Golkar vote may be at risk in S. Sulawesi<\/p>\n
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post,Makassar, South Sulawesi<\/p>\n
South Sulawesi has for decades a Golkar haven in terms of
\ngarnering votes, consistently gaining well over 50 percent of the
\nvote. The party can count on its loyalists here to win both the
\ngeneral election and the presidency -- as long as the party
\nleadership heeds the tendency toward pragmatism and the ethnic
\nsentiments of its supporters.<\/p>\n
Golkar's conviction that it can still win the hearts of most
\nof South Sulawesi's five million eligible voters is largely based
\non the view that it is only Golkar which has delivered on its
\npromises -- even though others may say it has never had real
\ncompetition.<\/p>\n
But sources say Golkar may not win if chairman Akbar Tandjung
\nis named the party's presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
A number of regency offices of the Golkar Party, a provincial
\nexecutive of the party said, \"have said they would not support
\nAkbar Tandjung in his bid for the presidency\".<\/p>\n
The executive, who declined to be named, confirmed assessments
\nhere that the party might even lose many potential votes if Akbar
\nwas named Golkar's presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
Golkar loyalists are also proud of locals who have made it to
\nthe top. And a leading son of the province, former president B.J.
\nHabibie, is perceived to have been betrayed by Akbar.<\/p>\n
This is a main reason for locals' distancing themselves from
\nGolkar apart from the fact that Akbar was charged with
\nmisappropriating Rp 40 billion in state funds, though he has been
\nacquitted by the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The speaker of the legislature is also perceived to have
\nstepped on the toes of fellow contenders in Golkar's convention,
\nparticularly a leading woman from South Sulawesi, Marwah Daud.<\/p>\n
But it was Habibie who raised the province to national
\nstature. As former president Soeharto's closest aide, he
\nsucceeded the latter as the country's first non-Javanese
\npresident from East Indonesia, where people felt marginalized
\nunder a government that had gobbled up a larger part of the
\nbenefits from their natural resources.<\/p>\n
The former Golkar patron also played a crucial role in
\nbringing Islam to the center of the political arena.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month supporters of the provincial branch of the
\nMuslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) began a movement to
\ncollect a million signatures to support Habibie for the
\npresidency.<\/p>\n
Golkar's main contenders are the Muslim-oriented parties in
\nthe predominantly Muslim province. The new United Democratic
\nNationhood Party (PPDK) also has potential -- it champions
\nregional autonomy and its founders are other natives of South
\nSulawesi -- former minister of regional autonomy Ryaas Rasyid and
\npolitical scholar Andi Alifian Mallarangeng.<\/p>\n
But apart from the Akbar and Habibie factor, Golkar plays the
\ncultural card well, drawing loyalty through the local party elite
\nwho are nobility.<\/p>\n
So while everyone else heaped criticism on Golkar the day
\nSoeharto ended his 32-year rule, in South Sulawesi the party
\nstill won 66.5 percent of the vote in 1999, though a significant
\ndrop from the 90 percent it gained in the 1997 polls.<\/p>\n
The party will gain immensely from the direct system of voting
\ngiven the large number of old-timers among its 28 legislative
\ncandidates from South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Golkar would have much more potential in South Sulawesi if
\nJusuf Kalla, another leading native and coordinating minister for
\npeople's welfare, is named its presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, votes from the province might drift to another
\nrival party courting Jusuf -- which at this stage may be the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).<\/p>",
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