PPP chairman turns tough as 1997 polls near

PPP chairman turns tough as 1997 polls near

By Santi WE Soekanto

JAKARTA (JP): "I want to create a calm, peaceful and serene
situation within the United Development Party," Ismail Hasan
Metareum said in 1989, when he was first elected chairman of this
Moslem-based party.

He repeated the pledge when he was re-elected in 1994,
pointing out time and again that a leadership doesn't have to be
marked with noisy rhetorics in order to be effective.

Even when criticism came hard and fast against his leadership
style at the time, including when the party decided to dismiss
outspoken legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas from the House of
Representatives early last year, he maintained his composure.

However, a close observation in the past year would show that
something is changing within the party and Ismail Hasan's
leadership. The party has taken a tougher stance when it brushes
with the power holders, and Ismail Hasan has been showing a
tougher side as well.

During the course of the past year, Ismail Hasan has, for
instance, spoken harshly against practices of corruption and
collusion by government officials and their offsprings.

In a November leadership meeting of the party in Bogor, the
party also issued a strong-worded political statement. It lashed
out at a number of social and political ills and went so far as
to threaten to sue the government should violations still occur
in the 1997 general election.

Due to this change, Ismail Hasan has had some clashes with a
number of people, including Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie
S.M. It was reported in September that Yogie dismissed Ismail
Hasan's accusations of unfair practices in some past general
elections and called the bespectacled Acehnese man "sick".

Ismail Hasan managed to convey his anger over Yogie's remarks,
but in a way which was calm. He almost didn't say anything, but
the other party executives demanded that Yogie apologize. The
minister was reported to have expressed his regret over the
remarks.

On another occasion, Ismail Hasan came close to colliding with
the family of the late Ali Moertopo, a former minister of
information and an influential man in politics during the New
Order administration's early years.

In an interview with Tiras weekly in September, Ismail Hasan
accused the ruling Golkar and Ali Moertopo of snatching the
Pelita daily from PPP. This time, Ismail Hasan expressed his
regret and the conflict died down.

In his previous term, Ismail Hasan was known to be a man
almost always in control of himself; few ever witnessed his rage
or emotional outburst.

But, last Friday, when the party celebrated its 23rd
anniversary, Ismail surprised many people with a sharp-worded
political speech. During his speech he branded all past general
elections as practices which were not clean, honest or fair.

He did not point the finger at Golkar, but it was understood
that he was speaking about Golkar when he blasted a "certain
political contestant" for influencing the elections by placing
its cadres in election committees at even the lowest level.

"We are now concerned not only because our politics are not
healthy, but also because they are dehumanized," Ismail Hasan
said. "Our politics no longer have moral values or a conscience.
People have no remorse in lying, negating reality, being self-
righteous and claiming lies to be the truth."

In the last general election, in 1992, Ismail Hasan was
branded ineffective because he was only able to increase the
party's vote by 1 percent. Consequently, the PPP got only one
additional seat in the House of Representatives, up from the
previous 61 seats, which was a far cry from his 1987 vow that he
would increase PPP's portion in the parliament to 100 seats.

In 1992, PPP obtained 17 percent of the votes, coming a far
second behind the ruling functional group Golkar, which won 68
percent. The third party, the nationalist Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) took 15 percent of the votes. In the elections in
1987, PPP reaped 16 percent of the votes, Golkar 73 percent and
PDI 11 percent.

Lecturer at Airlangga University's School of Social and
Political Sciences, Aribowo, has said: "Ismail Hasan is changing
the party's course in order to attract more votes for the 1997
general election."