Military to ban PDI from enlisting members' support
JAKARTA (JP): A top military official told off the East Java chapter of Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) for its plan to enlist support from civil servants and members of the Armed Forces (ABRI).
Chief of Brawijaya regional military command Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo said yesterday in Surabaya, the province's capital, that he would forbid the party from interviewing civil servants and ABRI members to see whether they would join PDI.
"That chapter is not even able to list its own members, because they're too busy fighting one another, let alone registering other organization's members," Imam was quoted by Antara as saying.
"The chapter itself is a mess, now it wants to meddle in other people's affairs. That's nonsense," Imam said further.
The general was commenting on the recent statement of a PDI activist in East Java, Sutjipto, that his party would register potential supporters among members of the Armed Forces and the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps.
The move was apparently a response to recent reports that government officials in some cities in Sumatra and Central Java had been holding a "political census", going door-to-door to ask people whether they would vote for the ruling Golkar in the 1997 general election.
"There are no laws that civil servants, members of Armed Forces and their wives have to be members of Golkar," Sutjipto was quoted by Kompas daily as saying earlier this week.
The poll next year will be joined by the ruling Golkar, which enjoys the backing of the bureaucracy and the Armed Forces; PDI; and the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP).
Sutjipto said his party's move would serve as political education so that more members of the public become aware of their rights.
Sutjipto, who has the backing of PDI chief Megawati Soekarnoputri but is currently embroiled in a conflict with Latief Pudjosakti from a rival board, said he planned to deploy 5,000 volunteers to register potential supporters next month. The team will visit civil servants and ABRI members in every office, he said.
"This is a program of the East Java chapter of PDI, but there's always the possibility it can be implemented by other PDI branches as well," he said. "I believe, however, that we're going to encounter obstacles, including the provincial administration."
Imam said "the East Java chapter of PDI may think that civil servants and ABRI members don't have to affiliate with Golkar only". However, he said, it is in the best interests of civil servants and ABRI members that they "lean" toward Golkar.
"I will forbid (Soetjipto) to proceed with his plan," Imam said. "He should first report to me because ABRI members are my men."
"What has PDI got to do with my men, anyway?" he said.
The East Java chapter of PDI has for some time been too preoccupied with its leadership rift to prepare itself for the fast approaching election. Due to the dual leadership, for instance, the government has decided to leave it unrepresented on the East Java provincial election committee.
The party, which is a 1973 merger of some Christian and nationalist parties, won 10 percent and 14 percent of the contested 400 seats at the House of Representatives during the 1987 and 1992 general elections respectively.
Golkar acquired 74.7 and 70.5 percent, whereas PPP got 15.3 percent and 15.4 percent of the votes. (swe)