INDONESIA'S ousted minority party leader, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, was left out in the cold yesterday when the country's three legally recognised parties submitted their candidates for next year's general elections.
Ms Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno and currently a member of parliament, was ousted as leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) by a government backed faction in June.
Ms Megawati, who has become the chief symbol of dissent against President Suharto's government, was not on the list of PDI candidates submitted by the man who replaced her, the parliament speaker, Mr Surjadi.
Representatives of Ms Megawati's faction of the PDI were rebuffed by electoral officials when they later tried to submit their own list of 750 candidates for the polls. One of the representatives said the faction might take the government to court for the right to run in the elections.
Ms Megawati has already taken legal action against the government and political rivals to reverse the decision of the June congress to depose her as party leader. The suit is currently before the court.
. The Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, arrived in Jakarta yesterday on his first visit to Indonesia since being elected leader in March. He went straight to Freedom Palace for a meeting with President Suharto. He is also to meet the Defence Minister, Mr Edi Sudrajat, and the Minister of Research and Technology, Mr B.J. Habibie.