Megawati warns against politically partisan youths
Megawati warns against politically partisan youths
JAKARTA (JP): Head of the minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Sukarnoputri expressed concern yesterday over the growing tendency for youths to be "divided" according to their political affiliations.
Addressing thousands of PDI supporters in Ternate, Maluku, Megawati warned that the tendency might prove harmful to the nation's integrity and ability to face future challenges.
"People are divided into the cadres of (the ruling political group) Golkar, the cadres of the PPP (United Development Party), and the cadres of the PDI -- as if they did not have anything in common," she said.
"Remember that we are all cadres of this nation," she said. "Indonesia needs strong and united cadres in order to face the challenges of the 21st century."
"Don't fall into the trap of being divided in such a way...the challenges of the future can be met as long as we're united," she added.
Megawati has been touring the eastern provinces to celebrate the PDI's 22nd anniversary. She is accompanied on the tour by Secretary General Alex Litaay and other party leaders, including Syafei Ali Gumai, Mangara Siahaan and Hera Tarto Sudiro.
During the celebration in Ternate, some 3,000 PDI supporters pledged loyalty towards the leadership of Megawati, who is a daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno.
Megawati acknowledged that her leadership had repeatedly been called into question as a result of dissension and other attempts to divide the party. "It's not easy being a leader who's democratically elected by people," she said.
However, she promised that she would not seek vengeance against people who tried to undermine her leadership, saying that "the truth and honesty" would eventually prevail.
Megawati said that, ever since she was elected to the chair of the PDI at a chaotic congress in 1993, her leadership had been repeatedly challenged. Among Megawati's most pressing difficulties at present is the existence of a rival board of the East Java branch of the PDI.
Her attempt to solve the conflict, by convening a meeting of all provincial branch leaders, was thwarted when the provincial administration refused to issue a permit for the meeting.
During this latest rift, Megawati's critics have been quick to accuse her of incompetence as a party leader.
Megawati told her supporters in Ternate that the PDI, established in 1973 through the fusion of a number of nationalist and Christian parties, did not have to remain a minority party forever.
"The PDI can be number one, too," she said. "If Golkar can do it, then so can we."
She said that, as long as Indonesia could have a fair general election in 1997, there was a very good chance of the PDI winning a majority of the votes.
"The state guidelines, GBHN, mandate fair and free elections, so we all have to strive to achieve them," she said. (swe)