The PDI predicament
The PDI predicament
When Megawati Soekarnoputri, the eldest daughter of this
nation's first president, Sukarno, was elected to the chair of
the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in a chaotic, yet
democratic, party congress last year in Surabaya, East Java, many
observers predicted she would soon be overwhelmed by "problems".
She certainly has been.
The party, notorious for its internal conflicts over the last
two decades, began as a government-sponsored merger in 1971
between nationalist and Christian parties. Since its birth it has
practically never been free of political squabbles, particularly
within the former nationalist party (PNI) faction.
Obviously, Megawati's legacy, as a daughter of Sukarno, who
was the founder of PNI in the late 1920s, has fallen short of
stopping party members from rebelling against her.
Following another chaotic election in PDI's East Java chapter,
rebel members have set up their own self-styled provincial
chairmanship under Latief Pudjasakti. With the backing of East
Java Governor Basofi Sudirman, Latief succeeded in defending his
chairmanship against disciplinary measures taken by Megawati.
Earlier this week, Latief went as far as to organize a small
rally to demand the resignation of Megawati.
Meanwhile, apparently encouraged by the government's
conspicuously dubious decision to "let PDI settle its own
internal conflicts", anti-Megawati elements in several party
chapters and branches have set up rival leaderships. And a member
of the PDI executive board, dismissed on the basis of
indiscipline, has even joined the rebel camp.
One could easily surmise that what has happened to PDI is
simply what happens to any organization whose leadership is not
in concordance with the government's wishes, or which has lost
the government's favor. It is no secret that the government was
not happy when Megawati, against all odds, was elected to chair
PDI.
Some observers believe that certain officials may be alarmed
by the growing popularity of PDI among the younger generation.
And it has been deemed possible that under Megawati's leadership,
PDI could further dent the strength of the government-backed
Golkar in the coming election.
Thus, one cannot easily shed the notion that somehow there is
some sort of involvement by officials behind all these problems
of PDI, in the sense that the turmoil is perhaps being
orchestrated in order to weaken the party. The East Java
governor's continued backing of Latief, who has been dismissed by
PDI's executive board, for example, has given the impression that
somehow the government wants to hold open the option of meddling
in PDI's internal affairs.
What is most saddening is that this has been done under the
pretext that it is in accordance with the existing law that a
governor, and subsequently the home affairs minister, function as
the "supervisors" of domestic politics.
No wonder, given the current political situation, many
observers are pessimistic about the future of the political
parties and organizations in this country. There are just too
many hurdles, either in the form of laws, or covert interference,
to enable them to perform as truly independent political
entities.
The root of the problem, of course, lies in just how far the
government will go in allowing the political parties to function
as such, or at what speed it will let the democratization process
proceed.
As we will be entering the next millennium soon, with the
prospect of global free trade looming high in the sky, one could
expect that a new spirit of political openness would be in order.
We believe that economic liberalization cannot work without
political freedom.
All in all, with regard to the PDI problem, as long as those
officials continue to meddle in PDI's internal affairs, or fail
to take a clear stance, recognizing only Megawati's leadership,
thus discouraging anti-Megawati elements, one cannot expect to
see PDI free of "problems". The situation may even get worse.