Parties to wait till March to name their VP choices
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)