Military, civilians stand equal chance in VP race

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)