The weekend's violence

Over lunch on July 29, a friend at work told me about the weekend violence, which I missed. So, it became a small discussion between us. Funny thing is that we have never been involved in any political activities. As for myself, I have never been interested in politics. But that afternoon the topic was kind of hot, and I was a little interested.

One friend asked for my opinion. Well, what should I say? I could be wrong. My opinion is from the point of view of a person who is ignorant about politics. I only see it in black and white. If Megawati was legally elected then she should be the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) until 1998, in which case the congress in Medan last month was illegal and the government made a mistake in supporting it. This is something everyone can see.

From what I read in the paper, if Soerjadi were to be received by President Soeharto it would be the official seal of approval on his election as PDI chief at the controversial congress in Medan. And as it was, he was received by the President on Friday and that ignited the disturbance. It's as simple as that.

The weekend violence shouldn't have happened, and wouldn't have if Soerjadi had not been given approval. The riot shows that people are becoming aware of political issues. It's not easy to manipulate people when they can see what is going on. I think in the future there will be more and more people standing up for what they believe is right. The government's support for the congress in Medan is a big joke. Let alone Mr. Siswono's hope that Megawati would accept her "failure" without any ill-feeling (quoted from Mr. Thomas' letter on July 29, 1996). She did not fail. She was betrayed.

RITA SOEMARNO

Jakarta