PDI Perjuangan needs to fulfill its namesake

PDI Perjuangan needs to fulfill its namesake

On Tuesday, barely a week ahead of the congress of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the
party's central board blocked the candidacy of the main
challenger for the chairmanship, Eros Djarot. Hours before he
knew of the decision, the musician, film director and publisher
talked to The Jakarta Post about his candidacy. An excerpt of the
interview follows:

Question: Recent developments like protests against you
running as a candidate for the party leadership reflect
resistance from within the party. How do you view this
resistance?

Answer: I've always feared that several people saying they're
acting on behalf of (party chairwoman and Vice President)
Megawati Soekarnoputri are those who don't understand the party's
struggle in ensuring democratization and meeting the
constituency's demands. So they also encounter resistance, not
only from myself.

These past two days there have been demonstrations at the
headquarters demanding that Megawati be fair and meet demands of
democracy (within the party). These indicate that undemocratic
attitudes are no longer acceptable.

Q: It's ironic that the party's name bears the word "democratic".

A: It's probably only a few people close to Megawati using the
rule of power; many across the country wish that PDI Perjuangan
returned to its core, its commitment to democracy.

Q: Are you determined to go ahead with the candidacy?

A: There's no choice; (failure to run) would be betraying the
moral responsibility of those involved in developing the party.

We must increase the party's accountability, such as by my
running as a candidate, to help Megawati focus more on her task
assigned by the people.

Her success as vice president is part of the success of the
party members, not the other way around.

Q: Could you elaborate?

A: There are those who say that if she did not become party
chairwoman her candidacy for the presidency would be disrupted;
while actually her acceptability as a candidate for the
presidency would depend on her performance as vice president.
Otherwise, it would be impractical to reach the higher post.

Q: What are your reasons for running for the party leadership?

A: As one of those close to Megawati, I've been involved behind
the scenes in several of her statements, and now it's time for
the party to fulfill its promises. I feel responsible, especially
since 1993 (when he was more involved as an adviser -- Ed.). I
set up the party's research and development center in 1983.

Q: You said the party should return to its core, while the
impression has been that the party relies more on the masses
regardless of "democracy"...

A: It viewed itself as an oppressed party; we didn't want
totalitarian rule, we demanded democracy which was then not the
experience of any political party under Soeharto. Under (former
president B.J.) Habibie everything opened up, without a clear
understanding between democracy and chaos.

Q: What has yet to be done by the party?

A: First we have to be honest and make some self-criticism.

Several cases cannot be understood -- such as the elections of
regional heads (16 PDI Perjuangan members in Medan, North
Sumatra, recently resigned on charges of accepting bribes from a
candidate for mayor -- Ed.) and the election of the Jakarta
legislative council speaker. The speaker was elected from the
Indonesian Military (TNI) while we had the largest number of
council seats.

These cases prove that many basic commitments we had as the
winning party in the elections have been betrayed by those in
strategic positions.

Q: Giving the post of Jakarta Council speaker to TNI has been
referred to as a political necessity.

A: That's acceptable if we were the victorious party, but we lost
in the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly
(which elected the president). All these competing interests must
end; we only have one aim, which is to make Indonesia win.

I'm concerned about the situation of the day; we have barely
reached the stage of overcoming our crisis of confidence.

All political parties lack this sense of crisis. It's as if
the nation is staggering on its own while political parties are
treading their own paths, without tackling our first priority.

Q: Is that what you mean by making Indonesia win?

A: Well, where are we now as a nation? We've lost almost
everything, we're rebuilding from minus, not zero; what are we
fighting for? There's no awareness among parties to sit together
to discuss problems because they have too many of their own.

Q: Can PDI Perjuangan at least function internally in terms of
recruitment?

A: In this situation recruitment is a luxury. It is this populist
approach (of the party) which could lead to a dictatorship of the
majority.

Actually (upholding democracy) is not too hard given the
conducive conditions now, but are (leaders and members) ready to
go ahead, are there programs which are easy to follow up on?

Q: What was followed up from the 1998 Bali congress?

A: As usual there are gaps between programs and implementation.

Q: What are the promises yet to be met?

A: PDI Perjuangan is supposed to be a party of the little people.
But on crucial cases such as Kartini (an Indonesian maid
sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for having a child out of
wedlock), the plight of farmers, fisherpeople and workers, we
have not issued any political statements.

