Minister's brother claims support from Garuda's workers

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the government plans to announce the short list of candidates for the new president of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Samudra Sukardi believes that his name will be included in the list, claiming that he has gained crucial support from the airline workers.

"I'm ready to be elected. Now it depends on my younger brother whether he dares to make the decision or not," Samudra told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Samudra, now the director of PT Abacus, Garuda's subsidiary which handles online reservations, has worked with Garuda since 1977.

As the elder brother of State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, Samudra expects his brother to be prudent in making a decision because of the complicated situation.

"There are too many interests involved here," said Samudra, who was proposed by the United Development Party (PPP) as a candidate to be the president of Garuda.

The Office of the State Minister for State Enterprises has said it would announce the list of Garuda's candidates this week.

Samudra is convinced that the Garuda worker's union fully supports his candidacy.

"I met with the union last Tuesday. It's harder than a 'fit and proper test' because they asked me about real problems, but they were satisfied with my proposed plans," he said.

Tarbiyanto, secretary-general of Garuda workers' union, confirmed with the Post over the weekend that the union had held separate discussions with Samudra and two other potential candidates, that is Garuda operational director Rudy A. Hardono, and commercial advisor Indra Setiawan.

He said that the discussion focused on Garuda's debt problems, human resources and corruption and collusion in Garuda.

"We will report the results to the State Minister of State Enterprises on Monday," he said.

Tarbiyanto said that workers were concerned about Garuda's viability and the spin off issue.

"Garuda should pay a debt payment of US$128 million per month and it only has 46 aircraft and 9,200 workers. We need a leader with bright ideas to overcome that," he said.

He added that the union, along with Garuda Pilot's Association and some workers' organizations, met with Samudra for the second time last Tuesday.

"All of us are gaining more confidence in Samudra's vision, programs, and professionalism to bring growth and progress to Garuda. We don't harbor any doubts now if government as a shareholder decides to appoint Samudra as Garuda president," Tarbiyanto said, citing the results of the meeting.

Elsewhere, Indra Setiawan, another candidate, was convinced that the government would consider the workers' aspirations.

"The decision is in Laksamana's hands. Whoever is appointed, as long as the decision is in line with the workers' aspirations, I believe it will bring good to Garuda," he said.

He has worked in Garuda since 1977 and hoped that Garuda would regain the victorious years it enjoyed before 1989 when Garuda was able to convince foreign creditors with its promising business prospects.

"This is our commitment and moral responsibility to improve Garuda," Indra said.

Analysts repeatedly called on Laksamana to annul Samudra's candidacy and, if the candidacy could not be annulled, not to select his brother as president, given the potential conflict of interest that might occur. It will create suspicion that both brothers were in collusion with one another -- which will only be harmful to both of them.

A source close to the election process said Laksamana was most likely to choose Indra rather than his brother since Samudra's name was proposed by a party not always on friendly terms with his party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan)

"It would have an unfavorable impact on PDI-Perjuangan if Samudra is elected," he said.

However, Erwin Pardede, a member of House of Representatives Commission IV on transportation and infrastructure affairs said Laksamana should put fairness first.

"If Samudra has the capability, why not? Laksamana should not be burdened by the collusion issue. We would look at his performance," Erwin said.

He believed Samudra would work seriously and responsibly since he would not wish to damage his brother's reputation.

"But if Samudra proves unable to show good results within one month, the government could fire him," he said.