Military to ban PDI long march

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)