Golkar strives to contain internal rift over Akbar

Golkar strives to contain internal rift over Akbar

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As demands from within Golkar grow for chairman Akbar Tandjung to
quit his post, party leaders are now scrambling to save the
organization from falling apart by diverting attention away from
Akbar's corruption case.

Golkar central executive board (DPP) members have told The
Jakarta Post that preparations are underway for the party to hold
a national conference in March to name its presidential
candidates for the 2004 general election as well as a party
caretaker should Akbar go to jail.

"We are trying to accommodate our constituents' aspirations
for the presidential race in 2004 to ensure that our candidates
receive full support from the electorate," co-chairman Syamsul
Muarif told the Post on Monday.

Akbar, who is also Speaker of the House of Representatives
(DPR), has been declared guilty of corruption and sentenced to
three years in jail both by the Central Jakarta district court
and the Jakarta High Court for his role in a Rp 40 billion
(US$4.7 million) financial scandal involving the State Logistics
Agency (Bulog). He is free pending appeal to the Supreme Court.

His conviction has triggered calls from anti-corruption
campaigners for Akbar to quit as House Speaker.

Pressure has also been mounting from within the party for the
veteran politician to relinquish his chairmanship, arguing that
Akbar was a liability to Golkar, a political vehicle used by
former dictator Soeharto to run the country for over 30 years.

A party source told the Post Tuesday that all Golkar leaders
agreed that Akbar's corruption case would hurt the party's
preparations for the 2004 election.

"We agree that we have to move forward and contain people's
furor over Akbar's case by holding a national conference," said
the source, adding that the party was fully aware that they could
not depend on certain figures from inside Golkar.

The source also said that they were preparing to have one
caretaker and set their eyes on Yogyakarta Governor Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X should Akbar go to jail. Syamsul refused to
confirm the allegation.

Some of Golkar's regional branches have been loudly demanding
Akbar's replacement, but most seem to want to keep him, citing
his success in leading the party through hard times after the
downfall of its patron Soeharto in 1998.

It is hoped that by engaging the party in a presidential
candidate debate, pressure from within the party for Akbar to
quit his chairmanship would die down.

Syamsul said the planned conference is designed to net
presidential candidates favored by the people at the grassroots,
not the ones appointed by DPP members.

"The presidential candidates do not have to be from the party,
they could be other leaders or even from other parties, but will
receive the support from Golkar," Syamsul stressed.

Golkar co-chairman Slamet Effendy Yusuf, meanwhile, said that
there would be a preliminary meeting among delegates on Feb. 27
and Feb. 28 in Jakarta to discuss who would become Golkar's
presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2004
election.

The meeting, he said, would set out the criteria and selection
mechanisms only. "We won't name any candidates yet, to avoid
disputes," Slamet said on Tuesday.

Theo L. Sambuaga, a Golkar co-chairman who has been calling
for Akbar's ouster, said Tuesday that the meeting would only
discuss preparations for the upcoming elections.