It's not the end of the world: Soerjadi

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party's (PDI) failure to unite just five months before the general election "is not the end of the world," its government-backed chairman says.

"We have been quite successful in consolidating. Don't dismiss these efforts too readily," Soerjadi was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.

He was speaking to reporters at Selaparang airport in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, after arriving to begin his campaign to persuade the region's party faithful to join his camp.

Soerjadi was met by the local military chief and a handful of executives from the party's provincial chapter.

His earlier consolidation campaigns in towns in Java flopped because he was met by hostile PDI members still loyal to Megawati Soekarnoputri, officially the party's chairperson until she was removed at an extraordinary congress in Medan in June.

Soerjadi was attacked by a mob on one of his visits.

"If we read the newspapers, we get the impression that PDI is about to break up because of the endless demonstrations. But those who took part in the demonstrations were always the same people," Soerjadi said.

He insisted that many Megawati supporters had changed to his camp following his consolidation drive, and only a handful remained loyal to her.

"We won't force those who do not wish to join," he said.

Soerjadi said he was not worried about the election.

His executive board has nominated 744 candidates to run for seats in the House of Representatives.

The PDI's candidates are younger than those running for Golkar and the United Development Party, he said.

Soerjadi said he had not considered withdrawing a libel suit against the Jawa Pos newspaper for suggesting that he was interrogated for five hours by Jakarta Police.

He described the article as a "fatal lie". w"They (newspaper's proprietors) have apologized and, as a Moslem, I accept it. But what about the damage done, what about the impression the article has left in the minds of millions of readers?"

"Let's wait and see how it develops. They have written to apologize and request a face to face meeting.

"If they wish to meet me, I'm open. I will meet them," he said. (emb)