Elect Muslim son as president: PPP

JAKARTA (JP): United Development Party (PPP) chairman Hamzah Haz expressed hope on Saturday that all Muslim members of People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) would stand united in the country's search for and election of a Muslim son as president.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with President B.J. Habibie at his private residence in Patra Kuningan, South Jakarta, Hamzah urged the Muslim members not to be swayed by their faction's position.

"We should nominate a Muslim brother who has the same platform, mission and vision," said the former state minister of investment, who resigned from the Cabinet in May.

Political parties are flurrying to seek a way out, or to benefit from, a possible deadlock in the presidential election slated for November given predictions that no political party will win the necessary majority of votes.

Separately on Saturday, National Elections Committee deputy chairman Hasbalah M. Saad told The Jakarta Post that the June 21 deadline for the announcement of final results could not be met. Provinces have not met the June 17 deadline to announce final results.

Despite earlier optimism on the part of the committee, he said a repeat of the polls in a number of provinces had yet to be arranged.

By Saturday, several provinces had not completed their tallies.

The Association of Islamic Students urged on Friday a delay in the announcement of official results given the many unsettled problems.

Hamzah's call to nominate a "Muslim son" is in line with a recommendation from his party that only a male Muslim be considered for the presidency. Muslim clerics from the influential Nahdlatul Ulama organization have said the issue of whether a woman could lead the country is still under debate.

The President has received four leaders of five leading political parties at his residence since the elections -- Golkar chairman and former minister/state secretary Akbar Tandjung, National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais and National Awakening Party (PKB) founder Abdurrahman Wahid.

Habibie, however, has been unable to persuade Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to meet with him ever since he replaced president Soeharto in May last year.

Hamzah maintained the party was firm on its stance to nominate one of its own for the next president, although a youth group under PPP on Friday stated support for Habibie.

Golkar, still in third place according to official provisional tallying, has said its most ideal coalition partner would be front-runner PDI Perjuangan. But Golkar also said it was approaching other parties, including PPP.

Hamzah, however, indicated that any support his party might throw behind Habibie would largely depend on whether the MPR would accept the President's accountability report during its General Session in November.

In Jakarta, it appears residents must wait further for results of the poll in the capital. Vote recounting had not even started by Saturday. Some mayoralty poll committees have not decided whether ballots should be reopened or whether they should only recheck documents of the poll results.

An executive of the Jakarta Provincial Elections Committee, Muchammad Taufik, said reports of violations and protests from many political parties were still flowing in.

The Independent Elections Monitoring Committee (KIPP) has urged the General Elections Commission to immediately issue a rule to limit parties allowed to protest poll results.

As of Saturday, only three out of five mayoralty poll committees had sent in results, but one report from South Jakarta lacked the signatures of representatives of 31 parties.

In a joint statement signed on Friday, the 31 parties said there were still unsettled violations at the subdistrict level.

"We demand that the recounting process in South Jakarta be extended until next week to give us more time to check the violations," said Joes Prananto, the South Jakarta committee member from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) said.

He then showed reports from the United Party's Jakarta chapter which claim ballot boxes at eight subdistricts were either empty, broken or unlocked after the poll.

Provincial committee chairman Djafar Badjeber said it was better to practice patience until the matter of violations was settled.

As of Saturday 8:33 p.m., the General Elections Commission (KPU) revealed PDI Perjuangan had obtained 20.2 million votes, and PKB had 10.2 million votes. Golkar had gained 9.6 million votes, PPP 5.3 million votes, and PAN had 3.7 million votes. (prb/ind/rms)