Wiranto may enliven 2004 elections

Wiranto may enliven 2004 elections

Imanuddin
Staff Writer
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
iman@thejakartapost.com

The general elections is still a year ahead, but prospective
candidates for the next presidency, who have their roots in the
top ten political parties, have either secretly or publicly
launched their pre-election campaigns by visiting their
constituents across the country.

Some others, who have yet to join or become affiliated with
certain political parties, have been tipped as candidates for the
country's number-one position by smaller parties. One of these is
former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret.) Wiranto, who
was recently nominated by the Indonesian Workers' Congress Party
(PKPI) as its candidate for next year's elections.

PKPI constituents are members of the All-Indonesia Labor
Unions (SPSI), the only government-sanctioned union under the
rule of president Soeharto.

Though Wiranto has yet to choose his representative political
party, PKPI's decision to race in the 2004 elections and nominate
him as its candidate will provide the Indonesian people with a
different alternative for the country's top post.

Wiranto has had a skyrocketing career in the military, as the
top student at the Army's Staff and Command School (Seskoad) and
at the military's think tank, the National Resilience Institute
(Lemhannas), and being appointed the country's military chief in
February 1998 when he was only 51.

His decision to join the presidential race, if he does,
however, will not be free from controversy.

The National Commission on Human Rights has stated that he was
among those officials responsible for the human rights abuses
that occurred before and after the referendum of Aug. 30, 1999
which led to East Timor's independence. Yet, he was not among the
18 defendants tried in the rights case.

Wiranto, along with former Army Strategic Reserves Commander
(Kostrad) Let. Gen. Djadja Suparman, Brawijaya Military Commander
overseeing East Java Maj. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, and former TNI
chief of general affairs Lt. Gen. Suaidi Marasabessy, was also
accused by sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola of being the
"provocateurs" and masterminds behind the sectarian clashes in
Ambon and elsewhere in Maluku.

The latest accusation against Wiranto was his alleged
involvement in the attempt to topple President Megawati
Soekarnoputri by funding the recent antigovernment protests. The
allegation is yet to be proven, but it has worsened his image.

Nevertheless, Wiranto's military background could indeed be an
auspicious factor for his candidacy.

As a military officer, he has been involved in the handling of
major armed conflicts and is familiar with the characteristics
and behaviors of people in most parts of the country, an
advantage that not many Indonesian leaders have.

Yet, the reform movement which snowballed following the May
1998 downfall of Soeharto, who also had a military background,
has led Indonesians to place their political faith in civilian
leaders.

Soeharto's successor B.J. Habibie was a civilian, likewise
Habibie's successor Abdurrahman Wahid, and the incumbent
President Megawati.

However, none of the three civilian presidents have been able
to bring Indonesia out of the political and economic crisis,
which has been plaguing the country since mid-1997.

Habibie, whose accountability speech was rejected by the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Oct. 19, 1999 after 17
months in power, failed to continue with his recovery programs
after his defeat in the legislative body.

Abdurrahman was ousted from his seat in July 2001 after nine
months in power over a corruption scandal.

Meanwhile, Megawati's administration has been at the center of
criticism over its controversial policies, including the sale of
state-owned international phone operator PT Indosat's 41.9
percent stake to a Singaporean firm, and the acquittal of a
number of former bank owners of past banking crimes.

In a state of little progress over the years after Soeharto's
downfall, many might consider a candidate with a military
background running for the presidency next year, despite the fact
that people still clearly remember the repressive approach of a
president with a military background -- in the name of political
and economic stability, Soeharto crushed many of his critics and
opponents.

Indeed, many have expressed a wish to return to a time which
they say was better under the "iron fist" of Soeharto.

In regards his chances, Wiranto's military background would
benefit him as he will at least win the support of the
Association of Retired Military Officers (Pepabri), an umbrella
organization for retired military and police officers.

Further, although he is already retired, his past attachment
with the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), which has
the largest number of highly-skilled troops, will help him win
the support of a part of the still active Army officers. The
incumbent TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto was assistant to the
armed forces chief for general affairs, when Wiranto was the ABRI
(now TNI) chief. Endriartono has also spent two-thirds of his
career in Kostrad.

Wiranto, a former adjutant of Soeharto, is also likely to win
the support of his former boss, who still wields strong influence
in the TNI.

No matter which presidential election system is applied to
next year's election, if his name appears on the MPR's list of
presidential candidates, everything will be possible for Wiranto.

At least he could win the support of Akbar Tandjung, chairman
of the second-largest party, the Golkar Party. People still
remember that it was with the help of Wiranto, who was then the
ABRI chief, that Akbar secured votes from the chairmen of several
Golkar provincial chapters to win the party's chairmanship in
July 1998.

Wiranto could also win the support of the eastern Indonesia
faction in Golkar, due to his closeness with Habibie, whose
father was from Gorontalo and his mother, from Yogyakarta.
Wiranto was the ABRI chief when Habibie was in office, and
coincidentally, Wiranto's wife also hails from Gorontalo.

Although debatable, his being a Javanese, in this case a
Yogyakarta native, boosts his attractiveness as a candidate.

Among the grassroots, Wiranto also has significant support in
the Muslim community, because of his close relationships with
some Muslim leaders in Jakarta, Banten and East Java.

With these pros and cons of both military and civilian
candidates, it will still rest on the Indonesian people to decide
upon the most suitable candidate for the president of this
country.