PDIP TO IMPLEMENT OPPOSITION STANCE CONSISTENTLY :TJAHJO

Sanur, Bali, April 9 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP)'s stance as an opposition force will be implemented consistently, PDIP's new secretary general, Tjahjo Kumolo, said.

The implementation of the political stance recommended by the party's congress in Bali will be carried out by the PDIP faction at all levels of parliament, he told newsmen here Friday.

"The Bali congress has mandated us consistently to play our role in controlling and acting as a counter-balance to the government for the sake of a better Indonesia," he said.

The PDIP's political stance as clearly stipulated in its manifesto of political orientation would be a guideline for the party's cadres in their actions, Kumolo said.

At Bali congress ealier this week, Megawati Soekarnoputri was again elected as the PDIP's top leader.
According to Tjahjo Kumolo, the Bali congress was a strategic momentum for the PDIP to reaffirm the values of the state ideology, Pancasila, and the teachings of founding father Soekarno.

The PDIP's cadres need to understand and implement the values of Pancasila (five principles) and Soekarno's teachings in dealing with the new dynamics of Indonesia, he said.

The ultimate goal the PDIP wanted to achieve was creating an Indonesia which had dignity and full sovereignty political and economic terms, he said.

Prior to the Bali congress, there was a public discourse about whether the PDIP would remain an opposition force in parliament or join the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono government.

PDIP was one of the party factions in the House of Representatives (DPR) which ridiculed the government over the Bank Century bailout scandal.

The PDIP's elite and cadres in the regions, like those in Papua Province, had given their full support for the party's consistent opposition to the government.

Chairman of the PDIP-Papua Provincial chapter, Komaruddin Watubun, for example, said the opposition stance remained needed by PDIP so that the party's elites and cadres were asked not to accept any government's offer to sit in the cabinet.

Accepting such an offer would only sacrifice PDIP's interet in the next election, he said a few weeks before the Bali congress.

"We totally reject any political barter over the Bank Century case and over the bribery case relating to the selection of Miranda Goeltom as Bank Indonesia (BI) senior deputy governor in 2004," he said.

About his appointment as the PDIP's general secretary replacing Pramono Anung, Kumolo said he would do his best in performing his duties. "I hope I can carry out the mandate I have received well," he said.