PAN supporters veto Golkar deal

SEMARANG: Thousands of National Mandate Party (PAN) supporters in the province have threatened to switch allegiances if leader Amien Rais accepts offers to form a coalition with Golkar.

PAN's Central Java deputy chairman Budi Hartanto said on Monday the party supporters believed Golkar was indistinguishable from former president Soeharto, who stepped down in May last year following a wave of student demonstrations.

Amien was a prominent critic of Soeharto and an advocate of a changing of the political guard.

"As a reform party, PAN is both far different from and irreconcilable with Golkar," Budi said. "If PAN and Golkar strike a coalition deal, I will resign and dozens of PAN branches in regencies across the province will disband."

Budi said he was not disappointed with PAN's poor showing in the polls, noting the party was only 10 months old.

A few days earlier, about 500 young PAN supporters in Surakarta, about 70 kilometers southeast of here, staged a rally against a PAN-Golkar coalition.

Amien has dismissed the possibility of PAN joining forces with Golkar, at least until after final poll results are announced on July 8. (har)