Political parties battle for VP post

Political parties battle for VP post

JAKARTA (JP): After a strong show of unity in unseating
Abdurrahman Wahid from the presidency, political party factions
were back to their usual selves on Tuesday, fighting off each
other for the vice presidential seat, with Akbar Tandjung, Hamzah
Haz and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono emerging as the leading
candidates.

A seething war of words brewed between the Golkar Party and
the United Development Party (PPP).

In theory, based on the number of seats held by the two major
factions, Akbar and Hamzah have emerged as the two strongest
candidates for the post left vacant by Megawati Soekarnoputri.

However, the mounting friction between the two political
heavyweights could see Susilo, or any other candidate, sneak in
to benefit from the split votes at the 700-member People's
Consultative Assembly.

As of 11:30 p.m., only these three names had been officially
submitted as candidates to the Assembly's secretariat.

A candidate can be nominated by a faction or after having
received the signed support of 70 Assembly members.

An earlier evening session between Assembly leaders agreed to
extend the deadline for submitting candidates' names till 2 a.m.
on Wednesday.

Akbar has the initial edge, given the large number of seats
that Golkar has in the Assembly.

The Golkar faction occupies 182 seats, while PPP has 70.
However, PPP will be counting on the support of its allies in the
Reform faction that has 49 seats.

The Indonesian Nationhood Faction has 14.

PDI Perjuangan (the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle),
with 185 seats, could tilt the balance in the secret, vice
presidential ballot due to begin at about 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The party has remained aloof about its vice presidential
preference, saying only that its faction members would be free to
choose by themselves.

As Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said on Tuesday night, the race
remains wide open.

"One of the heads of PAN (the National Mandate Party) AM Fatwa
told me it would support Pak Hamzah. So will the Justice Party.
But in a secret ballot there is always the possibility of voters
switching to another side," Amien remarked.

PAN and the Justice Party are members of the Reform faction.

During Wednesday's vote, a candidate must receive a majority
of the ballots cast. If there are more than two candidates, then
it will be a runoff till a majority is gained, and the candidate
with the least number of votes eliminated.

Tuesday was marked by a particularly bitter war of words
between Golkar and PPP, as each tried to upset the other's
candidate.

Secretary of the Golkar faction at the Assembly, Yahya Zaini,
said it had lobbied "several figures of PDI Perjuangan, including
Taufik Kiemas, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband."

He added that similar approaches to the Indonesian Military
(TNI)/National Police faction, which has 38 votes, had also been
made.

PPP was focusing its lobby on the so-named Axis Force
and PDI Perjuangan.

"The Axis Force has around 140 supporters in the Assembly and
we also expect to win some support from PDI Perjuangan and other
minority factions," Ali Marwan Hanan, secretary-general of PPP,
told journalists.

Ali lauded Hamzah as a representative of the Muslim community,
"a suitable partner for President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is
known as a nationalist figure."

"Should Akbar be elected as vice president, PPP would not join
Megawati's administration," Ali contended, while stressing that
PPP had not been allotted a major position in high state
institutions.

Susilo has remained largely silent on his candidacy. On
Tuesday morning Susilo did meet privately with Megawati; however,
he maintained that it was merely a courtesy call.

Two factions to watch will be the TNI/Police and PDI
Perjuangan.

The TNI/Police faction's Lt. Gen. Hari Sabarno said it would
not nominate a candidate itself, but would likely throw its
support behind Susilo or current Coordinating Minister Agum
Gumelar, if other factions nominated them.

"TNI has no candidates, but it will support the two retired
generals if they are nominated by political parties. It is its
right to do so," he said. (rms/dja)