Political observers criticized for PDI stance
Political observers criticized for PDI stance
JAKARTA (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama, lashed out at defenders of the government's hands-off policy on the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
An observer will lose his intellectual credibility if he speaks at the behest of a certain person or party, the leader of the country's largest Moslem organization said on Friday.
"In that case the person becomes a craftsman because he will no longer be able to think objectively," Abdurrahman said.
Three political scientists, Afan Gaffar of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University as well as Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin and Amir Santoso from the University of Indonesia, presented their papers at a discussion in Jakarta last week.
The meeting, which was sponsored by the Indonesian Public Administration Society in cooperation with the State Institute of Public Administration, tried unsuccessfully to find a solution to the prolonged leadership crisis facing the PDI's East Java chapter.
The discussion angered a number of PDI leaders who called it further intervention in the party's internal affairs.
The party's central board leaders accuse the local East Java authorities of interfering with the party's provincial leadership and giving rise to rival PDI leadership there.
At the discussion, however, the participants said that the government was not to blame for the crisis.
"If it is true that the government aims to sabotage the PDI's performance in the upcoming general election, it would have meddled in the party's other provincial branches as well," said Nazaruddin.
Many who attended the discussion were disappointed by the speakers, whom they said just toed the government line and put the sole blame on the PDI, the Antara news agency reported over the weekend.
Abdurrahman said that political observers were once more objective but that their behavior has become so rude lately that they no longer have the ability to see problems impartially.
He also defended his re-election at the Nahdlatul Ulama's 1994 congress in Cipasung, West Java, which Amir Santoso said was rigged.
Abdurrahman said Amir has intervened too much in Nahdlatul Ulama's internal problems without having complete data.
"When a political observer has lost his honesty he has failed as an intellectual and no longer has any credibility whatsoever," Abdurrahman said. (tis)