PDI's threat

The threat made by Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) cadre to boycott the 1997 general elections has become a topic of public discussion. The question is what led them to make the threat. Within the party itself, differences of opinions exist, with certain members being for it and others against.

It seems the threat is a reaction to the discord in the party's central board and in a number of provinces, which has remained unresolved. There is the assumption that the friction in the PDI is the result of intervention by external parties in the party's affairs.

It is prudent for the Minister of Home Affairs, as the President's assistant and political supervisor, to take heed of the PDI's threat of not participating in the 1997 election. It is the burden and the responsibility of the political supervisor to clear up the charges of outside intervention in PDI's affairs.

-- Sinar Pagi, Jakarta