Megawati warns supporters of provocation
JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri, ousted chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), soothed some 300 supporters at her residence yesterday.
The supporters, from regions across Indonesia, visited her at the Kebagusan subdistrict in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, to ask what she meant by "not participating" in the campaign as was stated in her directives to loyalists last week.
"It's clear we're not taking part in the campaign," she said, calling on her supporters not to be provoked or "coopted" by anyone in the campaign activities.
She told them to keep their voting cards but did not elaborate.
An official of Megawati's group, Noviantika Nasution, told The Jakarta Post that the supporters had been asked to be patient and wait for Megawati's further instruction regarding the voting cards.
"We're unable to tell them what step they should take next. We're watching how the campaign develops. We'll let them know what to do later," she said.
The supporters dispersed peacefully not long after Megawati asked them to lunch.
On Wednesday last week, Megawati issued a statement that her camp had tried to follow all of the mandatory stages in the general election, but they were rejected by the authorities. She therefore declared her camp would not take part in the campaign.
In a statement praised by many parties, including some senior government officials, Megawati asked her supporters not to take part in the election campaign on behalf of the PDI, but work together to make the election democratic and constitutional.
She said the PDI under her leadership is keen to avoid violence caused by provocation by certain people, which could be used to discredit PDI members and supporters.
Haryanto Taslam, the deputy secretary-general, said the statement meant the faction did not want to be involved further in "an undemocratic and unconstitutional process".
Megawati's statement relinquished any responsibilities over possible unrest involving PDI, according to Haryanto.
"We have followed all of the (preliminary) stages in the general election to show that this (faction) is legitimate, but during these stages we witnessed many violations," he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
"As the legitimate board of PDI, we have decided not to be involved in the campaign activities. If there are contestants claiming to be PDI and causing unrest, then they're provocateurs," he said.
He said his faction hoped the government was aware of the presence of "an unconstitutional contestant" in the campaign. He was referring to the PDI under the leadership of Soerjadi, who ousted Megawati in June last year. (05)