Party leader says Golkar won't explore idea of coalition

Party leader says Golkar won't explore idea of coalition

Kurniawan Hari and Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While the General Elections Commission (KPU) accelerated the
issuance of tallies on Tuesday evening, Golkar, which is so far
on the right track to reaching its target to get more votes in
the legislative election, compared to 23.74 percent of the votes
in the 1999 general election, sent out the strong message that
its chairman Akbar Tandjung would run in the July 5 direct
presidential election.

"I assure you that Golkar members would prefer to have their
own presidential candidate," he said after meeting with the
president of the International Crisis Group (ICG), Gareth Evans,
here on Wednesday.

Akbar Tandjung, who is Golkar Party leader and speaker of the
House of Representatives (DPR), confidently insisted that his
party would not explore the possibility of a coalition with
another political party.

"We don't want to talk about coalitions. We are focusing on
vote-counting," said Akbar, who also served two terms as a
minister under former president Soeharto, indicating that Golkar
was ready to pick a vice presidential candidate from another
political party.

"The chance is there. Of course, we will see who the most
feasible partner is," he said.

Akbar took over Golkar's leadership from Soeharto, shortly
after the former president fell from power in May 1998. He led
the party in the 1999 general election -- reaching second
position after Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) -- and amid high anti-Golkar sentiment
among the people.

Last year, Golkar picked seven possible presidential
candidates. Aside from Akbar, Soeharto's former adjutant Gen.
(ret) Wiranto, Soeharto's son-in-law Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo
Subianto, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla,
business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, media entrepreneur Surya Paloh
and Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X were suggested.

The sultan has, however, decided to quit the Golkar convention
slated for April 19 to April 20 at which the party will elect its
final candidates.

When the Supreme Court acquitted Akbar of corruption charges
in February, many feared that his rivals had lost virtually any
chance of presidential candidacy.

Separately, Golkar deputy secretary-general, Bomer Pasaribu,
said that Akbar had the biggest chance as he was considered a
hero for defending Golkar, as it faced the challenges of the past
four years.

Earlier, political analysts observed that Akbar would face
tough competition from Wiranto.

J.B. Kristiadi of the Center for Strategic International
Studies (CSIS) and Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI) said that Akbar and Wiranto were the strongest of
the six Golkar presidential hopefuls and both had deployed their
own strategies to win the convention.

"Besides winning political support from among the military,
Wiranto has been proactive in lobbying regions, which are the
strongholds of Golkar in Java and the country's eastern regions,
during the campaign season," he said.

According to Kristiady, besides approaching Muslim clerics and
informal leaders, Wiranto has also allegedly played on Javanese
sentiment to win support from Golkar's provincial and regental
chapters in Java and Bali -- where the majority of the 148
million eligible voters nationwide live.