Military-backed IPKI withdraws from PDI

Military-backed IPKI withdraws from PDI

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), still
hurting from recent internal leadership struggles, lost one of
its five factions yesterday.

IPKI, an organization set up by the Armed Forces (ABRI) in
1954, withdrew from the nationalist Christian alliance, planning
to return to its mission as an independent organization, its
officials said.

"The 1973 fusion with the PDI hasn't allowed IPKI to develop,"
said the new IPKI chairman, Soeprapto, when announcing the
organization's withdrawal from the smallest of Indonesia's three
political parties.

Soeprapto, elected IPKI boss in an IPKI congress last week, is
known as a former Jakarta governor and member of the ruling
political organization Golkar and Pepabri, an organization of
ABRI veterans.

He claimed that he was not under pressure to withdraw the
organization from PDI, which is dominated by politicians of the
Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) established by former
president Sukarno.

IPKI, Soeprapto said, wanted to become an ordinary mass-based
organization whose members are free to affiliate with whatever
political organization they want.

IPKI was formed on May 20, 1954, by such prominent military
figures as A.H. Nasution and Gatot Subroto to safeguard the
implementation of the 1945 constitution and state ideology
Pancasila.

In the 1971 election, IPKI obtained one seat in the House of
Representatives (DPR). When the government "simplified" the
political party system in 1973, IPKI allied with Murba, the
Catholic Party, the Christian Party and PNI to merge into PDI.

Soeprapto said IPKI joined PDI in 1973 on President Soeharto's
advice and the move was supported by the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR).

Soeprapto said when some IPKI officials, un-named, approached
him to lead the organization, one of his conditions was that it
withdraw from PDI and become independent.

He added that he had the endorsement from Pepabri and other
various affiliations to lead IPKI.

IPKI's withdrawal will most likely be a blow to PDI, whose
consolidation efforts in preparation for the 1997 general
election have not gone smoothly.

In the last debacle, the East Java PDI chapter failed to elect
a new chairman, provoking the government to intervene. The
government refuses to acknowledge PDI chief Megawati
Soekarnoputri's appointment of Sucipto as the new boss of the
provincial PDI chapter. (pan)