Golkar Party leaders still up to old tricks

The Golkar Party's presidential candidates were still intent on testing their political support when chairman Akbar Tandjung recently delayed the process until after the legislative elections in April 2004. The Jakarta Post's Slamet Susanto spoke with political researcher Riswandha Imawan of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University about the issue. The following is an excerpt of the interview:

Question:How do you see the convention of the Golkar Party?

Answer: It is a brilliant breakthrough. The timing, too, is quite right given that people are beginning to see that reformasi is moving backward. They are tempted to a New Order romanticism. Five years of reform has yet to result in significant change. It is through the convention that independent candidates that are rooted in the community are expected to come out, so that theoretically the function of the political party is exercised.

The problem is the bottom-up convention mechanism has been distorted ... Some of the candidates who according to Golkar are rooted in the community were not even mentioned in the municipal/regency executive board. In another case, some candidates who were not even mentioned at that (lower) level were mentioned at the level of the provincial executive board.

Q: Is there an indication of "money politics" here?

A: That may be one reason; the word is that some candidates are unable to fulfill the party's "nutritional need". This can be read as a sign that some at the provincial or regency board levels have made some presidential candidates their cash cows.

Distortions are also caused by the existence of a commander or top-down hierarchy. Such a hierarchy is possible given that the majority of executives at the provincial and regency levels are former military officers.

The TNI commander may say that as an institution the military is not involved in the presidential candidacies of its former military officers. Yet in military education the concept of seniority is strong. Soldiers automatically take note of their seniors who are competing in the convention.

We see this in the strong solidarity among the military corps displayed in the trial of Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan in the Tanjung Priok case (1984 shootings of demonstrators); and also in the fact that senior officers with marked records gained more votes than the Golkar party chairman.

Q: What would be the impact of such distortions of the convention to the party?

A: People will see that Golkar has yet to change. As a political party, it may declare that it has a new paradigm. However, observing what has been going on, people will see it as the old Golkar. Its decision to delay its presidential selection until after the legislative elections instead of ahead of the elections also indicates that it has been playing by its own rules. Moreover, it has also decided to maintain the seven candidates rather than reduce them to five as initially planned.

Q: What is the motivation behind this particular move?

A: It's because some names that Golkar wanted to be among the big fives were not there. In fact, the names were the ones that would guarantee significant votes (in the legislative elections). By maintaining the seven names, it hopes it still will have marketable figures to win votes in the legislative elections.

If Golkar puts forward a military officer or its chairman, whose reputation is questionable, as presidential candidates it would be very easy for Megawati or Amien Rais to defeat them. Golkar would then face a double loss, in the legislative elections as well as in the presidential election.

Q: Does the delay have something to do with Akbar's legal case?

A: I think so. Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan has explained that once Akbar receives a verdict on his appeal in the Supreme Court, it will take some five months to six months until the original document of the sentence is received by the defendant.

Akbar would then receive his sentence in April 2004. That way he would still have the chance to join the presidential race because it is also by the end of April that his legal status, whether he is guilty as charged or not, will be known.

Q: What if he is finally acquitted?

A: That will be a problem because he will surely insist on going on with the presidential race. Other candidates (that have gone through the convention process) will feel that they have been toyed with. They will leave and Golkar's internal conflicts will increase. They will give their votes to other parties. And Golkar's fall will be just a matter of time. All the presidential candidates will leave the party by 2009 (scheduled elections after 2004) regardless of who really won the vote.

Q: Will the delay in the selection of Golkar's presidential candidates also incite the conflict among the other six candidates?

A: I don't think so. As a conservative political party, Golkar does not want revolutionary changes. They prefer evolutionary ones. The "seven samurai" would not attack one another because that would only give other presidential candidates new bullets and ammunition. This is the way they will try to win the legislative election.

Q: Would a clash among them occur, and when?

A: During the presidential election in which different interests and ideas, including those of the party chairman, will clash with one another. If that is the case, then we can conclude that the convention is just Akbar's political machine. The best thing for Golkar is if Akbar voluntarily withdraws from the presidential candidate selection process before the verdict for his appeal is even issued.

That will enable the other six candidates to compete through a radical change. Just remember that the convention is a radical idea. It doesn't make sense if it is not followed by revolutionary concepts. It's no use for the "seven samurai" to be defensive. It will be just the machine of the party's chairman.

Q: But has the convention really found independent candidates?

A: Of the seven, Surya Paloh (who leads Media Indonesia daily and Metro television station) is relatively the most independent because he has never been a functionary of the party. This shows that Golkar is initiating openness.