Labor party to elect board members next week

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Workers Party (PPI), a new political party established by labor activists, is to assemble next week to elect an executive board.

Party cofounder Wilhelmus Bokha said the party's maiden working meeting would be held here Sunday, and a list of candidates to lead the party had already been drawn up.

He declined to reveal the candidates' names and refused to say whether his name was included on the list.

"Wait until Monday to see," he told reporters after meeting with Trisakti University deputy rector Komang at the university's campus in Grogol, West Jakarta.

He also said the party's statutes were near completion and were expected to be ready soon, after which party executives would officially register the party with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The party was officially established Monday by a number of labor activists, including former labor minister SK Trimurti, former chairman of the Federation of All-Indonesia Workers Union (FSPSI) Imam Sudarwo, FSPSI deputy chairman Wilhelmus Bokha and Salam Sumangat, secretary-general of the labor union's logging and forestry department.

Under the reign of former president Soeharto, only two political parties -- the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party -- and Golkar were recognized and allowed to participate in elections.

However, the current era of reform and the resignation of Soeharto has introduced a new frontier in Indonesian politics.

This week alone the establishment of at least four political parties has been announced. PPI and Musyawarah Kekeluargaan Gotong Royong (MKGR), a former Golkar founder which on Wednesday broke away and formed its own party, are among the most notable.

Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid called on newly established political parties to suspend their activities until a new law on political parties was issued.

Meanwhile, former FSPSI chairman Bomer Pasaribu was foreboding in his reaction toward the establishment of PPI, saying it should not be exploited as a vehicle for its founders' own political interests.

"During the Old Order era, workers were politicized. They were used as political targets in general elections and then they were left behind," he said in a statement here yesterday.

Bomer, former legislator of the ruling Golkar, hailed the government's endorsement of the possibility of independent labor unions besides the FSPSI, and the government's plan to ratify the International Labor Organization's Convention 87 on workers rights.

However, he asserted that workers needed only two or three independent unions because the presence of two many labor unions could be counterproductive.

"We should learn from India, which has 69,800 labor unions. The presence of too many unions will likely affect workers' bargaining position with their employers," he said. (rms/23)