Golkar gives Habibie 'conditional' support<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said on Wednesday
\nthe ruling party would continue its support for B.J. Habibie's
\npresidential nomination if the People's Consultative Assembly
\naccepted his account of his leadership for the past year.<\/p>\n
While stressing that Golkar's support for Habibie remains
\nsolid, Akbar said the party would continue to campaign for his
\npresidency only if the Assembly accepted Habibie's accountability
\nreport for the time since he took office in May last year from
\nfallen president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Akbar's statement, which constituted the first clearly worded
\nqualification for Habibie's candidacy, was a reverse of his
\nearlier unconditional support for the incumbent president. Akbar
\nhad previously hinted at the possibility of reviewing Golkar's
\nsupport for Habibie, but had not given firm conditions.<\/p>\n
Habibie's chances, Akbar said, \"will depend greatly on his
\nability to carry out the tasks he received from the MPR\".<\/p>\n
The special session of the People's Consultative Assembly in
\nNovember last year handed Habibie a number of tasks, including
\nlaunching thorough investigations into alleged corruption by
\nSoeharto and his cronies. Eight months after the mandate was
\ngiven, however, no results of the probe were forthcoming.<\/p>\n
\"So far Golkar is still committed to carrying out the decision
\nof the Golkar leadership meeting: the presidential nomination of
\nB.J. Habibie,\" Akbar said in a media briefing at his office on
\nWednesday, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who served as state secretary under Habibie until May
\nand state minister for public housing under Soeharto, said Golkar
\nwill push Habibie to execute all of the decrees of the MPR,
\nincluding the one on Soeharto's alleged corruption.<\/p>\n
He also warned Habibie's Cabinet members to work optimally
\nbecause their performance will also affect Habibie's chances. In
\naddition, Golkar would intensify its campaign to convince other
\npolitical parties to accept Habibie's account and support his
\nnomination.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar's acceptance of his accountability will facilitate
\nHabibie's further steps, but a rejection will complicate his next
\nsteps,\" Akbar said.<\/p>\n
Habibie invited Golkar executives and advisers, including the
\ncontroversial chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA) A.A.
\nBaramuli, to his residence on Sunday night in a bid to end
\ngrowing conflicts between Akbar's camp and his own inner circle.<\/p>\n
According to Akbar, Baramuli, who had previously campaigned to
\nunseat him, desperately tried in Sunday's meeting to assure Akbar
\nthat the campaign was launched because of \"his love for me\".<\/p>\n
Baramuli conceded he had persuaded 14 of the 27 provincial
\nchapters to demand that Akbar hold an extraordinary congress
\nwhere he would have been expected to admit his failure to control
\nhis deputy, Marzuki Darusman, who is known to be critical of
\nHabibie's nomination. The motion for an extraordinary congress
\nwas dropped in Sunday's meeting.<\/p>\n
Akbar said he had to trust Baramuli's explanation because of
\nhis respectable position as the President's supreme adviser.<\/p>\n
\"I do not know the real situation, but I have to trust
\nBaramuli as DPA chairman,\" Akbar said.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said after the meeting that Baramuli had clarified his
\nposition and had no hard feelings toward Baramuli, whose name has
\nbeen closely linked with the Bank Bali scandal. (prb)<\/p>",
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