President to open first PWI-R meet

SEMARANG (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid is slated to open the first congress of PWI Reformasi, a splinter group of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), in Bandungan, Semarang, Central Java on Wednesday, organizers said.

PWI Reformasi is to accommodate demands for reform within the country's press industry as well as those of its workers, said the congress' organizing chief, Kastoyo Ramelan.

Kastoyo said on Sunday that speakers in the congress would include Eros Djarot of the weekly tabloid Detak, businessman Setiawan Djody and poet W.S. Rendra.

The three-day congress is also slated to form the organization's statute and executive board.

According to Kastoyo, among the candidates for the chairmanship were August Parengkuan of Kompas, Fikri Jufri of Tempo magazine, Parni Hadi of the Antara news agency and Saur Hutabarat of Media Indonesia.

"This congress is a reaction against the current PWI which lacks democratic vision and is always totalitarian. We want to renew the spirit of democracy and independence as well as to empower fellow journalists with better welfare, morality, dignity and responsibility," Kastoyo said. (har/edt)