Golkar Party leaders still up to old tricks

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.