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C. Van Dijk the Partai Demokrasi Indonesia In: Bijdragen Tot C. van Dijk The Partai Demokrasi Indonesia In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 153 (1997), no: 3, Leiden, 397-430 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 08:53:18PM via free access RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDONESIAN POLITICS C. VAN DIJK The Partai Demokrasi Indonesia1 The Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (PDI), a merger of the Partai Nasional Indonesia (PNI), Partai Katolik, Partai Kristen Indonesia (Parkindo), Partai Murba, and the Ikatan Pendukung Kemerdekaan Indonesia (IPKI), is a party which has been rife with conflicts from its inception in 1973, often with people originating from the PNI being the most strident. In April 1986, for instance, the party's third national congress ended up in the air, as the delegates were unable to reach agreement on who was to lead the party for the next five years. The task of constituting its central board was left to the Indonesian government. The new board, which was announced the following month, was headed by Soerjadi, with Nico Daryanto as general secretary. This did not put an end to the strife within the PDI. In 1988 one of Soerjadi's main rivals for the general chairmanship in 1986, Achmad Subagyo, and a number of others were banned from the party after a failed bid for its leadership, which in the estimation of opponents amounted to a coup d'état. In 1991, when the PDI found itself unable to organize a national congress, Subagyo established a rival central board, with as main argument that Soerjadi's five-year term in office had ended. He formed what came to be known as the DPP Peralihan PDI, or PDI Interim Central Board. It was chaired by Subagyo himself. The fourth party congress In July 1993, after a delay of two years, the PDI, now sarcastically referred to by some as the Partai Deadlock Indonesia, finally succeeded in holding its fourth national congress. Among the people mentioned as possible candidates for the general chairmanship that time were Soerjadi himself, and Budi Hardjono, Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno and Aberson Marie Sihaloho as some of his rivals. Furthermore, the names of Megawati Soekarnoputri and her brother, Guruh Soekarnoputra, came up. Before the congress met in Medan, the armed forces had already indicated that they were against Soerjadi's re-election. Feisal Tanjung, Commander of the Armed Forces, commented after a meeting with President Soeharto that, though the choice was completely up to the delegates, it would be best if they did not elect a person with a 'legal stigma'. This, as he himself admitted, clearly Unless otherwise stated, this survey is based on Indonesian newspaper reports. BK1 1553-111 (1997) Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 08:53:18PM via free access 398 Recent Developments in lndonesian Politics implied Soerjadi. For Soerjadi was implicated in an attempt at kidnapping and beating up two PDI members, Edy Sukirman and Agung Imam Sumanto (two of the leaders of the anti-Soerjadi demonstrators who had occupied the PDI headquarters on Jalan Diponegoro in Jakarta), in July 1991, for which the chairman of the Jakarta branch, Alex Asmasoebrata, was facing charges in a lawsuit in Jakarta at the time.2 Witnesses testified in court that Soerjadi had known of the kidnapping and that he had tried to bribe them not to give evidence, which claims Soerjadi dismissed as slanderous. Admittedly he had given one of the witnesses money, but this had only been for petrol and for repairs on a car owned by the central board.3 Alex Asmasoebrata was acquitted in November 1993, with the judges concluding that the evidence given by the witnesses indicated that Soerjadi was guilty. The congress took place at the Pangkalan Mansyhur Hajj Dormitory in Medan. It was opened on 21 st July at another venue by President Soe- harto, who impressed the importance of strong, properly guided political unity on the PDI and appealed to it to put its house in order by honouring the principle of mutual consultation. This was not to be, however. Soerjadi had made sure that the dissenting members were debarred from the congress. They also had flocked undeterred to Medan, where the interim board had set up its own headquarters in the house of one of its local supporters. Shortly after Soeharto's speech, after the delegates had returned to the Hajj Centre, pandemonium broke out. Only minutes after the conclusion of the speech of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Yogie Suardi Memet, members and supporters of the interim board driving a jeep and a pick-up truck rammed the entrance gate to the complex, shouting anti-Soerjadi slogans like 'Kill Soerjadi' and singing patriotic songs. After the demonstrators gained entry to the congress hall, one of them, Jacob Nuwawea, demanding that the interim board be allowed to participate, grabbed the microphone and announced that his faction had taken over. The next day, July 22nd, protesters