Legislature candidates announced
JAKARTA (JP): The National Election Committee will have completed half its preparations for the May 29 election when it releases today its provisional list of 2,303 legislature candidates.
Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., in his capacity as committee chairman, will officially release the list today, a few hours after it is published by all the country's morning dailies. State-owned television station TVRI and radio station RRI will also broadcast the names of the candidates.
The Moslem-oriented United Development Party's (PPP) list contains 730 candidates, the ruling political grouping Golkar has 829 candidates and the nationalist-Christian alliance Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) has 744.
Public scrutiny of the candidates is scheduled to start tomorrow and end on Feb. 18, giving the public 28 days to raise complaints or objections against the candidates.
Among the basic conditions of nomination are that candidates must be at least 21 years old and have a clearance from the government internal security agency over any links with the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party. Reported links have been used to strike candidates from final nomination lists.
The PPP, PDI and Golkar must draft their final nomination lists between Feb. 19 and March 9.
The three groupings will contest the May 29 election, vying for 425 of the 500 seats at the House of Representatives: 75 seats are reserved for members of the Armed Forces who do not vote.
An estimated 120 million people will attend balloting tents on election day in the sixth election since 1971 under the New Order administration.
The country's Who's Who fill Golkar's list representing various provinces. But Minister of Information Harmoko, who is also Golkar's chairman, has the best chance of winning a seat. He topped Golkar's list of candidates for West Java.
Cabinet ministers and other high-ranking officials such as the chief justice, attorney general, chairman of the Supreme Advisory Body and governor of Bank Indonesia are barred by law from holding legislative posts.
Vote-getters
Harmoko's fellow serving ministers were put low on Golkar's list; they will serve as its vote getters.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas was ranked fifth in Golkar's list of candidates representing East Timor, the province which offered only four House seats in the last two elections, in 1987 and 1992.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas, State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad and chairman of the Logistic Board Beddu Amang were listed 24th, 25th, 26th and 28th respectively for South Sulawesi's seats. Golkar won 21 seats in this province in the last two elections.
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono was listed 10th for Bali, Minister of Trade and Industry Tunky Ariwibowo was 15th for South Sumatra, Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita and Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro were 19th and 20th respectively for Jakarta, in which Golkar won eight seats both in 1987 and 1992.
Golkar nominated several wives of ministers, Army officers and other high-ranking officials, including Masrowida Feisal Tanjung, Emmy Sariamah Yogie S.M. and Endang Agustini Syarwan Hamid.
President Soeharto's children were also among Golkar's candidates, with Hutomo Mandala Putra representing South Sumatra, Bambang Trihatmodjo for Jakarta, Siti Hediati Prabowo for West Java and Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana for Central Java. Soeharto's daughter-in-law, Halimah Bambang Trihatmodjo, is nominated for West Sumatra. None of them are likely to enter the House of Representatives.
The PDI, as expected, excluded its ousted leader Megawati Soekarnoputri and her loyalists from its list. The government- supported chairman Soerjadi was the party's number-one candidate for Jakarta.
Soerjadi's supporters Dimmy Haryanto and Latief Pujosakti, the PDI caretaker after a congress dethroned Soerjadi in 1993, were the first and second candidates for East Java respectively.
Fatimah Achmad, who led a rebel congress to topple Megawati last year, looks certain to win another five-year term at the House because she is listed second for North Sumatra, ahead of Soerjadi's secretary-general Buttu Hutapea.
Alex Litaay, the secretary-general of Megawati's executive board, blasted the General Election Committee yesterday for endorsing the list of PDI candidates drawn up by Soerjadi.
"The committee shouldn't have accepted Soerjadi's list, he did not have the right," he told reporters last night. "Will the public accept the general election as valid if even at this particular stage it has been violated?"
The PPP has maintained its old faces, with chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum leading its nominees for Jakarta. As did the chairman of the PPP faction at the House, Aisyah Amini, for West Sumatra.
The chairman of PPP's Jakarta branch, Rusydi Hamka, son of the country's most prominent ulema, the late Hamka, was right behind Aisyah. (amd)