Tutut may join presidential race<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former president Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti \"Tutut\"
\nHardiyanti Rukmana has been asked to run for the presidency in
\nnext year election, a move that could pave the way for the return
\nof the old forces onto the country's political stage.<\/p>\n
Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB) chairman Gen.
\n(ret) Raden Hartono asked Tutut on Wednesday to become his
\nparty's sole torch bearer, claiming that people across the
\ncountry wanted her to run.<\/p>\n
\"People from Aceh to Papua want Mbak Tutut to run,\" said
\nHartono, who once served as information minister during
\nSoeharto's 32 years of iron-fisted leadership.<\/p>\n
The PKPB is one of the six new parties declared eligible to
\ncontest the legislative elections on April 5, 2004. The party
\nmust get five percent of the total vote, or three percent of the
\nseats in the House of Representatives, before it can field a
\ncandidate in the country's first ever direct presidential
\nelection in July.<\/p>\n
Tutut, once groomed by Soeharto to take over the national
\nleadership, did not immediately accept the invitation, saying
\nthat her abilities had not been tested yet.<\/p>\n
\"It is not easy to become president. It is a tough job. I have
\nto see whether I am good enough and whether the people want me to
\nlead them,\" Tutut said in words reminiscent of her father's to
\nthe cheering crowd, which seemed to have forgotten that the
\ncountry deposed her father from the presidency just five years
\nago after more than three decades in power.<\/p>\n
Should the 54-year old businesswoman and former Golkar leader
\naccept the offer, she will end up competing with President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, a daughter of founding president Sukarno.
\nMegawati has been renominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nof Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
Tutut served as a Golkar deputy chairwoman from 1993 through
\n1998.<\/p>\n
Her appointment as social affairs minister in 1998, along with
\nSoeharto's crony Muhammad \"Bob\" Hassan as trade and industry
\nminister, was one of the factors that stirred massive protests
\nacross the country that led to the downfall of Soeharto on May
\n20, 1998.<\/p>\n
It was Tutut who held Soeharto's hand and escorted him to his
\ncar after announcing his resignation from the presidency.<\/p>\n
Soon after Soeharto's resignation, Tutut and her siblings, as
\nwell as their cronies, faced criminal charge of corruption for
\nallegedly amassing enormous wealth during Soeharto's decades in
\npower.<\/p>\n
Tutut's younger brother, Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra, is
\ncurrently serving a 15-year jail term in the maximum security
\npenitentiary of Nusa Kambangan, Central Java, for masterminding
\nthe killing of one of the Supreme Court judges who sent him to
\njail for corruption.<\/p>\n
Only recently, the Attorney General's Office issued a ruling
\nhalting investigation of alleged defrauding by Tutut of US$31.9
\nmillion belonging to state-owned oil company Pertamina.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN) has also
\ndeclared her to be a cooperative debtor after she settled the
\ndebts owed by Yama Bank to the state.<\/p>\n
Tutut refused to be interviewed by the press after addressing
\nmembers of the PKPB, and left the venue immediately after she
\ndelivered her speech.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said Wednesday that
\nthe move by the PKPB to nominate Tutut would not affect Golkar.<\/p>\n
Akbar said the PKPB must win at least 5 percent of the vote or
\nthree percent of the seats in the House of Representatives to be
\nable to field Tutut in the presidential election.<\/p>\n
\"To nominate is a party's right. But, every party must fulfill
\nthe requirements before nominating a candidate to run in the
\npresidential elections,\" he told the press here.<\/p>\n
Akbar added that his party would not be affected by the
\nnomination of Tutut because Golkar's supporters were loyal
\nvoters.<\/p>\n
\"I am convinced that Hartono's maneuver won't affect Golkar,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tutut-may-join-presidential-race-1447893297",
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