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.