Civilian president is OK, senior general says

JAKARTA (JP): The military, which plays a dominant role in domestic politics, has no objection to Indonesia's next president being a civilian.

Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, Chief of the Armed Forces Sociopolitical Affairs, said over the weekend that what counts is that the next president should be a capable figure.

"The figure could be from either military or civilian but the People's Consultative Assembly should make sure that it elects a figure of quality," he was quoted as saying by Antara.

Syarwan made the remarks when meeting with activists of the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization in the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin.

The People's Consultative Assembly is scheduled to elect the new president and vice president in March next year. President Soeharto, a retired army general who has been in power for 30 years, is widely expected to retain his post.

So far, there has been no serious challenge to President Soeharto choosing to stay in power for a seventh term.

Sri Bintang Pamungkas, the controversial politician who established Democratic Union Party, has nominated himself for the presidency.

Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) activists also planned to nominate their leader, Megawati Soekarnoputri, before she was deposed in a government-sanctioned congress in June.

In 1993, a Maj. Gen. Sembiring Meliala, a House member from the Armed Forces faction sparked a national controversy when he told a newspaper that a civilian could not become president.

Syarwan refused to comment when asked if the military means to soften its stand on the backgrounds of figures who may become president.

Meanwhile, State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie said in the same forum in Banjarmasin over the weekend that it is irrelevant to ask about the qualifications for the next president.

He insisted that the public should entrust all matters concerning the presidential election to the People's Consultative Assembly, which represent the Indonesian people in the matter.

"Individuals and organizations should propose qualifications for a president to the Assembly," said Habibie, chairman of the politically well-connected Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals.

Habibie, a confidante of President Soeharto, is among figures believed to have the support for the vice presidential post in 1998. Other names include Ginandjar Kartasasmita, the State Minister for National Development Planning.

Habibie said he was of the opinion that qualifications for the next president should be proposed by the three political organizations, Golkar, PDI and the United Development Party. (pan)