Nurcholish withdraws from Golkar convention<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Respected Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid announced his
\nwithdrawal on Wednesday night from the Golkar Party convention to
\nselect presidential candidates after party chairman Akbar
\nTandjung moved to participate in the race.<\/p>\n
"It (Akbar's participation) could spark a conflict of interest
\nand make the convention process unfair," Nurcholish, better known
\nas Cak Nur, told a news conference.<\/p>\n
"This convention has adopted the United States model to
\nrecruit presidential candidates from the grassroots, in which
\nparty executives should not take part in order to prevent undue
\ninfluence and unfairness," he added.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal came hours after Akbar, through his aides,
\npicked up a registration form to participate in the selection
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
Nurcholish has repeatedly warned of his departure from the
\nconvention if Akbar took part.<\/p>\n
Cak Nur, currently rector of Paramadina Mulya University, said
\nthe allegations of rampant money politics involving Golkar
\nmembers in the regions were also behind his withdrawal from the
\nGolkar convention.<\/p>\n
He said that during his visits to Golkar provincial chapters
\nto garner support for his presidential bid, they had demanded
\nmoney to endorse his bid.<\/p>\n
"If I were to do this, it would mean I was violating my own
\nplatform -- good governance," he added.<\/p>\n
Asked about what he would do now regarding his presidential
\nambitions, Cak Nur said he had not yet made a decision.<\/p>\n
However, he said he had won support for his bid from senior
\npolitical party leaders, including Arifin Panigoro from the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Alwi Shihab and
\nSaifullah Yusuf of the National Awakening Party, and Bachtiar
\nChamsyah of the United Development Party.<\/p>\n
Questions over whether or not embattled Golkar chairman Akbar
\nwas a legitimate presidential aspirant were partly answered on
\nWednesday, when his close aides picked up the registration form
\nfor him to join the convention.<\/p>\n
Achmad Dani and Puji Wahono, two of Akbar's aides, went to
\nGolkar headquarters on Wednesday afternoon to pick up the
\nregistration form for Akbar, who was in Garut, West Java,
\nattending a series of party activities.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who has been sentenced to three years in jail for
\ngraft, was the 15th potential candidate to pick up the
\nregistration form by the Wednesday deadline.<\/p>\n
He is free pending a Supreme Court decision on his second
\nappeal; his first appeal to the High Court was turned down.<\/p>\n
Akbar has until Aug. 7 to submit the form to the convention
\ncommittee, together with other supporting documents, including a
\nletter of good conduct from the police.<\/p>\n
Despite the graft conviction, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i
\nBachtiar has hinted that police would issue a letter for Akbar,
\nwhich would verify that his criminal record was clean, arguing
\nthat the court ruling was not yet legally binding.<\/p>\n
The participation of Akbar, an experienced politician, in the
\npresidential race could cause repercussions in the political
\nline-up for the convention.<\/p>\n
Several nominees have threatened to withdraw from the
\nconvention should Akbar, who enjoys wide support from Golkar
\nchapters across the country, decide to join the race.<\/p>\n
Apart from Nurcholish, the nominees include media baron Surya
\nPaloh and Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono X.<\/p>\n
Their withdrawal would not only lighten competition in the
\nrace for Golkar's presidential candidate, but also lower the
\ncredibility of the selection process.<\/p>\n
Golkar, the political bandwagon of former dictator Soeharto
\nfor over three decades, had hoped the convention would help the
\nparty to shed its image as a corrupt political institution. The
\nparticipation of respected scholar Nurcholish had lent much
\ncredibility to the convention.<\/p>\n
At least 20 of the party's 30 provincial chapters had already
\nsubmitted their list of presidential nominees to the convention
\ncommittee by the Wednesday deadline.<\/p>\n
Several nominees were brought forward by the provincial
\nchapters, including former commander of the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI) Gen. (ret) Wiranto, businessman Aburizal Bakrie, media
\nbaron Surya Paloh and Akbar. The chapters that submitted their
\nnominees for Golkar's presidential candidate included Bali,
\nBengkulu, Southeast Sulawesi and Gorontalo.<\/p>\n
Southeast Sulawesi did not include Akbar on their list of
\nnominees, thus joining the four other provincial chapters that do
\nnot support Akbar: South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Yogyakarta
\nand West Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Also on Wednesday, Tuty Alawiyah, a noted Muslim cleric and
\nformer minister of women's empowerment, became the first
\npresidential nominee to return the completed registration form,
\none week before its Aug. 7 deadline.<\/p>\n
Tuty was nominated by several Muslim organizations.<\/p>\n
Separately, 11 nominees are slated to present their
\npresidential platform before Golkar cadres at a function in Medan
\nfrom Aug. 12 to Aug. 13.<\/p>\n
The nominees are: Aburizal Bakrie, Surya Paloh, Hamengkubuwono
\nX, Jusuf Kalla, Prabowo Subianto, Agum Gumelar, Wiranto and
\nformer Cabinet minister Haryono Suyono.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nurcholish-withdraws-from-golkar-convention-1447893297",
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