Lawyers lash out at military over PDI headquarters
JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri's fight against the military and the government's backing of Soerjadi, who ousted her as the chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), is continuing apace across the country.
Yesterday, a team of lawyers representing her lashed out at Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid for his Thursday statement that the party's headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, in Central Jakarta -- which Megawati's supporters currently occupy -- should be handed over to Soerjadi.
"The headquarters will remain Megawati's until the court decides otherwise," the lawyers said in a petition yesterday.
The petition, co-signed by the lawyer's coordinator, Amartiwi Saleh, and the team's chairman, R.O. Tambunan, was sent to Syarwan Hamid yesterday. A copy of the petition was made available to The Jakarta Post.
Syarwan has said that Megawati did not have the right to occupy the headquarters anymore since she was no longer the legitimate chief of the party. He also indicated that ABRI would help Soerjadi should he decide to take over the office from Megawati.
There have been rumors that a group of Soerjadi's men might take over the headquarters soon. This has not, so far, proved to be correct.
Soerjadi was elected PDI chairman in a government-sponsored congress held in Medan, North Sumatra, last month. He replaced Megawati, whose leadership term was supposed to end in 1998.
Megawati filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit at the Central Jakarta District Court on July 4, demanding that the court nullify the rebel congress and its result, and declare her the legitimate PDI leader.
Yesterday the lawyers questioned Syarwan's position when he made the statement. "He acted as if he were a government spokesman, who represented Soerjadi's interest," the petition charged. "He shouldn't have involved himself so far in non- military problems."
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Megawati's camp denied that her faction was involved in a call by political activists for a nationwide strike due to start today.
Some 300 activists marching yesterday in support of Megawati distributed pamphlets calling for the strike from Saturday to Monday. "It's high time the people, in a dignified and prestigious way, get together to hold a general strike all over Indonesia," said the unsigned pamphlets.
The supporters have staged a number of protests, including a peaceful march yesterday from the House of Representatives to PDI headquarters eight kilometers away.
The pamphlets also called on people to gather at PDI headquarters today and tomorrow in support of Megawati.
According to Reuters, news of the possibility of a strike rattled the foreign exchange market as it came on the eve of the annual two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta.
The military has said it will take tough action to prevent political unrest during the meeting and the subsequent ASEAN Regional Forum gathering.
The group of Megawati's supporters yesterday demanded that House Speaker Wahono remind President Soeharto to recognize Megawati Soekarnoputri as the legitimate PDI leader.
Calling themselves the Communication Forum for Indonesian Voices, the protesters also demanded that the House Speaker prevent any disintegration which may result if the current political developments continued. (imn)