Megawati asks Sophan to explain his resignation

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairwoman President Megawati Soekarnoputri has no grudge with Sophan Sophiaan over his resignation as a party legislator but has asked him to explain the motivation behind his move.

The party has arranged a forum for Sophan to disclose the reasons for his decision to quit the House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly during the party's weekly meeting on Tuesday, over which Megawati will preside.

"Ibu Megawati wants Sophan to leave the party with honor. However, the party executive board approved his resignation bid," PDI Perjuangan deputy chairman Roy B.B. Janis said on Friday.

Roy said the clarification was needed due to Sophan's position as chief of the party's faction at the Assembly.

Sophan is the second prominent party member to resign from the House and Assembly after deputy chairman Saifullah Yusuf, who moved to the National Awakening Party (PKB), which was founded by former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Sophan confirmed the date set for him to speak before Megawati and other party executives.

"I was asked to talk to the chairwoman and explain why I resigned. It has been confirmed for Tuesday, during the party's weekly meeting," Sophan said.

He said he had explained his reasons in his resignation letter submitted to leaders of the party, the House and the Assembly, in which he said he was unable to adapt himself to the country's current political situation.

Rumors have loomed that a number of PDI legislators will follow in Sophan's footstep in the coming months. But Roy took the reports lightly.

"We'd take it seriously if it were Ibu Megawati who wished to quit the party," Roy said.

Several PDI Perjuangan legislators have said they shared Sophan's concerns, but they would not quit the House.

"There are several other legislators who share the common view with Sophan. The question is whether it leads to withdrawal or an all-out fight. That's the difference between Pak Sophan and the others," PDI Perjuangan legislator J.E. Sahetapy told the Post.

"I will never quit. But if being a legislator gives me a very difficult choice, it will be a different matter. For a good politician, there is no end to a fight."

Meilono Suwondo, who was dubbed among those who would resign, echoed Sahetapy's thoughts.

"Only if I found myself unable to work would I quit," Meilono said.

Meilono said he doubted if he could articulate his political stand in an effective manner outside the House and Assembly.

It has become public knowledge that different opinions in the party reflect the presence of several groups inside.

Party deputy secretary general Agnita Singadikane Irsal told The Post that it was common for party members to have differences of opinion and there was always a possibility that some members might hold a grudge against others.

She said that some senior members, who had joined the party when Megawati took up the fight against the authoritarian rule of the New Order, may have questioned the integrity of other members who joined later.

"However, I've not heard that anyone else will follow Sophan. His case is different and could be his personal problem," Agnita said.

One of the party's senior members recently told The Post, that they were trying to "protect" Megawati from the influence of the party's new faces, who are feared to have links with political powers of the past.