Military to ban PDI long march

JAKARTA (JP): The East Java military command has banned the Bali-Jakarta long march planned by members of the rift-ridden Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Antara reported yesterday.

It quoted East Java military commander Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo as saying that he and Bali military commander Maj. Gen. H.A. Rivai had agreed to prevent the long march from taking place.

"We do not have instructions from the Armed Forces Chief but we (Utomo and Rivai) have agreed to ban the long march," Utomo said in the East Java capital Surabaya yesterday.

Utomo said the long march, planned by a PDI group calling itself the "Constitution-loving PDI Cadres" to start in Bali on March 26, was a political activity which it "would not be timely to hold now."

He also said the march might disturb security and order in East Java.

"If (the ban is) unheeded, my personnel will disband the participants," Utomo said.

The proposed march comes less than two months before national and provincial elections. The authorities have banned street rallies during the campaign, which starts officially on April 27. Polling day is May 29.

The week-long march was intended to unify the party which split into two camps last year, the marchers' chairman Roch Basuki Mangunprojo said.

A government-sanctioned congress by a rebel PDI faction deposed the then chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and elected Soerjadi, himself a former PDI chairman.

Both Bali and East Java are strongholds of party members loyal to Megawati. (swe)