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Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

INDONESIA
Attacked from Within

A leadership battle splits the Democratic Party

By Todd Crowell and Keith Loveard / Jakarta


EVER SINCE THE RAUCOUS party congress in 1993, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) has been wracked by factional dissent. Some of it is a result of festering resentments among the supporters of former chairman Surjadi, who was replaced in 1993 by Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno. Some of it may have been fomented by the government, which would prefer to contend with a party with a somewhat less charismatic leader in next year's parliamentary elections.

This internal turmoil boiled over on June 4. A faction led by parliamentary party leader Fatimah Achmad, with the support of Surjadi, held a rump session of the central board in Jakarta to try to force a special leadership congress. Sukarnoputri's many rank-and-file supporters rushed to the national offices to oppose the congress. There were angry scenes between backers of both factions, and about 40 members of the anti-Sukarnoputri faction took the dispute to the Home Affairs Ministry.

The ministry gave its permission for a special congress later this month. The ministry claimed that 21 of 27 provincial chapters and 215 out of 305 local branches approved the call. Sukarnoputri's supporters counter that many of the petitions from local branches were incomplete or had forged signatures.

Now Sukarnoputri's normally quiet home in the southern district of Jakarta looks like an armed camp. Her supporters, wearing the red and black party colors and para-military uniforms, stand guard while cars come and go bearing party officials and some of the more discreet backers of her leadership. Loyalists have also taken over party headquarters and branch offices all over the country.

Many fear that any new congress might see more of the factional violence that has marred other such gatherings in recent years. At the 1993 congress in Medan, a group excluded from the meeting drove a truck through a locked gate. The ensuing chaos caused the congress's cancellation. Already some 50 Sukarnoputri loyalists have signed blood oaths to support their embattled leader.

Sukarnoputri sees the assault as a struggle by the party old guard to maintain their positions and privileges in opposition to her efforts to bring in younger people. Many of the party's 84 MPs, including parliamentary leader Achmad, could be replaced by newcomers on the party ticket next year. Sukarnoputri told Asiaweek: "We're still in a period of transition, so perhaps some people still want to maintain a system that has existed up until now."

The government has its own reasons for supporting a special congress. Sukarnoputri has star quality lacking in many other national leaders. "Her name is the Indonesian equivalent to Gandhi in India or Bhutto in Pakistan," notes one supporter. She is the last person the ruling party would like to see in charge of a party that carries the legacy of the once powerful Indonesian Nationalist Party, and, of course, the founder-president Sukarno himself.

A bruising congress would exacerbate the internal differences within the PDI and weaken it in the run-up to next year's parliamentary elections. The ruling Golkar party would like to use those elections to shore up its base before the presidential election in 1998, when Suharto is expected to seek a seventh term. Its strategists see the PDI, with Sukarno's daughter at the head, as a major threat.

"The risk is that PDI will become a real alternative to the Golkar group," says University of Indonesia political scientist Arbi Sanit. "That's why the government is so concerned. The role of the parties is only supposed to be to legitimize the government's actions. They are not supposed to possess any real strength." In the past, Sukarnoputri has been careful not to directly criticize the government. She may not be as accommodating now that it seems to have backed her ouster.

Support for her outside the party has been strong. "If the government allows this congress to go ahead, it will mean their involvement [in the PDI] has already gone a long way," says Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid, a close friend of Sukarnoputri. "As well as showing they are back-tracking from real political development, it will also lead to less respect for their authority from the people." On June 12 an alliance of human rights groups came out in her defense.

There are signs that the government is already having second thoughts about letting the PDI congress take place. "It's clear that they have been shocked by the strength of the reaction against the move," notes one political analyst. "They may have to decide the congress is not such a good idea."

Former PDI leader Surjadi, however, says that there are good reasons to clear the air. "Do we have to keep on saying that the party is united? What's happening on the ground shows you there is bitter competition. Even the central board is divided." Indeed, the bitter infighting within the party's local branches, including in populous East Java, the party's stronghold, has long tested the government's patience.

If Sukarnoputri loses the leadership struggle, many of her supporters face difficult decisions. They are unlikely to join the only other legal political grouping, the weak and compliant United Development Party. Many might drift to dissident groups such as the Democracy Union Party founded last month by sacked MP Bintang Pamungkas. The splintering of the PDI may help save the government from embarrassment in next year's polls, but at a high cost. And it will not resolve any of the growing tensions in Indonesia's political life.


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