Police to issue permit for PDI congress

Police to issue permit for PDI congress

JAKARTA (JP): National Police chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi said
yesterday he would soon issue a permit for the government-backed
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction led by Soerjadi to hold
a congress, in Palu, Central Sulawesi, later this month.

Roesmanhadi said the decision to grant the permit was merely a
of the government's official recognition of Soerjadi's
leadership.

"There is no problem. The police will issue the permit,"
Roesmanhadi said after attending a ceremony at the State Palace
where President B.J. Habibie conferred some of the country's
highest honors on 38 public figures.

In a meeting with Soerjadi and 11 colleagues Thursday, Habibie
promised to fly to Palu to open the five-day congress on Aug. 25.

Habibie also assured Soerjadi that his government only
recognized him as the legitimate PDI leader despite mounting
public pressure on him not to imitate his predecessor Soeharto's
stance on the political party's leadership friction.

"Habibie has hurt the people's feelings," Soerjadi's rival,
Megawati Soekarnoputri, commented about the decision.

Soerjadi ousted Megawati, the eldest daughter of the country's
founding father Sukarno, from the PDI chairmanship in a
government-engineered congress in June 1996. Megawati claims that
her five-year term does not end until December.

Only one month after toppling her, Soerjadi's supporters
stormed the party headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta
in a bloody incident.

After replacing Soeharto in May, Habibie's government has
shown a more sympathetic attitude toward Megawati. The government
did not try to stop a leadership meeting Megawati organized in
Depok last week.

Megawati, however, has repeatedly turned down Habibie's
invitation for a meeting.

Megawati's supporters have sworn not to allow Soerjadi to hold
his congress and have threatened to use all possible measures to
halt the plan.

Megawati's camp is scheduled to hold its own congress in
Yogyakarta or Bali in October.

Megawati's supporters from the Jakarta PDI branch went to the
National Police headquarters yesterday to demand the police ban
Soerjadi from holding the congress.

Jacob Nuwa Wea said the planned congress had no legal grounds
because the congress in Medan had not been legal either. The
Supreme Court has yet to issue a verdict on Megawati's suit
against the Medan congress.

The group met with Deputy National Police chief for
Iintelligence Affairs Brig. Gen. Atok Sunarto, who then promised
to give the ban request further consideration. This meeting took
place at 10.45 a.m., 45 minutes after Roesmanhadi made his
announcement.

"Up until now the government still recognizes PDI under
Sooerjadi as the legal party. So we have to stick with that. But
of course we would inform the National Police chief about this
request," Atok said.

Jacob said: "If (Soerjadi's camp) inists on running the
congress, we will try to stop them peacefully." (prb/edt)