Govt to stay out of KONI chief election
Govt to stay out of KONI chief election
JAKARTA (JP): The government vows not to mix into the National Sports Council (KONI)'s chairmanship election at the congress scheduled for Jan. 23-Jan. 25, the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman told reporters yesterday.
"Who will eventually come out as chairman will be solely determined by the congress," Hayono said.
Hayono's statement indicates he has now adopted a more lenient approach on the heated debate surrounding the KONI chairmanship election. The election become a sticky issue recently when he said the election must by no means be based on seniority because "it would mean a setback".
The incumbent KONI chairman, Soerono, 71, is a senior retired general who assumed his position after Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX died in 1988. Soerono was formally elected as KONI chairman in 1990.
Hayono touched on the seniority issue after KONI's director in charge of organizational affairs, Basoeki, said that Soerono's announcement he will run for the election again would deter other retired armed forces officers from nominating themselves for the position.
Soerono, responding to this issue, said that "everybody has the right to become a chairman" and that he had no intention of preventing other candidates from running for the post.
Hayono stressed that the government's decision not to intervene in KONI's internal affairs was backed by President Soeharto.
Hayono added that the government will only give its views on KONI's organizational structure.
The minister emphasized the importance of chairmanship regeneration but quickly added that he would not object if the congress re-elected Soerono.
These were Hayono's latest remark on the issue following the remarks of other sports figures, most of whom have echoed Hayono's concern about regeneration.
Basoeki has thrown his weight behind the regeneration idea in the upcoming KONI administration. Ismangoen Notosaputro, the chairman of KONI's Central Java chapter in charge of organizational affairs offered another remark. He said the terms of office of KONI chairmen must be limited.
Sumaryono, executive chairman of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) said that whoever eventually becomes KONI chairman, he or she should be acceptable in the eyes of the government. (arf)