Students protest meddling in PDI, NU

Students protest meddling in PDI, NU

JAKARTA (JP): A group of students took their protest to the
Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday, denouncing what they see as
government interference in the internal affairs of Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Some 30 students from various universities in Garut, Bogor,
Bandung, and Jakarta unfurled banners and chanted slogans under
the watchful eyes of dozens of security officers.

"Stop government intervention", a poster read. "Disturbing NU
and PDI amounts to dividing the people", they said in their
statement to journalists.

After that the officers seized the posters and crumpled them
up. The students then dispersed after about 45 minutes without
incident.

Deden, a student from Garut and spokesman for the group, said
they had initially intended to meet with Minister of Home Affairs
Yogie S.M. but were later told that Yogie was in Solo, Central
Java, to attend an affair celebrating PDI's 22nd anniversary.

"We are here to express our anxiety about what has been and is
happening within NU and PDI, which we consider the result of
government intervention," he told The Jakarta Post.

NU and PDI have both been plagued with threats of dissociation
from within.

Megawati Sukarnoputri, who was elected as PDI chairperson in
the party national congress in December 1993 , despite tough
competition from Budi Hardjono, the candidate backed by the
government.

Similarly, Abdurrahman Wahid, who is currently Chairman of NU,
had a tough time surpassing government-backed Abu Hasan during
NU's elections last month.

Dissatisfied members in each of the organizations are seeking
to establish their own separate versions of a central board of
executives, keeping the conflicts aflame.

Deden said the group also protested the government's treatment
of the organizations, which has, in effect, abused their
constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of association. In addition,
he added that the two organizations are becoming more and more
powerless in the face of "lectures" and "guidance" forced upon
them by the government, particularly the Ministry of Home
Affairs".(pwn)