political line of his predecessor on the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) by agreeing yesterday to open the Soerjadi camp's congress later this month in Palu, Central Sulawesi.
"God willing, if he has time he will attend the congress in Palu," PDI Secretary-General Buttu R. Hutapea said after joining a delegation of 11 PDI executives which met with Habibie at Bina Graha presidential office.
The five-day congress is set to open Aug. 25.
"No less than 270 out of our 312 branches have confirmed their presence in the congress," Hutapea said.
Habibie, who was accompanied by Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid and Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung during the meeting, reiterated his support for the PDI executive board under Soerjadi's leadership.
Senior party executives including Soerjadi, Fatimah Achmad and Budi Hardjono also attended the meeting, but refused to speak to journalists outside.
Soerjadi ousted Megawati Soekarnoputri from the PDI chairmanship in a government-backed congress in 1996.
The immediate fallout from the split was the bloody takeover of the PDI headquarters here by Soerjadi supporters on July 27, 1996. It escalated into a full-scale riot.
Megawati and her loyalists maintain they are the rightful leaders of the party.
With Megawati at the helm, observers initially predicted that PDI could increase their tally of 56 seats in the 1992 election.
But following her ouster and the ongoing rancor within the party it was only able to gain a paltry 11 seats in the 500- strong House of Representatives in last year's polls.
Since the resignation of former president Soeharto in May, Habibie's government has displayed a more lenient attitude toward Megawati.
More accommodating gestures included allowing Megawati to hold a party leadership meeting in Depok, on the outskirts of Jakarta, last week.
Megawati's camp plans its own congress in Yogyakarta or Bali in October.
Despite its greater tolerance, the government has made it clear it will continue to acknowledge Soerjadi as PDI chairman, reiterated by yesterday's meeting.
Hutapea noted Habibie advocated reconciliation in some form between the two camps but added the government considered the friction to be an internal party matter.
"He (Habibie) strongly pointed out that PDI's internal problems should be solved by the party itself, and the government will not interfere."
Hutapea blamed Megawati for being "stubborn" and repeatedly turning down offers of reconciliation from Soerjadi.
When asked by journalists, Hutapea insisted that Soerjadi's camp would not relinquish its position because it was the legitimate leadership.
"Why should we dissolve? In the last election, the PDI grabbed 11 seats in House, which means the support of 3.4 million voters," Hutapea contended. (prb)