Thousands attend peaceful PDI rally

Thousands attend peaceful PDI rally

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of people attended a peaceful rally at
Megawati Soekarnoputri's home in Kebagusan, South Jakarta,
yesterday to commemorate the second anniversary of the forced
takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party's (PDI) headquarters.

Clad in predominantly red, the party's colors, the Megawati
loyalists claimed to have traveled from throughout Java, Sumatra
and even Sulawesi.

The much-anticipated event, held under the watchful eye of
police officers, proceeded in an orderly fashion with traffic
congestion being the only real problem.

Many of those who came from out of town had assembled the
night before. By midday organizers claimed the crowd had swelled
to about 30,000.

People were seen almost everywhere; many sat on blue
mattresses under tents in the garden as thousands of others stood
outside the house, listening to the proceedings relayed via large
loudspeakers.

On the main streets leading to Megawati's house, thousands
more lined up as it became difficult to even near the area.

Those who came were from all walks of life.

A 47-year-old mother, Rohani, told The Jakarta Post that she
and about 150 of her friends chartered a minivan from Semarang,
Central Java.

When asked why she had traveled so far, Rohani simply replied:
"Because I have always and will always be loyal to Ibu Mega".

The ceremony began at 11 a.m. with prayers and a poetry
recital followed by speeches from event organizer Roy Janis,
Nahdlatul Ulama representative Said Agil Siraj, government critic
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Kemal Idris and Megawati's lawyer, R.O. Tambunan.

All exclaimed that Megawati was the legitimate leader of PDI
and called for the government to reveal the truth behind the
bloody takeover of the party's office.

Authorities had banned Megawati's initial plan to hold a
commemoration at the Istora Senayan Stadium. Organizers then
decided to move the commemoration to Megawati's house.

Megawati was ousted from the PDI chair by Soerjadi in a
government-backed congress in June 1996.

Then on July 27, 1996 her loyalists were forced from the PDI
headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta. The incident
sparked a major riot which also spread to surrounding areas.

Many believe the government engineered the takeover of the
headquarters.

The National Commission on Human Rights said at least five
people were killed in the incident and 23 others are still
classified as missing.

Megawati invoked memories of those who died in the incident in
her address. She said that they were present yesterday in spirit.

"The truth cannot be hidden and will finally prevail,"
Megawati, the daughter of the country's first president Sukarno,
told her cheering supporters.

She asserted that the July 27 incident will forever be part of
the nation's history and called on the government to follow up
the human rights commission's recommendation to search for those
still missing.

Megawati also lashed out at the government for imposing
restrictions on the commemoration.

Meanwhile on Jl. Diponegoro, the PDI headquarters which has
remained vacant since the attack two years ago, hundreds of
Megawati supporters gathered on the street to pray and lay
wreaths in front of the building.

The crowd dispersed peacefully in the afternoon after Jacob
Nuwa Wea, the head of the rally organizing committee, persuaded
them to leave.

Sacred event

Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid maintained yesterday
that the July 27 incident was an internal matter between Soerjadi
and Megawati supporters.

"I am continuously asked about the July incident as if it was
a sacred event. I do not want to answer any more questions,
because it has become unproportional," Syarwan, who was then the
Armed Forces chief of sociopolitical affairs, told reporters
after meeting President B.J. Habibie at the Bina Graha
presidential office.

Megawati supporters have claimed that Syarwan and the then
Armed Forces commander Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung, who is now
coordinating minister for political and security affairs, were
involved in the ouster of Megawati.

Jakarta was generally quiet yesterday as people, with the May
riots fresh in their minds, were gripped with unease.

Traffic was much lighter than usual as the public were aware
of the potential risk of violence.

Several companies even asked their employees not to go to work
yesterday. A female employee of a private property firm on Jl.
Sudirman said employees had been told not to go to work.

Business districts such as Glodok and Mangga Dua in North
Jakarta were also quiet with many shops closed.

Some schools gave students a half day.

The military said last week that it would deploy 9,000
personnel to back up the police force in securing the city. Six
hundred were deployed in Central Jakarta alone.
(byg/ivy/jun/prb/edt)