Suhardiman loses his job in SOKSI after 38 years

Suhardiman loses his job in SOKSI after 38 years

JAKARTA (JP): SOKSI, one of the organizations that formed the
ruling Golkar group in 1964, overthrew Suhardiman who had led it
for 38 years at a congress late last week.

Participants in the SOKSI congress in Bogor elected Oetojo
Oesman on Saturday to replace Suhardiman, whose frequent
forecasts earned him the nickname "political shaman" in the local
media.

Oetojo, a former minister of justice under president Soeharto,
will lead the organization until 2003.

SOKSI, the United Independent Labor Organization, was founded
by the Army during Sukarno's presidency to counter the growing
influence of labor organizations affiliated to the now defunct
Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

It was one of the three organizations the Army established to
counter the economic clout of the powerful PKI. These
organizations then joined with others to form Golkar in 1964.

The congress, which lasted from July 2 to July 4, also elected
Thomas Suyatno as deputy chairman and Freddy Latumahina as
secretary general, Antara reported yesterday.

Suhardiman, who is recognized as one of the founding fathers
of SOKSI, was transferred to the organization's advisory council.

The congress also prepared a 12 point political statement in
which it condemned the mid-May riots and the abduction of
political activists, and demanded an impartial investigation into
these and other violations of human rights.

It described the four Trisakti University student
demonstrators killed on May 12 in Jakarta as "heroes of reform",
called for an extraordinary session of the People's Consultative
Assembly, urged that a general election be held soon and demanded
that corrupt officials transfer money held in overseas bank
accounts back into the country's to help save the crumbling
economy.

SOKSI also called on the Armed Forces to help restore Golkar's
image and create clean governance.

Meanwhile, another Golkar founder Kosgoro on Saturday fielded
four of its best cadres to lead replace Harmoko as Golkar chief,
namely Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Siswono Yudohusodo, Muladi and
Bambang W. Soeharto. (pan)