Akbar to seek presidency at all costs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After showing reluctance for quite some time, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung announced on Saturday his intention to contest the presidential candidate selection at his party's convention.

Akbar, renowned as a cool-headed politician, disclosed his bid following public discourse on his appropriateness to run for the presidency, as he has been convicted in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.7 million) graft case. There have been demands for the police not to issue Akbar a letter of good conduct, which is mandatory for all convention participants.

On many occasions, Akbar had said that he had no plans to contest the presidential candidate selection, as he was focusing on party duties to help Golkar win the general elections on April 5, 2004.

After becoming the ruling party during former president Soeharto's 32-year rule, Golkar finished second behind President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in the 1999 election.

Now Akbar is telling the truth.

"I will participate in the stages of the convention," Akbar said over the weekend as quoted by Antara, on the sidelines of a function held by the Asian Parliamentary Association (AIPO) in the Balinese capital of Denpasar.

Akbar, who is also the House of Representatives speaker, chairs the AIPO.

He criticized those who were trying to undermine his presidential bid, saying his exclusion from the convention was discriminatory and unfair.

"The convention is open to everybody. Even outsiders are welcome, so why should an insider like me should stay away?" Akbar said.

He would not comment on whether he had requested the letter of good conduct from the police.

Earlier, chairman of the convention's organizing committee Oetojo Oesman called on the police not to "obstruct" Akbar's bid for presidency. Akbar has not registered for the convention, which will close on Aug. 7.

The Presidential Election Law passed early this month allows defendants facing a maximum five-year sentence to run for presidency. The House has deemed that Akbar, who is waiting for the Supreme Court's verdict regarding his appeal, qualifies, even though he was convicted at the lower court.

Noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and media mogul Surya Paloh have called on Akbar not to take part in the selection, saying Akbar's entry would jeopardize the neutrality and transparency of the convention.

In comparison, said Nurcholish, in the United States a party chairman could not nominate himself as a presidential candidate.

In the Central Java capital of Semarang, Nurcholish retracted his own statement that he would withdraw from the convention if Akbar joined the race. Nurcholish said he would go ahead with his bid on the grounds that he was eligible for the selection and he was familiar with the convention.

Paloh, who is currently on a visit to the North Sulawesi capital of Manado, also confirmed his plan to contest the convention, despite Akbar's entry. "I have been with the party since I was 17 years old, and I know it well," said Paloh, adding that he was not afraid of a big name like Akbar.

Another aspiring Golkar presidential candidate, Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono, defended Akbar's right to contest the selection, but asked him to resign from the party's top post beforehand.

"There is no regulation prohibiting a defendant from running for president. But Akbar has to relinquish his post as the party chairman for the sake of fairness and equality," Hamengkubuwono told some 350 Golkar cadres attending a meeting held to hear his presidential platform.

Hamengkubuwono, who is also Yogyakarta sultan, is also a former provincial chairman of Golkar.

Golkar's Yogyakarta chapter is certain not to support Akbar's bid due to his criminal record.

"Complying with our criteria, we cannot name a disgraced person as our presidential candidate," Secretary of Golkar's Yogyakarta chapter Gandung Pardiman told The Jakarta Post.

Golkar will short-list five presidential candidates by the end of this year before selecting its sole candidate during a national convention in February.