Susilo changes tack and meets leaders
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya
Changes are visible in Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's efforts to win the presidency and keep up with his rival Megawati Soekarnoputri, who has met with a host of powerful political leaders in the past week.
While maintaining that he would not build a coalition with other parties ahead of the Sept. 20 election -- to prevent horse- trading -- Susilo and running mate Jusuf Kalla have met or will still meet some of the same party leaders that Megawati has been wooing.
On Friday Susilo met National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais at the latter's home in Yogyakarta.
Amien, who finished fourth with nearly 15 percent of the vote in the five-way election on July 5, is the first top political leader Susilo has formally met with.
The red-hot favorite in the presidential election is looking forward to meeting Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who as president fired him as chief security minister in 2001.
"We will hold talks with Gus Dur. We consider him a respected figure. We hope to listen to his views on how to give the best to people and the country," Susilo said on the sidelines of a coordination meeting with his campaign team in Surabaya on Saturday.
Gus Dur said he welcomed Susilo's offer, but insisted that he personally would not vote in the next round.
Susilo said in Jakarta on Sunday that he would wait to speak with representatives of the Golkar Party, which garnered the most votes in the April 5 legislative election, since "I'm still waiting for the verdict by the Constitutional Court."
Golkar's presidential candidate Wiranto has filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court alleging that he and running mate Solahuddin Wahid lost some 5.4 million votes to inaccuracies and inconsistencies.
Wiranto received 26.2 million votes in the July 5 election, behind Susilo's 38.8 million votes and incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri's 31.5 million.
"My party will have around 12 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives and if I win the September election my administration may have a difficult time carrying out policies unless I develop a coalition with other parties in the House.
"But since Pak Wiranto is filing a complaint with the court -- and none of us can predict the verdict -- it isn't ethical for me to make any political approach to Golkar," Susilo said during a press conference.
The remark came amid mounting criticism that Susilo, who has topped all the opinion polls, was not open to possible coalitions.
Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung seems to have given a green light for a coalition with Megawati, who stepped up her political lobbying after the General Elections Commission (KPU) officially announced on Monday that she qualified for the second round.
Megawati has held a series of meetings with other party leaders, including Hamzah Haz of the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB)'s patron Gus Dur and Akbar last Friday.
She is also arranging a meeting with Amien Rais.
On Saturday, Megawati visited the ailing, influential Nahdlatul Ulama cleric Abdullah Faqih, who prior to the July polls called on his followers not to vote for her.