PSMTI won't adhere to political party

PSMTI won't adhere to political party

BATAM, Riau: The Chinese-Indonesian community's Paguyuban Sosial Marga Tionghoa Seluruh Indonesia (PSMTI) will not allign with any one political party, the organization chairman said on Thursday.

Brig. Gen. (ret) Tedy Yusuf, the outgoing chairman of PSMTI said on the second day of the organization's congress that political aspirations had nothing to do with ethnicity. "Until now Chinese-Indonesian people have had no particular political party," he said.

Tedy, former member of the House of Representatives (DPR) said Chinese-Indonesian were still discriminated against. He cited the uncommon treatment when applying for ID cards and passports.

"More and more dialogs with the government are expected to minimize the discrimination. PSMTI has many times held dialogs with the government, but the results have been far from satisfying."

"The 10 million Chinese-Indonesian here are hoping that they get their civil rights. Thus the current congress is one of the ways for them to struggle for their rights," said Tedy.

The congress will conclude on Friday with the election of a new executive board. (26/sur)