PDI-P plays down anti-Mega coalition

JAKARTA: The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) played down on Friday a planned coalition of Muslim-based political parties ahead of the 2004 elections.

PDI Perjuangan Secretary-General Soetjipto said that if the so-called anti-Megawati coalition were to be established, this would only prove that she was a strong candidate for the 2004 elections, when the country will hold its first ever direct presidential election.

"The fact that they have to rally together against Megawati simply proves that she is very strong," Soetjipto was quoted by Antara as saying in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara on Friday.

Soetjipto was in Mataram attending a meeting of the party's local chapter held to discuss the recruitment of candidate legislators.

Megawati is the PDI Perjuangan's sole candidate for the presidency in the upcoming 2004 elections.

In the 1999 election, the PDI Perjuangan garnered 33 percent of the total vote but initially failed to get Megawati into Presidential Palace due to maneuvers by a coalition of several factions representing Islamic parties in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

However, this is unlikely to work in the future as the country will hold a direct presidential election, where the people, not the political parties, freely choose their own president.