Megawati 'not behind scheme to disrupt Soerjadi congress'

JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), has not instructed her supporters to disrupt the party congress planned by her rival Soerjadi in Palu, Central Sulawesi, from Aug. 25-29, a close aide said.

Economist Kwik Kian Gie said on Thursday that it was the policy of Megawati's camp never to resort to violence.

"There has never been any instruction (from Megawati) to disrupt the congress," Kwik said.

Megawati has repeatedly called on her supporters to choose only legal venues for their fight against Soerjadi -- who was strongly backed by former president Soeharto's regime.

However, Kwik conceded that the legal fight against the rival faction had been dragging on and was exhausting Megawati's supporters. "They could get angry if it goes on much longer and then we will find it difficult to control them," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Thousands of Megawati supporters have arrived in ships in Palu, ready to stage "peaceful rallies" at the provincial legislature office and the provincial administration office to urge them to call off the congress.

They arrived at the port of Pantoloan from Samarinda, Balikpapan and Sangkulirang island near Kutai, all in East Kalimantan, it was reported.

Yesterday, 200 Megawati supporters left the Central Java capital of Semarang for Palu. They were led by Utoyo, the chairman of the party faction in the province which has remained loyal to Megawati.

"Our intention is to meet with the provincial administration and try to persuade them not to give Soerjadi's PDI facilities (to hold the congress)," Utoyo said.

In a related development, it was reported yesterday that a number of provincial chapters of the PDI under Soerjadi have refused to participate in the Palu congress because of his failure to consolidate and unite the party.

"The Palu congress will be counterproductive for the PDI. It will only serve to prolong and escalate the conflict," he said.

In Palu, Karto Dg. Nappa, who heads the congress organizing committee, said 800 people would attend the event which is to be held at the Palu Haj Dormitory. He claimed on Thursday that all 312 branch offices, 27 provincial chapters and the party central board had sent delegations to attend the congress.

He said the committee had spent Rp 100 million preparing for the congress. The funds were supplied by the party's central board, he added.

Fear of open conflict between Soerjadi's supporters and members of Megawati's camp who are in the city to try to ensure the congress does not go ahead has led the government to put tight security measures in place. A total of 1,000 police personnel have been deployed to safeguard the event. (aan/har/30)