Megawati plans own congress in December

Megawati plans own congress in December

JAKARTA (JP): The ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, said yesterday she would not
attend the party congress planned by rival faction leader
Soerjadi in June, and would hold her own in December.

"The PDI congress planned for June is not on my political
agenda. Mine will be in December," she told reporters at her
residence in the Kebagusan subdistrict of South Jakarta.

"I won't attend the congress even if I am invited," she said.

Megawati, the eldest daughter of the late president Sukarno,
was responding to Soerjadi's recent remarks that she would be
welcomed if she wished to "return to the fold."

Since she was ousted in 1996 at a government-sponsored
breakaway congress, Megawati has been waging a legal battle to
reclaim her leadership of the party. Last year, she was excluded
from the general election after the government only recognized
Soerjadi's faction.

"While awaiting my own congress... I'm now more concerned
about efforts to help the nation survive the monetary crisis,"
she said.

"I am not sure if the (rival congress) organizers would be
able to meet their deadline as June is fast approaching."

Soerjadi said Tuesday he was optimistic the organizing
committee would be able to organize the congress in time.

He refused to name the exact date for the gathering, but
mentioned possible venues of Medan in North Sumatra, Pontianak in
West Kalimantan, Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan and
Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi.

Some of Megawati's rivals, including deputy chairwoman Clara
Sitompoel, strove to bar her from campaigning for the leadership
by stating that next chairperson should be one who contested the
general elections.

Megawati, however, said she would not be surprised if some
parties lobbied her to join the June congress. She said she
planned to deflect the overtures by reminding whoever lobbied her
of the National Commission on Human Rights' conclusion that
Soerjadi's supporters had been given military-like training
before they took over the party's headquarters from her
supporters on July 27 1996.

PDI Secretary-general Buttu R. Hutapea has admitted that 200
PDI members were provided with such training before they stormed
the party's headquarters.

Megawati said she would also ask whoever lobbied her about the
whereabouts of some of her supporters reported dead or missing
during the forced takeover.

The rights commission reported a month after the incident that
five people died, 23 went missing and 149 others were injured
during the rioting that erupted after the takeover.

Megawati also said yesterday she would continue to challenge
the validity of the 1996 congress results. (imn)