Newly established party won't affect Golkar's votes: Scholar

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Political scientist Ichlasul Amal said the Justice and Unity Party (PKP) established recently by a group of Golkar dissenters would not steal votes from the dominant political organization at next June's general election.

Ichlasul, who is rector of Gadjah Mada University, said here on Wednesday that Golkar's traditional supporters were "pragmatists" bound by specific ideologies that did not place great importance on who was at their helm.

"PKP won't cause a dent in Golkar's vote because where are the masses that support Pak Siswono or Pak Edi? Especially now that the two are no longer in office," Amal said.

He was referring to former minister of defense Gen. (ret) Edi Sudradjat and former minister of transmigration Siswono Yudhohusodo. It was announced on Tuesday that Edi and Siswono are respectively chairman and deputy chairman of a committee set up to prepare for the official launch of the new party.

"Whoever leads Golkar, be it (current chairman) Akbar Tandjung or Edi Sudradjat, does not matter much among Golkar's (traditional) supporters," Amal said.

"Now if Gus Dur or Pak Amien Rais suddenly abandoned the PKB (the National Awakening Party) or the PAN (the National Mandate Party), we could be sure that many of their followers would also jump ship," Amal said.

Gus Dur is the common name for Abdurrahman Wahid, the popular chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic organization who recently established the National Awakening Party chaired by Matori Abdul Djalil.

Amal said that the establishment of the PKP by around 100 discontented former members of Golkar indicated the extent of disharmony among the group's elite.

Another observer, Rubiyanto Misman from Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Central Java, said the establishment of the PKP was a bitter lesson for "the arrogant" Golkar.

"It's proof that Golkar... has failed to heed public opinion," he said on Wednesday. "Golkar's leaders should now gracefully accept that a party can't always be on top. It has to go down at one time or another."

He blamed Akbar's leadership for the group's failure to improve its image and apologize for past political mistakes under Soeharto's New Order regime.

"Golkar will certainly win less votes in the election... That's a high price to pay for arrogance," he said.

However, Rubiyanto did not believe that the PKP would fare well in next year's election because its leaders were all members of the establishment during the Soeharto years.

On Wednesday, a note of support for the PKP came from Abdurrahman Wahid himself. "It's good," he said, adding that he knew the new party's officials well.

Said Aqiel Siradj, a leading Nahdlatul Ulama figure, is included in the new party's lineup, but Abdurrahman said that would not cause any problems.

"Said Aqiel is a member of the Justice and Unity Party's board of advisors, not its board of executives, so there is nothing wrong with his involvement in the new party," he told reporters at his residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.

Said Aqiel is deputy secretary of Syuriah, NU's law-making body.

NU's statutes state that NU executives are not allowed to hold executive positions in any political parties. (23/45/swe/imn)