Parties to wait till March to name their VP choices

JAKARTA (JP): The leaders of the three political organizations reiterated yesterday that their factions in the People's Consultative Assembly would unveil their respective vice presidential candidates in March.

Golkar chairman Harmoko said his dominant group would not breach the rules by making an early announcement of its choice for the country's second top post.

"In the light of our constitutional mechanism (for the vice presidential election), we will only disclose our candidate during the general session of the Assembly," Harmoko said.

The 1,000-strong Assembly will convene from March 1 to March 11 to elect a president and vice president. While the reelection of incumbent President Soeharto looks a foregone conclusion, the selection of his running mate will dominate the 11-day session.

Soeharto told the political organizations Tuesday not to wait for the announcement of his preferred partner, saying that he would keep silent until after the Assembly elects him and consults him on their vice presidential nominees.

A 1973 Assembly decree which remains valid says a vice presidential candidate must be able to cooperate with the elected president.

Harmoko said yesterday that in his latest statement Soeharto did not intend to urge political organizations to announce their candidates for the vice presidency, but simply to select them.

Golkar and its traditional allies -- the Armed Forces and the bureaucracy -- have agreed to name one candidate for Soeharto's deputy.

The front runners for the vice presidency are incumbent Try Sutrisno, State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, Harmoko and Minister of Information R. Hartono.

The chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), Ismail Hasan Metareum, said the Moslem-based party would not name its choice hastily.

"Why should we be in a hurry? It's not an urgent thing. We may need two or three meetings or maybe more to reach an agreement on our vice presidential nominee because it deals with the nation's fate."

He hinted that PPP might have the same choice as rival factions in the March convention, but he denied the five Assembly factions had held any meeting to seek a consensus on the vice presidential candidate.

"If we happen to pick the same name, it's unnecessary for us to vote. I think it will be good for the development of our democracy in the future," he said.

The deputy chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Fatimah Achmad, echoed Ismail, saying that a faction was free either to announce its vice presidential choice or not.

"We will leave our branches to decide on this issue when we meet next week," she said.

PDI will hold a pre-Assembly session meeting, scheduled for Feb. 10 to Feb. 12 in Bogor, West Java, to determine the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates. (amd)