Megawati vows to keep on fighting
Megawati vows to keep on fighting
JAKARTA (JP): The beleaguered Megawati Soekarnoputri vowed to
keep defending her position as the legitimate chief of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
"We have set sail and the boat will cruise. There is no
turning back," Megawati said yesterday while opening an
extraordinary conference of the PDI Jakarta chapter.
The PDI leadership has been in crisis since breakaway party
leaders elected Soerjadi as the party chairman in a much-
criticized, government-backed congress in Medan, North Sumatra,
last month.
The government has recognized Soerjadi as the party's new
leader and barred Megawati from representing the party at next
year's election. Megawati was elected chairperson of the party by
popular vote, and her leadership still retains strong grassroots'
support.
The Megawati camp has been demanding that the government
withdraw its recognition of the Medan congress and stop meddling
in the party's internal affairs.
She said the government has trampled on the PDI's dignity by
recognizing the unconstitutional congress. "Defending the
legitimate leadership is an honor," she said.
What the PDI members really need is a leader who can
accommodate their aspirations, not one who counts on an external
force, she said.
She said the PDI chapters in the regencies should hold
conferences to consolidate her leadership and prepare for next
year's election.
President Soeharto called on PDI executives last week to
consolidate and put an end to their conflict.
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said that President
Soeharto would meet Soerjadi only if he was able to make peace
with Megawati's camp.
Under Indonesian political tradition, an audience with the
President means that the government has endorsed the elected
leadership of a particular organization.
"President Soeharto will receive the new PDI central board
only if the party leadership consolidates," Moerdiono quoted
Soeharto as saying last week.
Megawati has filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against her
opponents and some government officials for endorsing the rebel
congress.
A lawyer representing Megawati, Dimyati Hartono, said at a
press conference yesterday that a referendum was the best way to
solve the party's crisis: "The dispute on PDI's dual leadership
will reach a deadlock if the opposing camps claim they have their
own leader."
He said that the PDI was not a government institution, so the
decision to settle the party's dispute should be left to its
members.
"Let the PDI members decide who their leader is," he said. "I
suggest that PDI conduct a referendum allowing its members to
chose their leader."
"If Megawati gets more votes than Soerjadi in the referendum,
Soerjadi has to accept it, and the other way around," he said.
Contesting some observers' doubts that it would take a long
time to hold a referendum, Dimyati guaranteed that a referendum
could be completed within two weeks.
"With the help of sophisticated communication technology, I
guarantee that the referendum will take no longer than two
weeks," he said.
He said, however, that the decision to hold a referendum would
depend on the political will of the two opposing camps, as well
as that of the government.
Meanwhile, about three thousand Megawati supporters stretched
a 500-meter long banner containing their signatures along Jl.
Proklamasi in Central Jakarta yesterday afternoon.
The supporters, singing and shouting support for Megawati,
then took the banner to the Taman Ismail Marzuki Art and
Exhibition center before moving to the PDI headquarters on Jl.
Diponegoro, where the procession ended.
Three of Megawati's party executives, Alexander Litaay,
Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno and Haryanto Taslam, said they would
reject Soerjadi's offer to nominate them for the preliminary list
of PDI candidates for next year's election. (imn)