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)