'KONI boss needs President's nod'

'KONI boss needs President's nod'

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council must ask for President Soeharto's approval of its elected chairman, the council's top official Surono said.

"Sports cannot be separated from our national development program as a whole. That's why the council needs the President's blessing, once it manages to line up its chairmanship board," Surono said yesterday, after the final meeting prior to the council's national congress, which starts tomorrow.

The National Sports Council was set up in 1966 through a presidential decree. A total of 41 sports and board game organizations are currently under its auspices.

The sports council's governing body will choose an electoral board of three during the congress. That board will announce the council's new president at the conclusion of the meeting.

Surono said he was prepared to give his advice about the ideal chairman upon request of the board. "I will not step into the election process," he said.

In the past two days some sports figures revealed their support for Army Chief Commander Wismoyo Arismunandar, formerly three-time chairman of the Indonesian Judo Association, to take Surono's mantle.

Surono insisted on his quiet stance over succession within the organization he has led for eight years. "I will disclose my views upon opening the congress on Monday," he said.

However, he hinted that he would not run for a third term, saying that the public has their own choice. Jakarta became the council's first chapter to nominate Wismoyo on Friday. Chief of the chapter, Kusnan Ismukanto, said that Surono and his deputy Soesilo Soedarman also qualify for the top post.

Most of the 576 participants of the congress, who derive from Indonesia's 27 provinces, arrived yesterday. They are being accommodated at the Hotel Indonesia during their stay. Committee chairman Timbul Thomas Lubis said only 400 participants would attend the opening ceremony at the State Palace tomorrow. (amd)