Factions warn legislators against backing Emil Salim<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Faction leaders in the People's Consultative
\nAssembly cautioned their members yesterday against voting for
\nsenior economist Emil Salim in the vice presidential election
\nnext month.<\/p>\n
Golkar deputy chairman Abdul Gafur said punitive measures
\nwould await anyone from the ruling political group who dissented
\nfrom the party line and supported Emil.<\/p>\n
However Gafur refused to go into details about the possible
\npunishments.<\/p>\n
\"A Golkar plenary meeting has decided to name one vice
\npresidential candidate, B.J. Habibie. The decision must be obeyed
\nat all costs,\" Gafur said.<\/p>\n
Golkar chairman Harmoko and the leader of Golkar's Assembly
\nteam, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, expressed their guarded confidence
\nthat all of the faction's 588 members would vote for Habibie.<\/p>\n
Unlike Gafur, however, Harmoko did not threaten any penalties,
\nsaying that he would question rebels before meting out
\npunishment.<\/p>\n
\"I have repeatedly said that we, Golkar, have renominated
\nPresident Soeharto and chosen B.J. Habibie. There are no other
\nnames, and I believe all Golkar cadres will comply with the
\norganization's line.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar cadres' allegiance is beyond all doubt, so don't start
\npolemics pitting Habibie against Emil,\" Harmoko said.<\/p>\n
The chief of the United Development Party (PPP) faction Jusuf
\nSyakir and his Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) counterpart,
\nButtu Hutapea, were also confident their members would throw
\ntheir full weight behind Habibie.<\/p>\n
The leaders of the two minority factions said opposition to
\nthe decision to support Habibie would be considered a violation
\nof the statutes of the respective political parties.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Research and Technology Habibie's election
\nas the next vice president is almost certain, thanks to the
\nunanimous support from all five factions in the Assembly.<\/p>\n
The factions -- the dominant Golkar and its allies the Armed
\nForces and regional representatives, and PPP and PDI -- have also
\nall renominated incumbent President Soeharto for his seventh
\nconsecutive term.<\/p>\n
A group of activists from various non-governmental
\norganizations have been trying to swim against the current,
\nhowever, by nominating Emil, a Golkar member and former cabinet
\nminister who helped the New Order restore the country's economy.<\/p>\n
The campaign, which many people consider doomed to fail given
\nthe absence of formal support from any faction, has grown in
\nstature because it has received the support of several prominent
\npeople, including senior economist Sumitro Djojohadikusumo.<\/p>\n
Gafur said yesterday that Golkar would welcome other people
\nwishing to support Emil's nomination but reiterated that Golkar's
\nchoice of Habibie was final.<\/p>\n
The election of the vice president will wrap up the General
\nSession of the 1,000-member Assembly from Mar. 1 to Mar. 11.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar, Jusuf and Buttu also played down yesterday the
\npossibility that any of their team members would interrupt the
\nAssembly's proceedings. In Indonesian politics, the interruption
\nof an MPR session by members, either to ask questions or raise
\nobjections, is considered a faux pas, even a taboo.<\/p>\n
The last interruption, which made headlines for days, was by
\nBrig. Gen. Ibrahim Saleh of the Armed Forces faction just before
\nthe 1988 General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
\nwas to elect the vice president. Ibrahim was later dismissed from
\nthe faction.<\/p>\n
\"Insya Allah (God willing) nobody will interrupt the
\nconvention. I have a feeling that Golkar is a solid team,\"
\nGinandjar said after presiding over a Golkar leadership meeting.<\/p>\n
He said he would brief Golkar legislators about the party's
\nstance in all matters dealing with the general session of the
\nAssembly.<\/p>\n
\"You know, we are a big team. Everybody must be well informed
\nabout the rules and their respective duties,\" Ginandjar said.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Golkar's business wing Kosgoro, Bambang W.
\nSoeharto, said yesterday that he had instructed all the
\norganization's 80 members who hold seats in the Assembly not to
\nplow their own furrow during the General Session.<\/p>\n
\"We are not crazy enough to go against the Golkar's decision
\non the vice presidential nomination,\" Bambang told a media
\nconference at the Kosgoro secretariat in Menteng subdistrict,
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He dismissed rumors that Kosgoro's Assembly legislators would
\ninterrupt the vice presidential election.<\/p>\n
Instead, he announced Kosgoro's support for Habibie.<\/p>\n
\"I clarify that Kosgoro will always go along with Golkar's
\npolicies, including on Habibie's vice presidential nomination,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said Kosgoro had originally excluded Habibie from its list
\nof four vice presidential candidates. The initial rooster
\ncomprised incumbent Try Sutrisno, Coordinating Minister for
\nProduction and Distribution Hartarto, Harmoko and Ginandjar.
\n(imn\/amd)<\/p>",
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