Factions warn legislators against backing Emil Salim

Factions warn legislators against backing Emil Salim

JAKARTA (JP): Faction leaders in the People's Consultative
Assembly cautioned their members yesterday against voting for
senior economist Emil Salim in the vice presidential election
next month.

Golkar deputy chairman Abdul Gafur said punitive measures
would await anyone from the ruling political group who dissented
from the party line and supported Emil.

However Gafur refused to go into details about the possible
punishments.

"A Golkar plenary meeting has decided to name one vice
presidential candidate, B.J. Habibie. The decision must be obeyed
at all costs," Gafur said.

Golkar chairman Harmoko and the leader of Golkar's Assembly
team, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, expressed their guarded confidence
that all of the faction's 588 members would vote for Habibie.

Unlike Gafur, however, Harmoko did not threaten any penalties,
saying that he would question rebels before meting out
punishment.

"I have repeatedly said that we, Golkar, have renominated
President Soeharto and chosen B.J. Habibie. There are no other
names, and I believe all Golkar cadres will comply with the
organization's line.

"Golkar cadres' allegiance is beyond all doubt, so don't start
polemics pitting Habibie against Emil," Harmoko said.

The chief of the United Development Party (PPP) faction Jusuf
Syakir and his Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) counterpart,
Buttu Hutapea, were also confident their members would throw
their full weight behind Habibie.

The leaders of the two minority factions said opposition to
the decision to support Habibie would be considered a violation
of the statutes of the respective political parties.

State Minister of Research and Technology Habibie's election
as the next vice president is almost certain, thanks to the
unanimous support from all five factions in the Assembly.

The factions -- the dominant Golkar and its allies the Armed
Forces and regional representatives, and PPP and PDI -- have also
all renominated incumbent President Soeharto for his seventh
consecutive term.

A group of activists from various non-governmental
organizations have been trying to swim against the current,
however, by nominating Emil, a Golkar member and former cabinet
minister who helped the New Order restore the country's economy.

The campaign, which many people consider doomed to fail given
the absence of formal support from any faction, has grown in
stature because it has received the support of several prominent
people, including senior economist Sumitro Djojohadikusumo.

Gafur said yesterday that Golkar would welcome other people
wishing to support Emil's nomination but reiterated that Golkar's
choice of Habibie was final.

The election of the vice president will wrap up the General
Session of the 1,000-member Assembly from Mar. 1 to Mar. 11.

Ginandjar, Jusuf and Buttu also played down yesterday the
possibility that any of their team members would interrupt the
Assembly's proceedings. In Indonesian politics, the interruption
of an MPR session by members, either to ask questions or raise
objections, is considered a faux pas, even a taboo.

The last interruption, which made headlines for days, was by
Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Saleh of the Armed Forces faction just before
the 1988 General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly
was to elect the vice president. Ibrahim was later dismissed from
the faction.

"Insya Allah (God willing) nobody will interrupt the
convention. I have a feeling that Golkar is a solid team,"
Ginandjar said after presiding over a Golkar leadership meeting.

He said he would brief Golkar legislators about the party's
stance in all matters dealing with the general session of the
Assembly.

"You know, we are a big team. Everybody must be well informed
about the rules and their respective duties," Ginandjar said.

The chairman of the Golkar's business wing Kosgoro, Bambang W.
Soeharto, said yesterday that he had instructed all the
organization's 80 members who hold seats in the Assembly not to
plow their own furrow during the General Session.

"We are not crazy enough to go against the Golkar's decision
on the vice presidential nomination," Bambang told a media
conference at the Kosgoro secretariat in Menteng subdistrict,
Central Jakarta.

He dismissed rumors that Kosgoro's Assembly legislators would
interrupt the vice presidential election.

Instead, he announced Kosgoro's support for Habibie.

"I clarify that Kosgoro will always go along with Golkar's
policies, including on Habibie's vice presidential nomination,"
he said.

He said Kosgoro had originally excluded Habibie from its list
of four vice presidential candidates. The initial rooster
comprised incumbent Try Sutrisno, Coordinating Minister for
Production and Distribution Hartarto, Harmoko and Ginandjar.
(imn/amd)