Soerjadi ignores street protests against him

Soerjadi ignores street protests against him

JAKARTA (JP): The government-recognized chief of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Soerjadi, downplayed the
mounting street demonstrations against him yesterday.

Soerjadi, who is also a deputy House Speaker, said the waves
of hostile rallies would not affect his efforts to consolidate
his leadership or the party's performance in next year's general
election.

"Their action doesn't mean anything to us because they don't
have the power to change anything," he said.

In a massive demonstration against his leadership Thursday,
scores of PDI activists loyal to his rival, Megawati
Soekarnoputri, locked the gates of his official residence, the
building he is using as the new party headquarters.

Earlier in the morning, the Megawati supporters demonstrated
at the House of Representatives, demanding Soerjadi resign from
his post as the deputy House speaker from the PDI faction.

They also demanded that Soerjadi be arraigned for his alleged
role in the takeover of the PDI office from Megawati's supporters
on July 27. The raid sparked riots that left at least five people
dead and five missing.

More than 100 Megawati supporters were detained for "resisting
police orders" during the takeover, in which Soerjadi's activists
were assisted by the government, according to the National
Commission on Human Rights.

"Sealing my house does not mean that they can stop our
consolidation program," Soerjadi said.

Soerjadi ousted Megawati in a government-backed congress in
Medan, North Sumatra, in June. She claims she is still the
party's legitimate party leader.

He said he did not believe Megawati, who retains popularity
among the masses, would have any capability to disrupt the 1997
general election.

"I have experienced a lot of obstacles and challenges during
my leadership. We were surrounded by problems during the 1992
general election, yet we managed to increase our number of seats
in the House," he said.

Soerjadi was PDI chairman from 1988 to 1993 until he lost the
post to Megawati.

City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said yesterday that
only the police have the authority to seal a house for legal
reasons.

He said however that Megawati supporters' act of locking
Soerjadi's entrance gate was not criminal.

Meanwhile, rejection of Soerjadi in the provinces remained
strong. Yesterday, demonstrations against him broke out in
Surabaya and Malang, East Java.

In Malang, East Java PDI chairman Dimmy Haryanto, a Soerjadi
supporter, was forced to cancel a leadership meeting after
realizing that scores of Megawati loyalists were out to disperse
it.

The protesters combed hotels in the city in an unsuccessful
bid to find Dimmy.

In Surabaya, the protesters locked Dimmy's office and threw
the key to the office of the provincial sociopolitical affairs
department at an official in a show of dismay at the government's
stand in the PDI rift.

The chief of the local military command, Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo,
said the authorities would not step in as long as the
demonstrators did not resort to criminal acts.

"The police will move to arrest them if they turn criminal,"
he said.

Separately, Dimmy said he was worried that the demonstrations
would affect the PDI's showing in next year's general election.
(imn/25/pan).