Akbar under pressure to drop bid

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.