Some 1.2 million Buddhists vow allegiance to Golkar

JAKARTA (JP): The 1.2 million strong Buddhist Niciren Syosyu denomination has promised to vote for the ruling Golkar party in the 1997 general election.

"We will never regret it if we choose Golkar to continue the New Order government," Niciren Syosyu leader Herwindra Aiko Senosoenoto said in Medan, North Sumatra, on Saturday.

Aiko was addressing 1,200 North Sumatra sect members taking part in a Golkar gathering. Religious affairs ministry and Golkar officials were also present.

She said sect members believe that only Golkar could ensure continued prosperity and guarantee the nation's unity, Antara reported.

Niciren Syosyu made its choice out of its responsibility to safeguard the country's survival. "Buddha teaches us that 'I am the eyes, pillars and big boat of my nation'," she said.

Golkar will contest 425 seats in the House of Representatives next year with the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the United Development Party (PPP).

With strong backing from the military and bureaucracy, Golkar is likely to retain its majority in the House. Currently, it has 282 seats. PPP has 62 and PDI 56.

Aiko criticized people who "look with suspicion" at religious organization's "active cooperation" with Golkar.

"Cynics have been trying to mislead the public by saying that it is not right for religious organizations to throw their support behind Golkar," she said.

Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, PDI chief Megawati Soekarnoputri said over the weekend that some people are out to discredit her party in the run-up to the upcoming election.

According to Megawati, the PDI has been stigmatized as a tiny party which will never grow because it is forever riddled with conflict.

Its activists, she said when addressing party cadres in Wates regency last week, have been smeared as "violent" and troublemakers.

"I strongly reject the generalization that all PDI members are savage and violent. Most PDI activists are dynamic young people who are full of life," she said.

She said that the party's rivals have been trying to shape public opinion that the PDI, an outspoken Christian-nationalist alliance, is a hopeless organization. (pan)