Megawati stays realistic over High Court verdict

JAKARTA (JP): The deposed leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, said Saturday she was happy with the Jakarta High Court's verdict ordering a lower court to hear her case against her rivals in the party.

"I am happy with the development of our lawsuit," Megawati said.

But elation was tempered by the reality that she has a long way to go in her search for justice for the way her PDI rivals, with government backing, pushed her out of the party.

"It's the start of our legal battle," she said.

The high court ruled that the Central Jakarta District Court should hear the case in which Megawati has filed a lawsuit against Fatimah Achmad of the rival PDI board for holding a congress in Medan in June last year.

The congress removed Megawati and appointed Soerjadi as chairman.

Megawati has asked the court to declare the congress illegal which would automatically annul all its decisions, including the appointment of Soerjadi as her successor.

The district court ruled in October that it did not have the authority to hear the case because it was an internal PDI affair.

The high court ruling, dated July 10, only became public last week.

The government-recognized PDI board under Soerjadi said it would not comment on the ruling until it had read it.

"We will make our response after we study the verdict," Secretary-General Buttu R. Hutapea said.

Megawati's lawsuit names the minister of home affairs, Moch. Yogie S.M., Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung and National Police Chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo as co-defendants.

But the high court upheld the district court's decision on government and military officials.

"The district court has no authority to examine the state's policy on security affairs," the ruling said.

Megawati said winning the lawsuit was important because it would influence the continuation or the results of 120 other lawsuits filed with different district courts nationwide.

Megawati said she feared the courts could be influenced by outsiders.

"We don't want to experience what Tempo did," she said, referring to the legal victories by the banned magazine at the lower courts only to lose at the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Airlangga University law professor, J.E. Sahetapy, lauded the Jakarta High Court for ruling in favor of Megawati.

"I salute the judges for their courage to uphold the law," Sahetapy said.

Sahetapy rejected the idea that Megawati's lawsuit was merely the party's internal affairs.

"I think all people know that there was third party interference in the PDI's internal affairs long before the party congress in June last year," he said.

Sahetapy urged Megawati to continue legal action and to prepare for "political games" in the next stages of her lawsuits.

"We have to be optimistic that the law will be upheld some day," he said. (imn)