'Dirty' convention could hurt Golkar's candidate

'Dirty' convention could hurt Golkar's candidate

Jusuf Wanandi, Jakarta

It was a dream that turned into a nightmare, watching the two-
stage elections of the presidential candidate at the April 20
Golkar Party convention.

In the first round, Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung won, ahead of
Gen. (ret.) Wiranto by 10 votes (147 against 137 votes).
Meanwhile, Aburizal Bakrie, thought to be an ally of Akbar for
having crafted a written agreement with him, got 118 votes; and
Prabowo, Wiranto's arch-enemy, got 39. Their combined votes would
have come to 304. Wiranto, together with his ally, Surya Paloh,
would have only got 214 votes. It's not surprising many observers
thought the second round would be a walkover for Akbar.

But within half-an-hour everything changed. In the second
round Wiranto won, with 315 votes against Akbar's 227 votes.

Speculation has it this happened for two reasons. One is vote
buying. Many knew about the money at the conference so this is
not an assumption. And apparently the vote buying involved a lot
of money.

Then there is the change of heart of Aburizal's supporters
from Akbar to Wiranto, perhaps because of money or because
Aburizal threw his weight behind Wiranto. Probably, both reasons
were equally significant.

I contest the view of Kristiadi, a colleague of mine at the
Centre for Strategic International Studies, who called the change
of heart as a call from the conscience. That is simply false. It
was money politics at play and a shift of alliance by a trusted
partner of Akbar.

Kristiadi thought Akbar was defeated by his arrogance and
failure to get the votes at the grassroots -- the regional
representatives. He failed to recognize Akbar's efforts in
reforming a Golkar damaged for so long by Soeharto through
corruption and money politics. Akbar had tried very hard for five
years to change, reform and consolidate the party into a
respectable one.

Now, because of what happened during the national convention,
there is only one way to go for the party -- down. This time
Golkar won the legislative elections but it will not mean much
for the future of the party, which has now become embroiled in
corruption of incredible magnitude. That is Akbar's deepest
regret. His modest achievement in reforming Golkar was totally
wiped out by money politics.

The idea of the convention might have been a good one but it
opened the way for vote buying to do great damage to the party.
My earlier assessment Golkar could reform and would become the
hope of the future for Indonesia has been completely shattered by
this convention.

In the coming presidential election, it is still not certain
Golkar will be united in its support for Wiranto. As a statesman,
Akbar has appealed to party members to support Wiranto but it is
uncertain whether that appeal will be followed. This is because
Wiranto has never been one of Golkar's party members and has only
been involved in the party for about a year. Why should Golkar
members be loyal to him?

Many in groups in Indonesia are shocked about the result of
the convention. Their agenda now is to prevent Wiranto from
becoming president. They think that somebody so close to Soeharto
and who had been so high in the Armed Forces hierarchy, could not
change his terms of reference and ideas.

On top of that, there is Wiranto's alleged command
responsibility over the many abuses of power by the troops under
him -- in East Timor and in Jakarta (the riots in May 1998, the
student protests of 1999 and 2000), which will sooner or later
catch up with him. Looking at his entourage and close supporters,
especially those former military members, it is hard to imagine
he could or would change if he ever became president.

Many think under Wiranto, political freedom would be
sacrificed for stability. They also suspect Wiranto is
financially backed by the Soeharto family and former cronies.

These anti-Wiranto groups could mobilize. A concerted effort
on their part in cooperation with the media, students, other
political parties, solidarity groups and mass organizations could
reach out to the grassroots to influence them against Wiranto's
election. We should hope this indeed becomes the case because the
Indonesian people do not deserve this setback after so many years
of crisis and uncertainty.

The writer is Co-founder and Member of the Board of Trustees
of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).