Megawati defies military ban

Megawati defies military ban

JAKARTA (JP): The ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, has defied the military's
ban on the controversial free speech forum at the party
headquarters.

She told about 500 of her supporters gathered at her home in
the southern suburbs yesterday that the forum was needed to help
promote democracy in Indonesia.

"Giving the people the opportunity to express their own
opinions in a free speech forum is an important part of political
education for the public," she said.

The Armed Forces have repeatedly threatened to disperse the
forum that attracts huge crowds daily on the grounds that her
loyalists have been using it to espouse propaganda meant to
"overthrow the government" and disrupt public order.

The latest warning came from Jakarta military Commander Maj.
Gen. Sutiyoso on Thursday, shortly after President Soeharto met
Soerjadi, who was elected PDI chief in a government-backed rebel
congress last month.

The forum, which has been held since Soerjadi was elected on
June 22, paused only on Thursday.

The daily free speech forum resumed at the PDI's headquarters
yesterday, starting at mid-day and ending at 5 p.m.. It featured
legislator Sukowaluyo Mintorahardjo and local party leaders. They
took to the stage expressing their rejection of the congress.

Mangara Siahaan, a Megawati supporter, told reporters
yesterday that he had asked loyal Megawati supporters to continue
the free speech forum, as Megawati had ordered.

Asked why the free speech forum stopped temporarily on
Thursday, Mangara said that it was due to some "technical
problems."

Megawati -- who was elected PDI chairwoman by popular vote in
an extraordinary congress in Surabaya in December 1993 -- claimed
yesterday that she was still the legitimate chief of the PDI.

Megawati, who is a daughter of Indonesia's first president
Sukarno, claimed that she still had the support of most PDI
members.

Soerjadi met the President on Thursday, which political
observers say is the official seal of approval of his election as
the new PDI chairman.

Head of PDI's Research and Development Department Kwik Kian
Gie, a Megawati loyalist, challenged her critics to prove who was
the legitimate PDI leader in court.

"Megawati will go on running the party's daily activities as
usual," Kwik said yesterday in a discussion on the PDI internal
conflict held by the Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of
Information (ISAI).

He said that President Soeharto recognized Megawati as the
party's legitimate chairwoman for the 1993-1998 period when she
met the President in 1994.

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 results, declaring her the
legitimate PDI leader. The lawsuit's hearing is scheduled to
start on Aug. 1.

At the ISAI seminar, political observers Arief Budiman and
Matori Abdul Djalil said that the PDI's internal conflict had
developed into a national conflict.

"It is no longer Megawati's problem. It is already the
nation's problem," Arief said.

"What we need now is a synergy of elements of power to fight
for democracy in Indonesia," Matori added.

Separately, Megawati's team of defense lawyers reiterated
yesterday their plan to file lawsuits against participants of the
rebel congress.

Max Junus Lamuda, one of the lawyers, said in a press
conference that he did not believe President Soeharto's
recognition of Soerjadi would resolve the problem.

He said that so far Soerjadi had not won support of the people
but only the government. "What is the point of chairing a party
without its members' support?"

"This is the first time in the history of Indonesia that
people have filed a storm of lawsuits across the country to
challenge a government policy," Max said.

The press conference was also attended by the team's
chairwoman Amartiwi Saleh, deputy chairman R.O. Tambunan, House
member Sukowaluyo Mintorahardjo and some executives of the PDI's
Jakarta branches.

R.O. Tambunan said the PDI branches in East Java, North
Sumatra and South Sulawesi had sent authoritative letters to
their respective Legal Aid Institutes, asking them to represent
them for their lawsuits.

Amartiwi Saleh said the military's plan to help take over the
party headquarters from Megawati supporters meant that the
military disrespected the judicial authority of the court.

"The decision on whether the headquarters should be handed
over to Megawati or Soerjadi should be left to the court,"
Amartiwi said. (imn/16)

Dispute -- Page 2