PPP opens fourth congress, cadres begin campaigning
JAKARTA (JP): Backed by tens of thousands of cadres and supporters who subsequently began election campaigning, the United Development Party (PPP) opened its fourth congress here on Sunday.
Traffic disruption was so bad that even President B.J. Habibie got stuck in the congestion.
Some 100,000 party loyalists from Jakarta and surrounding towns packed the Senayan soccer stadium in Central Jakarta to attend the congress' opening ceremony.
The official start of the campaign for the general election due in June has not been announced and is probably months away. But after the ceremony the PPP supporters, together with many loyalists who had chosen not to enter the stadium, went on a tour of the capital.
The streets became so clogged with traffic that Habibie's motorcade got snarled in the traffic as the President was on his way to the wedding reception of the daughter of Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung at the Widya Chandra ministerial housing complex in South Jakarta.
Wearing green headbands sporting the PPP's new symbol, the Kaaba, supporters paraded on buses, trucks, minivans and motorbikes along Jl. Jen. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta and Jl. Gatot Subroto and Jl. HR Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta. Crowds were also seen around the party headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro and at the congress site, the Pondok Gede haj dormitory in East Jakarta.
Former president Soeharto opened the party's previous congresses but on Sunday PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum took over the honors. He said the President was invited but declined to attend, speculating Habibie had other matters to attend to.
Addressing the sea of participants, Ismail called on the government to comply with the deadline for next year's general election, now slated for June. "Any deviation in the election deadline promise is an indication of a return to authoritative government," he said.
He cited Habibie's two predecessors -- founding president Sukarno and the "father of development", Soeharto -- who broke their own promises on general election deadlines.
"Through a 1959 presidential decree, the president promised to hold a general election in 1962.
"However, he never kept his promise until the 1967 Special Session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS), ousted him from the presidency."
Ismail added that Soeharto, shortly after being installed as president, promised to hold a general election in 1968 but delayed the poll until 1971.
In response to widespread demands for the establishment of a credible and legitimate government, the government originally said that elections would be held next May.
However, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid said late last month that the general election would be held at the earliest next June.
Those present at the Senayan ceremony included the secretary- general of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Feisal Tamin.
The four-day congress is being attended by some 1,000 representatives and participants from PPP's 27 provincial chapters and 330 district branches.
Ismail also reminded people of Habibie's pledge that the current government would last only until the end of next year. "We hope for his (Habibie's) sincerity and willingness to end his term by the end of 1999," he said.
He reiterated widespread demands for fair and democratically organized elections. "Should the one-year-long Habibie administration prove able to organize a democratic general election, the achievement will be widely recognized and it will be respected by the people as being better than the two previous manipulative and authoritarian governments," he said, referring to both the Sukarno and Soeharto regimes.
The party has made a public apology for its failure to stand up to Soeharto.
Ismail called on the nation to shun violence and pressured the authorities to immediately end the social, economical and political crisis as soon as possible.
Given the impossibility of facilitating an economic, political and social recovery within a short period, he said: "Violence will only create more problems and new threats of disintegration."
He also disagreed with the idea of a transitional government being led by a presidium of public figures, arguing that it was unconstitutional and could be classified as an attempted coup. This controversial aspiration has been voiced by many student and activist groups.
After the opening ceremony, the plenary session led by Zein Badjeber, the head of the party's executive board, drew up the congress rules and schedule after a heated discussion. Many attendees praised the protracted process for its democratic atmosphere. (imn)