By Max Lane
Dita Sari has accepted an invitation by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor to tour Australia. The theme of the tour will be "Freedom in Indonesia, Free East Timor". Dita's party, the People's Democratic Party (PRD), and the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggles (FNPBI), of which Dita is chairperson, unconditionally support East Timor's right to self-determination.
The tour precedes the UN vote on independence in East Timor, and the following two months will be a period of intensified struggle in Indonesia, over the presidency. Also during this period, the FNPBI will be campaigning to expand its membership and gain coverage of new factories and workplaces.
Dita will speak on all these issues and will also be campaigning for the release of PRD leader Budiman Sujatmiko and other imprisoned party members.
Dita will speak in Perth on August 9; Adelaide, August 11; Melbourne, August 12; Hobart, August 14; Sydney, August 16; Canberra, August 18; Lismore, August 19; Brisbane, August 20; and Darwin, August 22.
Romawaty Sinaga, head of the international department of the FNPBI, will also tour Australia between August 1 and September 10, as a guest of ASIET. Romawaty Sinaga will be accompanying Dita Sari in Sydney and Melbourne, and will also visit Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Wollongong and Newcastle for discussions with trade unionists and solidarity activists.