Fearing the PDI under Megawati Sukarnoputri will be insufficiently cooperative during the crucial 1998 Presidential elections, the government is finally acting to eliminate her politically. Curiously, it has not used the extensive dissident network already set up within PDI by Yusuf Merukh and Latief Pudjosakti, the 'villains' of the December 1993 Surabaya PDI Congress. East Java's governor Basofi Sudirman had toyed with this network but apparently it has been discounted by the centre. Instead, Jakarta is working with Soerjadi, who was installed by the government to run the PDI in 1986, but was then ironically removed again in 1991 because he was making PDI too popular.
It is also working with Fatimah Achmad, chief of the PDI parliamentary fraction. Acting with lightning speed, and without consulting the PDI Board led by Megawati, Fatimah set up a committee to propose and conduct an extra-ordinary congress. She claimed 215 of PDI's 306 branches, and 21 of its 27 provincial boards, supported the idea of a congress. She quickly 'won' the support of the Interior Minister (Yogie Memed), the Armed Forces Commander (Feisal Tanjung), Abri Social and Political Chief (Syarwan Hamid), and Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security Susilo Sudarman.
The government has already made available a billion rupiahs (AU$ 1/2 million) for the exercise. The press has been instructed by military officers not to describe the events as 'displacing Mega', and not to call her 'Megawati Sukarnoputri' (ie. daughter of Sukarno) but by her husband's name Kiemas. The congress is planned for 20 June, in less than 2 weeks time. Some sources say Fatimah has already been promised a seat in Cabinet if she succeeds - that would be the first time a PDI member has been awarded such a prize.
Although the congress organisers deny it, most observers are sure it will result in Megawati being unseated. They will no doubt make sure none of the mistakes are repeated that allowed branch delegates to elect Megawati outside the planned scenario in December 1993. One way to do this will be to keep the venue secret for as long as possible. Another will be to exclude the press. And another to make a small number of provincial delegates, rather than the much more numerous branch delegates, responsible for all decisions at the congress.
The massive force of the attack has left Mega on the backfoot. PDI Researcher Kwik Kian Gie has contacted all the branches whose support for the congress was named by Fatimah, and found that only 141, not 215, had sent in papers favouring a congress. Of that number, many had signed the pro-congress statement irregularly (eg. with only one signature, and without a branch meeting), presumably under pressure of Interior Ministry officials who had visited all branches.
Meanwhile the PDI branch in Medan, which had been the announced venue for the congress, has refused to host it. It may now take place in Batam or Palangkaraya (Kalimantan).
Grassroots activists are also on the move. They are flooding into Jakarta and are planning to hold a rally of half a million there. Demonstrations in support of Megawati are being conducted by groups not within the PDI structure, such as PRD. Many members are sending Megawati petitions of support signed in their own blood.
The congress committee of Fatimah Achmad has been denied access to the prestigious central PDI headquarters in Jakarta. Indeed none are staying in their homes for fear of popular retribution. Many provincial headquarters have also been occupied by Megawati supporters, and are denying congress organisers facilities.
Whether all this will be sufficient to keep Megawati at the top of PDI is unclear. She may no longer have friends in Abri willing to act. Abri officers formerly instrumental in protecting her have been removed during the long series of senior officer transfers in recent years. However, there is no doubt the usual techniques of political manipulation will have to be stretched beyond limits set in the past to achieve the desired result this time.
Gerry van Klinken, editor, 'Inside
Indonesia' magazine.
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