JAKARTA, 31 July 2000 - Chairman of the Golkar Party Akbar Tandjung suspected on Monday that the burning of the party's flags perpetrated by student protesters was premeditated so as to put pressure on the party."There are strong indications...that (certain) people took the initiative on July 27 in burning Golkar party flags," he said in front of party cadres in Semarang, Central Java.

Dozens of Golkar flags were burned during demonstrations in Jakarta last week. The student protesters demanded that the party to be dissolved on account of its past mistakes.He added that the pressure on Golkar would continue and therefore asked all cadres to remain on the alert and, if possible, to avoid anti-Golkar groups putting physical pressure on the party's supporters.

"We have to react to all such pressure in a rational and objective manner in the hope that people will accept our attitude and our political actions in the future," said Akbar, who is also speaker of the House of Representative.Golkar gained political control during former president Soeharto's military-backed administration. The party was used by the former strongman to prolong his hold on power."Our critical stance is often interpreted as an attempt to unseat Abdurrahman's government," Akbar said as quoted by Antara.

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