'Succession fever' sweeps through corridors of power
'Succession fever' sweeps through corridors of power
KEBUMEN, Central Java (JP): Political analyst Abdurrahman Wahid said Saturday that as the general election nears, "succession fever" is sweeping through the corridors of power in Indonesia.
"This fever can ease or worsen the political jostling. The outcome is still difficult to predict," he told The Jakarta Post after addressing a seminar at the Nahdlatul Ulama Institute for Islamic Studies.
Gus Dur, as Abdurrahman is known, said that Indonesian politics are so tricky that it is impossible to predict if the People's Consultative Assembly will elect a new president in 1998.
Eligible voters will cast their ballots in 1997. Succession of national leadership has been a burning issue but 73-year-old President Soeharto appears to have no contender at the present.
Gus Dur dismissed as "too hasty" speculations that Harmoko, the chairman of the ruling party Golkar and incumbent minister of information, and Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, have a chance at the post of vice president.
Gus Dur, who leads the 30 million member Nahdlatul Ulama, said that the democratization of Indonesia is also difficult to predict.
"Democratization is important to make an honest, just, clean and open government as well as responsible citizens," said Gus Dur, who also leads Forum Demokrasi.
On a separate occasion, Harmoko told Golkar supporters in Cilacap, Central Java on Saturday night that he was optimistic Golkar will retain power in 1997.
Even though he called it "unethical" to discuss succession at present, he said he was optimistic that the next president will be from Golkar.
"I will not name a name, I'm optimistic that the next national leader will be Golkar's best figure," he told a gathering of thousands of Golkar members in Cilacap's town square.
Harmoko said it is unethical to discuss succession because only the People's Consultative Assembly has the authority to elect the president and vice president.
He declined to comment on what he thought about a Golkar member's statement that he had a good chance of securing the vice presidential post. "Everything is up to the Assembly," he said.
Debate on the succession issue has been raging since chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council Sudomo recently claimed that he knew Soeharto wanted a civilian to be the next vice president.
Sudomo's claim also sparked controversy with advocates saying that Soeharto's protege sharpened the sensitive civil-military dichotomy in Indonesian politics. (har/wah/pan)