Military, civilians stand equal chance in VP race

JAKARTA (JP): Military and civilian figures have an equal opportunity to win the vice presidential race next March, but an association with incumbent President Soeharto would be a deciding factor, a political analyst has said.

Juwono Sudarsono, a professor at the University of Indonesia's School of Social and Political Sciences, said over the weekend that closeness to Soeharto would be crucial despite the fact that ruling political group Golkar had established a set of criteria for the next vice president.

However, Juwono refused to comment on potential candidates, saying that everything would be clear only early in March, Antara reported.

"Let's just wait until after March 1. At least by March 5 or March 6 we will have the answer," said Juwono, who is also one of the People's Consultative Assembly's 1,000 members in charge of the presidential and vice presidential elections.

Juwono, the deputy governor of the National Resilience Institute, was apparently referring to a decree set up by the Assembly in 1973, which states that a would-be vice president must be able to cooperate with the elected president.

The decree paved the way for a convention which suggested that the Assembly consult the elected president prior to the vice presidential election, a practice that has given Soeharto a prerogative to name his running mates over the past 25 years.

Soeharto's reelection for a seventh term is a foregone conclusion when the Assembly meets in March to elect a president and vice president.

Juwono said yesterday it was unnecessary for Indonesia to name a second-in-command who masters economics or other sciences, given the country's efforts to survive the ongoing financial turbulence.

"Both civilian and military figures may be equally capable to cope with the current crisis," Juwono said.

He dismissed the expressed opinions that the next vice president will be even more crucial because he or she will be Soeharto's potential successor.

"Basically, there have been no changes (on vice presidential duties) in the past 30 years. Since the establishment of the New Order, each vice president was set to take over the command when the president failed to carry out his job," Juwono said.

Separately, a constitutional law expert suggested that political groups propose their joint presidential and vice presidential tickets from their own organizations.

Under the current system, each political organization in Indonesia nominates figures from outside their party and they may propose more than one presidential and vice presidential possibility.

Harun Al Rasyid, a professor at University of Indonesia's School of Law, said the 1973 Assembly decree on the presidential election should be reviewed.

"It would be more practical if each political organization proposed their presidential and vice presidential candidates at the same time," he told The Jakarta Post.

Harun said the system he proposed was in line with the 1945 Constitution, which essentially stipulated the same criteria for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

"Thus, according to the 1945 Constitution, the president and the vice president are 'one entity'," he said.

The criteria that the 1945 Constitution sets include a minimum age of 40, they must be religious, and be loyal to the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

According to the 1973 decree, the president is elected first. Candidates are submitted by each faction in the Assembly. Unless there is single candidate, all Assembly members will vote.

Vice presidential candidates are also submitted by the five factions -- Golkar, the Armed Forces, the Regional Representatives, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- to the Assembly speaker. If necessary, the Assembly could consult the president elect to ensure that the would-be vice president can cooperate with the elected president.

For the past 30 years, all factions have nominated only Soeharto as the president. Soeharto, 76, has been elected six times since 1966.

Last month, Soeharto accepted his renomination for a seventh consecutive term and he still enjoys support from four of the Assembly's five factions -- Golkar, Armed Forces, the bureaucrats and the PPP.

The PDI is yet to announce its choice for the next president.

No faction has revealed vice presidential candidates.

Last week, Soeharto said that he would leave it to the Assembly to make the choice.

Separately, Loebby Loqman, a lecturer from the same university, said that the president should trust the Assembly to select vice presidential candidates and not make his own choice.

"He should choose one of the names offered by the Assembly," he said. (09/amd)