Golkar teases Sultan's resignation from presidential race
Yogyakarta sultan withdraws from presidential race
Sri Wahyuni A. Junaidi The Jakarta Post Yogyakarta/Jakarta
Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X announced on Friday his decision to quit from the Golkar presidential convention in protest at the acquittal of Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung. However, the party executive described the sultan's decision merely as an acknowledgement that he had only a slim chance of winning the presidential convention.
Citing Akbar's exoneration of corruption by the Supreme Court on Thursday as a denial of a sense of justice and morality, the sultan said the judgment caused a problem for him as a representative of a culture that adamantly abided by moral and ethical codes of conduct.
"I also face problems between respecting the law and values of justice in society," the sultan said in announcing his decision.
Slamet Effendi Yusuf, who is in charge of the Golkar convention, however, insisted he was not surprised at all at the sultan's decision because he was simply using Akbar's exoneration as a pretext to hide his own weakness.
"We have heard about the plan several times. At last, we now know that he (the sultan) has taken this opportunity (the Supreme Court verdict) to announce his pullout," Slamet said on Friday.
Golkar has listed seven potential candidates, including Sultan, to run for the presidency, but will select its final candidate only after the legislative election on April 5. The other candidates are: Akbar, media tycoon Surya Paloh, business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, Gen. (ret) Wiranto, former president Soeharto's son-in-law Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla.
The sultan became the first of Golkar's presidential hopefuls to withdraw from the presidential race. The Yogyakarta governor was often described by the media as holding the lowest position among the seven.
The sultan acknowledged that his chances of winning had narrowed because Akbar's chances of winning the party race were much improved after the court decision.
"There's a kind of unwritten rule that the party leader is the main candidate for the presidency," he said.
Meanwhile, National Awakening Party (PKB) executive Effendy Choirie said that Akbar would capitalize on the current momentum to seek to win the presidency. Choirie, however, said that the public would be the ultimate decision-maker on whether Akbar, who was former minister/state secretary when the alleged graft occurred in 1999, would win the presidency.
Akbar is enjoying his freedom from legal problems. He dismissed speculation that his exoneration from graft would automatically help him to win the presidency, saying there was still a long way to go.
He said that he would focus on how to help the Golkar Party win the general elections. "We shall continue to improve the consolidation of party members," he said.