'PUDI not responsible for unrest'

'PUDI not responsible for unrest'

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI)
denied yesterday charges made by Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal
Tanjung last week that it was behind recent unrest.

PUDI chairman Sri Bintang Pamungkas said his organization
shunned violence although it adopted a "non-cooperative" policy
toward "people who refuse political reform".

"Besides, issues related to socioeconomic disparity and
injustices had often been raised by people and community leaders
long before PUDI came into existence," he said in a statement.

Feisal told journalists in Bandung last week that PUDI, the
unrecognized Democratic People's Party and Indonesian People's
Council doubted the sanctity of the state ideology Pancasila.

The organizations, according to Feisal, distorted historical
facts about the 1965 abortive coup and exaggerated discrepancies
in government development programs and socioeconomic disparity.

Bintang, 51, was convicted last year of defaming President
Soeharto in speeches he gave during a visit to Germany in 1995.
The Jakarta High Court rejected his appeal and upheld the 34-
month sentence handed out by the district court. He has filed an
appeal with the Supreme Court.

Bintang said the latest incidents of mob violence in the
provinces were triggered by government policies which he said did
not favor the masses.

As for Feisal's charges that the three above "parties"
insisted on seeking the abolition of the five political laws,
Bintang said the accusation was not true either.

Bintang said PUDI was not interested in proposing the axing of
the laws because it did not believe the relevant institutions
would accommodate his wishes. (01)