Candidates woo NU vote in E. Java<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Surabaya<\/p>\n
The presidential election campaign will kick-off Tuesday, marking
\na new departure in the nation's history as it attempts to put its
\nlong history of authoritarian governments behind it following the
\n1998 resignation of Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Five pairs of presidential\/vice presidential hopefuls have
\nemerged to contest the July 5 election. They include former Armed
\nForces commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto, who has teamed up with a
\nsenior leader of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Solahuddin Wahid,
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is paired with NU chairman
\nHasyim Muzadi, national assembly speaker Amien Rais, who is
\npaired with former transmigration minister Siswono Yudohusodo,
\nformer top security minister Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
\nwho is paired with former coordinating minister for people's
\nwelfare Jusuf Kalla and Vice President Hamzah Haz, who has joined
\nforces with former minister of transportation Gen. (ret) Agum
\nGumelar.<\/p>\n
They are running in the presidential race under the banners of
\nthe Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI-P), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Democratic Party
\nand the United Development Party (PPP) respectively.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the start of the official campaign period, some poll
\ncontenders visited East Java on Sunday in an apparent attempt to
\nwoo the support of NU followers. The province is the stronghold
\nof the country's largest Muslim organization.<\/p>\n
Wiranto attended a mass prayer meeting at the Al-Ghoziny
\nMuslim boarding school in Buduran district, Sidoarjo regency,
\nwhere he also met National Awakening Party (PKB) chief patron
\nAbdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid for the first time since the party
\nofficially announced its support for Wiranto's presidential bid
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
Wiranto's running mate Solahuddin Wahid, meanwhile, visited
\nthe East Java chairman of the hard-line Muslim group, the Islamic
\nDefenders Front, Habib Abdurrahman Assegaf, in his boarding
\nschool in Pasuruan to ask for his support.<\/p>\n
NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi spent his weekend in Surabaya
\nattending the ground-breaking ceremony for the NU's new East Java
\noffice. Hasyim donated Rp 1 billion toward the project, which is
\nexpected to cost the NU Rp 12 billion.<\/p>\n
His running mate, Megawati, was in Bogor, West Java, on
\nSunday, but she sent her daughter Puan Maharani on a trip to
\nJombang, where she visited the Chasbullah Bahrul Ulum Islamic
\nboarding school. Puan asked the students of the school to support
\nher mother's bid.<\/p>\n
The people will, for the first time ever, elect their top
\nleaders directly after this power was vested for almost half a
\ncentury in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as the
\nhighest lawmaking body and the receptacle of the people's
\nsovereignty.<\/p>\n
During Soeharto's 32-year-long New Order regime, the MPR
\nconvened once every five years with huge fanfare to reelect the
\nautocrat as president.<\/p>\n
With the demise of the New Order regime, the lawmaking body
\nswiftly amended the Constitution, paving the way for direct
\npresidential elections.<\/p>\n
Given the dominant role of the old political forces, however,
\nthere is no guarantee that those who win the election will heed
\nthe people's wishes.<\/p>\n
The Megawati-Hasyim ticket, which is touted as a blending of
\nthe Islamic and nationalist camps, appears to be little more than
\na ploy to secure short-term gains, critics say.<\/p>\n
Megawati herself will have little to campaign about in the
\nrun-up to the poll given the little progress she made during her
\nthree-year stint as president.<\/p>\n
The voters punished her in the April 5 legislative election
\nwith the PDI-P garnering only 18.35 percent of the vote, almost
\nhalf its 1999 showing of 33 percent.<\/p>\n
The Susilo-Kalla ticket, although considered the front-runner
\nin the race so far, apparently lacks resources, with the nascent
\nDemocratic Party owing much to Susilo's charisma.<\/p>\n
The Amien-Siswono ticket, supported by six small parties,
\nlacks a strong grass-roots base. Although the pair have declared
\nwar on corruption, collusion and nepotism, the voters are wary of
\nAmien's penchant for wily maneuvering.<\/p>\n
The Hamzah-Agum ticket also lacks a wide base, with support
\nfor this pairing probably not extending far beyond the ranks of
\nPPP voters.<\/p>\n
The Wiranto-Solahuddin ticket is perhaps the oddest of them
\nall. A retired general, Wiranto has been accused of committing
\ngross human rights violation while Solahuddin is known as a
\nrights campaigner after a stint in the leadership of the National
\nCommission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).<\/p>",
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