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.