Nurcholish withdraws from Golkar convention

Tiarma Siboro and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Respected Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid announced his withdrawal on Wednesday night from the Golkar Party convention to select presidential candidates after party chairman Akbar Tandjung moved to participate in the race.

"It (Akbar's participation) could spark a conflict of interest and make the convention process unfair," Nurcholish, better known as Cak Nur, told a news conference.

"This convention has adopted the United States model to recruit presidential candidates from the grassroots, in which party executives should not take part in order to prevent undue influence and unfairness," he added.

The withdrawal came hours after Akbar, through his aides, picked up a registration form to participate in the selection process.

Nurcholish has repeatedly warned of his departure from the convention if Akbar took part.

Cak Nur, currently rector of Paramadina Mulya University, said the allegations of rampant money politics involving Golkar members in the regions were also behind his withdrawal from the Golkar convention.

He said that during his visits to Golkar provincial chapters to garner support for his presidential bid, they had demanded money to endorse his bid.

"If I were to do this, it would mean I was violating my own platform -- good governance," he added.

Asked about what he would do now regarding his presidential ambitions, Cak Nur said he had not yet made a decision.

However, he said he had won support for his bid from senior political party leaders, including Arifin Panigoro from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Alwi Shihab and Saifullah Yusuf of the National Awakening Party, and Bachtiar Chamsyah of the United Development Party.

Questions over whether or not embattled Golkar chairman Akbar was a legitimate presidential aspirant were partly answered on Wednesday, when his close aides picked up the registration form for him to join the convention.

Achmad Dani and Puji Wahono, two of Akbar's aides, went to Golkar headquarters on Wednesday afternoon to pick up the registration form for Akbar, who was in Garut, West Java, attending a series of party activities.

Akbar, who has been sentenced to three years in jail for graft, was the 15th potential candidate to pick up the registration form by the Wednesday deadline.

He is free pending a Supreme Court decision on his second appeal; his first appeal to the High Court was turned down.

Akbar has until Aug. 7 to submit the form to the convention committee, together with other supporting documents, including a letter of good conduct from the police.

Despite the graft conviction, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar has hinted that police would issue a letter for Akbar, which would verify that his criminal record was clean, arguing that the court ruling was not yet legally binding.

The participation of Akbar, an experienced politician, in the presidential race could cause repercussions in the political line-up for the convention.

Several nominees have threatened to withdraw from the convention should Akbar, who enjoys wide support from Golkar chapters across the country, decide to join the race.

Apart from Nurcholish, the nominees include media baron Surya Paloh and Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono X.

Their withdrawal would not only lighten competition in the race for Golkar's presidential candidate, but also lower the credibility of the selection process.

Golkar, the political bandwagon of former dictator Soeharto for over three decades, had hoped the convention would help the party to shed its image as a corrupt political institution. The participation of respected scholar Nurcholish had lent much credibility to the convention.

At least 20 of the party's 30 provincial chapters had already submitted their list of presidential nominees to the convention committee by the Wednesday deadline.

Several nominees were brought forward by the provincial chapters, including former commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Gen. (ret) Wiranto, businessman Aburizal Bakrie, media baron Surya Paloh and Akbar. The chapters that submitted their nominees for Golkar's presidential candidate included Bali, Bengkulu, Southeast Sulawesi and Gorontalo.

Southeast Sulawesi did not include Akbar on their list of nominees, thus joining the four other provincial chapters that do not support Akbar: South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Yogyakarta and West Kalimantan.

Also on Wednesday, Tuty Alawiyah, a noted Muslim cleric and former minister of women's empowerment, became the first presidential nominee to return the completed registration form, one week before its Aug. 7 deadline.

Tuty was nominated by several Muslim organizations.

Separately, 11 nominees are slated to present their presidential platform before Golkar cadres at a function in Medan from Aug. 12 to Aug. 13.

The nominees are: Aburizal Bakrie, Surya Paloh, Hamengkubuwono X, Jusuf Kalla, Prabowo Subianto, Agum Gumelar, Wiranto and former Cabinet minister Haryono Suyono.