Sutiyoso claims he's fall guy for PDI-P flop in Jakarta

Sutiyoso claims he's fall guy for PDI-P flop in Jakarta

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When the seemingly invincible PDI-P is beaten in the capital
Jakarta, everyone seems to be on the look out for scapegoats.

"To lose is really a bitter experience. And, most losers tend
to look for a scapegoat, as that is the easy way out," Sutiyoso
told reporters at City Hall.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Jakarta
was outpolled by two upstarts in the capital, the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) and the Democratic Party. The loss was a
severe blow to PDI-P who garnered the largest number of votes in
the 1999 elections.

Sutiyoso said that PDI-P's members had to face the reality
that their party had failed to win the sympathy of the people.

"That's part of the learning process in democracy. They must
admit the fact that other parties win, while their party lost,"
said the former army general.

Forty-six heads of PDI-P chapters across the capital gathered
on Tuesday to evaluate their performance in the April 5
legislative election. Some of them blamed Sutiyoso for the defeat
by criticizing the governor's aggressive eviction policy that
affected thousands of squatters.

Sutiyoso disagreed arguing that he had carried out a lot of
projects for the poor, like the construction of low-cost
apartments, a health subsidy and the elimination of elementary
school fees.

"Why didn't the media highlight such measures?," he asked.

He denied that he made a promise during the 2002 gubernatorial
election that he would increase the party's vote by 40 percent.

"I did invite them for a pre-dawn meal before the fast, but it
was a fellowship gathering. I did not make any promise at that
time as many other people also came to the meeting," he recalled.

Sutiyoso owed support from the PDI-P for his second term as
Jakarta governor to Tarmidi Soeharjo, who chaired the party's
Jakarta chapter at that time.

Although Tarmidi won sympathy from supporters of the PDI-P's
Jakarta chapter he had to bow down to the order of party leader
Megawati Soekarnoputri who picked Sutiyoso, an outsider, for the
position. Ironically, Sutiyoso was widely believed to be behind
the July 1996 attack on the then PDI headquarters in Central
Jakarta.

Tarmidi was later expelled from the party as he insisted on
running in the election and ignored Megawati's order to back off.

Separately, Wardah Hafidz of the Urban Poor Consortium
asserted that the PDI-P defeat in Jakarta carried a message.

"It is proof that poor people can withdraw their support when
the party backs a person who has consistently repressed them,"
she said over the phone.

The PDI-P, she said, had failed to accurately calculate the
risk it took when it counted on Sutiyoso's financial backing of
their campaign in the elections.

"The party has overlooked poor people's capability to withdraw
their support from the party when it fails to keep its promises,"
she said.