Missing PDI leaders says he was abducted by rebels
Missing PDI leaders says he was abducted by rebels
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Secretary General Alexander Litaay finally made a public appearance yesterday to reaffirm his allegiance to the party leadership of Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Alex had been "in hiding" for four days after party rebel Jusuf Merukh made a shock claim that the secretary general had defected to his camp last week.
"My commitment to PDI and Megawati has not changed since I was installed with other party executives on Dec. 23, 1993," Litaay told a press conference at his residence.
He spent about seven hours with Megawati yesterday, from 5:15 a.m. onwards, to explain his "disappearance" to her, pledge his allegiance and discuss the party's strategies for the future.
Alex, who's account was backed up by several senior PDI officials, claimed the he had been abducted by rebel party activists and forced to sign a statement that he had joined the rival camp under Jusuf. He declined to give names, however.
Last week, Megawati gave Alex 10 days to appear and provide an explanation, amid confusing speculation surrounding his alleged defection which had deepened the crisis within the rift-ridden minority party.
On Saturday, Megawati threatened Jusuf with expulsion for his recent move to establish a rival board, challenging her leadership.
"He (Jusuf Merukh) will be treated in accordance with the party's constitution," she told reporters after swearing in the chiefs of the party's departments at party headquarters.
Legislator Sophan Sophiaan, who attended the ceremony, said that under the party's constitution, Jusuf would firstly be given a warning.
"If the warning is ignored, he will be banned from political activity for 10 days. And if that punishment proves ineffective he will be expelled from the party," he said.
Gery Mbatemooy and Latief Pudjosakti, two other senior party members opposing Megawati's leadership, were expelled from the party early this month following acts of insubordination towards the official executive board.
Gery was dismissed for announcing the establishment of the rival board, while Latief was discharged for rejecting the central board's policies.
Jusuf Merukh in a meeting on Wednesday in Bogor, West Java, told the press that Alex had made a statement supporting the establishment of the rival board and that he had been appointed one of its deputies.
Megawati, was elected PDI party chairman in December 1993 by a party congress in Surabaya, East Java, to replace former chairman Soerjadi. She expressed her deep concern on Saturday over the internal conflicts that have beset the party.
"Both executive board members and all the members are -- not shocked -- but deeply concerned over what is happening to the party," she said.
"All this constitutes a process of struggles and crystallization plaguing not only the party but also the nation in general," she said.
Megawati, the eldest daughter of the late former president Sukarno, said that it was not the first time the party had been rocked by "big waves," and she believed all of them could be ridden out over time.
Single majority
Meanwhile, PDI Deputy chairperson Aberson Marle Sihaloho accused the government and the Armed Forces of having engineered the internal problems hitting the PDI and the largest Moslem organization Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) as part of an effort to ensure a single majority for the ruling Golkar party in the 1997 general election.
"The NU leadership crisis and the Alex case are only the phenomena, or the smallest aspects of the major problem, which is government intervention," he told reporters when asked for his views on the party's internal problems.
"The government is destroying the (minority) political parties to pave the way for the ruling Golkar to gain a single majority in the next general elections," he said.
Speaking about Alex, he said that the party secretary general had been abducted by Jusuf's men and military officers and had been forced to make a statement saying he had defected to Jusuf's camp and that he supported the rival board's establishment.
He said that while he was being abducted by Jusuf's men on Wednesday night, Alex had made contact with Sabam Sirait, a senior party member, and told him that he was being forced to sign a statement the contents of which were unknown to him.(rms)