Political parties make ready for elections

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)