Labor party to elect board members next week

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)