MPR should have 'more than one' president nominee

JAKARTA (JP): Even as support grows for incumbent President Soeharto's renomination for the 1998/2003 presidency, calls began yesterday that the nation be given alternatives.

Two political observers and a cabinet minister agreed in separate interviews that next year's presidential election would be even more democratic if it involved more than one candidate.

Soehardjo of Diponegoro University in Semarang, former minister of finance Frans Seda and Minister of Defense Edi Sudradjat were commenting on Monday's proposal by the chief of the dominant Golkar faction at the House of Representatives, Moestahid Astari, that Golkar formally announce Soeharto as its candidate for the presidency next March.

"I think it will be all right if members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) name other people besides Soeharto. We live in a democratic country, where expressing different opinions is not forbidden," Soehardjo said in Semarang yesterday.

Frans Seda, the first Indonesian finance minister under the New Order government in the mid-1960s, challenged the other factions in the Assembly to announce their own presidential candidates.

"A president represents all elements of society. Each MPR faction, therefore, should come forward with their own presidential candidate," he told reporters after addressing a seminar on national leadership held by the Institute for Management Education and Development yesterday.

"Whether all factions eventually nominate the same person is not a problem. What's important is that they're all given the opportunity to name their own candidates," he said.

Separately, Minister of Defense Edi Sudradjat said it would be up to the Assembly whether it would name more than one presidential candidate.

Frans Seda also suggested yesterday that the new president be elected through voting in order to guarantee the "constitutional validity" of the process.

He did not elaborate.

Indonesians stress the importance of deliberation to achieve consensus in decision-making, whereas voting is frowned upon as it smacks of Western decision-making methods.

Edi said there was nothing wrong with Moestahid Astari's proposal to have Golkar announce Soeharto as its candidate as soon as possible.

He said the proposal was still acceptable under Indonesia's political ethics.

Separately, Golkar's deputy chairman Agung Laksono maintained yesterday the organization's support for President Soeharto's renomination.

"We have several names of presidential candidates, but only Soeharto meets the requirements," he told reporters at the Indonesian Young Generation for Reform national congress here yesterday.

He told the press not to make an issue out of Moestahid's proposal, saying that it was not extraordinary.

"We (Golkar members) have the same... feeling about the presidential nomination," he said.

Another political observer of Diponegoro University, Susilo Utomo, suggested that Golkar also announce its vice presidential candidate.

"Pak Harto is the dominant candidate for the presidency. What's left is for Golkar to come up with a person who can work with Soeharto for the next term," he said.

He mentioned State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, former vice president Sudharmono, incumbent Vice President Try Sutrisno and State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita as eligible vice presidential candidates. (har/amd/imn)