PDI Perjuangan 'unlikely to pick' Wiranto as partner

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) hinted on Sunday that it was unlikely to pick Minister of Defense/Indonesian Military Commander General Wiranto as the vice presidential running mate of Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The party's vice chairman, Laksamana Sukardi, who is also a noted economist, said the market would show a negative reaction to the party's nomination of Wiranto for vice president.

"I think the market's reaction would not be good," Laksamana said.

However, he declined to say if the party had already ruled out the possibility of pairing Megawati with Wiranto.

"I have no comment. The party's leaders will decide it," he said.

He also noted the fact that the Golkar faction, the MPR's second-largest faction, had chosen Wiranto as the vice presidential running mate for Habibie made it difficult for PDI Perjuangan, winner of the June elections, to pair Wiranto with Megawati.

Golkar has selected Wiranto to partner Habibie at the latter's request.

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) will choose the president on Wednesday and the vice president on Thursday.

So far, factions at the MPR have proposed Habibie, Megawati and Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid as presidential candidates, with Wiranto the only vice presidential candidate listed.

Some analysts believed that Megawati had also courted Wiranto as her vice presidential candidate, given the fact that she had made statements several times which did not oppose the military's dual function role.

Wiranto said in an interview with a Singaporean paper last week that the military would not retreat from the political scene soon because the move could lead to instability, citing a tendency of the country's political parties to put group interests above national interests.

Wiranto declined to say if he would accept Golkar's selection of him.

"If I am involved in talking about the subject, it can be interpreted differently by various segments of the political community," Wiranto told the paper.

Several analysts, including Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, have said the role of the Indonesian armed forces in support of a civilian president is crucial.

Goh said last week that Western countries, especially the United Sates, admitted this factor.

Laksamana admitted the crucial role to be played by the military in support of the future civilian administration but, he said the military had to play its role "proportionally and effectively to maintain the order of the state".

He said PDI Perjuangan's top priority, would be to take efforts to improve the tainted image of the military in its governmental program.

"We'll do our utmost to help. It's a priority to restore the image of the military in Indonesia," Laksamana said.

Separately, PDI Perjuangan's vice chairman, Dimyati Hartono, also hinted that the party did not like the military playing a role in the government until it completed its self-reform under the so-called "reposition and redefinition program".

"We don't expect the Indonesian Military to play key roles in the government until it reestablishes its status as the guard of the nation," Dimyati said. (jsk/rms)