SMU, BA grad for chairman?

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

As the Democratic Party Congress entered the second day on Saturday, participants hotly debated the minimum requirements for candidates to contest the election of party chairman.

Top of the agenda was whether would-be contestants must have minimum of a senior high school (SMU) diploma or a bachelor's degree in order to be eligible.

Two out of the 12 party chairman hopefuls, Sys NS and Soekartono Hadiwarsito, only possess senior high school diplomas. With the participants unable to agree on the issue on Saturday, chair of the session Rizal Max Rompas decided that final voting over the matter would be held on Sunday before the vote for party chairman.

The congress on Saturday did agree that prospective candidates must have served a minimum of a year on the party executive board.

After the first round of voting for the post on Sunday, the race will be narrowed to the top two highest vote-getters, with the eventual winner required to be supported by at least 50 percent of the 476 votes cast.

Another issue that could not be agreed upon was whether the heads of the party's 14 branches and chapters nationwide could keep their positions if they were elected chairman.

"This has to be settled before the participants vote for the new party chairman on Sunday," said Rizal.

By Saturday evening, the congress committee had accepted the nominations of 12 candidates -- Subur Budisantoso, Soekartono Hadiwarsito, Hayono Isman, Nurhayati Assegaf, Sys NS, Hadi Utomo, Suratto Hadiwarsito, Ahmad Mubarok, Agus Abu Bakar Arsal, Taufiq Effendi, Hamidah Hamid and Sutan Batoegana.

Taufiq Effendi, who is currently the State Minister of Administrative Reforms, had earlier said that he would not run for party chairmanship -- but later said he had changed his mind after some chapters gave him their support. He entered the race late on Saturday afternoon.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the party co-founder and an influential figure within the party, has thus far kept silent about whom he supports for the party chair.

The Democratic Party, the start-up party that was established two years ago, ranked fifth out of 24 parties in last year's legislative elections, winning 7.45 percent of the vote.