Golkar legislators formally support Soeharto, Habibie

Golkar legislators formally support Soeharto, Habibie

JAKARTA (JP): Eighty-eight percent of the Golkar faction
members in the People's Consultative Assembly formally signed
yesterday their support for Soeharto and B.J. Habibie as the next
president and vice president respectively.

Amid speculation the procedure was held hastily in order to
prevent members from shifting allegiance toward potential vice
presidential contender Emil Salim, the 516 signatures were
collected following a closed-door meeting led by faction
secretary Ary Mardjono.

The chairman of the Golkar faction, Ginandjar Kartasasmita,
has refused to link the signing to worries that certain Golkar
legislators would vote against Habibie.

Ary said the 70 Golkar legislators who failed to sign their
support yesterday would not face sanctions. "They could be sick
or out of town. We won't take punitive measures against them,"
said Ary, who is also Golkar's secretary-general.

Golkar, which holds 588 out of 1,000 Assembly seats, has
renominated incumbent President Soeharto and named State Minister
of Research and Technology Habibie as his running mate for the
1998/2003 period. The other four factions have followed suit.

The Assembly is scheduled to elect the president on March 10
and vice president the day after.

Each of the five factions in the Assembly will present their
candidates to leaders of the highest law-making body in a sealed
envelope, with signatures of supporters attached.

In the past, the factions collected the signatures before
formally announcing their candidates during the Assembly's
General Session. The session this year will run from March 1 to
March 11.

A Golkar legislator who requested anonymity said yesterday it
was at each faction's discretion to collect the signatures either
before or during the session.

The secretary of the United Development Party (PPP) faction,
Zarkasih Nur, said yesterday its members would be asked to sign
their support for Soeharto and Habibie before March 8.

"We will decide on this matter during a plenary meeting
(tomorrow)," Zarkasih said.

He said members of his faction who refused to sign would not
face punishment, because the signatures served as an additional
requirement to the letter of nomination.

However, he believed that all, or at least most, PPP
legislators would sign the nomination form.

"We will collect the signatures of as many PPP legislators as
possible. It's not an effort to prevent dissenting votes, because
I believe all of us will comply with the party's decision on the
presidential and vice presidential candidates," he said.

ABRI

The Armed Forces (ABRI) defended yesterday its decision to
support the civilian Habibie for the vice presidency rather than
someone with a military background.

Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the assistant to the ABRI
chief of sociopolitical affairs, said it supported only the best
choice for the state leadership at any given time.

Should ABRI find in 2003 that "the best" were people from the
military, it would support them then, he said after a discussion
on the military's dual role.

Former ABRI chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said earlier this month
that Habibie was the most appropriate figure to assist Soeharto
with his state duties, including handling state problems and
responding to challenges in the next five years.

Newly installed ABRI chief Gen. Wiranto confirmed Monday that
the Armed Forces would not waver in its support for Soeharto's
renomination and Habibie's vice presidential nomination.

Asked whether ABRI had been under strong pressure from
civilians to come out in support of Habibie, Susilo said the
military was too independent to be influenced. (amd/imn)