Pressure on PDI up over communist links
Pressure on PDI up over communist links
JAKARTA (JP: The government intensified its pressure on the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) yesterday with Home Affairs Minister Yogie S.M. supporting an allegation that 300 party members have past communist links.
Yogie said the claim made by a disgruntled PDI member last week seems to have credibility because the Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief, Gen. Feisal Tanjung, believes it.
"The ABRI chief must have solid evidence to support his belief and I share his view," Yogie told journalists in Bandung, West Java.
The "supervisor" of domestic political affairs made the remarks only a day after Feisal announced that Bakorstanas, the national security agency he chairs, would investigate the allegation made by PDI rebel Jusuf Merukh.
Yogie said the government will submit the results of the investigation to PDI chief Megawati Soekarnoputri. "It will be up to her what action she takes against them," he added.
PDI officials are curious as to why so many of its members are suspected of having past communist links despite the requirement of everyone being tightly screened by ABRI before being able to assume a party post.
They say the allegation was made by those who do not want to see the party grow strong under Megawati.
In a related development, chief of the Diponegoro military command Maj. Gen. Soeyono who oversees security in Central Java, said yesterday that he takes the allegations of there being PDI leaders in the province with communist links seriously.
Soeyono, who also heads the local security agency (Bakorstanasda), added he would look into the matter and take action against those proven to have past links with communists.
"We will not hesitate to crush anyone who has communist links, no matter who they are and what position they hold. All communists will have to face us (armed forces)," he said.
Anniversary
The Central Java government is busy arranging security for the anniversary celebration of the conflict-ridden PDI scheduled for Jan. 10 in Surakarta.
Governor Soewardi and Soeyono convened a special meeting yesterday to discuss security measures to be taken for the celebration.
"We want to ensure that those involved in the internal bickering will not vent their anger and disrupt the revelry," Soewardi told reporters yesterday.
The presence of PDI chief Megawati at the celebration is expected to provoke violent reactions from her political foes, he added.
The minority party, a nationalist-Christian alliance, will celebrate its 22nd anniversary just when its notorious long- standing internal conflict is worsening.
In the latest development, several disgruntled party leaders established a rival board of executives after Megawati fired two senior party rebels.
Opposing camps have often come close to physical clashes when demonstrating at party headquarters in Jakarta. In one of the worst incidents, physical clashes occurred during a congress in Medan, North Sumatra, in 1993.
Governor Soewardi said the authorities have anticipated all possible incidents that could happen at the celebration which will bring together thousands of party members and supporters from across the country.
Maj. Gen. Soeyono said he was not sure why Megawati chose Surakarta as the venue of the party's anniversary.
"Possibly because she believes that the peaceful atmosphere the city is known for will help disperse the hostility of the activists," he said.(pan/har/pet)