Habibie's candidacy reaffirmed

JAKARTA (JP): The Golkar Party overwhelmingly reaffirmed the presidential nomination of B.J. Habibie, but were at an impasse late on Tuesday night as to whether to grant the central board, under party chief Akbar Tandjung, the power to adopt an alternate candidate if the political situation required.

Golkar Party deputy chief Agung Laksono said on Tuesday afternoon 25 of the 27 representatives from the party's regional chapters, including East Timor, approved the retainment of Habibie as the party's candidate.

Agung said the Yogyakarta chapter had been the only one to reject the nomination, while West Java abstained.

The two-day meeting, also fell into a deadlock on naming a running mate for Habibie.

Some delegates wanted Golkar to keep its options open and stick with its policy of retaining four vice presidential candidates: former cabinet minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita, Indonesian Military Chief Gen. Wiranto, Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and Akbar Tandjung himself.

Others wanted it to support one single candidate.

But well past midnight on Tuesday, the Golkar executive meeting at the Santika Hotel continued without any clear decision on the vice presidency or giving the central board the mandate to change the policy on the presidential candidate.

The mandate in effect allows Akbar to drop Habibie as Golkar's candidate should opposition against him become overwhelming.

The executive meeting comes just days before Habibie is due to present his presidential accountability speech to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Thursday night.

With mounting opposition against the president and no other party yet formally supporting his candidacy, Golkar executives are wary that their candidate might fall at the first hurdle.

Habibie has been dogged by credibility problems as crisis after crisis has eroded his leadership.

The Bank Bali scandal, the cessation into investigations of corruption against former president Soeharto and the East Timor issue are just some of the high profile controversies which have damaged his presidency.

Another Golkar deputy chairman, Marzuki Darusman, admitted late Tuesday that there was a "standoff" on these two issues.

At about 12:30 a.m. the Golkar plenary meeting suspended to hold small consultations to lobby for an end to the impasse.

Earlier on Tuesday afternoon Marzuki claimed there was a "general acceptance" that the party's central board should be accorded a specific power to make a decision if Habibie's accountability speech is rejected.

"There is a general acceptance that the central board should be accorded the possibility of making a decision on this matter at the appropriate time, with regard to the prevailing situation prior to election," Marzuki said.

When pressed further whether this mandate would mean that the party could drop Habibie's candidacy at the last minute, Marzuki said, "That is not what I'm saying, (but) you might interpret this statement in many ways".

M. Balakum, deputy chairman of the Maluku chapter, acknowledged that there was a fine balance between those who supported the mandate and those who did not.

He said most delegates agreed that Golkar should be open to adopt an alternate strategy, however about 60 percent of them opposed giving the central board the sole responsibility for deciding such an important issue.

Balakum, who is a member of the Golkar commission on organizational matters and drafting political statements, said those who supported the mandate argued that it would not be feasible to hold another executive meeting in such a short time.

Marzuki Darusman acknowledged that Thursday's presidential accountability speech would be the critical moment.

"I think there is a wide awareness among the participants (of the Golkar Party's executive meeting) that whether or not Habibie's accountability speech is accepted will be the crucial issue of his reelection," Marzuki said on Thursday afternoon.

Agung Laksono said separately on Tuesday that members of the party's regional chapters would do their utmost to lobby all parties to accept Habibie's accountability speech.

"These efforts include lobbying and making power sharing offers with other factions, including the "axis force" or the Indonesian Police/Military faction.

Agung expressed optimism that the speech would be accepted. (ivy/byg)