General implicated in Timor bloodshed runs for Indonesian

General implicated in Timor bloodshed runs for Indonesian
presidency

Michael Casey, Associated Press, Bontang, Indonesia

As he flew over the coal mines and shrimp farms that dot
Indonesia's part of Borneo island, a smiling Gen. (retired)
Wiranto couldn't contain himself.

"Did you see how they touched me," he said. "It was as if I
was Michael Jackson and they were my fans."

Wiranto, a contender for the Indonesian presidency despite his
indictment for rights abuses in East Timor, had come from a
campaign rally in this gritty industrial town 1,200 kilometers
northeast of Jakarta, where supporters jostled to touch him and
chanted "Long live Wiranto."

"This response makes me want to lead," said Wiranto, the
former general who served as military chief until he was fired
over charges of human rights abuses in 2000.

Four years later, this is no longer an electoral issue.
Instead, supporters see the 56-year-old as a patriot, whose
military background, boyish good looks and folksy demeanor make
him an ideal candidate to challenge President Megawati
Sukarnoputri in the July 5 election.

Wiranto's candidacy is partly a reflection of the
disenchantment with democratic reforms since the ouster of ex-
dictator Suharto in 1998, and a sense that associates of the
former strongman, including his old Golkar Party, are better
equipped to bring stability and prosperity to Indonesia.

Polls have shown voters increasingly associate Indonesia's
five-year-old democracy with the country's economic woes and
chronic insecurity. They are nostalgic for candidates who can
emulate Suharto, whose 32-year reign was marked by economic
prosperity but also massive corruption and brutality.

"I know what Suharto and Wiranto can do. They are tough," said
Yani Susilowani, a 48-year-housewife from Bontang. "What evidence
do we have that Megawati has done anything? Everything that
Suharto built is now in ruins. People are suffering."

Wiranto's candidacy alarms democracy advocates who have been
seeking to reduce both Golkar's and the military's influence in
politics -- a difficult task given the fact that scores of
retired military officers are running for legislative seats and
Golkar is poised to win a majority in parliament during April 5
legislative balloting, analysts said.

"The institutions of democracy have been hijacked by the old
forces that operated under Suharto," said Asmara Nababan, a
rights activists who has done extensive research on Indonesian
democracy.

"It's disappointing but it's a result of the divisions among
the reformists who promoted change. We still have elites in
control just as we did during Suharto."

Wiranto is among the top contenders for the Golkar nomination.
He could be the front-runner if the party's leader, parliamentary
speaker Akbar Tandjung, loses his appeal against a corruption
conviction. A ruling is expected on Thursday.

But polls show Wiranto is trailing Megawati and a survey by
the International Republican Institute described him as "the most
divisive of all candidates."

The polls show the president with about 15 percent support and
a slew of other candidates, including Wiranto, at between three
percent and eight percent.

"You shouldn't exaggerate Wiranto's success," said William
Liddle, an Indonesian expert from Ohio State University. "Golkar
presidential nominations politics ... are mainly about money
politics. Wiranto's popularity hasn't been tested."

A son of a poor teacher in Central Java, Wiranto joined the
army and rose through the ranks over three decades to become a
key aide to Suharto.

When pro-democracy protesters forced Suharto from office,
Wiranto was credited by current U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz and others with restraining his troops and being a
vocal supporter of the democratic transition.

But soon thereafter, Wiranto was linked to human rights abuses
in East Timor, where Indonesian troops killed 1,500 Timorese in
1999 following a pro-independence referendum.

As a result, Wiranto was fired by then-President Abdurrahman
Wahid, and last year was indicted by UN prosecutors in East
Timor.

Wiranto dismisses the charges as part of a wider conspiracy to
undermine his candidacy. He says he tried to stop the violence in
1999.

"These allegations are crazy," Wiranto said. "Bigger political
interests are bringing this up to destroy my character."

Still, rights groups and Timorese leaders have openly
criticized the prospect of a Wiranto presidency.

"Gen. Wiranto has not had the honesty and courage to accept
responsibility," said Nobel Peace Price laureate Jose Ramos-
Horta, now East Timor's foreign minister.

"Indonesia would have to live with the embarrassment of having
a president who would have difficulty (traveling to) other
countries."

Such comments, however, have done little to dent Wiranto's
self-confidence. He wrote a book titled Witness in the Storm to
defend his record, hired two American advisers and has made the
rounds at embassies in Jakarta. He hasn't, however, met with
officials from the United States, which has put Wiranto on a
lookout list of those whose visa applications must be vetted in
Washington before being granted.

Among his campaign promises is to end an all-out military
offensive in the western province of Aceh, where rebels are
fighting for independence.

Wiranto has also hit the campaign road, spending the past six
months traveling across the vast archipelagic nation, chatting up
party loyalists, posing for photos and singing songs from his
album For You, My Indonesia.