Ismail Hasan's support not as solid as it seems
Ismail Hasan's support not as solid as it seems
JAKARTA (JP): United Development Party (PPP) Chairman Ismail
Hasan Metareum has not secured his re-election despite
endorsement from all 27 provincial chapters.
Deputy Secretary General Jusuf Syakir said, during a meeting
at Ismail Hasan's residence in Jakarta, the endorsement came from
chapter functionaries who did not necessarily represent their
respective regions.
"Their endorsements cannot be taken as reflecting the official
line of their respective chapters," Jusuf was quoted as saying by
the Antara news agency yesterday.
He made the statement to correct the impression created by
press reports that Ismail Hasan had secured the support of all
the leaders of the 27 provincial chapters.
Jusuf, who acknowledged that it was he who organized the
meeting, had been widely criticized by some PPP executives who
accused him of engineering the outcome of the election. He
declined to respond to the accusation.
The party is slated to elect its chairman at a congress in
late August with the incumbent seen as a strong candidate to
retain his post despite facing increasing pressures to make way
for a more populist figure.
Although there are attempts to unseat him, his opponents
within the party could not agree on a single candidate.
Even the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) faction, by far the largest of
the four which make up the party, is divided on which candidate
to support.
The 27 leaders from the party's 27 provinces who requested
last Friday's meeting were either chapter chairmen or their
deputies who owe their positions to Ismail Hasan. Most apparently
belong to the Muslimin Indonesia (MI) faction to which the
incumbent also belongs.
Jusuf said only four chapters have officially stated their
support for Ismail Hasan's re-election: Jakarta, Irian Jaya,
Jambi and West Nusa Tenggara.
Ismail Hasan, during Friday's meeting, declined to accept the
nomination outright, saying the time and place for that should be
at the congress. However he stated that he was prepared to accept
whatever task the congress may entrust him with.
The election's outcome will be largely determined by the
composition of the participants to the PPP congress. The
congress' organizing committee has not yet determined who will be
invited to attend.
The 27 provincial chapters, mostly controlled by MI faction,
only represent part of the delegates. The larger delegates will
come from the hundreds of party branch offices at regency level.
(emb)