Golkar tests water with presidential nominees: Expert
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Golkar's announcement of five nominees for the 2004 presidential election could be an effort to test voters' reaction while the country's second largest party was still grappling with the New Order stigma and leadership issues, an analyst said on Sunday.
Golkar disclosed last week that Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and former Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Gen. Wiranto could be its presidential candidate. They will finally select just one.
Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung was conspicuously missing from the list, quite possibly because of his corruption conviction last year.
Nominating popular candidates is now more crucial than ever as the country will hold its first direct presidential election next year.
Analysts however differ on the chances of Golkar's five nominees in the upcoming race for the presidency.
"None of them look like they have the right qualities," said political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
Golkar, he said, made a mistake by naming figures that had strong ties to the party even though they appeared non-partisan.
Despite garnering the second highest number of votes in the 1999 election, Golkar continues to wrestle with its troubled past. The party was for 30 years the political vehicle of disgraced president Soeharto and his authoritarian New Order regime.
Except for Jusuf, the four other candidates are not current members of Golkar. Susilo, Agum and Wiranto however are former senior officers in the military, which was one of New Order's power bases along with Golkar and the bureaucracy.
Wiranto's nomination is especially risky due to his alleged role in the East Timor atrocities in 1999.
While Hamengkubuwono X may be a popular reformist now, he once was a Golkar executive in Yogyakarta. Analysts have also said he lacks voter support outside of Java.
"I'd say Golkar is just testing the public reaction," Ikrar said.
Akbar's conspicuous absence already signals an attempt to separate the party from its embattled chairman in the presidential race.
The Jakarta High Court upheld his guilty verdict for corruption for which he was sentenced to three years in prison by the Central Jakarta District Court. Akbar has been publicly criticized for his refusal to resign as Golkar chairman and for not going to jail. The public and many fellow lawmakers are quite upset that he also remains the House of Representatives Speaker, pending another appeal to the Supreme Court.
Golkar's list of nominees had a "relatively" cleaner background, said analyst Riswandha Imawan from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.
"Apparently Golkar wants to improve its image, and this, it hopes to do as soon as possible," he said, adding that it was odd that a presidential candidate would not be the party chairman.
In that context, Golkar's five nominees marks a breakthrough. It showed the party was forward looking, Riswandha said.
But given Akbar's tainted image, Golkar may not have much of a choice. In fact, by ditching him, the party actually aims to retain his chairmanship to beyond 2004, he said.
Akbar played a vital role in helping Golkar win a surprisingly large slice of voters in 1999, just a year after the New Order collapsed. Now he needs to lower his profile.
"Golkar is trying to divert the public's attention from Akbar through the nominees," Riswandha said.
He added that other parties would most likely share some of the nominees, and this could boost Golkar's chances of getting its man to secure the presidency.
University of Indonesia political analyst Maswadi Rauf voiced doubt that the five nominees represented Golkar's final list.
"In a political party the priority should have been given to its cadres, I don't see this happening here," he said, referring to the candidates.