Megawati baffled by protracted conflicts
Megawati baffled by protracted conflicts
JAKARTA (JP): Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri says she is perplexed by the conflicts which continue to afflict the minority party.
"Why all the conflicts when all problems could be solved through dialogs?" she said in Indramayu, West Java, on Tuesday, when she inducted members of local PDI branches. Around 2,000 supporters, as well as a number of officials, joined the ceremony.
She called on all party officials at various levels to "unite and avoid conflicts which will only weaken the party," the Antara news agency reported.
"Please unite...what's the use of all these conflicts. I'm baffled sometimes," she said.
Megawati said she has a policy of first asking party officials in various regencies if they are willing to take on the responsibilities associated with their positions.
"If they are reluctant, they should resign," she said. "PDI members should be motivated and high-spirited as well as prepared to build strong (local) organizations."
Thirty-one of the 37 PDI branches in East Java have recently asked the province's governor, Basofi Soedirman, to step in if PDI headquarters in Jakarta can't resolve the leadership conflict in the region.
The East Java chapter of the PDI has been rocked by division between those supporting the leadership of Megawati Soekarnoputri and those who oppose her. The conflict began at a PDI congress in East Java to elect its regional leaders in January. It ended in deadlock when Megawati annulled the election and appointed her own man to lead the chapter.
Megawati's camp has already accused Basofi of intervening in the party's internal affairs by supporting and legitimizing her opponents in East Java.
Similar conflicts over leadership have occurred in several other branches of the party. In West Java, for instance, the post of branch chair has been empty since Djadjang Kurniadi was dismissed earlier this year after the military alleged that he had past links with the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party.
Yesterday, activists at the West Java branch lamented the vacuum, saying the condition threatens the party's chances in the 1997 general elections.
Sukmana Djaja, deputy chairman of the branch encompassing several camps in West Java, said that elections should be fair and involve all parties.
"This is where the role of governor, as the patron of regional political life, is absolutely needed," he said as quoted by Antara. "This is why the West Java PDI members respect and appreciate Governor R. Nuriana's ultimatum."
Nuriana recently set December 1995 as the deadline for the local chapters of PDI to solve their squabble. If they fail to meet it, he said, the West Java authorities will intervene. (swe)