Soeharto won't name VP choice

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto insisted yesterday he would not announce his preferred running mate for another term in office before factions in the People's Consultative Assembly unveiled their vice presidential candidates.

The head of the Pancasila state ideology proselytizing body, Alwi Dahlan, said after meeting with the President at the latter's residence on Jl. Cendana that it was each sociopolitical organization's right to name candidates for the second top post, and not the President's.

"Why should they wait for me? This shows that many people don't understand the Constitution. They expect me to name a vice presidential candidate.

"I cannot name anyone because I'm not even a presidential candidate. I will be named a candidate only after certain procedures are carried out," Soeharto was quoted by Alwi as saying.

Soeharto was responding to debate as to whether he should announce his desired second in command as soon as possible to help ease the country's economic woes.

The 1,000-member Assembly will convene from March 1 to March 11 to endorse the state policy guidelines and elect the next president and vice president.

Soeharto said he would be reelected if he was nominated and deemed capable of executing the policy guidelines, Alwi said.

A 1973 Assembly decree, which remains effective, says that a vice presidential candidate must be able to cooperate with the elected president. By convention, each faction in the Assembly consults with the elected president prior to the vice presidential election.

Alwi said Soeharto would name who he favors for the vice presidency after representatives of each faction consult him on the subject, assuming he is elected president.

The dominant political group Golkar, the Armed Forces, the bureaucracy and the United Development Party have all pledged to support Soeharto's renomination for another five-year term.

However they are keeping their vice presidential candidates a secret, saying that they will reveal the names during the Assembly's general session.

Golkar has also listed a set of criteria its vice presidential candidate must meet, but Alwi quoted Soeharto as saying yesterday that Golkar did not do that for his benefit.

"The requirements come purely from Golkar, and it's every organization's right to set criteria," Alwi said.

Strategy

Alwi speculated that the political organizations refused to announce their nominees for the vice presidency for strategic reasons while they were still deliberating possible candidates.

"A political organization may need to lobby (party executives) if it has three different candidates, or perhaps it feels it needs to gain mass support and introduce its candidate to the public in a bid to make its rival organizations follow suit. That's politics," Alwi said.

He said such processes would enable each political organization to have only one vice presidential candidate,

"There is no guarantee that a political organization that makes an early announcement on a vice presidential candidate will present the same nominee to the elected president," Alwi said.

He said the public and societal groups were allowed to name their own vice presidential candidates, but they must channel their aspirations through the Assembly.

"A person will qualify for the vice presidential race as long as he or she is nominated by a faction in the Assembly," Alwi said.

The Assembly has so far accepted the nomination of, among others, Vice President Try Sutrisno, Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita, Minister of Information R. Hartono, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Wiranto and House of Representatives Speaker Harmoko.

Separately, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid suggested that the Armed Forces should unveil its vice presidential candidate when it holds a leadership meeting from Feb. 10 to Feb. 12.

"At least the revelation will give people some certainty on who will accompany President Soeharto. It will help the government restore public confidence in the wake of the economic turmoil," he said. (prb/amd)