PPP committed to Moslem constituents

PPP committed to Moslem constituents

JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) is trying to
convince Moslems it is the right party through which to channel
their political interests.

Party chief Ismail Hasan Metareum assured party members in the
Central Kalimantan capital of Palangkaraya yesterday that PPP has
always voiced Moslems' interests in the law-making process.

"PPP legislators make sure that no law passed in the House of
Representatives will hurt Moslem interests," he said in a written
statement read out to a party gathering by deputy secretary
general of the party, Muhammad Abduh Padare.

The PPP is a 1973 fusion of four Moslem parties: Nahdlatul
Ulama, PSSI, Parmusi and Perti. With 62 seats in the House, it
plays second fiddle to the ruling Golkar party.

In next year's general election, the Moslem-oriented party
will compete with Golkar and the other minority party, the
nationalist-Christian alliance Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Ismail Hasan claimed that the PPP had successfully fought to
include Moslems' interests in the making of laws on marriage,
religious courts and national education system.

At present, the party is seeking to block the government-
sponsored bill on juvenile courts that contains rulings
incompatible with Islamic values, he said.

"Only PPP and ABRI reject the bill," Ismail Hasan told the
party activists celebrating the party's 23rd anniversary.

In fighting for prospective Moslem voters, PPP faces stiff
competition from Golkar, which has stronger financial and
bureaucratic support.

Golkar leaders have visited influential Moslem preachers and
Islamic boarding schools in Java in an obvious move to win their
votes next year.

In an apparent reference to Golkar, Ismail Hasan said that a
certain "contestant" has acted like a street hoodlum in its
effort to ensure landslide victory in next year's election.

He said the contestant has lured PPP members with money and
promises, pressuring them to join Golkar.

"They also threatened civil servants with dismissal if they
have the audacity to vote for other political parties," he said
in reference to the government's directive which makes it
mandatory for civil servants to vote for Golkar.

Last month, more than 2,000 PPP activists in Sukabumi, West
Java, quit the party and joined Golkar. PPP leaders have publicly
alleged that Golkar was behind the move.

The same thing also happened in the East Java regency of
Bondowoso, where several hundred PPP activists switched to Golkar
on April 4.

If this trend continues, he said, an honest and democratic
election in 1997 will remain an illusion, he said.

"President Soeharto's hope to make the forthcoming election a
joyful time, not a time of dread, will not become a reality," he
was quoted by Antara as saying.

In Surabaya, chief of the East Java chapter of Golkar Asril
Harun reacted cautiously to the news of mass desertion of PPP
members to Golkar.

Asril said it was possible that the PPP activists' mission was
to infiltrate Golkar and undermine it from within.

"In the run-up to the 1992 election, hundreds of PPP members
were reported to have joined Golkar but when election day came,
they publicly changed their mind again," he said. (pan)