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)