Susilo to name Jusuf Kalla as running mate<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta\/Makassar<\/p>\n
Leading Presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono revealed
\non Saturday that he would choose Coordinating Minister for
\nPeople's Welfare Jusuf Kalla as his running mate for the July 5
\nelection, making him the first to name a vice presidential
\ncandidate.<\/p>\n
Susilo said Jusuf Kalla, one of six top Golkar figures vying
\nfor the party's presidential slot during Tuesday's convention,
\nhad agreed to become his vice presidential candidate in the
\ncountry's first-ever direct presidential election.<\/p>\n
"Insya Allah (God willing) I will team up with him (Jusuf
\nKalla)," Susilo said in Yogyakarta on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Jusuf Kalla could not be reached for comment on Saturday, but
\nin an interview with Elshinta radio station on Saturday, the
\nminister revealed that he would announce on Sunday that he would
\npull out of the Golkar Convention and the Cabinet.<\/p>\n
"Tomorrow, I will announce my decision," Jusuf Kalla said,
\nadding that his resignation from the Cabinet was mandatory under
\nthe election law.<\/p>\n
Press reports said earlier that he would withdraw from the
\nGolkar Convention and run for the vice presidential post in the
\nJuly 5 election under the Democrat Party's flag.<\/p>\n
Recent opinion polls showed that Susilo, the presidential
\ncandidate to be nominated by the Democrat Party, and Jusuf Kalla
\ntopped the list of presidential and vice presidential pairs.<\/p>\n
A survey conducted by Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicated from April 10
\nto 14 revealed that 43 percent of 5,000 respondents nationwide
\nwould vote for Susilo, compared to incumbent President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri's with a meager 20.5 percent. For the vice
\npresidential seat, Jusuf Kalla got 20.5 percent, compared to the
\nleader of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Hidayat Nurwahid's
\n15.78 percent.<\/p>\n
"I have met Pak Jusuf Kalla ... and we have the same
\ncommitment and ideas on how to establish a more effective
\ngovernment that can settle problems facing the country in the
\nnext five years," Susilo said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung shrugged off the
\nplanned resignation of Jusuf Kalla from the party convention,
\nsaying it would not make any difference.<\/p>\n
"There is no problem if he wants to quit the convention. It's
\nhis right," Akbar, one of the party's presidential hopefuls, said
\nin Makassar, South Sulawesi on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He, however, emphasized that Jusuf Kalla's nomination as vice
\npresidential candidate from the Democrat Party did not represent
\nGolkar.<\/p>\n
Akbar said Golkar's final candidates would be chosen in the
\nApril 20 convention, Tuesday.<\/p>\n
"If Jusuf Kalla wants to run with Susilo, it's his right. But
\nhe is not Golkar's candidate because the official candidate will
\nbe decided in the convention," he said.<\/p>\n
He expressed optimism that Golkar would still get strong
\nsupport from South Sulawesi even though Jusuf Kalla, a successful
\nbusinessman from the province, is effectively turning his back on
\nthe party and its convention.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the reeling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI-P) announced on Saturday that it had picked two names on a
\nshortlist for Megawati's running mate in the July 5 presidential
\nelection.<\/p>\n
PDI-P deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung said Megawati
\nalready had the two names but declined to reveal them.<\/p>\n
Speculation was rife that Megawati, whose party garnered only
\n19.57 percent of over 90 million votes counted in the provisional
\ntally of the legislative election, down from around 34 percent in
\n1999 election, had tabbed Jusuf Kalla or United Development Party
\n(PPP) leader and current vice president Hamzah Haz as her running
\nmate.<\/p>",
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