Political parties make ready for elections

JAKARTA (JP): Established and newly formed political parties alike are shifting into high gear as they prepare for the June 7 multiparty general election.

In the case of the National Indonesian Party (PNI), this preparation includes electing former president Soeharto's stepbrother Probosutedjo into a position of leadership in the party.

Elected as chairman at the 13th PNI congress recently, Probosutedjo denied his involvement in the political party was meant to pave the way for Soeharto's return to power.

"I have never asked for Soeharto's advice," he said.

Soeharto was forced to resign in May last year following massive student protests.

Probosutedjo, also president of the Mertju Buana business group, said he had been a member of PNI for years and he was registered with the party's North Sumatra chapter.

"The committee congress has asked me to help them. And it is not the first time I have funded the activities of political parties," Antara news agency quoted him as saying.

He added that Amien Rais, former leader of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization and now the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), once asked him to help his organization.

According to Probosutedjo, his contributions to PNI are meant to further the development of the party, which once was among the top four political parties in the country.

Meanwhile, the United Development Party (PPP) said on Monday that it would name its presidential candidate after the general election.

PPP deputy chairman Syaiful Anwar said after a meeting in Palu, Central Sulawesi, that his party would not name its presidential nominee until after the general election in an effort to avoid controversy.

In the era of reform, naming a presidential candidate is no longer taboo as it was during Soeharto's New Order regime, he said.

Anwar said many national figures had expressed their personal interests in running for the presidency.

He, however, declined to comment about PPP executive A.M. Saefuddin's declaration of his intention to run for the country's top post. Saefuddin is also state minister of food and horticulture.

Meanwhile, Oka Mahendra, an expert at the Ministry of Justice, said the popular faction of the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI Perjuangan) under Megawati Soekarnoputri was expected to register at the ministry. The faction was also expected to adopt a different symbol in order to differentiate it from the government-backed faction under the leadership of Budi Hardjono, which employ's a bull's head symbol.

These moves are required under the recently endorsed political bills which will be signed into law by President B.J. Habibie next month.

According to the bills, no two parties are allowed to have the same name.

Besides the established political parties, the United Development Party, Golkar and Budi's faction of the PDI, more than 200 new parties have registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs. (rms)