Golkar says all nominations for Soeharto

Golkar says all nominations for Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): The ruling political group Golkar has received
numerous nominations for Indonesia's next president from various
supporters. All had one name: the incumbent Soeharto.

Golkar chairman Harmoko told reporters that many mass
organizations and individual supporters had called on Golkar to
nominate Soeharto for the 1998/2003 term.

"A heap of letters demanding Pak Harto's reelection have
filled up our cabinet. So far, we haven't heard any other name,"
Harmoko said.

Harmoko, however, refused to formally announce Golkar's
position on the subject until after a leadership meeting
scheduled for Oct. 17 to Oct. 20.

"We just want to stick to the procedures we have already
agreed on. We will take the public's aspirations into account,
but you can guess what the trend means," he said.

The People's Consultative Assembly will meet in March to elect
a president and vice president and to endorse the State Policy
Guidelines for the next five years.

Political analysts say that the 76-year-old Soeharto is almost
certain to once again be the lone candidate in the presidential
election. Speculation instead has focused on who will fill the
number two slot currently held by Try Sutrisno.

Golkar will dominate the Assembly, with a faction of 488 of
the 1,000 members. The others are the Armed Forces (113 members),
the United Development Party (134), the Indonesian Democratic
Party (16) and the Regional Representatives Faction (149). The
remaining 100 seats are given out to representatives from mass
organizations and professional groups.

Harmoko said Golkar had set a number of criteria that its
presidential candidate should have. They are: capable of
maintaining national unity, acceptable by all groups in society,
possess leadership qualities recognized both at home and abroad,
and be experienced in implementing the ideals of the New Order
government.

Golkar will support one candidate only. "There is always only
one best choice," he said.

Harmoko rejected political observer Amien Rais' proposal to
hold a dialog on the future president, saying that the Assembly
meeting was enough to accommodate various aspirations from the
public.

"The session itself is a dialog, because it gathers all
political organizations and interests in the country," he said.

Harmoko reiterated that Golkar would not disclose its vice
presidential nomination until the president had been elected.

"Our constitution says the vice president must be able to
cooperate with the president. We have to consult with the elected
president to decide on his/her companion," he said.

Golkar was aware of public opinions on the future vice
president, but added that it had yet to receive letters of
support for any particular individual from its constituency.

"Let people trade arguments on vice presidential candidates,
because our democracy is open to differences. But we will abide
by our principles," Harmoko said.

Harmoko, who led Golkar to a landslide victory in the May
general election, is regarded a potential candidate for the
number two job, along with Minister of Information R. Hartono,
Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie and Minister of
National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita.

President Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana
has lately been included on the list.

"We would be wasting our time if we named our vice
presidential candidate now, only to find later that he or she
cannot work together with the elected president," he said. (amd)