Akbar under pressure to drop bid

A'an Suryana and La Remmy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Central Sulawesi

The pressure was turned up another notch on Golkar Party Chairman Akbar Tandjung to quit his presidential candidacy as a former Golkar leader said it would just hurt the party.

Moestahid Astari, former deputy secretary general of Golkar Party, said that Akbar's candidacy would be fruitless as he was already convicted in a Rp 40 billion (US$8.8 million) corruption case.

That conviction will prevent Akbar from getting a letter of good conduct from the police, an administrative requirement set by the party for all party figures wanting to vie for the first- ever direct presidential election.

"The letter of good conduct will be one of stumbling blocks for Akbar. I am not sure whether the police will give him a letter of good conduct in the near future, on the grounds that he has already been convicted in the corruption case," said Moestahid.

Akbar is appealing to the Supreme Court to reject the decision of the Central Jakarta District Court, later upheld by the High Court, which sentenced him to three years imprisonment for his involvement in the misuse of National Logistic Agency (Bulog) funds worth 40 billion that was supposed to be disbursed to help the needy under the social safety net program (JPS) in 1998.

Activist Bambang Widjojanto shared a similar view with Moestahid and said that the police should have the courage to say no to Akbar if he requests the letter of good conduct.

"The police should uphold equality before the law. Akbar must be treated the same as other convicts, moreover he committed an extraordinary corruption crime," said Bambang in a reference to anyone who has tried to apply for a government job who were suspected of connections with the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The relatives of suspected former PKI members have, for the past 35 years, been rejected by the police who refuse to authorize a letter of good conduct.

Golkar is inviting a group of well-know public figures to take part in a convention scheduled for February to choose one candidate to contend for the presidential election.

Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid and Surya Paloh, two of a number of figures proposed to take part, were of the same opinion that Akbar should quit his candidacy because it would not be good for the party's image. Nurcholish said recently that he would likely quit his candidacy if Akbar went ahead with his ambition.

Despite the legal verdict against him, a majority of Golkar chapters in the provinces and regencies have apparently supported Akbar's candidacy. The newly endorsed law on the presidential election states that anyone with a criminal record would be barred from running for president.

Separately, Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said it was better for Akbar to leave his top post in the party to allow party supporters to assess all candidates fairly.

The race for president at the convention was getting tighter as more political figures expressed their interest to run.

As of Friday, nine leading figures had picked up registration forms from the convention's organizing committee.

Rully Chairul Azwar, deputy secretary of the convention's committee, said the nine were Gen. (ret) Wiranto, former chief of the Indonesian military (TNI), Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, Tuty Alawiyah, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, businessman Aburizal Bakrie, Hayono Suyono, Nurcholish Madjid, Jusuf Kalla and Marwah Daud Ibrahim.

The last candidate who took the registration form was Marwah Daud Ibrahim who was nominated by Golkar delegates from the country's eastern regions.