Megawati warns supporters of provocation
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)