Golkar establishes line-up of election machine

Golkar establishes line-up of election machine

JAKARTA (JP): While its opponents are still disputing about
the rules, Golkar yesterday announced the line up of a 14-member
board who will be chiefly responsible for the landslide victory
in next year's election the group expects.

Golkar chairman Harmoko personally heads the board that also
includes two of President Soeharto's children -- Bambang
Trihatmodjo and Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.

The board's responsibilities includes selecting the candidates
who will run for the election as well as preparing Golkar's
election campaign materials, Antara reported.

The day-to-day management of the board is left to Abdul Gafur
as executive chairman, Ary Mardjono as deputy executive chairman
and Achmad Moestahid Astari as secretary.

The job of treasurer, which no doubt will include raising
funds for the election, is left to Bambang Trihatmodjo, owner of
the Bimantara business group. His deputies are Pontjo Sutowo, an
equally successful businessman, and Gunariyah K. Mochdie.

Harmoko yesterday also named deputies for the board. They are
Warno Harjo for planning and evaluation, Ismael Hasan for
institutional affairs, Moechtar for territorial coordination,
Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana for functional coordination, Waskito
Reksosoedirdjo for mass media coordination, Pinantun Hutasoit for
arts and sports festival coordination, and Agung Laksono for
campaigning.

Harmoko, in announcing the board at Golkar's headquarters,
said the board has a lot of work to do and deadlines to beat.

He said the board has three months to select the hundreds of
candidates who will run for the election for the seats at the
House of Representatives as well as the local legislative
councils.

Harmoko has indicated that he wanted to replace up to 60
percent of the current Golkar representatives in the House with
new faces.

The registration of voters will begin on May 1, marking the
first of the 12 phases of the election which will end with the
announcement of the votes towards the middle of next year.

Harmoko on Sunday already warned the other two election
contestants -- the United Development Party (PPP) and the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- that he would block their
attempts to have the election laws and regulations changed.

PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum had already instructed his
legislators to prepare a bill for election law reform in a bid to
prevent fraud which he said was rife in past elections.

PPP and PDI are also seeking to have the day of the vote
declared a national holiday, and want the so-called "silent week"
abolished because they said this period had been abused by Golkar
for covert campaigning and intimidation in past elections.

Golkar has won all five elections held since 1971. In 1992, it
won with the magnificent majority of 68 percent of the total
votes. Harmoko, who was elected two years ago, has announced his
intention to win by an even bigger majority.

Soehardjo S.S., a professor of constitutional law at the
Diponegoro University in Semarang, yesterday said that time was
against the PPP because preparing such a bill will take a long
time, and debating it in the House will be also time-consuming,
so that even if the party managed to get it to the House, it
would not be ready in time for the 1997 election.

Soehardjo however said even if the bill did not get to the
House for discussion, the move will still be a valuable election
campaign for the PPP.

He also noted that PPP is unlikely to get support from a
second faction in the House, a requirement for any bill to be
debated.

Harmoko has denied the allegations that the "silent week" had
been abused by his group in the past to intimidate voters, saying
that voters are intelligent enough to know who they should vote
for.

The silent week comes immediately after the election campaign
and before voting day. It is intended to cool off the atmosphere
after the tense, and often violent, election campaign.

Golkar has used its muscle to have the election rules changed,
banning outdoor rallies and replacing them with indoor debates
and television advertising campaigns.(imn)