As the winning party we should be the initiator on such
issues, and issue policies, or at least be the strongest voice.

Q: It seems PDI Perjuangan's sensitivity is limited to the
violent attack on its headquarters on July 27, 1996.

A: Unfortunately, the party is still focused on romanticism and
has emotional space only for its own affairs. This must end.

There is actually a shift in paradigm from the perception of
an oppressed party to the ruling party, so we need a new set of
elements, components and structure.

Political parties are used to being on the periphery; the time
needed to adapt mind-sets has been too short. This is the
transitional period which we need to understand.

Q: Why do you now see it's your time to come forward?

A: Because of the reality reflecting the dreams we had; the only
thing to do is say to yourself, this is the time; I can work
without having any position but this is out of moral
responsibility. As the nurse of a baby who you helped to deliver,
you just can't sit still while it makes everyone dizzy.

Q: Was there a time when those around Megawati pressured her into
not working with you anymore?

A: I was among the confidants so I don't talk... maybe she
needed people to talk to, to avoid a leak of strategies... what
becomes a problem is when rumors develop. There are those in the
headquarters who know a lot but now act as if they don't, it's
OK... This convinced me even more of the vested interests, which
are becoming more obvious.

This has to be made aware to the public so that people in the
party may want to help and not blame the entire party.

Q: Are such problems caused by a mentality of treating political
parties like business "projects"?

A: There are those who want to make the party grow, and those who
wish to see themselves grow for access to politics, economics ...

Q: How would you go about cleaning up the party of such people?

A: There aren't really many of them -- we have many professionals
who believe we can make it as long as we agree on our commitment
to the constituency.

Q: How many of such committed people are there?

A: Under Soeharto, it seemed everyone in the Cabinet was loyal to
him, and many turned out to belong to the silent majority. Those
who keep silent today doesn't mean they agree with the leaders.

Megawati is very strong, I guarantee she's clean but maybe
people want more: the firmness of a political policy, whereas
there are formal and also nonformal policies adopted at the
regional levels. Hence the dualism and political interests.

Q: So what would you do in cleaning up the party of people
lacking the necessary commitment?

A: We would replace them, telling them they're now a liability.
That's only possible through the congress, as a forum for change.
With Megawati we want to help improve the party. It would be
ahistorical to remove her, she is needed as a symbol but does it
have to be as the party chairwoman?

That would be a political liability for her candidacy as
president because party affairs would be her responsibility.
She had better chair the party's legislative body which is more
strategic, it can veto party decisions.

Then the congress could name her the party's sole candidate
for the next president, with the emphasis that this would depend
on her performance as vice president. So separating these two
positions of the VP and party leadership would improve synergy.

Q: The party bears the contradictory image of being "democratic"
while being accused of worshiping an individual...

A: I believe the worship of an individual (kultus individu) is
done by those who deliberately cut off information and fan
emotions of people blinded by that lack of information. The
central symbol of PDI Perjuangan is (first president) Sukarno.

Reducing that symbol to Megawati is dangerous because she's
still in a historical process, while Bung Karno is already a
historical symbol embodying nationalism.

My vision is to bring PDI Perjuangan to be a modern and open
democratic party which understands the nation's issues and its
identity, based on democracy.

The public should not worry; we have many good cadres but they
didn't get any seats. I believe PDI Perjuangan is the only party
which succeeded in drawing up an economic platform together with
world level experts. But we couldn't execute it; we didn't get
the portfolio Ministry of Finance.

Q: The Office of the State Minister of Investment and State
Enterprises Development is also strategic...

A: Yes, in the sense of reviving sources of revenue controlled by
the state, but not in the sense of controlling traffic and policy
in the context of finance which is basic at this time of the
lowest point of confidence ...

It's most important to have a professional Cabinet; but we've
paid a high price for the time needed for the Cabinet members to
learn, so Gus Dur (President Abdurrahman Wahid) and Megawati also
need time in getting to grips with the coordination pattern.

Q: How do you judge the performance of your party legislators?

A: We have a number of good people but then there are others
defending Nursalim, Texmaco (against corruption allegations) ...
Unfortunately, some of these people are close to Megawati. It has
been a dilemma for us in identifying who we're siding with.

But in general we can believe we can (improve the party) with
the support of Megawati if she is willing.

