Former activists for Soeharto's reelection

Former activists for Soeharto's reelection

SEMARANG (JP): An organization of former student activists,
Keluarga Besar Laskar Arief Rachman Hakim, vowed last week to
back the renomination of President Soeharto for a seventh term in
1998, but the group said it had not yet considered candidates for
vice president.

"Wait and see. We have only decided to announce our support
for the presidential candidacy, we'll have candidates for vice
president later," said Akbar Tanjung, a former student leader and
member of the organization.

Akbar, also Minister of Public Housing, said he saw nothing
wrong with promoting the names of figures that social groups
wanted to have as president from 1998 through 2003. "There's no
laws that prevents us from doing so, as long as we are doing it
through the proper mechanism and system," he said yesterday.

He explained that a statement of support for presidential
candidates should be done through the existing political
groupings in the People's Consultative Assembly.

The assembly will convene in 1998 to elect a president. It
will also draw up the next Broad Guidelines of State Policies and
review laws proposed by political parties. The assembly consists
of representatives of the ruling Golkar, the United Development
Party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party, the Armed Forces
and other social groups.

Recently a number of public figures have named several people
as potential vice presidents, including State Minister of
Research and Technology B.J. Habibie and Minister of Information
Harmoko.

Keluarga Besar Laskar Arief Rachman Hakim is an organization
of former student leaders who played a major role in Soeharto's
rise to power in 1966. The organization said that Soeharto's
reelection will "guarantee the continuation of development
programs and will guarantee that national leadership remains in
the hands of the New Order government."

Numerous organizations affiliated with the ruling Golkar,
several cabinet ministers and the Legion of Indonesian Veterans
have openly called on the assembly to reelect Soeharto, now 75.

Soeharto was reelected in March 1993 for his sixth consecutive
term. He has been in power practically unchallenged for almost 30
years.

Matori Abdul Jalil, a PPP legislator, said the next president
should be widely supported, sensitive to people's needs and open
to public criticism.

He said the three political groupings should come up with
their own presidential candidates. (har/14/swe)