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.