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.