PDI seminar broken up

PDI seminar broken up

SURABAYA: About 200 Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) activists disrupted a seminar on the upcoming election organized by intra-party rivals.

The incident involved supporters of Latief Pudjosakti and Sutjipto, who each claim to be the legitimate chairman of the party's East Java chapter.

The seminar, attended by students, party activists and labor leaders, was sponsored by Sutjipto, who was appointed chapter chief by PDI executive board chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Latief's uninvited supporters swarmed the venue and took most of the seats reserved for guests. They shouted, "Stop, stop, get down" when Sutjipto climbed onto the podium to open the gathering.

They insisted that Sutjipto had no right to claim he represented the PDI because the government has not recognized either him or Latief.

Sutjipto left the podium after the situation heated up and was rushed by his supporters into a waiting car as security officers moved in to prevent a physical clash.

"We had anticipated such chaos... I can't stop them (Latief's supporters) from coming over. The seminar is postponed until we can prepare it better," he told The Jakarta Post.

The dispersion provoked strong protest from Sutjipto's supporters. They accused the local government, which is known to be sympathetic to Latief, of involvement in the incident. (15/pan)