Megawati supporters haunts Soerjadi loyalists
JAKARTA (JP): Anxiety gripped the second day of election campaigning across Java yesterday as supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party's (PDI) ousted leader Megawati Soekarnoputri showed their teeth.
The government-sanctioned chairman of the party Soerjadi, arriving from a tiring trip to West Kalimantan, made a visit to Pekayon subdistrict in East Jakarta, but it was not enough to pump up his demoralized supporters in Java.
Some 400 PDI cadres packed the Pekayon subdistrict hall for yesterday's dialog, the first held by the party in the 27-day election campaign. Attorney General and chairman of the election supervision body Singgih attended the gathering.
Soerjadi loyalists in Semarang, Central Java and Yogyakarta, staged quiet rallies under tight security.
Java, Maluku and Irian Jaya were reserved for the PDI election campaigns yesterday.
Many of the cadres refused to raise the party's red flags to avoid an open clash with Megawati supporters.
"Who will guarantee that they (Megawati supporters) won't take away the flags and banners?" chairman of the PDI's Surakarta, Central Java branch Makyo Soemaryo told The Jakarta Post.
He said his cadres had placed flags across the town last night, but they disappeared a few hours later.
PDI flags and banners were rarely seen in the Central Java towns of Purwokerto and Banyumas and in Bogor, West Java.
Secretary of the party's Banyumas branch Untung Sarwono Hadi said yesterday that PDI cadres of the town would not be prepared for rallies before Thursday.
In Semarang and Surabaya illegal placards which suggested PDI cadres boycott the party replaced the official PDI posters.
Police and military troops guarded the PDI rallies in Yogyakarta and Central Java's capital of Semarang yesterday. Hundreds of people, mostly youths, joined the rallies.
Clashes between the two factions broke out in Surabaya, causing a last minute cancellation of a rally which was scheduled to feature the party's deputy chairmen Budi Hardjono and Dimmy Haryanto.
The growing anti-Soerjadi movement across Java leaves his plans to attend rallies on the island hanging in the balance.
Soerjadi, who took over the party's helm from Megawati in a controversial congress last year, previously said he had no plan to visit Java and Bali, saying he could plan a trip there anytime.
Java and Bali are considered the strongholds of Megawati supporters. Megawati said last week that her leadership did not suggest its followers take part in campaign election activities.
Soerjadi regretted the disturbances caused by Megawati supporters yesterday, saying that he would seek legal proceedings against them. He also called the security authorities to take punitive measures against them.
Attorney General Singgih said the general election supervisory body had received reports on campaign violations and promised to seek legal settlement of the wrongdoings.
The Jakarta City Police yesterday arrested five people in East Jakarta and another three in North Jakarta for allegedly damaging the PDI flags and banners, police spokesman Lt. Col. Edi Aritonang said.
But Soerjadi denied that the disturbances would undermine his faction in the lead-up to the May 29 general election.
"We have set our sights on improving our performance in this year's election," he said. The party took 56 seats at the House of Representatives in 1992, 16 up from the previous poll in 1987. (amd/nur/wah/har)