Mega and Susilo woo former top brass

Mega and Susilo woo former top brass

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Presidential candidates Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono were on the campaign trail again on Wednesday, this
time attempting to convince senior citizens, especially retired
military and police top brass, to vote for them in the Sept. 20
election.

Megawati, who is seeking a full five-year term, held a meeting
with five retired generals at the residence of former police
chief Gen. (ret) Muhammad Hassan.

Susilo, on the other hand, met with former vice president Gen.
(ret) Try Sutrisno and former Army Strategic Reserves (Kostrad)
commander Lt. Gen. Kemas Idris during a flag-raising ceremony at
the Proklamasi Monument in Central Jakarta.

The retired officers who met with Megawati on Wednesday were
former Air Force chief Marshall (ret) Ashadi Tjahjadi, former
Army chief Gen. (ret) Makmun Mu'rod, former Navy chief Adm. (ret)
Waluyo Soegito, and former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin.

Ali Sadikin said that during the meeting they asked Megawati
to explain her ideas about how she would build a better
Indonesia.

Asked whether she asked them to support her, Ali said: "Each
of us has our own personal preference, but I voted for the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the April 5
legislative election," said Ali Sadikin, who did not say whether
he voted for Megawati, the PDI-P's leader, in the first round of
the presidential election on July 5.

Also attending the flag-raising ceremony at the Proklamasi
Monument were former Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) chairman Ali
Yafie, former minister of foreign affairs Roeslan Abdulgani and
media magnates Surya Paloh and Jacob Oetama.

During the ceremony, Susilo underlined that the main objective
of the country's declaration of independence was to return the
sovereignty to the people.

Later in the day, Susilo attended a meeting with Muslim-based
Reform Star Party (PBR) executive Ade Nasution, but refused to
say if they had discussed a possible coalition ahead of the
runoff.

Megawati and Susilo have been scrambling for support over the
past few weeks after the General Elections Commission (KPU)
announced on July 26 that they would face each other in the
runoff scheduled for Sept. 20.

Both have held meetings with political figures such as
National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais, Golkar Party
leader Akbar Tandjung, United Development Party (PPP) leader
Hamzah Haz and former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Golkar, the PPP and the Christian-based Prosperous Peace Party
(PDS), which have 127, 55 and 13 seats in the House of
Representatives respectively, have decided to back Megawati and
plan to publicly announce their support for her on Thursday
morning.

Also on Wednesday, Megawati held a meeting with PBR leader
Zainuddin MZ and Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB)
leader R. Hartono at her residence on Jl. Teuku Umar.