Wiranto, Golkar's first presidential nominee
Kurniawan Hari and Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Cirebon
Former commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Gen. (ret) Wiranto emerged as the first figure proposed by a Golkar Party- affiliated organization on Tuesday as a presidential candidates.
Chairman of the party's committee for selection of presidential candidates confirmed here that Wiranto was officially proposed by Garda Muda Merah Putih on Tuesday morning but said his team would determine whether or not the organization chaired by Adhyaksa Dault was recognized by the party.
Wiranto along with four other figures was nominated in the party's recent meeting to make an inventory of possible presidential candidates in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The other four were Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla and Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.
Several other names, including party chairman Akbar Tandjung, Transportation Minister Agum Gumelar and former general commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, also emerged in the Makassar meeting.
With the meeting, Golkar the political vehicle of former president Soeharto, has stolen the start of the presidential campaign in an attempt to divert people's attention from its sins of the past and to win their support in the first ever direct presidential election.
All figures proposed by party chapters and mass organizations will be asked to present their vision and mission in provinces and regencies in the next seven months until the party holds a convention in February to select only one name as the party's presidential candidate.
The next months will be a test for the party to see whether the party, the second major faction in the House of Representatives, has gained real support from the people to contend the legislative and presidential elections.
Deputy secretary of the convention Rully Chairul Azwar said Golkar Deputy Chairman Marwah Daud Ibrahim had been also proposed by 100 of her supporters in Kutai, East Kalimantan, but she still needed 400 more supporters to have the committee process her nomination.
Oetojo explained there were three ways to gain nomination: self nomination with at least 500 signatures from his/her supporters, nomination by the party-affiliated mass organizations or by party's provincial chapters.
The registration of proposed candidates that has been open since July 11 will close on Aug. 7, while the committee will start selecting the candidates from Aug. 1 through Aug. 19.
Meanwhile, Akbar visited Buntet Islamic Boarding School in Cirebon, West Java, on Tuesday in his efforts to seek support for his candidacy for the presidential race.
"My visit here is to ask for support so that I can do my job well and can be accepted by all," he said.
Eye box: --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. July 11-July 30: Registration of proposed presidential nominees 2. August 7, 2003 : registration closure 3. August 1- 19 : Verification of nominees 4. Aug. 21-Oct.10 : Nominees' Internal campaign in at least seven
Golkar's chapters 5. Sept.1-Oct.8 : Selection at Golkar's regency chapters 6. Sept.7-Oct.15 : Selection at Golkar's provincial chapters 7. Oct.16-18 : Announcement of qualified candidates 8. Oct.20-23 : Pre-convention to select five candidates 9. Feb.11-13, 2004: Convention to determine the sole candidate ----------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Composition of votes in the next convention: - Golkar's executive board has 18 votes - 30 provincial chapters have 3 votes each - 416 regency chapters have one vote each - Golkar's 10 affiliated organizations have one vote each