PPP begins organization consolidation
PPP begins organization consolidation
JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party, still reeling from
a heated congress that threatened to divide the party, has gotten
down to the business of consolidating the organization.
Chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum, who was re-elected to the helm
at the congress last month, reported to President Soeharto
yesterday the moves taken by the party leadership after the
congress.
"We've begun consolidating our organization and we hope to
strengthen this process all the way through until the regional
congress," Ismail Hasan told reporters after he and eight other
members of the new central executive board met with the President
at the Merdeka Palace.
He said the elected board has already formed various
departments and appointed the executives to run the party's day
to day affairs.
Ismail Hasan was re-appointed to the post at the congress
after foiling an attempt by politicians from the Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU) faction to unseat him. Many of the disgruntled NU
politicians have since vowed to take their support somewhere
else, some saying they would cross over to the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI), while others said they plan to push for
the establishment of their own new party.
In the latest development, a number of NU ulemas this week
called for an emergency congress of the party.
The suggestion was flatly turned down yesterday by Ismail
Hasan who pointed out that last month's congress was valid and
complied with all procedures.
PPP is a fusion of four Moslem parties, established in 1973,
but its leadership has been contested by NU, the largest of the
four, and Muslimin Indonesia (MI), which has the support of the
government. Ismail Hasan hails from MI. As a compromise, the
party's secretary general post has always gone to NU figures. The
current secretary general Tosari Widjaya belongs to NU.
Tosari yesterday also spelled out the requirements for an
emergency congress, which now must be at the request of at least
half of all the party's regional boards.
Ismail Hasan yesterday also reported to President Soeharto on
a new forum his party is launching to bring party leaders into
closer and more frequent contact with scholars.
The President's response to this, according to Ismail Hasan,
was that the party should take advantage of the expertise of
these scholars.
Soeharto also fully backed the PPP leadership's move to
consolidate the organization, pointing out that the leaders must
always have the support of party rank and files, Ismail Hasan
said.
The party is also expected to join in the current government
endeavor to eradicate poverty, both material and spiritual, in
the nation, Ismail Hasan said.
"This is a coincidence because PPP has from the beginning
always put the stress more on spiritual rather than material
development," he said. (emb)