Kalla to resign,says ready to be Susilo's running mate

Kalla to resign,says ready to be Susilo's running mate

Tiarma Siboro and Nana RukmanaB, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Cirebon

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla announced
on Sunday his intention to resign from the Cabinet to enable him
to make a bid for the vice presidency.

His exit will allow him to contest the July 5 election
alongside Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, following his withdrawal on
Sunday from the Golkar Party convention, due to select its
presidential candidate.

Kalla said he would formally announce his resignation to
President Megawati Soekarnoputri next week.

Retired Army general Susilo relinquished his post as the
coordinating minister for political and security affairs after a
rift with Megawati early last month, enabling him to campaign for
the Democratic Party he helped found. The party has fared
impressively so far in its debut election, ranked fifth in the
provisional results.

"I will officially tender my resignation to the President soon
after everything is ready for me," Kalla said. However, he has
already moved from his official residence on Jl. Denpasar Raya to
his private house in Kebayoran Baru, both in South Jakarta.

Kalla said he was leaving the Cabinet in compliance with a
presidential decree requiring government officials to resign if
they contest the presidential election.

Political parties must register their presidential candidate
between May 1 and May 7.

Meanwhile, Susilo said his decision to pick Kalla as his
running mate for the presidential election was based on an
assessment that his former colleague in the Cabinet was
"cooperative and shares a similar commitment to building the
future government".

Susilo, however, said Kalla's move to his camp would not
necessarily augur a coalition between the Democratic Party and
Golkar.

"Both I and Pak Kalla need to intensify our communications,
and it is too premature to talk about a coalition (with Golkar).
Should we consider a coalition, the leaders of the two parties
would be involved," Susilo said in Cirebon, West Java.

Kalla said his candidacy via the Democratic Party was a
personal commitment and he would not quit Golkar.

"As a Golkar Party leader, I did my best in the recent
legislative election. I campaigned for the party in 26 provinces
and visited nearly 22 towns nationwide to win votes for Golkar.

"I also secured votes from 250 of Golkar's regental branches,
mostly in eastern Indonesia and Sumatra, while participating in
the convention. Now it's time to prove whether I, as an
individual, can win sympathy from the public," Kalla said.

Analyst Saiful Mujani, from the Freedom Institute, said that
Kalla's resignation from the Cabinet would have a political
impact upon Megawati's performance in the upcoming presidential
election because Kalla's maneuver, to some extent, indicated "the
President is no longer attractive".

Saiful added the pairing of Susilo and Kalla should be
considered formidable competition for Megawati, who is also the
leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P),
and also for Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung.

"Kalla's move to Susilo's camp will represent an ideal
combination of Java and non-Java, military and civilian, and
nationalist and Muslim," Saiful told The Jakarta Post.