Parsendi: A joker in the pack

JAKARTA (JP): Other political parties may have recruited celebrities as their campaigners, but the Party of Artistes and Comediennes (Parsendi) is in fact chaired by illiterate comedian Sri "Milko" Mulyati.

The party was founded in the Central Java town of Surakarta by, among others, Murtidjono, who is a philosophy school graduate. Two of its executives, Achmad Solechan Wachid and Ariyanto Heru Laksono, are both students of medical nuclear technology at the University of Indonesia's School of Natural Sciences and Math.

"History shows artists and comedians have in the past been used by political parties to further their interests, without knowing the ideologies and visions of the organizations," Solechan said as quoted by Ali@nsi tabloid recently. "This party was founded to accommodate the outrage, irritation, fears and hopes of the artists and comedians."

Parsendi, with its 180 members, is not contesting the general election because, Solechan said, "when the other parties went to register at the Ministry of Justice, we mistakenly went to the police station."

"Actually, Bu Milko wanted to go and register the party on the last day, but she was afraid of flying. So she canceled the plan."

When asked why they chose an illiterate person to be their leader, Solechan said that some highly intelligent artists such as journalist/puppet master H. Sudjiwo Tejo and Dono of the Warkop group refused the position.

"Other parties have professors and doctors as their chairmen, so we chose an illiterate woman," he said. "This also to show how the New Order regime failed to educate its people, so much so that a party chairperson in this age is illiterate."

When asked for comment about Soeharto, Solechan said: "We take our hats off to Pak Harto. He really was a great teacher for the nation... because he successfully created a very enduring destructive system." (swe)