Golkar may review Habibie's nomination
Golkar may review Habibie's nomination
JAKARTA (JP): Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung, who was given the power to review the party's support for the presidential candidacy of incumbent B.J. Habibie by party executives on Wednesday, indicated on Saturday he may review Habibie's nomination if the President's accountability speech was rejected.
"If the President's accountability speech is rejected, it is possible that we will reconsider (Habibie's candidacy)," Akbar said on Saturday afternoon.
Akbar's comments came as four of the 11 factions in the People's Consultative Assembly completed their overviews of Habibie's accountability speech, which was delivered on Thursday night.
The four factions which rejected the speech -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the National Awakening Party, the Indonesian Nationhood and the Love the Nation Democratic Party -- said Habibie failed to account for many of the issues which remained unresolved during his 16-month tenure.
Only one faction, United Ummat Sovereignty, signaled its outright acceptance of the speech.
Six other factions, including the Golkar Party of Reform, indicated reservations with the speech, but fell short of stating whether they would reject it. Instead, they referred the accountability speech to the Assembly commission which will be formed to deliberate the speech.
Almost all of the factions highlighted their concern with the East Timor issue, the Bank Bali scandal and the termination of the investigation into the alleged corruption by former president Soeharto.
During the Golkar executive meeting on Wednesday, Akbar was given a mandate to seek an "alternative strategy" should Habibie's nomination encounter overwhelming opposition.
Golkar leaders have said that a rejection of Habibie's accountability speech could be a "turning point" and lead to the reevaluation of Habibie's candidacy.
Akbar conceded that should the Assembly reject the accountability speech, either by consensus or by a vote, Golkar would be faced with a serious dilemma.
Akbar, however, remained equivocal about a reevaluation and rejected suggestions he could be an alternative to Habibie.
"Even if I'm asked by Golkar, I would say that I'm unwilling to be nominated," he stated.
Habibie is due to respond to the Assembly factions' overviews on Sunday morning before the Assembly commission begins its examination of the speech.
The result of the commission's deliberations will then be presented to an Assembly plenary session to be accepted or rejected in the form of a decree.
Whether the speech is accepted or rejected has no legal implications for Habibie's candidacy, as there is no formal ruling which forbids him from being reelected if the speech is rejected.
Chances
Separately, Golkar Party deputy chairmen Fahmi Idris insisted that despite the outright rejection of the accountability speech by four factions, Habibie's chances of retaining the presidency were still good.
He said the indefinite stand taken by many of the factions should not be taken as a rejection of Habibie's speech.
"It only shows the critical stand of the factions with regard to the speech," Fahmi said here on Saturday.
Meanwhile, National Awakening Party official Khofifah Indar Parawansa said it was still difficult to predict Habibie's chance at the presidency despite the rejection of his speech by four factions, including her own.
"Habibie's fate will be clearer after his speech is discussed by the commission. Then we shall know how many of the Assembly's members are inclined to vote for or against him," Khofifah said.
The commission will begin discussing Habibie's speech on Sunday afternoon.
National Mandate Party member Hasballah M. Saad said that whatever the decision on the accountability speech, Habibie still had the right to push ahead with his presidential bid.
"The rejection of his speech will only be a humiliation to him, but he still has right to go ahead," Hasballah said. (byg/jsk)