Lecturer says Amien best bet for president

Lecturer says Amien best bet for president

JAKARTA (JP): Amien Rais for president and Matori Abdul
Djalil, former legislator of the United Development Party (PPP),
as vice president. This is the duo proposed by noted political
lecturer Arbi Sanit who was speaking at Bandung on Wednesday.

Amien, former leader of the largest Muslim organization
Muhammadiyah, chairs the National Mandate Party (PAN) and has
formed alliances with a number of other parties in a bid to
prevent the possibility of B.J. Habibie's second term as
president.

Matori now chairs the National Awakening Party (PKB) set up by
executives of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim
organization chaired by Abdurrahman Wahid.

"Amien Rais and Matori are the best couple for state
leadership, while Megawati is more fit to become Speaker of the
House of Representatives (DPR) and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman
Abdurrahman Wahid, Speaker of the People's Consultative
Assembly," Arbi said.

He said he based his recommendation on his judgment of the
leaders' personal capacities and the estimated sweep of votes of
their parties. PKB relies on the millions of NU members in rural
areas while PAN enjoys support in urban areas in provinces where
it has less outreach to villages.

The joint communique formed on May 18 involved PAN, the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) led by
Megawati Soekarnoputri and PKB. Then last week another communique
was signed by Amien, PPP and Justice Party (PK).

The alliance is fragile, observers say, with Amien and
Abdurrahman openly vying for the presidency, but it is considered
a hopeful bid to beat "pro-status quo" forces.

Campaigns this week raised other candidates. On Tuesday in
Lombok supporters of the Justice and Unity Party (PKP) hailed
former vice president Try Sutrisno as their next president.

"Long live pak Try, long live the presidential candidate, long
live PKP," thousands yelled when Try was on a campaign session at
Kebon Ayu village, West Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara.

Try, a former armed forces commander, was visiting a local
Islamic boarding school, a pesantren, where he contributed to the
construction of a village mosque, Antara reported.

Addressing an audience at the construction site of the mosque,
he said, "The people's aspiration should not be obstructed,
terrorized and engineered as politically, the voice of the people
is the voice of God."

Many other new parties find it more realistic to nominate
national figures, lacking their own. One exception is the Justice
Party, founded by all new people in politics, which nominated a
Bogor-based cleric, Didin Hafidhuddin.

Also on Tuesday, chairman of the Indonesian United Islam Party
(PSII) Budi Permana Adibrata said his party's candidates were the
incumbent B.J. Habibie, Yogyakarta's monarch and governor Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X and Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian
Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Wiranto.

He said Habibie and the Sultan had the widest support from
within the party, followed by Wiranto.

In Kendari Southeast Sulawesi, chairman of the Indonesian
Muslim Community Party (PUMI) Abdul Rasyid Gafur on Wednesday
protested the Southeast Sulawesi governor La Ode Kaimoeddin.

The governor reiterated that the public should elect a rich
candidate for the next five-year presidential term, Antara
reported, so he could concentrate on the job.

"Such calls are against moral values of religions and the
state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution," Gafur said.

Similar protests have earlier been launched by chairmen of
Southeast Sulawesi chapters of PAN and PDI Perjuangan.(imn/43)