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)