PDI-P seeks Tarmidi's dismissal

PDI-P seeks Tarmidi's dismissal

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri in her capacity as the
chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), signed a letter urging the dismissal of Tarmidi
Suhardjo from his position as City Council deputy speaker.

The letter was issued on Tuesday, two days before the City
Council is due to elect someone to fill the position of speaker,
which was left vacant by Edi Waluyo who quit in order to take
part in last September's gubernatorial race.

Tarmidi's fate as deputy speaker will be decided during a
plenary session of the City Council before the holding of the
election for speaker.

The PDI Perjuangan faction on the council has offered the
position to Agung Imam Sumanto, a party councillor who is loyal
to Megawati and is a strong supporter of Governor Sutiyoso.

The PDIP's move is designed to punish Tarmidi, who went
against party policy by taking part in the gubernatorial race
last September, although the party had named Sutiyoso as its sole
gubernatorial candidate.

"Yes, it's a punishment as I was considered to be going
against party policy," Tarmidi said when asked to comment on the
PDI Perjuangan executive board's letter.

Tarmidi took part in the gubernatorial race after he was
selected during a meeting of the PDI Perjuangan's Jakarta
chapter. But his candidacy was rejected by Megawati as she had
nominated Sutiyoso as her party's candidate for the Jakarta
governorship.

Megawati ignored strong protests from PDI Perjuangan
supporters who refused to accept Sutiyoso's candidacy as he was
one of the suspects in the July 27 incident in 1996 when
supporters of Soerjadi -- Megawati's political rival -- backed by
the military and police, attacked her supporters in the PDIP
headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta. A number of
people were killed and wounded during the attack.

Tarmidi used to be a strong supporter of Megawati. He was
jailed from 1997 to 1998 under the Soeharto regime after he and
other supporters led a demonstration against the authoritarian
former president. He was accused of violating the subversion law,
which has since been revoked.

His political advancement in the party was rapid and he was
successively appointed the party's chairman of Kebon Pala
subdistrict office in Kebon Pala, East Jakarta, between 1978-
1988, deputy chairman of the party's Kramat Jati district office
in East Jakarta from 1988-1994, the party's East Jakarta office
head from 1994-2000, and the party's Jakarta chapter head from
2000-2005.

Tarmidi was dismissed from his position as the chairman of the
PDI Perjuangan Jakarta chapter on Oct. 11, 2002, a month after
the gubernatorial election.

Tarmidi said that the dismissal was unfair as he was never
given an opportunity to explain why he took part in the
gubernatorial race. He said that if the party's candidate had not
been Sutiyoso, he might have withdrawn his candidature.

"It was actually part of an effort on my part to save the
party as the party's grassroots could not accept Sutiyoso's
candidacy. I didn't want them to leave the party because their
aspirations were not being heeded," he argued.

But he added that he did not regret what he had done.

The decision of the PDI Perjuangan's executive board to urge
Tarmidi's removal as deputy speaker was made at a party's meeting
on Tuesday. The letter, which was received by Tarmidi at 11 p.m.
on Tuesday, was signed by Megawati, party secretary-general
Sutjipto and the party's deputy chairman Gunawan Wirosardjono.

Tubagus Haryokarbianto, a legal expert from the Jakarta Legal
Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), said Megawati's letter did not
automatically remove Tarmidi as the deputy speaker of the City
Council.

He said his position as the City Council's deputy speaker was
stipulated in a decree of the home minister, which could not be
annulled by a letter from a party chairperson.