Golkar's internal fight heats up as polls near

Golkar's internal fight heats up as polls near

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the political party campaigns for the legislative election
draw to a close, Golkar Party presidential hopefuls seem to have
set their sights against one another.

Two admonishments issued recently by the party's central
executive board (DPP) are indicative of the heightened rivalry
between the candidates.

The first was addressed to media mogul Surya Paloh for his
persistent criticism of corruption. Though he never mentioned
names, it was a vague reference to incumbent party leader Akbar
Tandjung.

Akbar was acquitted last month in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.8
million) graft case after a two-year legal battle. He is now
facing a new legal suit from his former aide, Kito Irkhami, who
claimed that Akbar had promised to pay him Rp 1 billion in order
to help Akbar escape prison in the above case.

Akbar and Paloh are two of the six Golkar presidential
hopefuls. The other four are Gen. (ret) Wiranto, Lt. Gen. (ret)
Prabowo Subianto, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
Jusuf Kalla and businessman Aburizal Bakrie.

The DPP argued that Paloh's campaign speeches could ruin the
party's image and were counterproductive to the party's strategy
for winning the election, because he charged that the party was
filled with many corrupt officials.

Political parties are campaigning from March 11 to April 1 for
the April 5 legislative election. The election will pave the way
for the 24 political parties to field their nominations for the
presidency, provided they win at least 3 percent of the total
votes cast by 147 million voters.

Ignoring the party's warning, Paloh has continued his
onslaught, saying that he is only targeting the corrupt
officials, not the party, and that the party should do something
about corruption.

Akbar threatened to drop Paloh from Golkar's national vote-
getters team if he continued to repeat his campaign theme.

A political observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI) said the root of the rivalry was funding.

"These political moves show that all candidates think that
they should seize whatever opportunity in the campaigning period,
on which they have spent a lot of money," said Ikrar Nusa Bakti.

Another DPP admonishment landed on Prabowo Subianto, a former
Army general and son-in-law of former president Soeharto. The DPP
claimed that Prabowo's commercial television spots exceeded the
allowed air time and focused more on him than the party.

Political maneuvering inside Golkar was apparent when Akbar
told a media conference prior to the campaigning period that all
Golkar presidential aspirants, apart from himself, were allowed
to campaign only in Java and Bali.

Ikrar said when the political fray subsided, Akbar would have
the best chance of winning a nod from the convention due to the
clout his position lent him and his powerful influence over party
officials nationwide.

Golkar will hold a convention after the legislative election
to determine its candidates for the presidency and vice
presidency.

Ikrar dismissed the chances of other candidates holding a
showdown with Akbar in the convention, especially after his
recent acquittal by the Supreme Court on corruption charges.

"It is useless for them to campaign because Akbar will
eventually win the race. Wiranto and Prabowo seem to be using the
convention as a testing ground while Aburizal is not too serious.
Only Paloh seems earnest in the convention," he said.

He was suspicious that Golkar had merely used the candidates
as cash cows for the party's campaign, while adding that a recent
regulation issued by Akbar to prohibit candidates from joining
other parties further enhanced Golkar's position.