Military assures safe PDI rally in Surabaya
SURABAYA (JP): The military has assured the government- recognized Indonesian Democratic Party that it could hold another campaign here undisturbed.
Col. Syamsul Maarif, the city military commander, said yesterday that security measures had been tightened up following brawls that involved supporters of the two conflicting factions within the party Monday.
Members of the East Java military command's elite forces were on stand by with their racing motorbikes on every corner of the country's second largest city during rallies organized by the United Development Party (PPP) yesterday.
The PDI's Surabaya branch canceled Monday's rally and announced a halt to election campaigns in the city, pending a decision by chairman Soerjadi.
"They should not have given up. Instead, they should take heart and have the wisdom to clear the hurdles," Syamsul said.
The PDI was split into two camps after the government backed a breakaway congress which toppled Megawati Soekarnoputri and reinstated Soerjadi in the party's top post.
An official of PDI's Surabaya branch, Achmad Bahtiar Balukh, defended the decision not to hold any more campaign activities, saying they would cause a bloodbath among PDI supporters.
"The problem is not whether or not we dare to face Megawati supporters, but it is impossible to fight our fellow PDI members," he said.
Megawati supporters continued their ploys, but most of the party rallies in Sumatra and Nusa Tenggara ran untroubled.
The PDI chairman, Soerjadi, spoke before thousands of the party's cadres at the Merdeka soccer field in Medan, North Sumatra. Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung and chairman of the General Elections Institute Moch. Yogie S.M. inspected the assembly here.
Hundreds of Megawati loyalists disrupted an assembly of PDI in Dili, East Timor. They took away placards and flags under the eyes of some 3,000 people who joined the gathering held at the Pramuka sports field.
In Bali, some 600 police and military personnel guarded a PDI rally in Gianyar in response to rumors that Megawati supporters would disrupt the rally.
Bali Governor Ida Bagus Oka and other top officials of the province attended the gathering.
Massive brawls between supporters of the PDI's two factions almost broke out in Batam when around 300 pro-Megawati supporters staged a rival rally.
Antara reported that they surrounded Tanjung Uma field, the venue of the PDI rally, in a motorcade. They yelled and chanted songs in support of Megawati, only to offend Soerjadi's supporters who attended the rally.
West Riau police chief Lt. Col. Yoze Rizal stepped in to disperse the motorcade before supporters of the government- recognized PDI lost their tempers and started a fight. (33/nur/amd)