PPP wants male, Muslim president

PPP wants male, Muslim president

JAKARTA (JP): The national leadership meeting of the United
Development Party (PPP) recommended on Tuesday that only a male
Muslim be eligible for the presidency.

"The fatwa of PPP's board of ulema says that the Indonesian
president is the best Indonesian Muslim son," PPP's deputy
chairman, Tosari Wijaya, told Antara.

The United Development Party, one of the few established
parties among the 48 parties contesting the polls, as of late
Tuesday was in fourth place in the provisional results. It had
obtained 4.2 million votes from about 50 percent of some 117
million votes tallied by the General Elections Commission.

Well before the campaign period started, the PPP reverted to
its original Kaaba symbol to assert its Muslim identity.

Controversy regarding the gender of the future president is
seen as belittling the presidential aspirations of chairwoman of
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
which had obtained 16.4 million votes by late Tuesday.

Muslim groups have also stated concerns regarding deflection
of their aspirations if PDI Perjuangan wins the polls, as the
party reportedly has many non-Muslims fielded as legislative
candidates.

Tosari, however, declined to divulge PPP's presidential
candidate, saying the criteria for the position were still under
discussion.

"We'll only reveal our candidate at the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) session on the presidential election," he said.

PPP secretary-general Alimarwan Hanan said its leadership
meeting called on the people to consider aspirations of the
Muslim majority in nominating and electing their president.

"For the sake of the nation's integrity, all elements of the
nation must not neglect the aspiration of the majority of
Indonesian Muslims," he said.

Many Muslims are also among PDI Perjuangan supporters.

Muslim groups

Also on Tuesday, a gathering of Muslim groups concluded their
meeting by issuing a statement reiterating their support for
incumbent President B.J. Habibie.

Chairman of the Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI)
Achmad Tirtosudiro said after the meeting: "We have to be ikhlas
(wholehearted), not only if PDI Perjuangan wins the elections,
but also if Habibie is reelected as president."

Present at the meeting were representatives from the
influential Muslim organizations of Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama
and the Association of Islamic Students (HMI).

Both the PPP meeting and that of the Muslim groups, emphasized
that whichever party was successful in the polls should heed
Muslim aspirations.

The meeting initiated by ICMI, formerly chaired by Habibie,
did not state a position on the gender of the next president, and
left the criteria of the president to the General Session of the
MPR.

Electing the president will be the main agenda at the session
scheduled to take place in November.

Commenting on the possible relegation of Muslim parties,
Achmad said: "I cannot imagine if the minority groups dominate
and play an influential role in the deliberation and the
establishment of the laws... It's unthinkable."

He did not explicitly name any specific party, but added: "How
can we respect other religious worshipers if the Indonesian
Muslim community's aspiration is neglected?"

In Yogyakarta, political lecturer Cornelis Lay said PDI
Perjuangan should seriously accommodate Muslim political forces.

"Megawati cannot assume she can build a new Indonesia except
by accommodating Muslim forces, and the opposite also applies,"
he said.

In Padang, West Sumatra, a founder of the Islamic Community
Party (PUI), Mochtar Naim, also said all Muslim parties who would
lose in the elections should support Habibie as the country's
next president.

He told Antara that his recommendation was based on the fact
that the Golkar Party, which has nominated Habibie as its
candidate despite different opinions in its party, has pledged to
"reform" itself.

The "enemies" of Muslim parties were Golkar and PDI
Perjuangan, he said. "However after observing provisional results
of the poll it would be better for Muslim parties to unite with
Golkar rather than PDI Perjuangan," the noted cultural observer
said.(imn)