Akbar leads preliminary race for Golkar chairman
JAKARTA (JP): The secretary of Golkar's board of patrons, Akbar Tandjung, yesterday led the preliminary race for the chairmanship with two votes ahead of rival Edi Sudradjat.
An evening session Thursday and a morning session yesterday, which heard Golkar's regional chapters' evaluation on the outgoing leadership's performance and their view on the future, revealed that 10 out of 27 chapters supported Akbar's nomination.
Eight proclaimed their support for Edi, while the rest did not reveal whom they backed.
Support for Akbar, who is also minister/state secretary, came from Aceh, North and West Sumatra, Riau, East Kalimantan, Irian Jaya and the four provinces of Sulawesi.
Edi, former minister of defense and security, won the support of Golkar's chapters in Jakarta, West, Central and East Java, Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara and West Kalimantan.
But both candidates yesterday refused to comment on the preliminary expressions of support.
Akbar said he would only comment after the final election results today, while Edi said it was difficult to say anything since "the election has not even started yet".
But Edi still expressed optimism and hinted he would sweep the nine undecided chapters.
With lobbying going on on the sidelines of the congress, rumors were rife of support being bought or traded.
Akbar and Edi said they had no idea about such practices of "money politics".
"I can't comment on alleged practices of money politics until I get evidence," Akbar said. However, he did not dismiss the possibility that such practices were being used.
Outgoing Golkar chairman Harmoko was confident that leaders of Golkar's regional chapters would not succumb to such "bribery".
A member of the outgoing board of patrons, Hayono Isman, decried such "dirty" practices.
"Practices of money politics have been used in this country for more than 30 years," the former state minister of youth affairs and sports told journalists. "In line with the reform era, it's time to say goodbye to such practices."
The election for Golkar's chairmanship will be held this afternoon and is expected to be the first time such a decision will be determined through voting rather than a consensus.
Nevertheless, Edi lamented the fact that some military officers were fighting against his candidacy.
"I heard that there were some active Armed Forces (ABRI) officials who had tried to prevent me from running in the election," he said.
"Golkar will not have the A (ABRI), B (bureaucracy) and G (social and religious groups) anymore ... Therefore, ABRI is not supposed to interfere in Golkar's internal affairs anymore."
Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto had reportedly instructed Assistant to the Armed Forces chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Maj. Gen. Mardiyanto to telephone all regional military commanders to influence Golkar's regional chapters nationwide to vote for Akbar.
Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif was not available for comment yesterday.
But despite the internal politicking, the three-day congress which ends today was hailed for being relatively democratic.
"I can tell you that Golkar's congress is being democratically held," the committee chairman of the extraordinary congress, Waskito Reksosoedirdjo, told reporters. "It has never happened before in Golkar's history."
Similarly, a member of the outgoing board of patrons, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, also praised the process, saying that regional chapters were relatively free to support candidates of their own choosing.
Yesterday's sessions of the extraordinary congress also took up the issue of nominating candidates for Golkar's secretary- general. Two names were mentioned as candidates: Maj. Gen. Koswandi, an instructor at the National Resilience Institute, and Siswono Yudoshusodo.
In a related development, Golkar legislator Zamharir A.R. said yesterday that the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) next disbursement of its bailout package was likely pending the results of Golkar's congress.
"The US$1 billion loan will only be disbursed between July 12 and July 18 after the completion of Golkar's extraordinary congress," he told reporters after meeting with President B.J. Habibie at the Bina Graha presidential office yesterday.
"The IMF was supposed to hold a meeting to discuss the loan disbursement, but the meeting was delayed until the completion of Golkar's congress," he said.
Zamharir and a number of legislators from the House of Representatives (DPR) met with IMF and World Bank officials in New York early this month to ask for an immediate disbursement of the aid package. (imn/byg)