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)