Jakarta – The ruling Golkar party will nominate incumbent President B.J. Habibie as its candidate for Indonesia's upcoming presidential election, a party official said Monday.

Theo L. Sambuaga, a chairman of the party, which served as a political vehicle of former President Suharto for three decades, said the formal nomination of Habibie would be announced prior to parliamentary elections on June 7. The presidential election is scheduled for early November.

Sambuaga said the party hopes to win 40 percent of the total votes, a drastic decline from the 70 percent it gained in the last election in 1997, when Suharto won a seventh term.

Suharto, who ruled the world's fourth most populous nation with an iron grip for 32 years, stepped down in May amid national rioting for his removal. Habibie assumed the presidency in his place.

Some 200 parties have been created since Habibie began dismantling strict Suharto-era political controls.