Reform faction backs Gus Dur for presidency

JAKARTA (JP): The Reform faction of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Justice Party (PK) officially made Abdurrahman Wahid their presidential candidate on Wednesday.

The nomination by the faction, one of 11 in the People's Consultative Assembly, serves to reaffirm Abdurrahman's candidacy, which has been much lauded by the "axis force", of which the two parties are members.

Reform faction chairman A.M. Lutfie extolled the virtues of Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, saying he had proven himself to be an objective, neutral and competent leader acceptable to all groups.

"We met Gus Dur earlier in the day and presented our official proposal and he earnestly answered that he was willing to accept the nomination," Lutfie said, referring to a meeting at Abdurrahman's residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.

"Gus Dur's leadership is something the country needs now, given the recent situation, and for the next five years," Lutfie said.

He further described the leader of the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization as a critical figure in the human rights campaign who could bridge military and civilian interests.

Weeks before the Assembly's General Session began, the axis force, a loose alliance of PAN and a number of Muslim-based political parties, named Abdurrahman their presidential candidate.

The nomination was proposed by PAN chairman Amien Rais, who was elected Assembly speaker on Sunday.

However, it remains unclear how Wednesday's nomination of Abdurrahman will impact the presidential race. The internal rules of the Assembly stipulate that only factions with at least 70 seats can nominate a presidential candidate.

PAN and PK have 34 and 7 seats, respectively, in the Assembly.

Other parties grouped in axis force who have formed their own factions in the Assembly, including the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the United Development Party (PPP), have yet to formally nominate Abdurrahan despite having already expressed their verbal support for his candidacy.

A key factor in Abdurrahman's presidential bid is the National Awakening Party (PKB). Although it was founded by Abdurrahman, PKB has officially committed itself to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Separately, PKB executive Khofifah Indar Parawangsa said before Wednesday's announcement that the party would fully support Abdurrahman once he was officially nominated.

"Gus Dur is a prominent figure in our party, but we cannot support him because none of the factions have nominated him.

"But I would like to underline that PKB's formal support should only come as a result of an internal meeting between (party executives)," she said.

PKB chairman Matori Abdul Djalil, however, maintained his position that the party backed Megawati's presidential aspirations.

Nevertheless, due to the fluid political situation, he left open the possibility the party's support could shift.

"If we can still see changes in the political alignment in the final minutes (before the presidential election), why should I or my party make any decisions now," he said.

Matori pledged in August his party's support for Megawati's presidential bid.

At the time, Matori said that Megawati, whose party won the most votes in the June 7 general election, had the right to lead the country. (emf/05)