Delay may boost Akbar election bid

Delay may boost Akbar election bid

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Golkar executives upped the pressure on Saturday on participants
of the party's leadership meeting in Jakarta to delay the
selection of its presidential candidate from February to April
next year.

A number of Golkar executives said the delay was proposed for
the sake of the party's internal consolidation to win the general
elections.

"Should the announcement be delayed, the entire energy and
resources of the party will focus on how to win the election. I
have persuaded many chapters to support the idea," Agun Gunandjar
Sudarsa, the Golkar executive in charge of legislation, said on
the sidelines of the meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel in Central
Jakarta.

He claimed that at least 20 of the 30 Golkar provincial
chapters had thrown their weight behind the delay.

Mohammad Hasbi and Zamzami Noer from Central Java and South
Sumatra chapters respectively concurred, saying they believed the
postponement of the election of the presidential candidate would
help the party regain its supremacy in the election.

Based on Golkar's convention rules, the preconvention
scheduled for Oct. 20 and Oct. 21 will reduce the seven
candidates to five before the party selects its sole candidate in
February next year.

Some Golkar executives said the delay would give the
presidential candidates no choice but to campaign for the party
ahead of the general elections on April 5.

Golkar finished second behind the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle in the 1999 election, winning 22 percent of the vote.

After a selection process in regental and provincial chapters,
businessman Aburizal Bakrie, media mogul Surya Paloh, former
Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, party chairman
Akbar Tandjung, former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve
Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, and
Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengku Buwono X qualified for the
preconvention, scheduled for Monday to Tuesday.

Many believe the delay to the convention will also give the
party chairman, Akbar Tandjung, more time to contest the
convention, pending a ruling from the Supreme Court (MA) on his
conviction in a graft case.

"If the selection of Golkar's definite presidential candidate
takes place in February and the MA has not delivered its verdict,
Golkar cadres will not vote for Akbar," a party figure said.

The proposal was criticized by other Golkar leaders, including
deputy chairmen Fahmi Idris and Marzuki Darusman.

Fahmi said the delay would only show that Golkar was
inconsistent in implementing its own rules.

"Golkar must not easily change rules because it will only
tarnish its image," he said.

Marzuki added that the party's executive board had no basis to
delay the schedule.

"If there is a proposal to delay the schedule, it must come
from the provincial chapter with genuine arguments," he said.

According to Marzuki, the reasons behind the proposal to delay
the election of the party's presidential candidate were outdated,
as they had been rejected during the previous leadership meeting
last April.

Chairman of the North Maluku chapter, Yamin Tawari, meanwhile,
urged Golkar leaders to set a good example by consistently
complying with all the rules of the game.

He suggested the leadership meeting drop the proposal to delay
the convention, but focus on the strategy to win the election.

"Such a debate on the proposal will be a waste of time," Yamin
said.

The country will hold the legislative elections on April 5 and
the direct presidential election on July 5 next year, with the
run-off on Sept. 20.