Golkar lists 850 prospective legislators

JAKARTA (JP): The ruling political organization, Golkar, has provisionally listed its 850 nominees for the House of Representatives next year.

Golkar secretary general Ary Mardjono said yesterday the nominees were selected from 60,000 candidates which were proposed by the organization's branches across the country.

Ary did not say when Golkar officials had completed the list, but he said the nominees were selected in the spirit of musyawarah, deliberation for consensus.

In its latest issue, Forum magazine reported that Ary and Golkar chief Harmoko had submitted the list to President Soeharto, in his capacity as chairman of Golkar's board of patrons, on Sept. 3 for approval.

"We are ready to submit the list to the National Election Institute on Sept. 16 as scheduled," Ary told reporters at Golkar's headquarters yesterday.

In next year's general election, Golkar will contest the 425 available seats in the 500-seat House with the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party. From next year, the number of seats reserved for the Armed Forces, which founded Golkar in 1964, will be reduced from 100 to 75.

Golkar currently dominates the legislative body with 282 seats. PPP has 62, PDI has 56 and the Armed Forces has 100 seats.

Golkar has announced it will dismiss its representatives in the House aged 60 years or older and those who have been in the House for 20 years or more.

Next year, 30 percent of Golkar's representation in the House will reportedly consist of retired Armed Forces personnel, 30 percent are to be bureaucrats and 40 percent are to be Golkar executives.

Forum reported that the Golkar politicians who joined the National Brotherhood Foundation (YKPK), formed this year, would lose their chance to represent the organization in the House.

The foundation is made up of well-known politicians who are critical of political practices in Indonesia. The Golkar activists who joined the foundation include outspoken critic Tadjudin Nur Said and Iskandar Manji.

New faces in Golkar's list of nominees include political scholar Amir Santoso; Chrys Kelana of private TV station RCTI; Yorrys Th. Raweyai of Pemuda Pancasila, Golkar's youth organization; and Icuk Sugiarto, a former badminton hero. (pan)