PDI-P denies it supports the government’s dialogue with GAM

Detik.com – July 12, 2005
PDI-P board of directors chairperson Tjahjo Kumolo (Republika)
PDI-P board of directors chairperson Tjahjo Kumolo (Republika)

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has denied that it supports the dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki. The PDI-P is even calling for the official government representative to take responsibility for the fifth round of the informal negotiations going ahead.

“The government’s negotiations with GAM overseas should have already been stopped”, said the chairperson of the PDI-P’s board of directors, Tjahjo Kumolo, in a discussion with Detik.com on Tuesday July 12.

Earlier, Vice President Jusuf Kalla had said he was convinced that the PDI-P would accept the outcome of the Helsinki negotiations. Kalla believes that the attitude by a number of PDI-P fraction members in the People’s Representative Assembly (DPR) who oppose the Helsinki dialogue are out of sync with the position taken by PDI-P chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri.

“So, there is one of the PDI-P members who does not follow the instructions of their general chairperson”, said Kalla on Monday July 11. As has been reported, PDI-P fraction members such as Effendi MS Simbolon and Permadi have consistently opposed the Helsinki dialogue. Permadi has said he is disappointed that the negotiations in Helsinki have gone ahead while the DPR’s Commission I has recommended that the dialogue not be continued.

“We continue to request that the national police and TNI [armed forces] conduct security operations in Aceh against the separatist movement which is undermining the sovereignty of NKRI1”, asserted Kumolo who holds the post of PDI-P fraction chairperson in the DPR.

He added that the government should no longer compromise with GAM. “The DPR in its recommendation has clearly rejected the dialogue, the government should not recognise GAM as a state within the territory of NKRI”, said Kumolo.

The PDI-P is asking the government to further prioritise development and improve the welfare of Acehnese society. “They have already suffered for a long time as a result of the conflict, hopefully rehabilitation and the acceleration of development in Aceh will no longer disappoint its people”, he asserted. (ton)

Notes:

1. NKRI – Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. A term which is often used in the context of nationalism and the desire to maintain the integrity of the Indonesian nation.

[Translated by James Balowski.]