Q: Is Megawati like Gus Dur, listening to anyone of her choice
and deciding on her own nowadays?

A: The difference is that Gus Dur is very quick in making
decisions from whatever information he chooses and Megawati is
very slow -- so that's something we should interpret as something
which needs help.

Whatever the result of the elections, it was democratic...
but we should be supportive by providing criticism.

Q: With only a few days to the congress are you prepared? What if
you're not chosen as chairman?

A: As usual, we're prepared in the Indonesian sense ... which has
become part of our political culture. My existence is not
determined by whether or not I become chairman; my thoughts can
fill spaces inside and outside the party. What's important is
that a good party cadre should be a good cadre of the nation.

I will be continuously helping not only PDI Perjuangan but
other organizations and parties considered to oppose us.

We used to only fuss about ourselves, forgetting that others
were also important for building our democracy. The single
majority built by the ruling Golkar Party led to the collapse of
the nation; so such narrow-mindedness is no longer needed.

Today's situation is very sad; there is this stance of "if PDI
Perjuangan leads us to the edge of the cliff, then we'll just
replace it". While if we topple over, so does our democracy.

There is no awareness that PDI Perjuangan is an asset of the
nation; like it or not, it's a historical given. All parties
should be watching out for each other.

Q: How would you be helping others while some are quite hostile
to those known as secular nationalists that PDI Perjuangan
represents?

A: I am a friend of Akbar Tandjung, Amien Rais, Yusril Ihza
Mahendra, Matori Abdul Djalil, so-called extremists, so what?
That is such a temporary, political issue, can we really be
judged by religious symbols?

We are more of a religious and romantic society, we have all
these superstitions, demons and witch doctors. It would take
quite some time for us to become a nationalist secular people.

Indeed we must respect the majority who are Muslims ... but
nationalism brings about the need for objective competition
across religions, ethnic groups and racial lines. Such
sensitivities are not common in the party yet.

Like in other parties, a sense of crisis is lacking, with
politicians even adding to the vulnerable condition by raising
sensitive issues ... politicians are enjoying boxing in a very
slippery ring where no one wins.

Q: Are there people in the party who want you to become
secretary-general if the chairmanship is not feasible?

A: That's not important. Basic principals must first be agreed to
-- the party leaders and intellectuals must first answer what the
party wants and where is it heading ... only then should we raise
suitable names for the party's executive, legislative and
judiciary posts. We could even agree to disagree, that would
still be a dignified decision.

Q: Why is the congress held so soon after the earlier one in
1998?

A: Exactly. Megawati's earlier speech to party members was that
if she became president she would no longer belong only to party
members but to the whole nation. There's really no need for a
congress; the one in Bali gave Megawati the power to do anything
necessary, even change those in the party headquarters, without
having to go through a congress, as long as the measures were in
line with the party statutes.

Initially the conversation I had with Megawati was that the
upcoming congress (in Semarang) would be to hand over the
leadership to whoever was deemed fit.

This is the first congress of PDI Perjuangan (the Bali
congress changed the party name from PDI). This means cutting the
historical journey of the party, with the consequence that its
identity should be clear.

Q: If you had the authority, would you continue what seems to be
the party's policy of accommodating members from any group,
including retired military officers?

A: In an open party anyone deemed fit should be accommodated.
Nationalism should not be the monopoly of the party, it should be
spread to others so we don't get alienated like we did in the
general session. That was a mistake in strategy.

Retired officers are normal citizens again; our only
requirement is that they don't bring in militarism, which we even
have signs of in the party. We're not against the military but
against militarism. And if the military loses its political role
in 2004 we don't want their political interests riding on us.

So we are ready, not to win or lose but to renew and rebuild
the party spirit.

Q: You said support is coming in from Kalimantan, Sulawesi; is it
the majority of party branches there?

A: Many have phoned saying they support me. The real victory for
me would be the growth of awareness. Becoming chairman would only
be a bonus.

Q: Party executive Mochtar Buchori has noted that while district
levels may aspire for change, at the village level they still
want Megawati as chairwoman...

A: Not really, if you ask a villager he'll say what's important
is that Megawati becomes president, the symbol of the arrival of
the Ratu Adil (provider of justice). It's the people around her
that need her as chairwoman for access to the party and to the
presidency. So we're determined to lead PDI Perjuangan for the
better. (hbk/anr)