Reform coalition gets a boost from PK, PPP

Reform coalition gets a boost from PK, PPP

JAKARTA (JP): The opposition alliance recently set up to
challenge Golkar received on Friday a further boost when two
Islamic parties with large followings, the United Development
Party (PPP) and the Justice Party (PK), jumped on the bandwagon.

PPP chairman Hamzah Haz and PK president Nur Mahmudi Ismail
signed a joint-communique with Amien Rais of the National Mandate
Party (PAN) affirming their united stance for reform.

"The three of us... may share a different platform, but we
have agreed on a crucial thing, which is not to nominate the
incumbent President B.J. Habibie as the country's next
president," Amien said in a meeting at the Kartika Chandra Hotel
in Jakarta.

Amien signed on Tuesday the first communique with Abdurrahman
Wahid of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Megawati
Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), in which the three opposition leaders pledged to
fight against status quo forces. Though the document did not name
any party, the political leaders said they referred to the ruling
Golkar Party.

Similar to the first agreement, the three parties on Friday
also called for the presidential and vice presidential elections
to be held three months after the June 7 poll's results are made
official.

Reading out the document, Nur Mahmudi said the three leaders
pledged to build a new and sound government, one that was trusted
by the people and able to spur on the reform movement in order to
establish a democratic life free from corruption, collusion and
nepotism.

The leaders also pledged a strong coalition and welcomed other
"proreform parties" to join them.

"I am telling you PPP will never nominate Habibie as some
newspapers reported. We will not support him or consider an
alliance with Golkar," Hamzah said. "Our party will have a PPP
cadre as our presidential candidate."

Amien said Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, endorsed
Friday's agreement. "I spoke to him last night and he agreed to
this meeting."

Amien believed the newly formed alliance would also boost the
parties' gains in the polls. "Together we'll get at least 60
percent of the votes and hopefully Golkar will get a maximum of
9.7 percent only," he said.

Amien said the agreements would soon be followed up by other
joint measures to secure the June 7 elections.

The meeting was also attended by PKB leader Alwi Shihab, PPP
secretary-general Ali Marwan and PAN leader A.M. Fatwa.

Asked about the possibility of conflict among the five
parties, as they each had their own presidential candidates,
Amien said: "Well, PKB has Gus Dur, PAN has me, PDI Perjuangan
has Mega... let's wait and see how the election results turn
out. The most important thing now is to beat the status quo."

The Justice Party has named scholar Didin Hafidhuddin as its
presidential candidate.

Fragile

Some people have expressed concern over the fragile nature of
the alliance, given that at least two of the leaders -- Amien and
Abdurrahman -- have openly haggled for the presidency, with
neither one appearing willing to be second banana.

Meanwhile, in Banda Aceh, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung
dismissed suggestions the alliance was threatening Golkar's
position as the dominant party.

"We won't be affected. If there are parties wishing to
coalesce, they can do so, it's their right. Golkar is leaving the
matter to the people and their votes." Akbar told Antara.

"If they want the (alliance) to hinder Golkar, we'll see how
the elections go," he said. "If need be, Golkar, too, can set up
alliances.

"It should be noted that we have had experience in government
cooperation, especially with the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) under Budi Hardjono.

"Of course, we are going to take into account the total number
of votes (won in the election) in considering which party to form
a coalition with," he said.

Separately, in Yogyakarta, political observer Mochtar Mas'oed
of Gadjah Mada University, said he believed Habibie had a strong
chance to win the presidency because "the status quo forces, with
Golkar as their prime mover, are still very strong".

He believed Golkar would still win a significant share of the
votes, especially in regions outside of Java and in rural areas
in Java.

"A very recent study shows that people outside of Java and in
rural Java are unable to differentiate Golkar from the Indonesian
Military, and most of them do not know about the new political
parties, even the major ones.

"So, this status quo machine called Golkar... is still the
most sophisticated machine. Remember, only Golkar has an
infrastructure which can reach even the most remote areas," he
said. (44/edt/swe)