Ginandjar leads team to elect chairman of swimming body

Ginandjar leads team to elect chairman of swimming body

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Swimming Federation elected Ginanjar Kartasasmita at its national congress yesterday to chair the committee to consider names for the election of the next chairman of the federation.

Ginanjar, a former chairman of the federation, was appointed unanimously..

Chairman of the congress, Mardiono, from the East Java delegation, said that the committee leader and his members will discuss possible candidates for the next four-year-term in the next month.

"Mr. Ginanjar has asked us to gather at his office next week to talk about the next chairman," he said.

A participant at the two-day congress, attended by 24 delegates, nominated Mardiono and Wardoyo, former officials of the federation, to be members of the committee.

The nomination was supported by all the delegates. They also appointed Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, who also a former chairman of the federation, to be the advisor of the committee.

Mardiono declined to mention names when asked who the favorite is for the chairmanship of the organization.

"At the moment we still don't have any candidates to chair the federation," he told reporters.

"Let's wait until the committee meets next week," he added, "I don't have the authority to mention names."

When Mardiono was asked whether Ginanjar will lead the federation again, he said: "Mr. Ginanjar has told me that he is not willing to lead the federation again."

On Tuesday, some provincial delegates threw their weight behind Siti Hediyanti Prabowo, a daughter of President Soeharto, to take the federation's helm for the next term.

Other delegates nominated Ginanjar to lead the organization again. He was chairman from 1987 to 1991 before handing over the position to Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo.

Responding to questions about the criteria for the new chairman, Mardiono said: "The person must be able to raise the performances of our national swimmers to greater heights, especially in international events."

Although Ginanjar, who is also the State Minister of National Development Planning/Chairman of the National Development Planning Board, could not attend the congress Mardiono conveyed his messages to all participants.

Mardiono said Ginanjar asked the federation to review the mediocre performances of the national swimmers at the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last month.

Meanwhile, Dedeng Kurnia, head of the federation's secretariat, told reporters that the federation will divide its body into five organizations.

"The federation will be divided into five organizations, consisting of those governing swimming, synchronized swimming, outdoor swimming, diving and water polo," he said.

"Each organization will have authority over its own affairs, including financial matters," he added.

But Wardoyo told reporters after the closing ceremony that the federation is still studying the possibility of dividing the federation into small organizations.

"The idea of dividing the federation could be disadvantageous for itself because the organizations could go their own ways," he said. (05)