Seasonal greeting plunges Bintang into fresh trouble

JAKARTA (JP): Dissident politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, facing a 34-month prison sentence for insulting President Soeharto, is heading for further trouble on account of his Idul Fitri greeting cards which contained antigovernment messages.

Several senior House of Representatives legislators, who received the cards last month, described the messages as unconstitutional and urged the authorities to take action.

But Bintang argues that what he did was simply exercise his basic right as a common citizen to voice his ideas.

Bintang founded the Indonesian Union Democratic Party (PUDI) several months after he was dismissed from his legislative post by the Moslem-oriented United Development Party (PPP).

The controversial cards contained PUDI's three-point agenda: to boycott the 1997 election, reject President Soeharto's reelection and prepare a new order for post-Soeharto 1998.

Bintang also quoted an article from the Koran, that God will not change a people's fate if they did not want to change.

He said he sent the cards to numerous people, including Vice President Try Sutrisno, the Armed Forces headquarters, the attorney general and all cabinet ministers.

"I think what Bintang did was an attack on the government and I call on the authorities to question Sri Bintang," said Moestahid Astari, chairman of the government-backed Golkar faction in the House.

"I'm afraid that if the authorities close their eyes (to what Bintang did), further anarchic acts would ensue."

Moestahid said Bintang's leaflets were provocative and insinuative, violated the law on printed matter and could threaten national security.

Maj. Gen. Suparman Achmad, leader of the Armed Forces House faction, said Bintang's behavior was not what an Indonesian citizen should do to the nation and its leaders.

Suparman said quoting the Koran for political purposes was not appropriate.

"It's up to the authorities and the General Election Institute to take the necessary measures to safeguard the nation's interests," Antara quoted him as saying.

Criticism also came from the PPP, which kicked him out of the House for allegedly insulting government officials during meetings and stepping out of the party line.

PPP legislator Zein Badjeber said Bintang had acted unconstitutionally. For example, he said, the electoral system has been approved by the highest law-making body, the People's Consultative Assembly.

Bintang said he saw nothing wrong with exercising his constitutional right to express his opinions.

"For me, it's strange that the legislators criticized me instead of accommodating the people's aspirations," he told The Jakarta Post. "I'm not sure if they really know what they are supposed to do."

He pointed out that supporters of the ousted Indonesian Democratic Party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri also circulated leaflets to publicize their political views.

Megawati was toppled at a government-backed congress in Medan last year. (pan)