Golkar names Habibie as presidential candidate
JAKARTA (JP): Golkar Party leaders ended their closed-door haggling early Friday by finally naming incumbent President B.J. Habibie as its presidential candidate, a decision that inside critic Marzuki Darusman said would harm the party's chances in the June 7 general election.
Marzuki, who is also the party's deputy chairman, expressed concern over Habibie's poor record with regard to the investigation into former president Soeharto's alleged abuse of power. Marzuki has openly voiced his support for Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto.
Sources in Golkar's two-day leadership congress reported heated arguments among factions in the party. In the end, however, it also managed to name the following vice presidential candidates: Golkar Chairman Akbar Tandjung, Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto, Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita.
"The decisions were reached through a consensus among participants, especially leaders from the provincial party chapters," Akbar told The Jakarta Post before the closing ceremony here on Friday.
He said the decision-making process had been dragged out by a small number of provincial chapters which insisted on voting rather than consensus.
"There were differences in opinion, which is natural in a democracy. But we finally ironed out the differences through lobbying all provincial chapter leaders," he said.
The meeting, which was opened officially by Akbar at 9 p.m. on Thursday, had the sole objective of deciding upon the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates. It took six hours -- rather than the scheduled two hours -- to decide on the final candidate because six provinces rejected the sole nomination of Habibie.
North Sumatra, Riau, Lampung, East and West Java and Yogyakarta proposed that five candidates be put forward instead.
Abu Hasan Sazili, deputy chairman of the Golkar faction in the House of Representatives, said North Sumatra, Riau and Lampung supported Akbar because he hails from Sumatra, while Yogyakarta threw its weight behind Hamengkubuwono, their traditional monarch.
West and East Java argued Akbar was more popular than Habibie in the two provinces. The party leaders from the two provinces have supported Akbar since a party meeting in March.
A reliable source in the party told the Post that Habibie had planted a team in the meeting to campaign for his nomination.
"This team has been working for a long time," the source said, requesting anonymity. He named the team members as, among others, deputy chairmen Fachmi Idris and Agung Laksono, Setya Novanto, Slamet Efendy Yusuf, businessman Fadel Muhammad, and A.A. Baramuli, chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA).
When asked for confirmation, Slamet did not deny the presence of such a team. Both he and Fadel separately rejected the suggestion that high-level "money politics" were brought into play in the meeting.
The two said the decisions were arrived at in a democratic and transparent manner.
Sofyan Male, Golkar's deputy secretary-general, said the nomination of Habibie, who hails from South Sulawesi, would help the party win votes in eastern Indonesia.
"Golkar leaders from the eastern part of the country want the president to be from outside Java," he said, adding that Habibie met all the criteria for a president which the party had delineated.
Akbar played down the opposition, vowing that Golkar would continue to fight for Habibie's presidency.
"He has brought about progress, especially in the economy and for the nation. He has also implemented all the decrees issued by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)," he said.
He acknowledged that most of those who opposed Habibie's nomination believed the President had deceived the public by pursuing a weak and meaningless investigation into the wealth allegedly accumulated by Soeharto during his 32 years in office.
"He is pursuing it (the investigation) and he will give an account of it in the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)," he said.
A disappointed Marzuki said: "I believe it would have been better for the party to nominate Habibie after the election. His nomination now will certainly have a negative impact on the party's standing in the election."
"The (Golkar) leadership meeting failed to reach a better decision," Marzuki said. "It should have endorsed the March decision to name five candidates," he added. (rms)