Two killed, six injured in attack at PDI-P office

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

At least seven people were seriously injured when thousands of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) supporters attacked the party's provincial office here on Thursday.

The party supporters arrived from several districts in Medan, led by Doni Arsal Gultom, and were protesting the decision of the North Sumatra provincial office of PDI Perjuangan to approve the appointment of Usaha Ginting as chairman of the party's Medan branch.

The angry supporters, many armed with knives, machetes, sickles and other sharp weapons, arrived at the building at around 11:30 a.m. and went on a rampage.

Some 85 party members inside the building tried to resist the attackers, but they were outnumbered.

The attackers also tried to set the building on fire, but failed.

For nearly an hour, the attackers ran amok, destroying the building's windows and fences. Six motorcycles parked at the compound were also destroyed.

Those who were injured were identified as Benny Yusar, Kasman Simarmata, Zaenal Abidin, Rudiansyah, Hotma Indra, Ridwan Hutabarat and Aceng.

The protesters accused the provincial office of failing to honor a decision reached at a congress in April 2002, when Doni Arsal Gultom was elected chairman of the Medan branch.

The provincial office had held another congress on Sept. 22 this year to overrule Doni's election.

Monday's congress, attended by the heads of 39 of 60 sub- branches in North Sumatra, elected Usaha Ginting as chairman of the Medan branch of PDI Perjuangan.

The protesters charged that Ginting's appointment was illegal and a scheme to oust Doni Arsal Gultom.

Although Doni was elected chairman of the Medan branch last year, the North Sumatra provincial office never endorsed his appointment, which delayed the party's central board of executives -- led by Megawati Soekarnoputri -- in issuing a letter of approval for Doni's appointment.

Head of the Medan Polonia sub-branch Ranjid, who joined Thursday's attack, said the incident could have been avoided had the North Sumatra provincial office honored the results of the 2002 congress.

Ranjid added that the protesters could not tolerate the provincial office's decision to allow the recent congress to be held.

"The participants of last year's congress elected Doni Arsal as chairman (of the Medan branch), so why did the provincial office allow the (recent) congress? This is unacceptable, and a violation of party rules," he told The Jakarta Post.

Ranjid urged the party's leaders in Jakarta not to issue a letter approving Usaha Ginting's appointment.

"If chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri approves of Usaha Ginting's appointment, we are ready to continue our opposition," said Ranjid.

Deputy chairman of PDI Perjuangan North Sumatra Japorman Saragih said the recent congress was held upon instruction from the party's central board in Jakarta.

"We were just following party orders. We didn't know the reason behind the instruction," he told the Post.

Japorman regretted the attack and added, "We respect their aspirations to protest the decision, but they should not have resorted to anarchy. We want the police to deal with this."

Medan Police chief Adj. Comr. Irwan Anwar said the police had not made any arrests in connection with the attack.