Amien Rais ready for presidency despite party's loss
Amien Rais ready for presidency despite party's loss
JAKARTA (JP): National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais
has retracted his decision to withdraw from the race for
presidency, citing an advantage he may take in the much
anticipated deadlock in the presidential election.
Amien said on Thursday he switched his stance in response to a
pledge aired by PAN legislative candidates, who said they would
nominate and vote for him in the presidential election to be held
in the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) scheduled for November.
"All PAN legislative candidates have vowed to be loyal to the
party in the presidential nomination," he told reporters at the
Muhammadiyah Muslim organization secretariat on Jl. Menteng Raya
in Central Jakarta.
Learning of his party's position in the provisional poll
results, Amien said: "we will not force ourselves to form a
coalition with other parties but to focus on the presidential
election."
Speaking at a meeting with foreign media earlier this month,
Amien, disappointed with his party's poor showing at the polls,
said he would like PAN to stay out of the government as an
opposition and let the election winner take the presidential
seat.
Military observer from the Australian National University
(ANU) Harold Crouch touted Amien as one of the alternative
presidential candidates, but favored a military member to win the
top job if a deadlock was unavoidable.
"I predict Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto or
TNI's Territorial chief Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will
emerge as the strongest contenders for the presidency," Crouch
told a seminar on the Indonesian general election at the ANU in
Canberra on Wednesday.
A deadlock appears likely as no party will hold an outright
majority in the MPR. If the vote count goes as expected, the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) under
Megawati Soekarnoputri will emerge the winner with a slight
margin over the ruling Golkar party, which has named incumbent
B.J. Habibie as its presidential candidate.
"There is a possibility that the MPR may reject both Megawati
and Habibie if the deadlock prevails," he told Antara. "If this
happens, the MPR will look for alternative candidates."
The presidential choices also include founder of the National
Awakening Party (PKB) Abdurrahman Wahid, Yogyakarta's monarch Sri
Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and
former minister Emil Salim.
Another Australian political observer, Bob Lowry, the author
of The Armed Forces of Indonesia, did not dismiss the possibility
that a military candidate would join the presidential race.
Lowry said almost all of the widely touted presidential
candidates were less committed to total reform. "The only
reformist is Amien Rais. And he (Amien) is aware that a lot of
parties are afraid of his stance," Lowry said.
Smooth
Nurcholish contended arguments that a deadlock was almost a
certainty in the presidential election, saying that the process
would instead run smoothly.
"I believe the presidential election will not end in a
deadlock, despite the parties' interests to win their
candidates," Nurcholish said at the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts
center on Thursday.
He suggested a gradual election comprising at least three
stages to avoid a deadlock. The candidates, he said, should clear
the elimination rounds en route to the presidency.
"For example, there are 10 candidates, the first stage will
half the number, the second stage will select three nominees who
qualify for the final stage, " he said. Such an idea was
previously raised by Gadjah Mada University rector Ichlasul Amal.
Meanwhile, the ruling Golkar on Thursday called on military
representatives not to use their right to vote if they were
committed to neutrality in the presidential election.
"The military's abstention is a consequence of its neutrality
in the general election and politics," Golkar executive Marzuki
Darusman told The Jakarta Post.
Many, including military officer Maj. Gen. Agus
Wirahadikusumah, have aired similar calls for TNI to abstain in
the presidential election.
Wiranto last week rejected what he called discrimination in
politics and asserted the military would actively participate in
the presidential election.
Marzuki said following PAN's plain refusal to Golkar's
coalition offer, the ruling party was now open to form an
alliance with PDI Perjuangan.
"Contacts have been made," he said, adding Golkar would also
make a deal with the United Development Party (PPP) and National
Awakening Party (PKB). Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung however
said contacts with PDI Perjuangan had not touched on the issue of
a coalition.
Marzuki, who also chairs the rights commission, said that if
Golkar and PDI Perjuangan agreed to coalesce, the two parties
would discuss the terms of power sharing, including who would
hold the presidency.
He suggested PDI Perjuangan initiate steps to form a coalition
government if it won the elections.
President B.J. Habibie joined the discourse, calling on the
nation to leave the decision on presidency to the 700-member MPR.
"According to the constitution, the president and vice
president will be decided by people's representatives in the MPR.
So let's place our trust in the MPR to elect the national
leadership," Habibie said upon opening a national congress held
by the National Importers Association (GINSI) at the State
Palace. (imn/rms/prb)