Harmoko to be president?

DENPASAR, Bali: Harmoko, the chief of the ruling Golkar party and Minister of Information, is apparently popular among students in this famed tourist island.

Skema-B, an official student body, plumped for him to run for president in 1998 to replace 75-year-old President Soeharto, who has been in power unchallenged for the past 30 years.

"In our congress from June 8 to 9 we agreed to support Harmoko for the upcoming presidential race," spokesman for Skema-B Widiana Kepakisan announced.

The "congress" heated up when participants came up with names for their presidential candidates. Some proposed Megawati Soekarnoputri, chef of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and others backed Ismail Hasan Metareum, head of the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP).

Megawati was rejected because her party is disintegrating, and Ismail Hasan was turned down because his party is Moslem-based.

An intellectual who declined to be named said that he believed the students were only making fun of Harmoko. (23/pan)