PDI-P mulls reviving posts to fight terrorism: Roy

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) is giving consideration to reactivating posko (command posts), to help in the country's fight against terrorism, a senior party leader said on Sunday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the party's national working meeting in Jakarta, PDI Perjuangan chairman Roy B.B. Janis said the move would be taken in response to an instruction by party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to be alert to terrorist threats.

"We'll reactivate posko if we think we need them," Roy said.

PDI Perjuangan erected thousands of party posts throughout the country after the fall of former president Soeharto in 1998, which helped maintain peace and security in some places. The posts, however, were dismantled after Megawati was elected vice president in 1999.

In some regions, the posts ran into trouble with local people as they blackmailed people or committed violence, a problem that analysts are worried could recur if posko were revived.

Analysts also said should posko be resurrected, that would effectively mark the start of PDI Perjuangan's general election campaign for 2004.

PDI Perjuangan vice secretary-general Pramono Anung revealed that the party would ensure that the entire party apparatus down to neighborhood level (RT) would help security officers to anticipate terrorist activity across the country.

"It's part of our responsibility to actively reduce public fear following the Bali bombing last week," he said.

"We will mobilize tens of thousands of PDI Perjuangan leaders to help create a sense of security."

Megawati opened on Sunday the party's three-day, closed-door meeting, attended by over 80 percent of its 30 provincial office heads (DPD), and 372 leaders of district executive boards (DPC).

The meeting, which was supposed to debate the party's program, decided to address antiterrorism measures following the Bali incident on Oct. 12, which killed nearly 200 people.

Last Friday, Pemuda Anshor, the youth wing of the largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, launched a 100-day antiterrorism campaign.

Such active public participation may be followed by other groups as the public may not feel protected by the security provided by the police.

Commenting on the government's regulation on antiterrorism, Roy expressed the hope that the public would not get into an extended debate over its content, which, according to legal experts and human rights activists, is liable to human rights abuses.

"Don't argue about human rights abuses any longer. The perpetrators of the Bali bombing killed many innocent people; they violated human rights," he said.

"PDI Perjuangan fully supports the regulation as it would protect the public from terrorist attack. Without the regulation, the government would have no lawful means to tackle the issue," he stressed.

He also said the meeting would not be addressing recent bribery scandals at the House of Representatives, allegedly involving several PDI Perjuangan members.