Akbar under pressure to drop bid<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana and La Remmy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Central Sulawesi<\/p>\n
The pressure was turned up another notch on Golkar Party Chairman
\nAkbar Tandjung to quit his presidential candidacy as a former
\nGolkar leader said it would just hurt the party.<\/p>\n
Moestahid Astari, former deputy secretary general of Golkar
\nParty, said that Akbar's candidacy would be fruitless as he was
\nalready convicted in a Rp 40 billion (US$8.8 million) corruption
\ncase.<\/p>\n
That conviction will prevent Akbar from getting a letter of
\ngood conduct from the police, an administrative requirement set
\nby the party for all party figures wanting to vie for the first-
\never direct presidential election.<\/p>\n
"The letter of good conduct will be one of stumbling blocks
\nfor Akbar. I am not sure whether the police will give him a
\nletter of good conduct in the near future, on the grounds that he
\nhas already been convicted in the corruption case," said
\nMoestahid.<\/p>\n
Akbar is appealing to the Supreme Court to reject the decision
\nof the Central Jakarta District Court, later upheld by the High
\nCourt, which sentenced him to three years imprisonment for his
\ninvolvement in the misuse of National Logistic Agency (Bulog)
\nfunds worth 40 billion that was supposed to be disbursed to help
\nthe needy under the social safety net program (JPS) in 1998.<\/p>\n
Activist Bambang Widjojanto shared a similar view with
\nMoestahid and said that the police should have the courage to say
\nno to Akbar if he requests the letter of good conduct.<\/p>\n
"The police should uphold equality before the law. Akbar must
\nbe treated the same as other convicts, moreover he committed an
\nextraordinary corruption crime," said Bambang in a reference to
\nanyone who has tried to apply for a government job who were
\nsuspected of connections with the banned Indonesian Communist
\nParty (PKI). The relatives of suspected former PKI members have,
\nfor the past 35 years, been rejected by the police who refuse to
\nauthorize a letter of good conduct.<\/p>\n
Golkar is inviting a group of well-know public figures to take
\npart in a convention scheduled for February to choose one
\ncandidate to contend for the presidential election.<\/p>\n
Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid and Surya Paloh, two of
\na number of figures proposed to take part, were of the same
\nopinion that Akbar should quit his candidacy because it would not
\nbe good for the party's image. Nurcholish said recently that he
\nwould likely quit his candidacy if Akbar went ahead with his
\nambition.<\/p>\n
Despite the legal verdict against him, a majority of Golkar
\nchapters in the provinces and regencies have apparently supported
\nAkbar's candidacy. The newly endorsed law on the presidential
\nelection states that anyone with a criminal record would be
\nbarred from running for president.<\/p>\n
Separately, Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said
\nit was better for Akbar to leave his top post in the party to
\nallow party supporters to assess all candidates fairly.<\/p>\n
The race for president at the convention was getting tighter
\nas more political figures expressed their interest to run.<\/p>\n
As of Friday, nine leading figures had picked up registration
\nforms from the convention's organizing committee.<\/p>\n
Rully Chairul Azwar, deputy secretary of the convention's
\ncommittee, said the nine were Gen. (ret) Wiranto, former chief of
\nthe Indonesian military (TNI), Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto,
\nTuty Alawiyah, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, businessman Aburizal
\nBakrie, Hayono Suyono, Nurcholish Madjid, Jusuf Kalla and Marwah
\nDaud Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
The last candidate who took the registration form was Marwah
\nDaud Ibrahim who was nominated by Golkar delegates from the
\ncountry's eastern regions.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/akbar-under-pressure-to-drop-bid-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}