PDI-P congress in stalemate

PDI-P congress in stalemate

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: A branch congress of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) ended in stalemate
here on Tuesday after dozens of civilian guards disrupted the
meeting to protest against the possible election of a rank
outsider as chairman.

Tension had surfaced after little known Bejo Subaryadi headed
the count by 37 votes after a rerun of the vote for the
chairmanship. Bejo failed to secure the top post, but the outcome
was enough to raise many eyebrows because he finished empty
handed in the initial vote, which had to be repeated after none
of the eight candidates reached the necessary quota of two-thirds
of the votes cast.

"It (the result) is questionable. Money politics must have
marred this election," one of the guards shouted.

The rerun only finished in the wee hours on Tuesday.

Fearing an incident following his surprising performance, Bejo
rose to the podium to announce that he was withdrawing from the
race.

"For the sake of our unity, I'm not running for the chief
post," Bejo said, amid jeers from his supporters who insisted
that he go ahead.

Tasroni Budi Prayitno, an executive of the party's provincial
chapter who supervised the election, decided to close the
congress and said he would let the party's central board settle
the matter. (45)