'Dirty' convention could hurt Golkar's candidate<\/p>\n
Jusuf Wanandi, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was a dream that turned into a nightmare, watching the two-
\nstage elections of the presidential candidate at the April 20
\nGolkar Party convention.<\/p>\n
In the first round, Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung won, ahead of
\nGen. (ret.) Wiranto by 10 votes (147 against 137 votes).
\nMeanwhile, Aburizal Bakrie, thought to be an ally of Akbar for
\nhaving crafted a written agreement with him, got 118 votes; and
\nPrabowo, Wiranto's arch-enemy, got 39. Their combined votes would
\nhave come to 304. Wiranto, together with his ally, Surya Paloh,
\nwould have only got 214 votes. It's not surprising many observers
\nthought the second round would be a walkover for Akbar.<\/p>\n
But within half-an-hour everything changed. In the second
\nround Wiranto won, with 315 votes against Akbar's 227 votes.<\/p>\n
Speculation has it this happened for two reasons. One is vote
\nbuying. Many knew about the money at the conference so this is
\nnot an assumption. And apparently the vote buying involved a lot
\nof money.<\/p>\n
Then there is the change of heart of Aburizal's supporters
\nfrom Akbar to Wiranto, perhaps because of money or because
\nAburizal threw his weight behind Wiranto. Probably, both reasons
\nwere equally significant.<\/p>\n
I contest the view of Kristiadi, a colleague of mine at the
\nCentre for Strategic International Studies, who called the change
\nof heart as a call from the conscience. That is simply false. It
\nwas money politics at play and a shift of alliance by a trusted
\npartner of Akbar.<\/p>\n
Kristiadi thought Akbar was defeated by his arrogance and
\nfailure to get the votes at the grassroots -- the regional
\nrepresentatives. He failed to recognize Akbar's efforts in
\nreforming a Golkar damaged for so long by Soeharto through
\ncorruption and money politics. Akbar had tried very hard for five
\nyears to change, reform and consolidate the party into a
\nrespectable one.<\/p>\n
Now, because of what happened during the national convention,
\nthere is only one way to go for the party -- down. This time
\nGolkar won the legislative elections but it will not mean much
\nfor the future of the party, which has now become embroiled in
\ncorruption of incredible magnitude. That is Akbar's deepest
\nregret. His modest achievement in reforming Golkar was totally
\nwiped out by money politics.<\/p>\n
The idea of the convention might have been a good one but it
\nopened the way for vote buying to do great damage to the party.
\nMy earlier assessment Golkar could reform and would become the
\nhope of the future for Indonesia has been completely shattered by
\nthis convention.<\/p>\n
In the coming presidential election, it is still not certain
\nGolkar will be united in its support for Wiranto. As a statesman,
\nAkbar has appealed to party members to support Wiranto but it is
\nuncertain whether that appeal will be followed. This is because
\nWiranto has never been one of Golkar's party members and has only
\nbeen involved in the party for about a year. Why should Golkar
\nmembers be loyal to him?<\/p>\n
Many in groups in Indonesia are shocked about the result of
\nthe convention. Their agenda now is to prevent Wiranto from
\nbecoming president. They think that somebody so close to Soeharto
\nand who had been so high in the Armed Forces hierarchy, could not
\nchange his terms of reference and ideas.<\/p>\n
On top of that, there is Wiranto's alleged command
\nresponsibility over the many abuses of power by the troops under
\nhim -- in East Timor and in Jakarta (the riots in May 1998, the
\nstudent protests of 1999 and 2000), which will sooner or later
\ncatch up with him. Looking at his entourage and close supporters,
\nespecially those former military members, it is hard to imagine
\nhe could or would change if he ever became president.<\/p>\n
Many think under Wiranto, political freedom would be
\nsacrificed for stability. They also suspect Wiranto is
\nfinancially backed by the Soeharto family and former cronies.<\/p>\n
These anti-Wiranto groups could mobilize. A concerted effort
\non their part in cooperation with the media, students, other
\npolitical parties, solidarity groups and mass organizations could
\nreach out to the grassroots to influence them against Wiranto's
\nelection. We should hope this indeed becomes the case because the
\nIndonesian people do not deserve this setback after so many years
\nof crisis and uncertainty.<\/p>\n
The writer is Co-founder and Member of the Board of Trustees
\nof the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).<\/p>",
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