Gus Dur ready for reelection

JAKARTA: Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid reiterated his desire on Thursday to run again for the 2004 direct presidential election if asked by Muslim clerics.

"If ordered by ulemas (Muslim clerics) to run for president in 2004, I will do so," the Antara news agency quoted him as saying in a discussion at the office of his National Awakening Party (PKB), Jakarta.

Gus Dur, 61, was still the first choice of presidential hopefuls nominated by PKB, according to deputy party chairman Mahfud M.D recently.

Claiming he never wanted to become president, Gus Dur said that in the 1999 elections he was also asked by ulemas to run for power.

If reelected president in 2004, he said he would focus on three key matters: creating a new political system, adopting a free market economy and promoting rational efficiency.

Gus Dur, a virtually blind cleric, was ousted as president by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on unproven charges of corruption and incompetence in July last year. The MPR also elected the then vice president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, to replace him.

Gus Dur defeated Megawati in the 1999 race for the presidency, despite the fact her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) won the general election earlier. --Antara