PPP hit by internal rift over election schedule

PPP hit by internal rift over election schedule

Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United Development Party (PPP) announced on Sunday that it
would assign Husni Thamrin, one of the party's central board
members, to attend a meeting being held by renegade members of
the party's branch offices in Yogyakarta on Monday.

"As Husni Thamrin is the only executive invited to the
meeting, we will let him go. He is expected to gather inputs from
the meeting for us," PPP's central board chairman Zein Badjeber
said after a hasty meeting at PPP headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro,
Central Jakarta.

Sunday's meeting at PPP headquarters was attended by 16 of the
27 executives on the central board. PPP chairman Hamzah Haz, who
is also the Vice President, failed to show up.

Zein denied speculation that Husni had been assigned to meet
with the renegade members, saying that such talks were not on the
agenda.

"This is not an ishlah (reconciliation) meeting. It is just a
regular PPP chapters' meeting," Zein told The Jakarta Post.

A renegade faction in PPP, which is not satisfied with the way
the party is being led, threatened in the Central Java city of
Surakarta last week to establish a splinter party called "PPP
reformasi".

The faction, which claimed to be supported by 13 PPP chapters
throughout the country, demanded that the PPP central board
revoke its decision to hold the chairmanship election after the
2004 general election.

The central board should accelerate the chairmanship election
to 2002 to provide young cadres in the party with a greater
chance of replacing the older, existing executives, according to
the faction.

They feared that, if the election was conducted after the 2004
general election, older officials would exploit the situation to
hold on to their posts.

They warned that if the central board failed to respond to
their invitation to attend the chapters' meeting in Yogyakarta on
Monday, they would go ahead with their threat.

They have even produced a party symbol and flag that resemble
the PPP's. Its spokesman, Zainal Mu'arif, said that PPP Reformasi
would be led by Zainuddin M.Z., a PPP executive of the NU
faction.

An analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI),
Indria Samego, said that the threat should not be taken too
seriously.

"It's just being conducted by a small faction in the party
that is not satisfied with the party's policy," Indria said,
adding it was a genuine movement in the party that was demanding
changes in the party's organization.

Dja'far Badjeber, chairman of the PPP's Jakarta chapter, who
supports the defiant faction in the PPP, said that besides
violating the party's agreement, the chairmanship election
schedule was also likely to stifle regeneration in the PPP.

"The decision to hold the chairmanship election in 2004
violates the agreement that had been reached at last years's
meeting... Besides, there would be no regeneration in the party
if the congress were convened in 2004," Dja'far said.

Dja'far said the demand to replace old figures in the party
had to be met since there would be tighter competition among
political parties in the future.

"The party needs the power of the young cadres and to renew
its management to compete in the future political constellation,"
Dja'far said.