Who is Golkar fooling?

Who is Golkar fooling?

When Nurcholish Madjid announced last week that he was
withdrawing from the Golkar convention that will be held to
select its presidential candidate, he was not the only one who
felt disgusted at the country's second largest party. When Golkar
chairman Akbar Tandjung decided that he too would run for the
nomination, he effectively killed the democratic character of the
convention.

Given his power over the party's regional chapters, and to a
lesser extent the central executive board, the outcome of the
convention, slated to take place in February, is almost a
foregone conclusion. Akbar's action has reduced the significance
and value that the convention might otherwise have had for the
development of democracy in this country.

A legacy of the repressive Soeharto regime, Golkar has tried
hard to project itself as a reformed and even a democratic party.
So much so that it managed to come second in the 1999 general
election. But from the way Akbar has handled the convention, we
can see that some things never change in Golkar. And one of these
is its practice of the politics of deception, which enabled it to
maintain its power for 32 years, with the help of its chief
patron Soeharto, of course.

The Golkar convention has now become a mere formality. If and
when he is officially nominated as the party's presidential
candidate in February, it will not be seen as a vote of
confidence in Akbar's leadership of the party. Rather, it will be
widely perceived as another display of the power and influence he
wields within the party as it gears itself up for the general
election in April and the presidential election in the middle of
2004.

Nurcholish, a respected Muslim scholar, was right to pull out
of the convention.

Given his untainted reputation and image, Nurcholish's
participation would have lent credence to Golkar, something he
was prepared to give when he still believed that the party meant
well in opening up the presidential nomination process to
everyone. Even many of his supporters and friends acknowledged
that one way for Nurcholish to attain the presidency would be to
contest the Golkar nomination through the convention.

Had he been selected by the convention -- and there was some
real support for him within the party -- it would have been a
marriage of convenience, or even an unholy alliance. Nurcholish,
a public figure of strong moral stature, would have lent
respectability to Golkar, which is still beset by the political
baggage of its past. In return, Golkar, likely to be one of the
largest political parties in 2004, would have helped him clinch
the presidency.

Many people, including Nurcholish, gave the benefit of the
doubt to Golkar when it announced early this year that it was
opening up its presidential nomination process through the
holding of a national convention. Most of the other big parties
automatically nominated their chairpersons. But with Akbar still
embroiled in a corruption scandal, it would have been difficult
for Golkar to nominate him directly without undermining its own
electoral chances.

Naturally, the prospect of the presidency is very alluring for
anyone with an interest in the future of this country. And yet,
here is the country's second largest political party desperately
searching for a credible presidential candidate because it cannot
find one within its own ranks.

Hence, when the convention process officially began last
month, Nurcholish decided to run, as did more than a dozen
others, including a number of discredited figures from the
Soeharto regime. That was how open the convention was. There was
a genuine belief that Golkar was sincere in opening up its
selection process. Nurcholish was certainly participating with
the understanding that Akbar, as the party chairman, would stay
out of the fray.

With Akbar now having decided to run, there is no real
contest. We have seen how Akbar, even at the height of the
corruption scandal last year, managed to rally the support of the
majority of the regional chapters against attempts to remove him
from the chairmanship.

Now, despite having been convicted by the district court for
corruption, a conviction upheld by the high court, he still
controls the regional chapters. And with these chapters holding
the power to select the presidential candidate at the Golkar
convention, there is no question that most, if not all, will vote
for the party chairman.

There is no real point in holding the Golkar convention any
more. Nurcholish was right to withdraw and we wish him success in
finding another vehicle on which to ride to the presidential
palace.

The Golkar convention is nothing but a ploy. It is another
example of the Machiavellian politics that Golkar has excelled at
for more than three decades. But, the question is, who is Golkar
really deceiving this time?