Walhi rejects appointment of new minister

Walhi rejects appointment of new minister

JAKARTA (JP): About 30 activists from the Indonesian Forum for
Environment (Walhi) staged a loud protest here yesterday
rejecting the appointment of Panangian Siregar as the new
environment minister.

In the protest held just before Panangian took over his
ministerial post from Juwono Sudarsono, who became the new
minister of education and culture, the activists accused the
Indonesia Democratic Party (PDI) politician of "having his hands
stained with blood from the July 27 incident".

"Panangian was chairman of the organizing committee of the
Medan congress, the result of collusion between Soeharto's regime
and Soerjadi... He is anti-democracy," one activist, Efendi
Panjaitan, said.

The activists were referring to the PDI breakaway congress in
June 1996 in Medan, North Sumatra, in which government-backed
Soerjadi ousted Megawati Soekarnoputri from the party's
leadership.

Megawati, however, refused to recognize the congress. Her
supporters, in a sign of defiance, refused to relinquish the PDI
headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta.

In the early hours of July 27, a group of men allied to
Soerjadi forcefully took over the building in a bloody clash.

A mass riot ensued in the area, living five dead and dozens
missing. Several buildings were also torched as a result.

"His hands are full of blood," activist, Chalid Muhammad,
said.

"Jangan Cemari Lingkungan Hidup dengan Darah (Don't pollute
the environment office with blood)," read one poster.

The protest forced a one-and-a-half-hour delay in the handover
ceremony.

It resumed only after the well-respected Juwono Sudarsono
invited activists into his office, saying he could understand
their rejection of Panangian's appointment.

"It's OK to have a different point of view... but please show
respect to me, let's be peaceful," he pleaded.

The activists later agreed to leave the office compound after
voicing their strong rejection.

In his 15-minute acceptance speech, Panangian defended
himself, claiming to be "a democratic man".

Panangian later told journalists that he had actually talked
to and tried to convince Megawati to participate in the Medan
congress before it was held.

"But they didn't want to join, so I decided to go myself," he
said. "I would not have talked to them if I wasn't democratic".

Panangian blamed yesterday's protest on Haryanto Taslam, a PDI
politician loyal to Megawati.

"I saw him commanding the protest from outside the office
fence. He was behind this protest," Panangian charged.

"They should be proud to see a man from PDI in the present
Cabinet, not against him," he told about 100 people attending the
ceremony.

When journalists told him that the protesters were from Walhi,
Panangian raised his voice saying: "Walhi should have no fault
with the PDI."

When asked to comment on the protest, former environment
minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja -- who also attended the ceremony
-- said: "It's understandable. It's just the fate he has to face
for being in the Cabinet."

"But as a former member of the environment office, I'd rather
wait and see whether he can perform... The rest, well that's
Habibie's political problem," he said. (aan)