PKB to support Wiranto if Gus Dur fails to make lineup

PKB to support Wiranto if Gus Dur fails to make lineup

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya

The National Awakening Party (PKB) looks certain to throw its
support behind Golkar presidential candidate Gen. (ret) Wiranto
after the General Elections Commission (KPU) declared its own
candidate, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, ineligible to stand.

PKB chairman Alwi Shihab said the policy was in line with the
decision of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) senior clerics who preferred
Wiranto as the PKB's alternative presidential candidate.

"We will follow the clerics' suggestion and will support
Wiranto should Gus Dur fail to contest the presidential
election," Alwi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Wiranto has named Gus Dur's brother Solahuddin Wahid as his
running mate.

Solahuddin is the deputy chairman of NU, the organization that
founded the PKB and the largest Muslim organization in the
country.

Alwi said the PKB would formalize its support for Wiranto
after the KPU publicly announced the eligible candidates for the
presidential election on May 22.

"We will only announce our decision after the KPU finally
decides on the fate of Gus Dur," Alwi, a former foreign minister,
said.

The KPU decision to disqualify Gus Dur, whose vision is
impaired, on health grounds was been leaked to the media on
Friday. Gus Dur, who was dismissed as president in 2001,
ostensibly for incompetence, has threatened to sue the commission
for thwarting his comeback bid.

Gus Dur has approved his brother's nomination as Golkar's vice
presidential candidate, but asserted that the PKB would not vote
for the rival party despite his previous meetings with Wiranto.

The KPU required all presidential candidates to pass medical
tests, including an eye examination.

The PKB's East Java chapter leader Choirul Anam said that all
regional branches of the party in the province were ready to
support the duo of Wiranto and Solahuddin should Gus Dur be
declared ineligible to stand.

"But, the decision must wait until there is a formal decision
on Gus Dur's fate. We are prepared to support the pairing
(Wiranto and Solahuddin)," Choirul said.

He said the decision had been endorsed by most NU clerics in
East Java, the PKB stronghold.

"Gus Dur's chances look slim now, but Solahuddin has a better
chance of winning," Choirul said.

Solahuddin is not the only NU leader who has announced his
intention to contest the July 5 election. NU top leader Hasyim
Muzadi will also participate in the race as the running mate of
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P)
presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The fight to win NU support is continuing with Megawati and
Hasyim intensifying their approaches to the clerics.

A member of the Megawati reelection center, Hermawan Sulistyo,
said Hasyim as NU chairman was seen as serving as a moral
guardian for Megawati should she win.

"We are counting on him not because of how many votes he can
bring in, but rather for his image as a moral guardian for the
next government," Hermawan, who is also a political analyst, told
the Post on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS),
Hidayat Nurwahid, said on Sunday that his party would soon issue
a recommendation as to which presidential candidate its members
should vote for in the July 5 election.

"We will issue the recommendation before the start of the
presidential election campaign," Hidayat told reporters on the
sidelines of a rally condemning the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

The campaign will run from June 1 to June 30.

Hidayat said the recommendation could not be revealed now as
the KPU had yet to announce the eligible candidates for the
presidential election.

The PKS, which came seventh in the April 5 legislative
election, has decided not to contest the presidential election
but vowed to take on the role of an opposition in the future
House.