Internal rifts in PDI Perjuangan getting worse

Ahmad Junaidi and Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The rifts in the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) have worsened as the party's Jakarta councillors openly challenged the decision of the party's central board chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to support the reelection of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.

Councillor Ugiek Soegihardjo said on Tuesday that he and some other councillors were ready to face party sanctions for voting against Sutiyoso in the gubernatorial election scheduled for Sept. 17.

"We met last night and decided to continue to support the candidacy of Tarmidi Suhardjo for governor. We will deal with the consequences," Ugiek told reporters.

Tarmidi, who is the Jakarta council's deputy chairman and the PDI Perjuangan city chapter chairman, was earlier nominated by party branches as a gubernatorial candidate.

Besides Tarmidi, the meeting also agreed to support 10 other candidates, not including Sutiyoso.

However, last week, the party's central board decided to support Sutiyoso, a former Jakarta Military Commander, as he was considered capable of maintaining security in the city in the run-up to the People's Consultative Assembly General Session and the next general election in 2004.

Ugiek said the party's city branches had received copies of the central board's decision.

The letter from the central board threatened to impose sanctions on party councillors who refused to support Sutiyoso's candidacy.

Ugiek revealed that on Monday night he met councillors Tarmidi Suhardjo, Ismiyati Soekarno and Tarmidi Edi Suwarno, and agreed to ignore the party's central board decision.

Many PDI Perjuangan supporters have also rejected Sutiyoso's nomination.

Dozens of members from East Jakarta and Central Jakarta staged a protest at the City Council building on Tuesday. They claimed that the party's central board had violated its own decisions, namely No. 262/1999 and No. 264/2000, which stated that gubernatorial candidates should be drawn from among the ranks of party members.

Separately, Meilono Soewondo, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the PDI Perjuangan, said Megawati had gone too far in using the powers granted to her by the party at its congress in Bali in October 1998.

"I think Ibu Megawati has gone to far in issuing a directive to City Council members to reelect Sutiyoso as Jakarta's governor," Meilono told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Another PDI Perjuangan legislator, Indira Damayanti Bambang, said that the directive showed Megawati's lack of sensitivity to the political atmosphere.

She said that the directive, backed up by the threat of punishment against those who disobeyed, would worsen the rifts in the party, not only among city councillors from the party but also at the grassroots level.

"The July 27 incident was a tragedy for the PDI Perjuangan. So it's not so surprising that the victims of the incident are disappointed with Megawati's decision to nominate someone who is implicated in the case," said Indira, referring to the attack on the PDI headquarters in Central Jakarta.

Indira, who has just announced her resignation from the House, called on the party's city councillors to listen to their consciences in deciding whether to obey the party directive.

"I don't want to provoke them, but I hope they will listen to their heart," she added.