Golkar opens leadership meeting amid internal rift

A'an Suryana and Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Golkar Party put its internal dispute behind it as it began its leadership meeting on Wednesday with a call for national reconciliation.

Party chairman Akbar Tandjung suggested in his opening speech that good will from all elements of the nation in reaching reconciliation would result in the political stability the country needed to restore its economy and emerge from the ongoing crisis.

"President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz have planted the seeds of political certainty, which is a main factor in the success of the economy. We should not squander this advantage by blaming each other and sparking narrow-minded political disputes," Akbar told the participants at the meeting at the party's headquarters in Slipi, West Jakarta.

Internal disputes had cast a shadow over the meeting, which runs through Friday, with the party executive board considering imposing a suspension on Muchyar Yara, deputy secretary-general of the party.

Muchyar is one of the party members who have called for a snap congress to unseat Akbar from the party's top post on the grounds that Akbar's status as a suspect in a high profile scam involving the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) could jeopardize the party's existence.

But Akbar looks set to remain in command, as many provincial chapters have turned down the possibility of holding an accelerated congress.

Akbar's other rivals, Achmad Arnold Baramuli and Muladi, both of whom are members of the party's advisory board, were absent from the opening ceremony.

The meeting was attended by the party's executives, patrons and some 300 provincial representatives.

Akbar warned of further economic trouble ahead now that growth was running at only between 2 percent and 3 percent, foreign investment was diminishing and people had to queue to obtain basic commodities.

He asked all parties to focus on economic recovery, instead of wasting their energies on pursuing their own interests.

"All elements of society must put aside their narrow interests and establish a political moratorium to support economic recovery," he said.

A Golkar executive, Slamet Effendy Yusuf, confirmed that a proposal to demand a snap congress had been left out of the meeting's agenda.

Chairman of the Yogyakarta party chapter, M. Mansur Sudarno, echoed Slamet's remarks, saying that a precipitated congress was not a solution to the problems the party was facing.