Presidency is not everything to me: Habibie
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie, facing signs of increasingly shaky Golkar backing for his presidential campaign, strove on Monday to convince the public he would not engage in dirty politics.
"Being president is not everything to me," Habibie was quoted as saying by Awaloeddin Djamin, chairman of the National Advisory Council for Education (BPPN), after meeting with the council on Monday at Merdeka Palace.
"I am willing to become president only in a halal (religiously acceptable) way," Habibie said, as reported by Antara.
"I would never accept it. I would never feel I was a good president if methods that brought me there are not good," said Habibie, who has faced mounting pressure after reports implicated him in the Bank Bali interbank debt scandal.
Awaloeddin was accompanied on Monday by other council members, including Mien Uno and Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) chairman Ali Yafie.
The ruling Golkar Party, which trailed the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) in the June 7 general election with 22 percent of the vote, is currently showing signs of an internal split. The party has been divided into two camps over calls for the removal of chairman Akbar Tandjung and deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman, who has been accused of undermining Habibie's chances at the presidential election.
Akbar threw his weight behind Marzuki, and hinted that Golkar may reverse its backing of Habibie unless the latter takes a firm stance on the Bank Bali scandal and investigations into former president Soeharto's alleged corruption.
On Sunday, Habibie held a five-hour meeting with Golkar leaders to discuss the party's split and its backing for Habibie as president for the next five year term. Habibie will face in the November presidential election PDI Perjuangan's chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Golkar, a monolithic bloc during Soeharto's rule, split when 12 of the party's 27 chapters warned of a no-confidence motion against chairman Akbar if no action was taken against Marzuki Darusman.
The dissenters accused Marzuki of "damaging the integrity and authority of the party and also the image of the Golkar Party" by airing the party's dirty linen during meetings with rival party executives. They also said Marzuki's actions had strengthened the impression of disunity within Golkar.
They said a public statement Marzuki made on the Bank Bali scandal, which involved Golkar deputy treasurer Setya Novanto, had made the public think Golkar had not changed since Soeharto's downfall. In addition, they sought an extraordinary congress to replace Marzuki.
Bank Bali paid PT Era Giat Prima, a private company owned by Setya Novanto, a "commission" of Rp 546 billion (US$80 million) to help it recover loans worth Rp 904 billion from closed banks.
Newspapers have accused Golkar of benefiting from the money.
After the meeting with Habibie, however, Akbar said the internal rift was now over.
"There will be no extraordinary national conference ... Whatever is still unclear, we will clarify later," Akbar said.
He said he did not even mention in the meeting the demand of the dissenters to convene an extraordinary national congress. He earlier dismissed the call as "political guerrilla" tactics.
"The President simply instructed that Golkar should abide by the decisions of its leadership meeting (to nominate Habibie) in anticipating the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly," he said.
Chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), AA Baramuli, was present at the meeting in his capacity as chairman of Golkar's advisory council. Baramuli had earlier publicly admitted that he had helped draft the statement demanding the extraordinary congress.
During the meeting, Marzuki was also given the opportunity to explain himself. "In essence, Marzuki wants the party to be solid and for Habibie's nomination for president to be successful," Akbar said.
Marzuki has since the beginning been outspoken in his opposition of Habibie's nomination. He preferred Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto.
Separately, political observer Fachry Ali said in the East Java town of Malang on Monday that if the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly saw only two candidates, namely Habibie and Megawati, then the votes of the Islamic United Development Party (PPP) would surely go to Habibie.
PPP wanted a male, Muslim Indonesian to be the next president. It won third place in the June 7 polls with 10.71 percent of the vote and 59 seats at the House of Representatives. (swe)