Presidential hopefuls and mates

Presidential hopefuls and mates

From Media Indonesia

Candidates for the July 5, 2004 election of president and vice
president are not yet definite despite the maneuvers already made
by several politicians.

Among the latest moves was the withdrawal of Jusuf Kalla from
the Golkar Party convention as presidential nominee and his
resignation as coordinating minister of public welfare.

The maneuver was obviously meant to pave the way for his vice-
presidential candidacy pairing with Democratic Party presidential
aspirant Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. His withdrawal was not
popular.

This was unlike the withdrawal of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X as a
presidential candidate from the same convention, which aroused
public sympathy and empathy. In my opinion, it would be
worthwhile to nominate Hamengkubuwono as President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's running mate.

The position of a respected figure should be more important
than getting more votes in an election. This kind of move would
help refute accusations the political elite favor crooked
politicians over clean people.

WACHJUDIN TJARSA
Jakarta