Meeting called to decide Arifin's fate

Meeting called to decide Arifin's fate

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) faction chief Arifin Panigoro saw his fate hang by a
thread on Thursday as a party meeting was called in response to a
series of his controversial moves.

Without elaborating, the party's deputy secretary general
Pramono Anung said the internal executive meeting was scheduled
to take place on Friday.

"I can't say anything now, but we will have an executive
meeting tomorrow (on Friday) on the matter. That's all I can
say," Pramono told The Jakarta Post.

Earlier on Thursday, a group of PDI Perjuangan legislators
expressed resentment with Arifin's latest maneuvering on
Wednesday, when he joined his counterparts from four other
parties in censuring public calls for the dissolution of the
Golkar Party for its alleged attempts to revive the New Order
regime.

PDI Perjuangan legislators said Arifin, a noted oil
businessman, was not representing the party's faction at the
House in spite of his claim.

"For me Arifin's remark yesterday (on Wednesday) was of
personal interest. Our official stand over a matter should have
gone through a faction meeting. Some of us have rejected his
statement," one of the legislators, Permadi, said.

Permadi said it was very unlikely for his party to defend
Golkar, whom he said had a role in the government's oppression of
opposition parties throughout the 32 years of New Order rule.
Golkar was the ruling party during the spell.

"(Since) PDI Perjuangan was the victim of Golkar, there is no
way we would come to their defense," Permadi remarked.

He admitted the Friday meeting would discuss the matter, but
he was uncertain whether Arifin's chairmanship post would be at
stake during the gathering.

Permadi said opposition against Arifin had surfaced over the
past few months, and some 90 out of the faction's 153 legislators
at the House had signed a petition demanding Arifin's
replacement.

"We don't like having such a person like Arifin named as our
faction chairman. It's not a matter of personal hatred, but
obedience to our party's policies," Permadi contended.

A source told the Post that the largest party is divided into
three groups.

The first group comprises hardline combatants of President
Abdurrahman Wahid, who include Arifin, Julius Usman and Zulvan
Lindan. The second group consists of Abdurrahman's defenders,
among them are Panda Nababan and Dimyati Hartono. The third
group, who opt to take a moderate approach, include Jacob Tobing.

The demand for Arifin's resignation came from the second and
third of these groups.

However, the source said, the party's chairwoman Megawati
Soekarnoputri was protecting Arifin, although she questioned his
staunch support for Abdurrahman's exit and a plan to accelerate
constitutional steps to impeach the President. (dja)