PDI won't bow to govt pressure

PDI won't bow to govt pressure

SURABAYA: The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) vowed
yesterday it will not succumb to the East Java government's
suggestion to dissolve the executive board of its local chapter
and elect a new leader.

Chief of the East Java PDI chapter Sutjipto said that the
party's leadership crisis was solved when Megawati Soekarnoputri,
the chairperson of the PDI central executive board, appointed him
last year.

He said the party can resolve its problems better if the East
Java provincial government does not meddle, Antara reported.

Sutjipto was responding to a suggestion by Suryadi Setiawan,
chief of the local government's sociopolitical affairs
department. He asked for the local PDI executive board to be
dissolved so the party can elect new executives.

The government does not recognize Sutjipto. PDI officials
charge that the government wants to see Sutjipto's archrival
Latief Pudjosakti on the helm. (pan)