Megawati shoo-in to stay at helm of PDI-P
Megawati shoo-in to stay at helm of PDI-P
SEMARANG (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri virtually clinched the
top position of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) for the second successive term after a commission's
session here on Friday unanimously agreed to allow for a
nonvoting election.
The reelection has long been predicted since almost every
party branch asked Megawati, who is the vice president, in a
meeting last January to maintain her leading role, mostly due to
the party's success in winning the majority of votes in last
year's general election.
But the Friday's plenary session of the party congress, which
went beyond midnight, delayed the approval of Megawati's formal
reelection due to time constraints for Saturday morning.
Deputy chairman Soetjipto, who presided over the session, said
the chairperson-elect would announce the lineup of the party's
executive board in Jakarta. He did not set a date.
The decision was a blow to Megawati's rivals Dimyati Hartono
and Eros Djarot because it virtually removed them from the
contest.
A dejected Dimyati said he was deeply concerned over the
ruling which he considered controversial and undemocratic, since
it doesn't allow candidates other than Megawati to run for the
chief post.
"The decision to endorse the ruling means the delegations to
the congress are not allowed to nominate candidates other than
Megawati," he said.
Such a system was widely recommended during the previous
regime of former president Soeharto, which resisted differences
in opinion.
The second vote of the day saw 131 ballots in favor of and 89
against a system that gives the elected chairperson the sole
power to select the party's executive board members.
Dimyati predicted the presence of functionaries with less
capability in the next executive board since the congress
entrusted Megawati to single-handedly recruit her assistants.
"The recruitment of new functionaries will fully depend on
Megawati, meaning the selection will be quite subjective," he
said.
He added that the party will likely not be ready to face the
2004 general election if incapable cadres join the executive
board.
He said that despite his failed candidacy, he achieved his
goal of giving the party members a political lesson in democracy.
Eros agreed with this and said his objective now was to seek a
post in the party's next congress.
Novel Ali, a political expert at the Diponegoro University in
the city, criticized Megawati's dominating role, saying it was
akin to cult worship and would endanger not only the party but
herself.
Megawati should recruit reformist cadres such as Eros Djarot,
Dimyati Hartono and Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno for the executive
board, he said.
Rustriningsih, a delegate from Kebumen, Central Java, also
expressed her delegation's disappointment with the congress'
decision to give full authority to the chairperson to establish
the executive board.
"We, delegates from Central Java provincial executive board,
tried hard to prevent the congress from making such a decision
but we failed," she said.
Another senior party member, Marsoesi, joined the chorus of
criticism against the congress' decision to allow the elected
chairperson to solely decide on the lineup of the party's
executive board.
He said such a decision would raise allegations that the party
and Megawati herself resist democracy and give a room for
authoritarianism.
Marsoesi suggested that Megawati, if reelected, involve nine
senior party members representing the party's major
constituencies in selecting her assistants.
He said the representatives could come from Sumatra,
Kalimantan, Sulawesi, East Indonesia and Java.
A reliable source at the congress told The Jakarta Post that
Megawati had met with five senior cadres to seek advice in
selecting the party's executive board members.
He revealed Megawati would likely appoint Soetjipto as
secretary-general and Noviantika Nasution as treasurer.
"She will take Theo Syafei and Alexander Litaay from the
outgoing executive board and appoint them as deputies," he said.
Previously, delegations from North Sulawesi, East Java, West
Java, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra asked
the congress to pick Soetjipto as the new secretary-general to
accompany Megawati in leading the party in the next five years.
Another deputy chairman Roy B.B. Janis, who also chairs the
Jakarta provincial chapter, gained support from the Jakarta and
Manado delegations, while Bondan Gunawan, acting State Secretary,
was nominated by the Brebes, Central Java delegation.
(rms/swa/har)