PDI breakaways may choose Medan for venue

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) dissenters' plan to hold fresh elections for chairperson solidified yesterday with the tentative decision to choose Medan in North Sumatra as the venue for the gathering next week.

Ismunandar, an organizer of the planned congress, told the press that his group was leaning toward Medan because the city has adequate facilities. The group is also preparing Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan as an alternative venue, he said.

Ismunandar's announcement significantly reduced speculation as to which city would be chosen for the venue, especially given that the group already said the congress would run from June 19 to June 25. By regulation, organizers of political gatherings must notify the authorities a week before the set date.

Some observers have speculated that the group were trying to avoid cities where incumbent chief Megawati Soekarnoputri has great numbers of supporters.

"Medan is our best bet for holding the congress," Ismunandar, secretary of the congress committee, said at a press conference yesterday.

He said that the decision was taken after hearing proposals from what he claimed was the majority of the 306 PDI branches. The committee had also mentioned Bukittinggi in West Sumatra and Manado in North Sulawesi as possible venues.

Yesterday, National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said his office had not yet issued any permits for the gathering and he could therefore not say where it would be held.

Antara news agency quoted him as saying, however, that the police will be ready to make the congress safe. "It's our responsibility to maintain stability and security in any region," he said.

Ismunandar said the organizing committee hopes to name a firm venue for the congress within the next two days.

He also said the committee would need Rp 3 billion (US$1.2 million) to pay for the congress. The last PDI congress in 1993, also in Medan, cost the party Rp 1.5 billion, he said.

He said the party activists are expected to pay for the congress together. However, "We also expect the government's help in financing the congress," he said.

Also yesterday, Director General for Socio-politics of the Ministry of Home Affairs Sutoyo N.K. said the government would provide the party with a reasonable amount of money to hold the congress.

"PDI is a national asset, that's why we'll support its plans," he suggested, claiming that his office had yet to receive requests for financial assistance from the congress organizers.

From the opposing camp in the party rift, deputy secretary- general of the PDI central board Haryanto Taslam said that the majority of PDI branches in Indonesia's 21 provinces have sent messages of support for Megawati.

"They also said that they would not accept the congress," Taslam told a press conference.

In a separate session, PDI's secretary-general Alexander Litaay said the PDI central executive board had sent a letter to the National Police Chief on Saturday demanding that deny a permit to hold the congress.

"Convening this congress is against the PDI's statutes," Litaay said in a written statement, signed by Megawati and himself.

Quoting the Joint Ministerial Decree No. 153/1995 on Permits, Litaay said that notification from political organizations of planned gatherings must be signed by their chairpersons.

He also said that some members of the PDI central board had met Armed Forces chief for Socio-politics Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid on June 3, one day before the renegade group established its congress committee.

"We told Syarwan Hamid that a number of PDI branches' leaders had been pressured by local military officers to send letters to the PDI central board and demand a congress," he said. (imn)