Minister back breakaways to oust PDI chief Megawati

Minister back breakaways to oust PDI chief Megawati

JAKARTA (JP): Senior government ministers and army generals
yesterday encouraged dissidents of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) to proceed with their planned congress, in an
apparent bid to oust party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Spearheaded by senior legislator Fatimah Achmad, who is also
Megawati's deputy, the dissidents had the support of Minister of
Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., Coordinating Minister for
Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman and Armed Forces
Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung.

The officials said the government had no choice other than to
support the proposed congress, because most party leaders holding
voting rights wanted the meeting.

Yogie said an overwhelming 215 of the total 306 PDI regency
branches and 22 of its 27 provincial chapters have asked him for
permission to hold a congress.

"In view of that, the government supports the proposed
congress," Yogie told reporters before attending a cabinet
meeting at the presidential office.

Megawati, a daughter of the late president Sukarno who was
elected PDI chief by popular vote in the 1993 extraordinary
congress, has rejected the proposed parley on the grounds that it
lacks a legal basis.

Popular among the common people, she has the support of her
admirers to run in the 1998 presidential election. Observers said
the government fears that PDI could use her charisma to attract
more voters.

Aberson Marle Sihaloho, an ardent supporter of Megawati, has
charged that the current crisis is being engineered by the
government to topple her.

Yogie, a former army general, said the congress is expected to
end the dragging leadership rift within the PDI, a political
party which the government considers a "national asset".

Soesilo said the government supports the proposed congress
because it was initiated by PDI activists to resolve their
internal bickering.

"It is the constitutional will of the majority. Go ahead. As
long as the proposal is in line with the party's statutes,"
Soesilo said.

Meanwhile, Feisal Tanjung assured the breakaway members that
the Armed Forces will provide security at the congress if they go
ahead with it.

"It is our job to maintain security," he said.

"With the government's support, we hope the congress will be
successful," Fatimah said.

She had earlier said, however, that the planned congress was
not meant to unseat Megawati, but rather to give her the
opportunity to defend her leadership.

Megawati said yesterday that she preferred not to comment on
the plan to convene the congress.

"If I responded to the various stories on the planned
congress, I'd fall right into the political scenario that has
been prepared for PDI and myself," she told reporters at her home
in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, yesterday.

Earlier this week, about 50 PDI cadres visited Megawati's home
and pledged their loyalty to her, signing their names on a piece
of white cloth in blood drawn from their needle-pricked thumbs.

A similar display of loyalty was also undertaken in Semarang,
Central Java, imitating the one conducted by some 200 PDI
supporters in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a group of PDI senior members criticized the
government's stance, pointing out that the endorsement has
distracted the party from its preparations for the general
elections next year.

Mh. Isnaeni, one of the loyalists, told a press conference
that the proposed congress was unlawful and against the party's
1994 statutes.

Isnaeni and nine other senior members, including outspoken
legislator Sabam Sirait, declared in 1973 the merger of five
nationalist and Christian-based political parties into PDI.

"The government should have rejected the request (for
permission for the congress)," he told a press conference.

Also yesterday, Fatimah's camp reported the planned congress
to Armed Forces (ABRI) chief of Sociopolitics Lt. Gen. Syarwan
Hamid at the military headquarters.

Syarwan then denied speculation that the Armed Forces had to
some extent influenced the dissenting members to hold the
congress. "It is impossible to pressure PDI leaders ... as they
are clever politicians," he said. (pan/imn)

Fears -- Page 2

Editorial -- Page 4