Golkar selects five names for presidency
Golkar selects five names for presidency
JAKARTA (JP): Golkar Party's three-day congress ended on
Wednesday, naming five executives as presidential candidates,
with incumbent President B.J. Habibie receiving the most support.
Chairman Akbar Tandjung said that following a tough discussion
in a plenary session, the congress finally decided on the five
names with the most support.
They were Habibie, Akbar, Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen.
Wiranto, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and
Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar
Kartasasmita.
South Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya chapters insisted on
having only one presidential candidate, while the other provinces
suggested between two to three names.
Akbar refused to be nominated. "That would be better for me,"
he said.
He also said the congress recommended that a party leadership
meeting be held to decide on one name only.
The party's central board is to meet on Thursday to set the
date for the leadership meeting, he said.
Deputy chairman Agung Laksono said the congress required
presidential candidates to have experience in administration.
"Our candidate is required to have experience in
administration, a person who is 'selling' in the election
campaigning," he said.
Separately, two experts warned on Wednesday that Golkar,
making use of the great resources at its disposal and the tacit
support of the military, would win the elections and maintain the
political status quo in the style of Soeharto's New Order regime,
at the expense of democratization.
Heri Akhmadi and Rizal Ramli from the Institute of Public
Affairs told a media conference that one possible alternative was
for potential political parties such as the National Awakening
Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) to establish a
grand coalition before the election and win the support of
swinging voters.
"Without a grand coalition between anti-status quo parties...
it would be impossible to beat Golkar," said Heri, the
institute's executive director. He estimated Golkar could still
win 31 percent of the vote.
He described how Golkar, for the recent opening of its
congress, was able to mobilize a large number of people "through
money politics".
He said the established practice of using coercion and
"consensus" with the military would bring support Golkar. The
fact that ABRI and regional representatives (who are
traditionally Golkar supporters) will make up 34 percent of the
500-seat House will enable Golkar to easily remain in power, he
said.
The three parties -- PKB, PAN and PDI Perjuangan -- should
coalesce and campaign so people are not attracted to Golkar, he
said.
"We think that would be the best strategy: beating it at its
own game," he said. "This coalition must be established before
the (June 7 elections). Otherwise, it will be too late. Golkar
would already win."
In its study, the institute described about 60 percent of
eligible voters as "swinging voters", who could easily give their
votes to any party. The remaining 40 percent were already
supporters of certain parties.
The undecided voters are conservative people, Rizal said.
He said the 48 contesting parties were too many, and could
easily confuse voters. "People have the tendency to play it safe
and choose a familiar, leading and experienced party (namely
Golkar)," he speculated. "Nobody wants to ride a losing horse. In
real politics, people are opportunists. That is why a coalition
is needed."
The study estimated that the strong contenders, Golkar
excluded, would be able to gain only an average of 10 percent of
the votes each.
The prediction of vote distribution was as follows: the United
Development Party (PPP) 9 percent, PKB 15 percent, PAN 16
percent, PDI Perjuangan 21 percent. Other Islamic parties would
together get 6 percent of votes and nationalist parties would
share 7 percent.
"We will be doomed if Golkar wins the election again... The
social, political and economic costs the people would have to
bear would be too expensive," Rizal said.
A coalition of poll contenders could be promoted through joint
campaigning, a common political platform and through power
sharing, Heri noted.
He cited an occasion when PDI Perjuangan held a rally in
Surabaya, and members of PAN and PKB helped secure the event.
According to Heri, the PAN has middle-class Muslim supporters
in urban areas, along with Muhammadiyah grassroots supporters.
And the PKB main power base are the Nahdlatul Ulama followers,
mostly in rural areas.
The study revealed that both PDI Perjuangan and PKB enjoy
strong support in Java, 24 percent and 21 percent respectively.
The PAN and Golkar enjoy 19 and 42 percent of support
respectively in areas outside of Java.
They were now competing to win back the support of people who
had during the New Order regime voted for Golkar, he said.
However, he said the personalities of party leaders may pose a
problem to a united election campaign.
"Party figures such as Amien Rais, Megawati Soekarnoputri and
Abdurrahman Wahid have big egos... because of the press (so they
might refuse a coalition)," Rizal said. (edt)