Golkar, PKB sign coalition accord<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB) signed a
\ncoalition agreement on Friday, but doubts remain if the alliance
\nwould boost their candidates' chance of winning the July 5
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
The accord was signed by the chairmen of the two parties --
\nAkbar Tandjung of the Golkar Party and Alwi Shihab of PKB.<\/p>\n
\"This coalition will unite visions, missions, and programs in
\nthe executive and the legislative branches and state institutions
\nat the national level,\" said the declaration, read out by actress
\nNurul Arifin, who ran as a Golkar candidate in the April 5
\nlegislative election, but did not gain a seat.<\/p>\n
\"We will unite actions to help Golkar's presidential and vice
\npresidential pairing Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid, who are fully
\nsupported by PKB, win the presidential election,\" the declaration
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The PKB decided to forge an alliance with Golkar after the
\nGeneral Elections Commission (KPU) disqualified Abdurrahman \"Gus
\nDur\" Wahid from the country's first direct presidential election
\non July 5.<\/p>\n
Golkar, which won 24 million votes in the April 5 legislative
\nelection, has named rights campaigner Solahuddin Wahid as the
\nvice presidential candidate of Wiranto, who had been accused of
\ngross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999. PKB garnered
\n12 million votes in the same election.<\/p>\n
Akbar said he was happy with the written agreement supporting
\nthe Wiranto-Solahuddin pairing and that Gus Dur had also given
\nhis written support.<\/p>\n
Alwi, meanwhile, expressed the hope that the coalition would
\nresult in long-lasting and solid cooperation.<\/p>\n
However, just as Akbar and Alwi signed the accord, the
\nprovincial chairman of PKB in Medan, North Sumatra said that the
\ncoalition was not in line with the agreement reached in a
\nnational working meeting.<\/p>\n
Antara reported from Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) on
\nFriday that all regional and branch leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama
\n(NU) and leaders of 60 Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) in
\nthe province had agreed to support the pairing of Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi in the upcoming election.<\/p>\n
Provincial NU chairman Syaiful Muslim said the agreement was
\nmade during a meeting that ended on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
\"The agreement to support the Megawati-Hasyim pairing is the
\nindividual decision of each NU leader, but the leaders of the 60
\npesantren represent their institutions,\" Syaiful said.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, 120 NU ulemas from Java and Sumatra also pledged
\ntheir support for Megawati and Hasyim.<\/p>\n
Reports said earlier that virtually all NU leaders in East
\nJava, the stronghold of the country's largest Muslim country, had
\nalso thrown their support behind the pair.<\/p>\n
Almost 80 percent of the 12 million votes that PKB, which was
\nset up by NU leaders ahead of the 1999 general election, garnered
\nin the legislative election came from East Java.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, young PKB politician Bara Hasibuan tendered his
\nresignation on Friday due to disappointment over the party's
\ndecision to support Wiranto.<\/p>\n
\"I consider the current election a critical time for this
\ncountry to nominate credible leadership, otherwise we will never
\nmove forward.<\/p>\n
\"I do understand that the PKB has been in a difficult
\nsituation after the KPU disqualified its main candidate, but I
\ndon't think it should have to support Golkar's candidates,\" Bara
\ntold The Jakarta Post<\/p>\n
He also said that many PKB members were of the same opinion,
\nbut did not divulge any names.<\/p>\n
PKB had earlier nominated Gus Dur and Marwah Daud Ibrahim as
\ntheir candidates, but KPU disqualified Gus Dur due to his poor
\neyesight. The party has not appointed a replacement, while Gus
\nDur had vowed to stay out of the system.<\/p>\n
\"I wish that the PKB would support any other figure but
\nWiranto... his past is such heavy baggage for the country,\" said
\nBara, referring to allegations of rights abuses against the
\nretired four-star Army general.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/golkar-pkb-sign-coalition-accord-1447893297",
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