Golkar Party gives Akbar Tandjung second chance<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Golkar will give its chairman Akbar Tandjung a chance to contest
\nthe national convention, which will elect the party's
\npresidential candidate to run in the 2004 election.<\/p>\n
The executive chairman of the national convention organizing
\ncommittee, Slamet Effendy Yusuf, said on Friday that Akbar can be
\nnominated by either members of Golkar or mass organizations
\naffiliated with the party for the national convention slated for
\nNovember.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who is also the House of Representatives (DPR) speaker,
\nwas sentenced to three years after he was convicted in a Rp 40
\nbillion (US$4.81 million) graft case that took place when he was
\nstate secretary under President B.J. Habibie in 1999. Akbar
\nremains free, pending his appeal to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court expects to hear the appeal in August, when
\nGolkar begins the nomination of presidential hopefuls by the
\nparty's provincial chapters.<\/p>\n
"It depends on whether Akbar is nominated (by the
\norganization) or not," Slamet said after a discussion here on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Separately, Akbar said on Friday that he was undecided whether
\nhe would run for president. He said that as party chairman he
\nwould focus on how to boost Golkar's votes in the 2004 election.<\/p>\n
Slamet said Akbar would not enjoy any privileges in the
\nconvention, despite being the party chairman.<\/p>\n
A group of at least 500 people or a mass organization are
\nallowed to propose presidential candidates to Golkar's regental
\nbranch when the convention process starts up in August. Each
\nbranch is allowed to select five candidates, who will compete in
\nthe convention at a provincial level.<\/p>\n
Each provincial chapter will come with five candidates to the
\nnational convention in Jakarta in November.<\/p>\n
Slamet said the selection process in regental branches was
\npart of Golkar's effort to search for "the best person in the
\nnation" for the presidential race.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, Slamet said that a recent meeting of branch
\noffices in Surakarta, Central Java, selected 17 candidates, three
\nof whom were not Golkar members.<\/p>\n
For that same reason, Slamet said the presidential candidates
\nwould not be restricted to only Golkar figures.<\/p>\n
Based on the Constitution, a presidential hopeful has to be
\nnominated by a political party or a coalition of parties, which
\neffectively closes the door on independent candidates.<\/p>\n
Although some Golkar leaders have mentioned several possible
\npresidential candidates, Slamet said that until Friday the
\nconvention committee had not officially received any names.<\/p>\n
National figures touted as candidates during the convention
\ninclude Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid, Coordinating Minister
\nfor Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
\nMinister of Transportation Agum Gumelar, Yogyakarta Sultan
\nHamengkubuwono X, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
\nJusuf Kalla, media tycoon Surya Paloh, former Indonesian Military
\nchief Gen. (ret) Wiranto and former chief of Army Strategic
\nReserves Command (Kostrad) Prabowo Subianto.<\/p>\n
"The status of these candidates is the same as the candidates
\nthat have not yet been mentioned," Slamet added.<\/p>\n
Political analyst turned politician Andi Mallarangeng hailed
\nGolkar's convention initiative, but said that the agenda should
\nnot pay lip service just to boost the party's image.<\/p>",
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