Why does Mega back Sutiyoso?

The country's biggest political party, which gained a majority vote of over thirty percent in the last general elections, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI Perjuangan), has endorsed the candidacy of incumbent Governor Sutiyoso to be Jakarta's next governor. This is against the policy of the party's own faction in the City Council which has prepared as candidate one of its members, Tarmidi Suhardjo, as the next Jakarta governor.

It is reported that PDI Perjuangan's chairwoman herself, Megawati Soekarnoputri, has argued that Sutiyoso is still needed to stabilize conditions during the coming annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly in August and during the next general election in 2004.

A former deputy chairman of the PDI Perjuangan's central board, Suparlan, who is also a legislator, has stated the party does not have any suitable candidate for the post of governor of Jakarta, including the chairman of the City Council who is a member of PDI Perjuangan. President Megawati's preference for Sutiyoso has been criticized by a number of persons and is seen as an intervention by the executive.

Meanwhile, there has been a growing demand among the indigenous population of Jakarta residents, the Betawi people, that the post of Jakarta governor be given to one of them who is better informed about the problems of the capital city.

But its implications may be far reaching for PDI Perjuangan itself. It may well lose a significant number of followers in the coming general elections in 2004 especially among those who had believed that the PDI Perjuangan is a party caring for the interests of the common man on the street.

The choice of Sutiyoso by the Megawati camp has led to heated debates among supporters of PDI Perjuangan in general. It will be interesting to see if the reason behind Megawati's decision is her nationalistic fear of the powerful and extreme religious elements in Jakarta society.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta