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)