Dissenters of the ruling Golkar contemplate forming new party
Dissenters of the ruling Golkar contemplate forming new party
JAKARTA (JP): A number of former senior Golkar officials said
on Monday that they were considering forming a new party because
of discontent with the policies of the ruling political group.
But if a seminar the dissenters organized on Monday was any
indication of their strength or popularity, they could be in for
a big disappointment. Most of the big names invited to address
the meeting stayed away.
The seminar was intended to challenge the Golkar executive
board's recent decision to become a fully-fledged political
party, a move which some of its former supporters questioned,
including those who organized and attended the seminar.
"We are not a group of disgruntled people," Hayono Isman, a
former top Golkar official and state minister of youth affairs
and sports, said after the meeting.
"Holding the seminar is part of our efforts to arrest the
downward trend in Golkar's popularity," he said.
He added that many of Golkar's traditional supporters had
abandoned the group because of its reluctance to issue a public
apology for its past mistakes.
"We are now looking at the possibility of forming a new
political party," Hayono said.
Not unexpectedly, two top Golkar leaders invited to the
meeting did not turn up. There was no explanation for the absence
of Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung and Marzuki Darusman, the
chairman of Golkar's faction in the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR).
Other invited speakers who did not show up were former cabinet
minister Emil Salim, Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid, political
analyst Indria Samego and former Golkar legislator Tadjoeddin
Noer Said.
Among the familiar faces who did turn up were former defense
minister Edi Sudradjat, economist Sri Edi Swasono and former
Golkar House of Representatives (DPR) legislators Bambang Warih
Koesoemo, Mubha Kahar Muang, Tato S. Pradjamenggala, Udju S.
Dinata, Indra Bambang Utoyo and M. Uncu Natsir.
The organizers of the seminar have called a press briefing on
Tuesday morning to announce the conclusions of the meeting.
Edi Sudradjat, a retired Army general, disclosed that the
participants were considering various options, including the
establishment of a new party.
When asked if he would chair the new party, Edi said there
were other figures eligible to become chairman.
Other people widely mentioned as possible candidates, besides
Edi and Hayono, are former vice president Try Sutrisno, and
former ministers Siswono Yudohusodo and Sarwono Kusumaatmadja.
Political observer A.S. Hikam, the only invited speaker who
turned up at the seminar, questioned the plan to establish a new
party.
"I wonder whether the plan is really based on their concern
for the nation, or if it is merely a way of expressing their
disappointment at being excluded from Golkar's new executive
board?" he said.
Hikam said that forming a new political party would be useless
because there were already too many parties in the country.
Golkar was founded with Army help in 1964 as a coalition of
non-partisan functional and professional groups. Although it
became the political machine of Soeharto during his 32-year
presidency, Golkar steadfastly refused to call itself a political
party until its extraordinary congress in July this year.
(imn/edt)