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)