PRD responds coolly to lifting of ban on the party

JAKARTA (JP): Leaders of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) were unmoved yesterday by a court ruling ordering the government to lift a ban on the party, dismissing it as another populist ploy by President B.J. Habibie's government.

In a statement signed by jailed party chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko and secretary-general Petrus Kariyanto, the party said the decision "has not given sufficient evidence that the Habibie regime is practicing political reforms toward democratization.

"The revocation in fact looks like a bribe to present a guise of democracy rather than an honest attempt to conduct political reforms," said the statement, read by PRD committee member Ida Nasim at a news conference here yesterday.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court on Monday ordered the annulment of a 1997 ministerial decree banning the PRD for failing to name state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution as their political guidelines.

Officials of the National Police, the Attorney General's Office, the State Intelligence Coordinating Body, the Armed Forces headquarters and the Ministry of Home Affairs had contended at the time of the banning that the party's activities disturbed national stability and order.

Nine PRD leaders were sentenced last year to between 18 months and 13 years in prison for subversion, with chairman Budiman receiving the longest term.

"This is still a superficial victory," Ida replied when asked to comment on the latest development.

The decision, she said, failed to address the overall problem of political democracy in the country.

She maintained that as long as the Armed Forces (ABRI) continued to wield a presence in the political sphere, democracy could never be achieved.

Wilson, who heads the party's affiliated Center for Indonesian Labor Strife, said the party would not register itself at the Ministry of Home Affairs since it did not "recognize the legal requirements set by the current regime".

Meanwhile in Bekasi, West Java, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid said he would abide by the court decision.

He admitted some weaknesses might have been contained in the initial ministerial decree declaring the party illegal.

Syarwan in 1996 was one of those who was quick to condemn PRD, claiming that it was structurally equivalent to the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party.

Syarwan, who was then the Armed Forces chief of sociopolitical affairs, also contended that Budiman was from a leftist family and involved in communist-related activities aimed at undermining the government. (byg)