Megawati still in charge, government says
Megawati still in charge, government says
JAKARTA (JP): The government yesterday refused to be drawn into the latest internal conflict of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), and stressed it still regards Megawati Soekarnoputri as the chairperson of the party.
Responding to questions about the emergence of a rival PDI executive board, chaired by Yusuf Merukh, Director General for Social and Political Affairs at the Ministry of Home Affairs said the government still recognizes the board led by Megawati.
"That's perfectly clear. The government sees it in legal terms," Sutoyo said, Antara reported yesterday.
Sutoyo maintained that the establishment of a rival board was the problem of PDI to solve. Megawati, he added, should be able to resolve the problem without resorting to help from the government.
"My advice to them is that they should communicate. They should show wisdom and deliberate to end the problem. Our political culture dictates it this way."
He added that it has always been the policy of the government to keep its hands off the affairs of the political parties.
Sutoyo expressed his surprise that the party had remained divided, recalling that the election of Megawati as the party chairperson in December 1993 was thought to have ended the bickering within the party once and for all.
The formation of the rival board was announced last week by Gerry Mbatemooy, who had earlier been expelled by Megawati from her executive board for failing to fall in line in a number of internal disputes within PDI.
Gerry said he had taken the measure to save the party which he said was endangered by the infiltration of former communists.
The communist allegations came after the West Java Military command announced two weeks ago that the chairman of the local chapter of PDI is strongly suspected to have past communist links.
Yusuf Merukh, a senior PDI politician known to have agitated previous PDI leaders, was quick to accept the offer to chair the rival board and alleges that there are at least 400 former communists holding ranks within the party.
Most of the other figures named onto the board said they were never consulted before the appointment and were waiting to hear for a formal explanation before making their positions known.
Conflicts between the two boards will likely occur today as they fight for the right to occupy the party's headquarters in Jl. Diponegoro after the long New Year's holiday.
The office was all quiet yesterday with a notice posted, signed by Megawati's Secretary General Alex Litaay, that it will reopen today.
In anticipation of further trouble at the PDI headquarters, the United Development Party, whose headquarters lie adjacent to that of PDI, was erecting a brick barrier yesterday to divide the common parking lot in front of their offices.
The PDI headquarters have been the target of a number of demonstrations in recent weeks held by members disgruntled by the leadership of Megawati.
A noted political observer said yesterday that the government should not give support of any kind to the rival PDI executive board because it would simply muddle the situation.
Afan Gaffar of the Gadjah Mada University said the rival board would simply fade away with time because it lacked grass roots support, that is "unless it gets outside support."
He said the establishment of the rival board was an unwelcome development for Indonesian politics because it got in the way of the party's efforts to consolidate in the run up to the 1997 election.
President Soeharto, in his end of the year speech, expressed his concern that some parties are having problems in their consolidation efforts, Afan said.(emb)