PPP swallows pride and enters Sampang council

SURABAYA (JP): United Development Party (PPP) members took up their seats yesterday in the Sampang council on Madura island, East Java.

The swearing-in of the 14 PPP representatives by Sampang District Court chief Maswar Darmosoewito ended speculation on whether the branch would carry out its threat to refuse to recognize the general election's results.

Forty-five councilors were sworn in there yesterday. Golkar has 22 representatives in the council, the Armed Forces has nine while the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) is unrepresented.

The country's 305 regencies have been given a week from yesterday to induct council members.

Councilors in the Ujungpandang mayoralty in South Sulawesi and the Medan mayoralty in North Sumatra joined their Sampang counterparts as the first batch to begin their terms.

Members of the 27 provincial legislative councils are expected to be installed next week, and the 500 House of Representatives legislators are scheduled to begin their tenure on Oct. 1.

The induction ceremony in Sampang proceeded under the watchful eye of troops posted across the regency, which was rocked by rioting by dissatisfied locals on May 29, election day.

The PPP's branches in Sampang, Pamekasan and Magetan, all in East Java, had refused to endorse election results to protest their local administrations' failure to investigate vote-rigging allegations.

The government held a revote at 65 polling stations in Sampang although the party had demanded a repeat of voting at 1,033 polling stations.

PPP Sampang branch chief Hasib Siradj said his office had accepted the induction of its members to the council after consulting the influential ulema Alawy Muhammad and 69 other ulemas.

"They (the ulemas) suggested that we enter the legislative body because we could use it to channel our supporters' aspirations," Hasib said.

He said his office insisted on rejecting the election results despite its participation in the legislative body.

"We will continue with our demands for legal settlements on all electoral violations," he said. "Had the polls run fairly we would have won 24 seats."

In the previous election, the PPP won most seats for the predominantly Moslem island of Madura.

In a letter sent to the Sampang regent two days ago, the PPP branch asked for the release of 24 of its supporters charged with inciting the May 29 riots.

PPP East Java chapter chairman Syumli Sadli hailed the Sampang branch's decision.

"For the sake of national interests, they must fill the council's seats. We have fought it out to make the government heed the vote-rigging allegations," he said.

In Ujungpandang, the threat of a demonstration against the lone PDI representative forced security forces to guard tightly the induction ceremony yesterday of the mayoralty's councilors.

PDI activists from nine districts loyal to the government- backed party chairman Soerjadi had planned to rally at the city council to protest the induction of local PDI chief John Kadiaman as a councilor.

"He's not the right figure, because he is being charged with criminal conduct and doesn't have a party membership card," said Paulus Duerego who represented protesters.

Kadiaman shrugged off the protest, saying that he was ready to defend the interests of party supporters.

Forty-five councilors were installed at the Medan mayoralty yesterday. More than half of them were new faces.

The May 29 election put 24 Golkar representatives in the Medan council, while the PPP won eight seats and the PDI four. Nine other seats are reserved for the Armed Forces, whose members do not vote.

Mayor Bachtiar Djaffar called on the newly inducted councilors to prove they would not just rubber stamp government policies.

"I prefer seeing outspoken councilors to those who just come, sit, listen, keep silent and take their money," Bachtiar said, referring to a widely known saying for Indonesian legislators. (21/31/nur/amd)