PPP chapter leadership taken over

PPP chapter leadership taken over

JAKARTA (JP): The outgoing leadership of the Jakarta chapter
of the United Development Party (PPP) has announced that it will
continue to lead the party chapter until the Central Board
decides on a new executive for the region.

The announcement, which is signed by the chapter chairman, H.
M. Djoefri, was made available to the press over the weekend.

It followed the failure of the recent provincial congress to
elect a new board for the Jakarta PPP for the 1995-2000 term and
the decision by the party's chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum and
Secretary General Tosari Wijaya to assume responsibility for
appointing Djoefri's successor in the chapter.

The announcement said that the election of Arifin Arbain as
new chapter chairman, by three out of five members of the
electoral committee, was illegal because it was done after the
congress had been closed at midnight on Jan. 6.

Ismail has said that the new board for Jakarta will be chosen
after he returns from Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 18. He will be in the
Malaysian capital from Feb. 15 at the invitation of Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Djoefri said that the central board was certain to appoint
Rusjdi Hamka, one of the candidates.

However, Arifin and his colleagues have protested against the
central board's measures, saying that "it is a theft of our
authority."

"The central board's step is an arbitrary action: it has no
right whatever to take over the authority from us," Arifin said
recently.

He added that he would continue with his program whether the
central board recognized him or not. (tis)