PDI chief request for congress
PDI chief request for congress
JAKARTA (JP): Chief of the minority Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri yesterday refused to bow to
mounting pressure from dissenting members to hold a fresh
election for party chairman.
"The proposal for a congress was unlawful," Megawati said in a
written statement read out to journalists by one of her deputies,
Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno.
Other party executives, who accompanied Soetardjo to the party
headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, showing their
support for Megawati, included secretary-general Alexander Litaay
and the chief of the research and development department, Kwik
Kian Gie. Megawati herself was not present during the reading of
the statement.
The call for a congress -- raised by 16 provincial chapters
and 141 branches -- did not meet the party's statutes because it
was not made by branch and chapter leaders, according to party
executive Sulistyo.
A group of activists claiming to represent 21 of the 27
provincial chapters and 215 of PDI's 305 branches requested
government permission to hold the congress and election for party
chairman.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and high-ranking military
officials -- including Armed Forces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung
-- gave qualified support for the call, with most of them saying
that a congress is permitted "as long as it's in accordance with
the party's statutes".
A group of party executives led by Fatimah Achmad, chief of
PDI's faction at the House of Representatives and one of
Megawati's deputies, moved quickly and yesterday established an
organizing committee for the congress.
Fatimah, known to be an ally of former chairman Soerjadi, who
was defeated by Megawati in 1993, said her group would hold the
congress before the end of the month and that Megawati should
defend her leadership then.
Megawati maintained that her leadership is valid, as it
complies with the party statutes.
The government had previously stated that it recognized
Megawati as the rightful leader of the party.
Megawati won the majority of votes of the party's regional
branches in a disputed extraordinary congress in Surabaya, East
Java, in December 1993. The result was legalized in a national
"deliberation" meeting in January 1994.
The dissenters are scheduled today to meet with Minister of
Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. and Armed Forces Chief for
Sociopolitics Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid to report on the planned
congress.
Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
Soesilo Soedarman said yesterday that the government has clearly
given its stance on the matter through the home affairs
ministry's Director General of Sociopolitics, Sutoyo N.K.
Sutoyo told the press on Monday that the government approved
the request for permission to convene a congress, because it was
made by the majority of the party's members.
In Surabaya, East Java, at least 200 PDI cadres pledged their
loyalty to Megawati and signed their names in blood drawn from
their needle-pricked thumbs.
They said they would support and protect Megawati's leadership
from any efforts to topple her. "We are ready to secure
Megawati's leadership till the last drop of our blood," said
Andy, one of the cadres.
Feisal yesterday pointed out that the party has not been able
to carry out its programs due to leadership wrangling.
Separately, Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid said that there are grounds
for demands to hold the congress, and that the Armed Forces are
ready to provide maximum security if the congress did take place.
Commander of the Jakarta Military Command Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso
said yesterday that the Jakarta garrison would be ready to secure
the congress, should it take place in Jakarta. (imn/jun/15)