PNI parties to merge for 2004 elections

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A daughter of former president Sukarno said on Sunday the political party she led would likely merge with three other parties with similar support bases.

"The PNI (Indonesian National Party) congress in 2000 agreed to merge all of the PNIs with a Marhaen support base into one," Diah Mutiara Sukmawati Soekarno said when opening a leadership training conference here. Marhaen refers to grassroots level supporters loyal to her late father.

The four parties are the Indonesian National Party-Marhaen led by Sukmawati; PNI Front Marhaenis led by businessman Probosutedjo, who is the half-brother of former president Soeharto; the Indonesian National Party led by prominent freedom fighter Supeni; and the Indonesian Nation's National Party.

None of the four "PNI parties" managed to garner the minimum 2 percent of votes in the 1999 general election that would have automatically qualified them to contest the 2004 elections.

"We are fighting to be able to take part in the 2004 elections," Sukmawati, who is the sister of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, was quoted by Antara as saying.

Merging with other PNI parties will increase the party's chance of taking part in the 2004 elections, she said.

"It is our dream to put PNI back in the forefront of Indonesia, as it was in the past. I have been committed to this from the beginning," she said.

Sukmawati said she had discussed the merger with the other PNI parties.

Antara also reported that Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, who heads the Bung Karno University and is Sukmawati's sister, approved of the planned merger.