PDI headquarters takeover to be commemorated today

PDI headquarters takeover to be commemorated today

JAKARTA (JP): The hostile takeover of the headquarters of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) on Jl. Diponegoro in Central
Jakarta on July 27, 1996, will be commemorated at Senayan Stadium
on Tuesday morning, organizers said.

The head of the organizing committee, Jakob Nuwa Wea,
announced on Monday after a meeting with Jakarta Police chief
Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman the event would be attended by some
5,000 supporters of the party, which now calls itself the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

However, Nuwa Wea said organizers could not guarantee the
number of people attending the ceremony would not exceed the
5,000 suggested by Noegroho.

"As you already know, every time PDI Perjuangan holds an event
people always flock to it," he said.

Separately, Noegroho said the ceremony was not a political
campaign and he therefore expected PDI Perjuangan to limit the
number of people in attendance.

Nuwa Wea said his party did not intend to gather en masse and
party supporters were well disciplined.

"PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri will also
attend the gathering," he said.

This is the first year the party, which was not recognized by
Soeharto's administration, is being allowed to commemorate the
anniversary of the takeover.

City police refused to issue a permit for a ceremony last
year, saying such an event could cause riots.

PDI Perjuangan security personnel will assist the police in
handling security during Tuesday's ceremony.

Nuwa Wea said the party, which garnered the most votes in the
recent general election, would deploy 1,000 of its security
personnel at the event. It will also post 100 of its security
personnel at Megawati's former office on Jl. Diponegoro.

Police have not disclosed how many officers they will assign
to the gathering.

A 1996 government-sponsored PDI congress in the North Sumatran
capital of Medan named Soerjadi as the party's chairman,
replacing Megawati, who was said to be incapable of solving the
party's internal problems.

This led to the July 27, 1996, takeover of the PDI
headquarters, which was still occupied by Megawati and her
supporters. The building then became the headquarters of the
government-supported PDI led by Soerjadi.

The commemoration of the incident will begin at 10 a.m., and
will feature Koran recitals, prayers and a speech by Megawati.

Meanwhile, 12 people from the Indonesian Democracy Defense
Team urged the police to bring to court all of the police and
military generals involved in the 1996 takeover, including then
minister of defense and security/Indonesian Armed Forces
commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung, then ABRI's head of social and
political affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, then National Police
chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo, then city police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami
Nata and then Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso, who
is now Jakarta governor.

The group claims the military and police did nothing to
prevent the bloody clash between Soerjadi and Megawati's
supporters. Five people died, 149 were injured and 23 went
missing in the incident. (03)