Presidential nomination a trap for Megawati: Analyst
Presidential nomination a trap for Megawati: Analyst
SEMARANG (JP): Proposals to nominate Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) chief Megawati Soekarnoputri may actually be part of
a conspiracy to plunge her into a deeper conflict with the
government, an observer said yesterday.
Riswandha Imawan said the proposals may provoke the government
into meddling more in the PDI's internal affairs, to undermine
the smallest of Indonesia's three political organizations.
"The proposals may have been designed by PDI members and
people from other organizations to trap her," said the staff
lecturer in political sciences of the Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta.
The maneuver to enter the eldest daughter of former president
Sukarno in the 1998 presidential race has received a strong push
from three senior PDI politicians, Marwan Adam, SGB Tampubolon
and Aberson Marle Sihaloho this week.
Officials of the rift-ridden party claim that the initiative
comes from PDI members in a personal capacity.
Riswandha said if the PDI activists are serious about
nominating Megawati, they should have kept their intention to
themselves until the right time.
"That way, they would have won greater sympathy for Megawati,"
he said.
Other observers have said that the plan is a courageous
maneuver to set up an election with more than one presidential
candidate in 1998. Over the past three decades, President
Soeharto has ran unchallenged in every election.
Chief of the Yogyakarta chapter of PDI Suharto and that of the
Semarang municipality Suwito came out in support of Riswandha's
opinion.
"The proposed nomination may trap Megawati. I don't know who
had the original idea," Suharto said.
Added Suwito, "Those who openly support her nomination by
signing an open statement are setting a booby trap for her."
Both Suharto and Suwito said that the forms to be filled in by
supporters of her candidacy are not circulating in their areas of
jurisdiction.
The latest major issue to undermine Megawati's two-year-old
leadership is East Java Governor Basofi Soedirman's exclusion of
the PDI from the local electoral committee.
Although Basofi's tactics have met with strong criticism from
PDI officials and the public alike, political observers said the
move could hurt the party's standing in the 1997 election in East
Java, traditionally one of its strongest bases.
The PDI is denied representation on the committee on the
grounds that the leadership of its East Java chapter has not been
settled, with two men, Sutjipto and Latief Pudjosakti, claiming
the position.
Political observer Afan Gaffar of the Gadjah Mada University
said yesterday that both Basofi and Megawati are gambling.
Basofi intentionally lets the conflict drag on in the hope
that it will eventually destroy the PDI, he said. "Basofi is well
aware that in the past election, the PDI polled an enormous vote
in the province."
On the other hand, he argued, Megawati is sticking to her
guns, insisting that her appointment of Sutjipto is legal.
"She won't compromise. She wants to win public sympathy by
showing that the government is oppressing her party. With that
image, she hopes to win sympathy from more of the younger
voters," Afan said.
He suggested that Megawati compromise by electing a new
chapter chairman who is neutral, and able to bridge the gap
between the PDI and the government.
Afan argued that such compromise would not adversely affect
Megawati's credibility as long as she can justify herself to
party supporters.
Rejecting Latief is risky because he has strong supporters in
East Java, and, moreover, he has the backing of the government,
Afan said.
"If Latief is rejected, he still has the potential to persuade
the local masses to boycott the PDI in the forthcoming election,"
he said. (har/pan)