PCPP starts congress without Yogie's presence
PCPP starts congress without Yogie's presence
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Association of Intellectuals for
Pancasila Development (PCPP), a group which has become a source
of public controversy, begins its first congress today.
As of last night, the organizer of the congress had failed in
his attempt to secure the agreement of Minister of Home Affairs
Yogie S.M. to open the gathering.
Despite this blow, the gathering will proceed, spokesman
Bambang Diponegoro said. Some 200 representatives of PCPP
branches in 20 provinces will attend the two-day meeting, he
added.
A number of high-ranking officials, including Minister of
Defense and Security Edi Sudradjat, have agreed to address the
congress, Bambang told The Jakarta Post.
A spokesman of the Ministry of Home Affairs told the press in
Jakarta yesterday that the organizer had indeed asked the
minister to inaugurate the congress.
"However, the minister has yet to give his answer, so it's not
certain whether the minister will open it," HSA Yusacc was quoted
by the Antara news agency as saying yesterday.
Yogie himself had said on Thursday that he would not attend
because he was busy.
Last night, a number of participants held preliminary
discussions, but did not specifically address the organization's
programs or chairmanship.
The organization has been without a chairman since it was
established in July by a group of intellectuals from Jenderal
Sudirman University in Purwokerto, Central Java.
A number of high-ranking officials have been mentioned as
possible candidates, including Minister of Transmigration Siswono
Yudohusodo. Siswono had said he would decline should the
organization's chairmanship be offered to him.
Other possible candidates include Edi Sudradjat, the minister
of defense and security; and Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, the state
minister of environment and former secretary-general of the
ruling political grouping Golkar.
The PCPP's inception is widely seen as a challenge to existing
organizations of intellectuals, whose memberships are based on
religion.
Leading PCPP members have repeatedly stated that the group
will stay away from politics.
Bambang spoke yesterday of reported rivalry between members
who also belong to SOKSI, a Golkar-affiliated organization, and
those whose background is in GMNI, a nationalist students
organization. Siswono is a former chairman of GMNI.
"There's no such rivalry, but if members from those
organizations join PCPP, it's natural," he said. "This
association cannot forbid its individual members from entering
politics," he added.
He said that, although its members are selected, the
association tries to accommodate a diversity of backgrounds.
"We have members from the Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization,
as well as from associations of Catholic, Hindu and Moslem
intellectuals," he said. (mun/swe)