PDI-P members begin blame game

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Upset by the shocking decline in the number of votes in the April 5 legislative election, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) executives have begun to blame each other.

Heated arguments marked the party's weekly meeting on Tuesday, led by their leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, with senior member Kwik Kian Gie leaving before the meeting was over.

Speaking in a high tone, Kwik, who is the State Minister of National Development Planning, said he had done his best in reminding Megawati of the setbacks to come.

"I have done my duties for the party. I don't care about what other party executives say about me, but I will be consistent in voicing my conscience," he said, naming a number of colleagues who had taken issue with his criticism of the party.

He was commenting on accusations that his sharp remarks on Megawati's Cabinet had contributed to the party's poor performance this year.

One of his most publicized quotes came last year, when he said that his party was full of corrupt people.

A survey conducted last year by the now defunct PDI-P research agency, led by Kwik, had revealed back then that the party would only garner some 20 percent of the vote in the legislative election, mostly due to failures to listen to its constituents.

Megawati's policy of openly ordering several PDI-P candidates not to run in regental and gubernatorial elections around the country had intensified dissatisfaction and distrust among many of the 33.7 percent who voted for the party in 1999.

As of Tuesday, PDI-P was trailing Golkar Party by less than 1 percent in the national vote tally with around 20 percent of 85 million votes counted, but could lose by an even wider margin in terms of House of Representatives seats, according to projections. Some surveys earlier this year concluded that Golkar, the New Order's political machine, would reclaim the top spot.

PDI-P won the 1999 election with 33.7 percent of the vote, handing Golkar its first defeat ever.

Kwik later added that all PDI-P leaders should be held responsible for the poor performance and that they had to explain that to their constituents.

"All the central board members, including Kwik Kian Gie, are responsible for the setback and I won't resist a move to file a vote of no confidence against me," he said.

Other PDI-P executives attending the meeting told The Jakarta Post they were preparing "a contingency plan" for themselves.

"I wish I was wrong when I told Ibu Megawati that we could lose because of her policies that tarnished the party's image, Now it has been proven I was right," said one of the members, who requested anonymity.

The party's deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung denied reports of internal fighting.

He said Megawati took the provisional election results calmly and did not vent her anger.

"It is not true that she is angry. She is ready to accept whatever result ... because that's what democracy is all about," Pramono said.

He said Megawati, despite the poor legislative election result, was ready to run for president in July.

"We are preparing the 'Mega Center', where the campaign team for Megawati will work to help her win the presidential election. We will recruit non PDI-P Cabinet members as spokespersons for the team," Pramono said.

The party remains upbeat that Megawati still stands a good chance of winning the presidency.

"She is still very popular among the people and we are confident of winning the presidential election," Pramono claimed.

Recent surveys, however, indicate Megawati's massive decline in popularity and predict that she will be soundly defeated her former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the presidential election.

Pramono said Megawati would announce her running mate by the end of this month. "This is a very critical time for us to find the perfect running mate," he said.

PDI-P has been courting Muslim and nationalist figures to find a suitable vice presidential candidate.