Golkar asked to quit polls for nation's sake

JAKARTA (JP): Political observers irked by Golkar's pro-status quo stance demanded on Wednesday that the party bow out of next month's general election.

They suggested that it would be better for Golkar to "save its face" and concentrate on the next elections scheduled for 2004.

The ruling party entrenched itself as a supporter of the status quo when it nominated incumbent President B.J. Habibie as its sole presidential candidate.

"Golkar is hopeless," Harry Tjan Silalahi of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said.

Expressing similar views were Joe Fernandes of the Institute for Policy and Community Development Studies (Ipcos) and Alexander Irwan, co-author of Elections: Violations of Free and Fair Principles, a study of vote rigging in the 1992 elections.

According to Irwan, by staying out of the June polls, Golkar could help materialize a free and fair election.

"It's the only way to restore image, to show the nation that it is willing to make sacrifices," Irwan said.

Fernandes sees a ray of hope in some Golkar leaders, mentioning Marzuki Darusman, a renowned human rights campaigner who is one of the party's deputy chiefs.

But a man like Marzuki, he said, can do little to promote his ideas because the pro-status quo force within Golkar is too powerful to change.

Fernandes said Golkar's nomination of Habibie is blatant evidence that the party is against reform.

"If they really want to show that there is something new about Golkar, they should have conducted a preliminary meeting ahead of the congress to elect their presidential candidates."

Fernandes said that the way Habibie was nominated was so secret that even Golkar members did not know the process. "And it's possible money was involved."

Habibie's nomination has met criticism from not only the general public but also from some Golkar leaders. Marzuki Darusman, for instance, predicted that the move would harm the party's chances of winning the June 7 general election.

During the 32 years of Soeharto's rule, Golkar always presented Soeharto as its sole presidential candidate.

"The new Golkar still uses the old tactic," said Silalahi.

If the party does not contest this year's elections, Golkar would have the chance to make a good comeback in five years, Harry said. Otherwise, Golkar would be spending a lot of money on an election it has no chance of winning.

"Antipathy toward Golkar is too strong to ignore now ... from citizens, intellectuals. They just don't want to give Golkar another chance," Harry said.

"If Golkar wins, it would be by default -- people vote for Golkar while what they mean is something else -- rather than by design, meaning because of its platform and programs," he said.

Silalahi warned that if Golkar wins next month's elections, instability would prevail, because Golkar has been conducting too little reform too slowly, Harry said.

Press freedom

Irwan explained that although the Habibie administration has promoted press freedom, the president has done little to promote political reforms.

He said that judging by Golkar's recent nomination of Habibie, the party wanted to see the widespread practices of nepotism, collusion and corruption continue.

Irwan also pointed to the numerous "political cases" which cannot be resolved in court as further evidence that supremacy of law remains a hollow slogan.

Irwan, Fernandes and Harry hailed the recent agreement among the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) under Megawati Soekarnoputri, the National Mandate Party (PAN) under Amien Rais and the National Awakening Party (PKB) under Abdurrahman Wahid to make an alliance to block Golkar's efforts to remain in power.

Fernandes underlined the need for the alliance to outline for the public their program to reform the military's sociopolitical role, the creation of a power check and balance mechanism, law enforcement and amendments to the 1945 Constitution.

"To be called pro-reform, it's not enough to beat Golkar and replace Habibie," Fernandes said. "But it's about populist moves to draw public sympathy."

A Golkar executive, Yasril A. Baharuddin, said the alliance of the three political parties showed that the parties were worried about Golkar winning the elections.

"It's a tactic they launched against Golkar after they saw Golkar is still as powerful and solid as ever, despite all the condemnations and attacks against it," he said.

Yasril admitted that some individuals in the party might have done bad things in the past, but said: "As a political organization, Golkar remains solid and strong." (aan)