Govt denies interfering in Golkar congress

Govt denies interfering in Golkar congress

JAKARTA (JP): Newly elected Golkar chief Akbar Tandjung and
Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid have dismissed allegations
that the military and government officials had intervened to
influence the result of Golkar's extraordinary congress.

"The allegations are untrue. The whole election process was
held by secret ballot," Akbar told reporters after formally
replacing Harmoko as Golkar chairman in a ceremony at the
grouping's secretariat in Slipi, West Jakarta, yesterday.

"However, it was not wrong for cabinet ministers to support my
chairmanship campaign. It was also not wrong if retired military
generals supported Edi Sudradjat's nomination," he remarked.

Akbar, who is also Minister/State Secretary, defeated Edi in
an election on Saturday to become Golkar chairman.

During the three day extraordinary congress, rumors were rife
that various officials were using their influence to persuade the
27 regional chapters to vote for their favored candidates.

Akbar was seen as having the backing of President B.J. Habibie
and Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto, while Edi was supported
by senior retired generals.

Several delegates claimed during the meeting that Assistant to
the Armed Forces' Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Maj. Gen.
Mardiyanto had telephoned regional military commanders and
instructed them to influence Golkar chapters under their
respective jurisdictions to vote for Akbar.

Similarly, the director-general of sociopolitical affairs in
the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dunidja, reportedly telephoned the
27 provincial governors for the same purpose.

Mardiyanto and Dunidja were said to be acting upon the
instructions of Wiranto and Syarwan respectively.

A group of 13 retired generals from the 1945 and Post-1945
Generations lashed out at the Armed Forces (ABRI) Headquarters
and the government on Monday for interfering in Golkar's recent
extraordinary congress.

Akbar admitted yesterday that he had personally telephoned
several regional chapters and members of Golkar's board of
councilors and also asked them to have breakfast with him prior
to the election.

"The meeting and telephone calls were intended to explain my
vision as a candidate," he argued.

Separately, Syarwan said he did not see any procedural
violations in the election and dismissed the allegations that
home affairs ministry officials had interfered in the election.

"The whole election process was lawful," he said.

He said freedom was guaranteed throughout the two round secret
ballot because nobody knew whose name was written on each voting
paper.

Nepotism

Harmoko, in his farewell speech at the Golkar handover
ceremony yesterday, made a call for the new executive board to
rid the organization of all collusion and nepotism.

"Golkar factions in the DPR (House of Representatives) and MPR
(People's Consultative Assembly) should be free from all
collusive and nepotistic elements before the general election
next year," Harmoko said.

"Golkar must be ready for whatever electoral system finally
emerges, whether it is a pure district system or a combination of
districts and proportional representation," he said.

Akbar appeared non-committal when he said he supported the
spirit of reform and would considering cleansing Golkar.

"We will consider recalling Golkar's legislators who gained
their positions through collusion and nepotism, including the
children of former president Soeharto," he said.

Four of Soeharto's children -- Siti Hardijanti Rukmana,
Bambang Trihatmodjo, Siti Hediati Prabowo and Hutomo Mandala
Putra -- are members of the Golkar faction in the MPR.

Harmoko said Golkar now had a network of 12 million active
cadres scattered among villages throughout the country and a
total of 36 million registered members nationwide.

He also said that Golkar had a structural network of 27
regional chapters, branch offices in 306 regencies and
mayoralties, and commissioner offices in 3,517 sub-districts and
69,000 villages.

To run the organization and to fund the 1999 general election
campaign, Harmoko handed over Rp 17.5 billion (US$1.2 million) to
Akbar as funds for Golkar's operational expenses.

Asked about sources of Golkar funding over the past five
years, Harmoko said he had inherited Rp 11 billion from his
predecessor Wahono and had received financial assistance from the
Dakab Foundation.

The foundation, established in July 1985, is chaired by
Soeharto. Its assets are worth Rp 836.29 billion. (imn)