Students group refuses Soeharto's renomination
JAKARTA (JP): A small group of law students dared yesterday to dissent from the increasingly uniform voice of the community by rejecting the renomination of President Soeharto for the 1998/2003 presidency.
A delegation of 15 members of the Association of the Indonesian Law Students' Councils filed yesterday a petition to Golkar's faction at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) that the dominant group name candidates other than 76-year-old Soeharto.
"President Soeharto is too old to serve another term," said the association's statement, read out by secretary-general Asep Wahyuwijaya.
"Challenges of the future need fresh answers from state leaders, who are also new," the statement also read.
In Yogyakarta, chairman of the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization Amien Rais again called for presidential succession next year.
"Presidential succession must occur next year. Otherwise, we'll find it almost impossible to have both political and economic reform in the country," he said, while addressing a seminar on state leadership succession at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University yesterday.
Amien was confident that President Soeharto was sincere in his call last month that Golkar reconsider its support for his renomination.
Amien said he believed President Soeharto would really be willing to step down if he is not renominated next year.
The law students suggested five candidates for the 1998/2003 presidency.
They were Army Chief of Staff Gen. Wiranto, Secretary for Development Operations Lt. Gen. A.M. Hendropriyono, State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita and Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad.
Minister of Defense Edi Sudradjat said yesterday nominating candidates other than Soeharto was not a threat to national stability as long as it was conducted through the Assembly.
"Having more than one presidential candidate is acceptable in this democratic age, provided the nomination complies with the mechanism... It does not have anything to do with the (political) crisis," Edi said after a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission I for security and defense.
He was commenting on the groups of people who have shown reluctance in renominating incumbent President Soeharto for the presidential election in March.
Edi said the Armed Forces would crush any attempt to campaign for presidential candidates through unconstitutional means.
Vice presidency
Suhardiman, chairman of the military-sponsored labor organization affiliated with Golkar, SOKSI, said the organization had five names for the country's second top position.
"They are incumbent Try Sutrisno, Minister of Information R. Hartono, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, House Speaker Harmoko and B.J. Habibie," he said at the Horison Hotel in Ancol, North Jakarta, yesterday.
He dismissed speculation that the organization was naming names because it planned to gain political favor from whoever was elected vice president.
"We came up with those names after we had screened a number of candidates (we believe were) eligible for the vice presidency," he said.
Criteria
Rector of Semarang's Diponegoro University and a member of the Assembly's regional representatives faction, Muladi, suggested a set of criteria for the vice presidency.
"The next vice president must have access to science and technology, to sociopolitical elements in the country and also to the Armed Forces," he said yesterday.
He said Try Sutrisno, Hartono, Wiranto, Ginandjar, Habibie and Edi Sudradjat met the criteria.
A political observer at the university, Soehardjo S.S., called on the Assembly to accommodate as many vice presidential candidates as possible in next year's election.
"Vice presidential nomination should not be dominated by Try Sutrisno, Habibie and Hartono only.
"Other names including Wiranto, former minister of home affairs Rudini, Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo, State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and even chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization Abdurrahman Wahid and Amien Rais, could also be nominated," he said. (imn/amd/har/23)