PDI brings disparities, injustices into spotlight

PDI brings disparities, injustices into spotlight

JAKARTA (JP): The minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) is poised to scrutinize economic disparity, social injustice and lack of freedom of expression when it marks its 23rd anniversary on Jan. 10.

These topics will be discussed in a seminar in Ambon, Maluku, featuring well-known speakers such as Gen. (ret) Soemitro, economist Christianto Wibisono and law expert J.E. Sahetapy.

The festivities, scheduled to open in Ambon on Jan. 9 and close in Jakarta in May, will also include charitable activities, organizing committee chief Ismunandar said yesterday.

The one-day seminar in Ambon aims at seeking solutions to the economic, social and political problems that the PDI sees as worsening, he said.

The PDI, a nationalist-Christian alliance, feels that despite rapid economic growth, the gulf between the rich and poor in Indonesia is widening.

Economic disparity also occurs between regions. Eastern provinces are much less developed than western ones because most economic activities are concentrated in Java.

"We see economic imbalances in terms of income distribution and business opportunities," Ismunandar said.

Indonesia, Ismunandar said, has yet to develop better respect for human rights and bring about democracy.

"The continuing ban on gatherings, closure of newspapers and travel bans are all indications that the people have not enjoyed their sovereignty," he said.

Although Indonesia believes in the supremacy of the rule of law, courts are still siding with the powerful and the bureaucracy, he said.

"Legal uncertainty still reigns," Ismunandar said. "For example, a Supreme Court verdict can be overturned by a personal memo from the Chief Justice."

Ismunandar was referring to Chief Justice Soerjono who overruled a Supreme Court decision which favored an Irian Jaya native who won a US$8.5 million legal battle with the local government last year. (pan)