Wiranto's campaign team get to know each other

Kurniawan Hari and Ridwan Max Sidjabat, Jakarta

Members of the campaign team for Gen. (ret) Wiranto and cleric Solahuddin Wahid are still struggling to match their thoughts and behavior as the one-month campaigning period kicks off on Tuesday.

This is because the members come from three different groups: Wiranto's "Imperium" team, named after the hotel where they are based, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Golkar itself.

"We need to understand each other and to adapt to the habits of the team members," campaign team deputy secretary Rully Chairul Azwar told The Jakarta Post last night.

He attributed the relatively late process to the pairing of Wiranto and Solahuddin being made official as recently as May 11 and support from PKB coming only last week.

Rully added that solidity within Golkar -- from the central board to the regional branches -- had contributed to preparations for the campaign.

Training for campaigners concluded here on Monday after earlier sessions in Jakarta and Solo, Central Java.

Theo L. Sambuaga, deputy chairman of Wiranto's campaign team, said that the Golkar and PKB teams were ready to retain their respective supporters and also win over swing voters.

He said there were 1,000 campaigners at a national level, about 300 in the provinces and around 200 at the regental level.

Theo said the campaign team's target was to win at least 36 percent of the vote in the first round if Wiranto and his running mate could not win a single majority, adding, "this will be a strong basis for the duo to win the second round".

Rully added that the campaign team was still raising funds from businesspeople and supporters, as many team members in the regions had refused to dig into their own pockets.

Profile of some Golkar campaign team members ============================================================= o Slamet Effendy Yusuf (chairman) - A deputy chairman of Golkar, he formerly led Ansor, a youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim mass organization for two terms, from 1985 through 1995. This facilitated his entry into the inner circle of PKB, whose members are mainly from the NU.

o Lt. Gen. (ret) Fachrul Razi (deputy chairman) - Born in Aceh in 1947, he last served in the military as chief of general affairs in 1998.

o Mahfud MD (deputy chairman) - A deputy chairman of PKB, Mahfud was defense minister in the Cabinet of president Abdurrahman Wahid. Earlier he lectured in law at the Indonesian Islamic University in Yogyakarta.

o Fahmi Idris (coordinator for Sumatra) - A deputy chairman of Golkar, he was a manpower minister in the above Cabinet. The director of PT Kodel is also active in the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN).

o Theo L. Sambuaga (media coordinator) - Also a deputy chairman of Golkar, he was minister for people's housing and settlement, also under Abdurrahman. He was secretary general of the Indonesian Youth National Committee (KNPI) and chairman of the Indonesian Reform Youth Front (AMPI). ===============================================================