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."