PAN to target constituents from rural areas, Amien says
PAN to target constituents from rural areas, Amien says
YOGYAKARTA (JP): National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien
Rais has blamed his party's poor performance in last year's
elections for its failure to attract votes from people in rural
areas.
In his accountability speech on Friday during the party's
first congress here he said that PAN campaigners had wasted too
much time building an image as a party that represented the
middle class and the educated.
"I was encouraged by the enthusiastic reception from the
masses during my trips to remote areas. It turned out to be a
lie, because such a mood was not felt at the grassroots in rural
areas," Amien said.
The party won 7.5 million votes in the June 1999 polls, just
seven percent of the total votes cast, and was rewarded with 34
House of Representatives seats.
Amien said the outcome was "beyond expectation".
He remarked that most of the party's votes came from urban and
middle-class areas, but almost none came from poor rural areas.
"We lacked efforts to promote the party to people living in
villages, so that many of them were reluctant to join our
struggle for reform," Amien said.
He said a wrong approach had led to them the misunderstanding
that the party was only open to clean and disciplined
constituents.
"There was an impression that if the party won, gambling,
rooster fighting and other games of that kind would be banned,"
Amien said.
He suggested the party begin recruiting cadres from rural
areas and introduce policies that serve the interests of
laborers, farmers and fishermen.
"These two groups of constituents, the urban and the rural,
should become the party's strong pillars that will help us gain
wider support in our attempts to step up the reform movement,"
Amien said.
The congress also agreed on the procedures to elect a party
chairman, with each provincial and foreign chapter allowed to
name up to three candidates.
The election will be by direct voting, with the candidate
winning the most votes becoming the party's chief who will also
chair an eight-member team tasked with selecting the party's
executives.
Of some 1,000 participants at the congress, 700 have the right
to vote. The voters comprise two representatives from each
district and provincial chapter, all members of the central
executive board and members of the party's advisory body.
Debate on the planned changes to the party platforms continued
into the evening session before the deliberation of the proposal
on Saturday.
PAN's head of foreign affairs Bara Hasibuan said secretary-
general Faisal Basri was ready to challenge Amien Rais if the
party approved the proposal to insert the Islamic terms for faith
and devotion into its founding statutes.
Bara renewed his warning that if the changes were adopted, he,
Faisal and deputy to the secretary-general Santoso would quit the
party.
Hatta Rajasa defended the amendments to the statutes, saying
the words would not lead the party to sectarianism because the
terms were universal and even stipulated in the State Policy
Guidelines approved during the People's Consultative Assembly in
October last year.
"But we still have to discuss the matter until we come out
with the best solution," Hatta said.
Hatta welcomed the difference of opinions, and suggested that
voting would be the fairest manner to settle any possible
deadlocks.
"Whatever the outcome of the vote, everybody must be mature
enough to accept it. Nobody should be brokenhearted," he said,
referring to the resignation threat from some executives.
(44/edt/swa)