Sultan hints at graceful exit from Golkar convention series

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X hinted on Thursday that he may withdraw from the Golkar Party's convention to select a presidential candidate.

Sultan said he had formed a special team to gauge the real support from Golkar constituents for his presidential bid. The team is expected to complete its job after his visit to Aceh at the end of next month.

"I will quit if the team proves Golkar does not support me. It would be no use and unwise to insist on attending the convention despite the absence of backing," Sultan said after receiving Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia Raindolph B. Mank at his office.

Sultan finished seventh in the second stage to win the remaining tickets to the convention, scheduled to take place after the general election in April. He had earlier pledged to withdraw from the convention if Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung qualified, citing ethical reasons. Akbar, who is challenging his conviction in a graft case, qualified.

All Golkar's chapters in the regencies/mayoralties and provinces, central board of executives and affiliated organizations have the right to vote in the convention.

Another candidate Nurcholish "Cak Nur" Madjid was the first to make a premature exit, after he found out he had to buy votes to win the convention.

Sultan said his fact finding team would travel around to verify grassroots support for him. "They will identify whether Golkar members in the grass roots will stand behind me," he added.

Another of Golkar's presidential candidates, Prabowo Subianto, said he would go ahead with his bid to win the convention.

"The show must go on. If I lose, I will return to business and will never come back to politics," Prabowo said on the sidelines of a seminar titled "Viewing Indonesia after 2004: Make or break" in Yogyakarta.

Prabowo, a former chief of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), turned to business after his military career ended following the fall of long-time ruler Soeharto, his former father-in-law.

Speaking in the seminar, Prabowo called on the Indonesian people to vote for credible and clean figures for the sake of reform.

Boycotting the elections reflects despair and defiance of the reform movement, he said.

"People, particularly those educated ones, should participate in the elections if they want to make a change to the country," he said.

"The road to democracy will be energy sapping, time consuming, tricky and perhaps horrible, but it is the process the nation should go through."