Soerjadi -- the come back kid of Indonesian politics

JAKARTA (JP): If anyone in Indonesian politics deserves the "Come Back Kid" title, Soerjadi probably fits the bill, especially if a congress of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) organized by a breakaway group which opens today in Medan goes ahead with reappointing him to lead the party.

Soerjadi was not only kicked out in 1993 after seven years at the helm, a period which saw the party gaining in strength and popularity. He was disgraced by many of his own supporters and allies, some of whom owed their positions to him.

But he never completely left the political scene after losing the chairmanship in a fierce power struggle in 1993 that saw the party holding three congresses to decide on its leaders.

With the leadership eventually falling into the hands of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the daughter of former president Sukarno whom he personally recruited to help with the PDI election campaigns in 1987, Soerjadi has kept largely in the background. He has continued to hold the seat as deputy speaker in the House of Representatives, a prestigious position but one with little political power or influence.

Now Soerjadi looks set to return and take over from Megawati. The government and the Armed Forces have given him the green light.

The irony here, as many who have followed PDI's power struggle may recall, is that it was the Armed Forces and the government who engineered his removal in 1993, when they made it very clear that they did not want him around any longer.

When Fatimah Achmad, Megawati's deputy, led 15 other members of the Central Executive Board in forming a breakaway group two weeks ago, Soerjadi came out in support of the move, but denied any ambition to lead the party once again.

He has since reversed his stance, especially with many of those opposing Megawati's leadership urging him to take over.

Yet, despite his strong credentials as a party leader for seven successful years, there has always been one thing that Soerjadi seems to lacks: grassroot supporters.

Soerjadi was never elected to the top PDI post.

He came to the helm in 1986 by government appointment after the party's congress failed to elect new leaders. In 1993, the first congress held in Medan elected him to the post, but the result was annulled and declared unconstitutional.

Born in Ponorogo, East Java, on April 13, 1939, Soerjadi comes from a family that supported the Indonesian Nationalist Party founded by Sukarno. The Nationalist Party was fused in 1973 with four Christian and nationalist parties and became the PDI. Soerjadi is married to the daughter of Hadisoebeno, a leading Nationalist Party figure.

Many analysts believe that it was his very success in leading PDI between 1986 and 1993 that led to his downfall.

He was known to be ruthless, with some describing his leadership as "authoritarian". During his term, he sacked many PDI old guards and his critics within the party. This at least sowed the seeds of discontent which grew over time.

He combined his attempt to rejuvenate the party with reviving the old sentiments among Sukarno supporters by recruiting Megawati and her brother Guruh Soekarnoputra to the party.

Soerjadi managed to bolster PDI's standings in two successive elections, from 24 seats in the House of Representatives, to 40 seats in the 1987 elections, and to 56 seats in 1992.

He achieved this while the party continued to be beset by fierce infighting between various factions, powerful individuals and between the old and new guards.

His downfall, however, had more to do with external rather than internal forces.

After 1993, many of his original supporters in the government -- including Sudharmono and L.B. Moerdani -- were either no longer serving in the cabinet, or simply pulled the rug from under him.

He certainly earned President Soeharto's wrath for suggesting in a 1992 election campaign that PDI seek to restrict the number of terms a president could serve to a maximum of two.

If this wasn't enough, he earned the wrath of many of his supporters when he led the party to nominate Soeharto for a fifth term in office in 1993. Many people felt betrayed because they insisted that his call for a term limit meant that PDI was not going to nominate the incumbent president.

Another major "sin" he committed was when he pushed the party to nominate Soeharto and then Armed Forces Chief Gen. Try Sutrisno as president and vice president respectively in one package, breaking with the tradition in which the elected president is consulted about the candidate vice president.

So when he had to put his leadership to the test in a congress in August 1993, he had virtually everything, inside and outside the party, going against him. To top all this, there was an impending criminal charge against him for his alleged role in the beating of several party members.

As the congress approached, top Armed Forces officials said they did not want anyone with "legal defects" to lead PDI, a clear reference to Soerjadi and his impending prosecution.

PDI leaders read the message loud and clear, and many of his supporters and loyalists formed a breakaway group and eventually booted him out of the leadership.

In a press interview after he was ousted in 1993, Soerjadi described the infighting in PDI like a soccer match in which everyone wears the same stripes and one had difficulty in distinguishing between friends and foes. "The biggest enemy of the PDI comes from within itself," he said. (emb)