PDI Perjuangan says its image changes since assuming power
PDI Perjuangan says its image changes since assuming power
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has conceded that its image had
declined since it assumed power last year.
"We used to attack the government, and now we are within the
system. We have a task to preserve our government. This makes our
effort to build our good image difficult," PDI Perjuangan
legislator Tarto Sudiro said Friday.
Tarto, the head of the party's research and development
center, said the party, whose chairwoman Megawati took over from
Abdurrahman Wahid as president last July, was lacking
intellectuals who could contribute solutions to the many and
complex problems facing the country.
"Before we rose to power, our party members were mostly people
who used to live along the streets, and old nationalists," Tarto
said.
Being a relatively new party, PDI Perjuangan possesses not
enough cadres with enough capabilities to live up to people's
expectations, Tarto said.
Like other parties, PDI Perjuangan was launched in 1998
following the fall of former president Soeharto. The former
dictator's government backed a breakaway congress that ousted
Megawati from the PDI's top post in 1996, a position she had held
since 1994.
Tarto said PDI Perjuangan would take steps to restore its
waning image.
PDI Perjuangan finished first in the 1999 elections, but lost
the presidential election to Abdurrahman of the National
Awakening Party. Megawati had to be content with the vice
presidency.
PDI Perjuangan has five representatives in Megawati's Cabinet,
which has faced constant criticism for failing to quickly defuse
the long-standing crises. The government has also been accused of
not listening to a public's outcry against steep commodity price
hikes.
During Friday's gathering, several senior journalists outlined
their concern over PDI Perjuangan's weak public relations.
The journalists also expressed concern at the fact that the
ruling party lacked expertise in political, economic and social
matters.
This had contributed to the bad image of the party, they said.
"Journalists are reluctant to quote comments from PDI
Perjuangan members, since they are not intellectual enough," a
journalist, Putut Wijanarko, said.
He said journalist preferred to quote sources from other
parties.
"Concerning the controversial debt settlement program (PKPS),
there is no figure within PDI Perjuangan, who are quoted by the
media because of their support for the government," he said.
"The absence of quotable sources contributes to the party's
poor image, since the party is unable to offer alternative
perspectives to people."
Another journalist said that people's expectations of the
ruling party were high, and this was a difficult matter to deal
with.
"People always demand the government improve their lives, and
the government of the day has failed to do that. Once I asked a
taxi driver, and he said that he preferred to live under the
Soeharto regime since the past regime had assured stability and
prosperity," he said.