Golkar confident of winning next year's election

JAKARTA (JP): Despite Golkar's badly-tarnished image, the dominant political grouping has asserted their confidence of victory in next year's general elections.

In a news conference after Sunday's session of a Golkar leadership meeting, the chairmen of the East Java, Irian Jaya, Yogyakarta, Bengkulu and East Timor chapters claimed they still had massive support in rural areas of the country.

Moderator and Golkar executive Ekki Syahrudin also said Golkar was optimistic because it was a "non-sectarian party which puts an emphasis on nationalism".

On Saturday, Golkar, which in the past steadfastly maintained that it was a social and political organization and not a political party, finally declared it was now called the Golkar Party. It claims a membership of 34 million, including 12 million recent recruits.

The chapters' chairmen said they believed they could win again, as their have done in the country's six previous elections, all of which have been slammed as unfair by observers.

Deputy Head of Golkar's Electoral Winning Department A. Slamet Effendy Jusuf said Golkar was offering "concrete programs addressing the people's needs," adding that the "reformed Golkar" would strive "not to repeat past mistakes."

Golkar Chairman Akbar Tandjung, who is also Minister/State Secretary, said on Saturday when opening the meeting that Golkar admitted its past mistakes. In response to the need for an apology, Slamet said: "(The Pledge) not to repeat past mistakes is more important than a trumpeted apology."

Irian Jaya chapter chairman T.N. Kaiway said: "We are sure we can still win," although he qualified this optimism by saying the victory was likely be by a smaller margin than in 1997, when Golkar won 88.86 percent of the votes in the trouble-torn province.

Kaiway acknowledged that new political parties established since May, which now number nearly 90, could also reduce Golkar's winning margin.

When asked if Golkar felt threatened by the National Mandate Party (PAN) set up by popular government critic Amien Rais, Yogyakarta chapter chairman Sudarno said Golkar was unfazed.

"The problem is how to convince Yogyakartans that Golkar is still a worthy choice," he said. Last year, Golkar won 62.58 percent of the votes in Yogyakarta, Amien's home town.

The East Java chapter was the most upbeat about its chances, despite several political parties targeting the Moslem vote in the province. Last year, Golkar secured 62.97 of the votes in East Java.

The chapter's chairman, Sutomo, claimed Golkar still enjoyed support from the Moslem community, most of whom are members of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Moslem organization.

Sutomo dismissed the popular People's Awakening Party (PKB) -- founded by popular NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid -- as being "only big in promotions".

"Nahdliyin (NU members) have struggled alongside Golkar for 30 years," he said.

Following his travels through rural East Java, Sutomo said that in reality, "it's Golkar that has the support of the masses." (aan)