A few PPP favorites aim to garner support

A few PPP favorites aim to garner support

JAKARTA (JP): The congress of the United Development Party
(PPP) to be held from Nov. 29 through Dec. 3 will be mainly
watched for the emergence of potential leaders. It is in these
people that the PPP will entrust its hopes of survival, and if
possible, gain some leverage among other top public figures
leading other parties.

Among favorite names coming up from PPP provincial chapters
are secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights
Baharuddin Lopa, PPP deputy chairman Jusuf Syakir, State Minister
of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin and State Minister of
Investment/Chairman of the investment Coordinating Board Hamzah
Haz. Others include former PPP chairman and once self-proclaimed
presidential candidate Jaelani Naro.

Chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum, 69, has said that he would not
run again. He has said all names raised by chapters have met his
criteria -- including a sound morality, capability of keeping
this party originating in an amalgation of several organizations
intact, a commitment to maintaining national unity and the
ability "to be a locomotive of reform," Suara Pembaruan afternoon
daily quoted him saying Friday.

Despite being new to the party, Baharuddin Lopa, hailing from
South Sulawesi, is a name familiar to the public, bureaucrats,
prisoners and rights activists because he was former director
general of correctional rehabilitation institutions, and now
known for his advocacy of human rights. Among others he chaired
the Commission's fact-finding team on rights abuses in Aceh,
North Sumatra and now chairs the party's experts council.

Many PPP figures warmly welcomed Lopa, 63, when he decided to
join the party this year, not only because of his career but also
because of his frankness, honesty and dedication. Lopa is also
now known for the private corruption watch body, Gempita, which
he set up in June. Lopa's career in prosecution dated from 1958.
He is a father of seven.

Hamzah Haz, a native of West Kalimantan, has wide support in
his home province and in Java. On Friday he pledged to stick to
the party's reform program if he was elected to lead the PPP.
Party officials say much of the party's program "is in line with
student demands" such as the end to the dual function of the
military, but they are against "radical" means.

Hamzah, 58 and a father of 12, is optimistic of the election.
"Seventy percent of party provincial chapters have encouraged me
to accept nomination for the party's top post and they pledged to
nominate me in the congress," he said, adding that he might step
down from his post as state minister if he was elected.

He said he would continue PPP's fight against the Armed
Forces' political role, including against its presence in the
House of Representatives (DPR) and for the lifting of the
Pancasila state ideology as sole basis for political parties and
mass organizations.

Before he became minister Hamzah chaired the party faction in
the House of Representatives and was most known for his role in
the commission on state budget. Of PPP's many components he comes
from the largest Moslem organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

A.M. Saefuddin, 58, has also pledged that he would fight for
democracy. "The people's sovereignty should be restored, their
political rights should be respected," he said Friday.

He said that despite the party's Moslem characteristic, he
would turn PPP into an inclusive political party open to all
ethnicities and religion -- a vision appealing to a cosmopolitan
electorate embraced by other parties which are led by renown
Moslem intellectuals. He claimed his support reached "80 percent
of the party's figures and party chapters."

Saefuddin, from Cirebon, West Java, who holds a doctorate
degree in agricultural economy, said that he would not quit his
ministerial job if he was elected PPP chairman because there were
no laws and MPR decrees against it.

He said that he was sure no sides in the party would refuse to
nominate him just because of his controversial remarks, the
latest being on the religion of Megawati Soekarnoputri,
chairperson of the splinter Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Another candidate is Jusuf Syakir, 64, a legislator for five
terms, and now deputy chairman of the PPP faction in the lower
House and chairman of the PPP faction in the People's
Consultative Assembly. He also enjoys wide support in his home
town of Klaten, Central Java and in other provinces.

The father of three was a member of the party's advisory
council besides being a former secretary general of the
Association of Moslem Students in 1965 to 1966. In the House
Jusuf formerly sat in the commission on finance, trade and
banking. (rms)