Nurcholish withdraws from Golkar convention
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.
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.