Imanuddin, Jakarta – 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 August 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 October 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.