PPP told to accelerate its national congress

PPP told to accelerate its national congress

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Members of the United Development Party (PPP) from half of the
party's provincial branches across the country reiterated their
demand on Tuesday that the party's central executive board bring
forward the timing of its national congress (Muktamar) to precede
the 2004 general election.

Through the "Declaration of Yogyakarta" signed by 30 party
members at a one-day meeting in Yogyakarta on Monday, they also
urged the central executive board to hold a national meeting
(Mukernas) to legalize the decision to speed up the party's
national congress.

"The central executive board has no choice but to agree with
the acceleration of the national congress, otherwise the party
will suffer significant losses as some party branches plan to set
up a new party called 'PPP Reformasi'," the spokesperson for the
meeting, Ahmad Subagyo of the Yogyakarta branch, told a press
conference on Tuesday.

The press conference was also attended by the head of the PPP
Yogyakarta branch Fauzi A.R. and his secretaries Muslih Ilyas and
Herman Abdurrahman.

Subagyo said that the national meeting must be held in January
next year.

The one-day meeting, labeled an Islah (reconciliation), was
held at the Ambarukmo Hotel on Monday with the aim of resolving
an internal conflict between executives who are demanding an
acceleration of the timing of the party's national congress to
2002 or 2003 and others who want to maintain the extension of the
current leadership under Hamzah Haz until after the 2004 general
election.

The Jakarta, Central Java, Southeast Sulawesi and Irian Jaya
branches of the party are among those most staunchly opposed to
the extension of Hamzah's leadership.

The decision to extend Hamzah's leadership was taken during
the party's national meeting early this year, annulling
the party's earlier decision recommending the acceleration of the
party's national congress. Hamzah was elected PPP chairman at the
party's 4th national congress in 1998. His five-year-term should
end in 2003.

Subagyo said that all of the party's central executive
board members, including Hamzah, were invited to the meeting but
only Husni Thamrin attended.

Fauzi said Hamzah's election as Vice President was another
factor that had sparked the demand to accelerate the national
congress, as it was feared Hamzah could no longer concentrate on
party affairs.

He said that the Declaration of Yogyakarta also recommended an
enactment of an internal regulation on members of the executive
board who held high-ranking positions in government, such as
presidential and vice presidential posts as well as ministerial
posts.