Grassroots ready for Susilo's campaign for presidency
Grassroots ready for Susilo's campaign for presidency
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A group of professionals, religious leaders, students,
organizations and senior military officers announced on Friday a
movement to gather support for presidential hopeful Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono.
Susilo was not present for the announcement but met with
senior military officers earlier in the day to share his
political vision before attending Friday prayers at the Jakarta
Military Command.
Susilo was chief of staff of the city's military command in
1996, the year of the attack on the Jakarta headquarters of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) to oust a camp led by current
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Claiming to be independent, the group said Susilo should
engage more with the grassroots if he was serious about becoming
president. Yani Wahid, a member of the movement, said Susilo was
a "new phenomenon who brings promise to the uncertain political
situation".
The group, which said it was funded by individual members,
added that it was ready to educate people about how to best
channel their political aspirations, and would establish "posts"
nationwide to introduce their presidential candidate.
As of late Friday, Susilo's three-year-old Democratic Party
stood fifth in the provisional tally from the April 5 legislative
election with 7 million votes, or about 8 percent of the over 147
million registered voters.
Because it has garnered more than 5 percent of the popular
vote and stands to win more than 3 percent of the seats in the
550-seat House of Representatives, the Democratic Party is
eligible to nominate a candidate for the July 5 presidential
election.
Political parties must register their presidential candidates
from May 1 to May 7.
Over the past several weeks, Susilo has met with several party
leaders, including Abdurrahman Wahid from the National Awakening
Party (PKB), Yusril Ihza Mahendra from the Crescent Star Party
(PBB), Hidayat Nur Wahid from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)
and several executives from the Golkar Party.
Susilo has yet to declare which party he is working with or
indicate a possible vice presidential running mate.
During Friday's meeting with some 25 senior military officers,
Susilo outlined his political vision for the nation.
Those in attendance included Lt. Gen. (ret) Harsudiono Hartas,
a former military chief of social and political affairs, Lt. Gen.
(ret) Kharis Suhud, a former speaker of the People's Consultative
Assembly, and Lt. Gen. (ret) TB Silalahi, a former minister of
administrative reform.