List of vice presidential candidates draws fire

List of vice presidential candidates draws fire

SURABAYA (JP): Participants of the ongoing congress of the
Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) protested yesterday a
planned session to draw up a list of vice presidential
candidates, saying the notion smacked of political engineering.

A number of delegates said the plan was colored by some of the
organizers' political interests.

"The (planned session) of drawing up an inventory of vice
presidential candidates is really out of place," said Hengky
Widodo, the chairman of the East Java branch.

Widodo claimed that delegates from the Central Java, West Nusa
Tenggara, East Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and
North Sumatra branches were all standing behind him.

Iqbal Assegaff, the chairman of KNPI-affiliated GP Ansor
Moslem youth organization, also rejected the idea.

"This meeting should not be turned into an arena for the
organizers' political play," said Assegaff who claimed to have
the support from other Moslem-based organizations such as
Muhammadiyah Moslem Students, Indonesian Islamic University
Students Movement and Nahdlatul Ulama Students Association.

KNPI chairman Maulana Isman, however, said the agenda of the
meeting had been actually decided by the branches themselves. A
week prior to the opening of the meeting on Tuesday, the
organizer had written the branches calling on them to prepare a
list of their vice presidential candidates.

He denied the agenda was political engineering.

A draft of the congress' recommendations, for instance, says
that discussion on vice presidential candidates is needed as a
way of educating the public and expanding political discourses.

"(The discussion) is... meant to boost the public's political
maturity," says the draft, which is supposed to be adopted and
read out at the end of the congress tomorrow.

On the bottom part of the document, empty spaces were given
under numerical order from one to four -- to be filled with names
of candidates chosen by the congress participants.

Congress sources told The Jakarta Post the four names have
actually already been decided by the organizers in the following
order: incumbent Vice President Try Sutrisno, State Minister of
Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, State Minister for National
Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita and Minister of
Defense Edi Sudradjat.

The 1,000-strong People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) will
convene next March to elect a president, vice president and adopt
the state policy guidelines.

It has been a foregone conclusion that President Soeharto will
be reelected for the 1998/2003 term. Speculation has grown more
on who will be the vice president. The four names mentioned above
were also those who have been circulating widely as the most
possible candidates.

The KNPI plan to discuss the vice presidential candidates,
however, is likely to cause a rift within the politically well-
connected organization. Maulana, however, said that "as an agent
of development and social change, KNPI should be critical and be
innovative."

Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. expressed
disagreement with the planned session. "Please be patient," he
said after addressing the congress. "Why do you have to mention
names now? Please wait until the People's Consultative Assembly
holds its session."

Ruhut Sitompul, a member of the KNPI Youth Council, also
rejected the agenda. "Naming names now will only destroy the
organization's unity. It'll cause conflicts within the
organization," he said.

The congress is being attended by about 200 delegates from 30
youth groups affiliated with KNPI and representatives of its
branches. (nur/swe)