'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)