trying to enter were refused entry by riot police. On the same day Soerjadi was re-elected. This was an unex- pectedly sudden development, three days ahead of schedule. The chairman of the meeting, Dimmy Haryanto, after listening to speeches by represent- atives of the provincial branches and drawing the conclusion that the great majority of delegates present had shown support for Soerjadi, proposed to the delegates that they agree to his election. When the audience shouted 'We agree', Haryanto considered his proposal accepted. Soerjadi was 2 Immediately after Feisal Tanjung's announcement, Alex Asmasoebrata asked Soerjadi to withdraw his candidature, and the PDI of East Java, where Soerjadi's nomination was not uncontested as it was, withdrew its support of him. 3 In connection with this affair, some PDI members at the end of February 1993 demanded Soerjadi's resignation, accusing him of planning to kill his political enemies, and that of the general secretary, Nico Daryanto, who they alleged had tried to cover up for Soerjadi. Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 08:53:18PM via free access Recent Developments in Indonesian Politics 399 assigned the task of forming a new central board. Some of the delegates sang patriotic songs, and this time cries of 'Long Live Soerjadi' reverberated. Violent protests were voiced against Soerjadi's re-election by the interim board and other dissenting members. On July 23rd demonstrators again forced their way into the Hajj complex. Very shortly after gaining access, five people were hurt in a scuffle with security guards hired by the organ- izing committee. They included Alex Asmasoebrata, who was assaulted and beaten with wooden rods and traffic signs when he tried to phone the Director General of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Again Jacob Nuwawea took control. Declaring Soerjadi's election invalid, he appealed to President Soeharto to intervene. Amid the cheers of their supporters, Achmad Subagyo and his close associates entered the conference hall. As his followers continued to occupy the meeting hall for the two remaining days of the congress, a closing address by Vice- President Try Sutrisno had to be cancelled. Nor was a closing meeting held. Instead, a statement was issued pledging continued support for Soerjadi. Soerjadi's opponents showed no sign of flagging in their protests. Achmad Subagyo even announced that he was planning to seize control of the PDI offices in Jakarta. Furthermore, a Group of Five - Alex Asma- soebrata, Latief Pudjosakti (chairman of the East Javanese branch), Slamet Mulyadi (chairman of the West Javanese branch), Zainuddin Ali (chairman of the Aceh branch), and Jacob Nuwawea4 - drew up a statement asserting that the congress had been a failure and that the PDI no longer had a central board. Alex Asmasoebrata, speaking on behalf of the group, announced that they were prepared to organize a 'continuation' of the congress, which he claimed had not finished its business, in Jakarta. The group was asked by the interim board to begin negotiations with the government to ensure that Soerjadi would not take up the function of general chairman of the PDI. The central board was described by some as 'a vacuüm'. Alex Asmasoebrata, on his return to Jakarta, was summoned immediately to the office of the city's military command, where he was asked not to make trouble and to restrain his followers in their quest for revenge. Immediately after the congress, the Co-ordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs, Soesilo Soedarman, announced that at the request of the various parties concerned the government was prepared to help find a solution. According to him, Soerjadi had failed as leader of the PDI, as he had not eliminated radicalism within the party. A few days later Yogie S. Memet also stated publicly that the government considered the PDI congress a failure, Soerjadi's re-election not having been staged in accordance with approved procedures. He believed that a caretaker board 4 The group was formed on July 23rd, after the forcible occupation of the confer- ence hall. After the congress, however, Slamet Mulyadi became one of the formatur. Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 08:53:18PM via free access 400 Recent Developments in Indonesian Politics was required to préparé an extraordinary congress - an option initially rejected by Soerjadi and his supporters. Soerjadi remained chairman till August, when the government officially refused to recognize his re-election. He had made two major mistakes. One was his advocacy in his election campaign of a restriction on the number of terms the Indonesian President could serve, which had cost him the government support he had enjoyed up till then. The second was his conciliatory gestures afterwards, speaking out in favour of Soeharto's re- election, for instance, which had not gone down well with other PDI leaders, who regarded this as a breach of the promises made by the PDI in its 1992 election campaign.
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