Three refuse to join Golkar executive board<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Less than 48 hours after the lineup of the new
\nGolkar executive board was announced, three people have already
\nrefused to join.<\/p>\n
Newly-elected Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said Indra
\nBambang Utojo, Didit Hariyadi and Salim Said had decided not to
\naccept their respective appointments because they believed they
\ncould not commit themselves fully to Golkar.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who is also Minister\/State Secretary, regretted their
\ndecisions but maintained that they would not affect his
\nleadership which, he believed, was already backed up by a solid
\nteam to carry out Golkar's programs.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't expect them to decline the posts, I wanted to
\nmobilize all Golkar forces,\" Akbar told journalists after meeting
\nwith President B.J. Habibie in the Bina Graha presidential
\noffice.<\/p>\n
Golkar's three day extraordinary congress elected Akbar
\nchairman of the grouping on Saturday. Akbar defeated former
\nminister of defense and security affairs Gen. (ret.) Edi
\nSudradjat in the election.<\/p>\n
In an apparent bid to consolidate support and accommodate his
\nrivals Akbar then expanded the executive board from 45 members to
\n138.<\/p>\n
\"I was really looking forward to everybody's support because I
\nbelieve that after the congress there should no longer be any
\ndifferences between us,\" Akbar remarked.<\/p>\n
Dislike<\/p>\n
Indra was offered the position of deputy secretary-general,
\none of 13 such posts on the new board. Didit was named as one of
\nthe six people charged with guiding the party to victory in next
\nyear's general election. Both men were known for their close
\nrelations with the family of former president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"From what I can understand from the statements issued by
\nIndra and Didit there was no indication that they disapproved of
\nmy leadership. I have the impression that they just felt
\nuncomfortable with the executive board,\" Akbar noted.<\/p>\n
Akbar acknowledged that he announced the lineup of Golkar's
\nexecutive board on Sunday before he had undertaken sufficient
\nconsultation with all 137 people he had chosen.<\/p>\n
\"My time was very limited. I only had 3.5 hours and so I did
\nnot have enough time to contact all of them,\" Akbar explained.<\/p>\n
Salim Said, a well known military analyst, refused the post of
\ncoordinator of Golkar's research and development department.<\/p>\n
\"I feel that I'm not a politician. I'm a political observer,
\nI'm a political scholar and a political commentator. I want to
\nremain independent,\" Salim told journalists yesterday.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters after attending a ceremony to install
\nthe new Jakarta Military Commander here yesterday, Salim said his
\nrefusal had nothing to do with the new leadership.<\/p>\n
\"Although I support Golkar's aspirations, namely to be a
\nmodern party and an all-Indonesian party, I do not want to be
\nincluded in the executive board's lineup,\" Salim remarked.<\/p>\n
The number of people refusing posts on the board could
\nincrease further.<\/p>\n
Deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights
\nMarzuki Darusman, who was named as a deputy secretary general in
\nthe new lineup, said he needed a few more days before deciding
\nwhether or not to accept the appointment.<\/p>\n
\"I still have to decide if my inclusion was for the right
\nreasons,\" he told The Jakarta Post last night. He said he hoped
\nhe had been offered the post because of the Golkar leadership's
\ndesire to institute change and reform. (prb\/ivy\/byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/three-refuse-to-join-golkar-executive-board-1447893297",
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