Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung has come under fire from within his own party for suggesting that he will accept the vice-presidency after the election for the legislature in April.
Mr Akbar, who is a Golkar presidential contender, made the statement on Sunday. But he played it down yesterday after a barrage of attacks, mostly from other presidential hopefuls in the party.
He had said he was prepared to be incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri's running mate in the July presidential poll, depending on the outcome of the legislative election on April 5.
His strongest competitor in the Golkar convention process to pick presidential contenders, former army chief General Wiranto, said: "It is not appropriate for a chairman of Golkar which is working hard to win the election to make a statement like that."
After three decades of domination, Golkar finished second in the 1999 presidential poll behind Ms Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P).
Golkar is expected to win more votes this year, possibly defeating the PDI-P, amid rising disappointment over the slow progress of reforms.
Gen Wiranto said Mr Akbar's gesture sparked suspicions that he has made deals with the PDI-P elite to become Ms Megawati's running mate if he is endorsed by the Golkar convention in April.
Mr Akbar is seen as a leading contender among the six candidates vying for support in the convention after the Supreme Court cleared him of his conviction for corruption.
But on Sunday night in Solo, Central Java, he told reporters that the PDI-P still had strong grassroots support and could emerge as the winner in the legislative election. If that happens, he is likely to enter into a coalition with the nationalist party because of the similarity in their platforms, he said.
There is also a consensus among other Golkar presidential contenders that they will run for the vice-presidency depending on the outcome of the legislative poll, he said. "In one of our leadership meetings last year, the convention participants agreed that any winner emerging from the convention will agree to run as the vice-president," he said on Sunday.
But another Golkar presidential hopeful, businessman Surya Paloh, claimed he did not know this. He said on Monday: "Akbar's remark is pathetic and irritating. Akbar has started a war in Golkar. If Golkar convention candidates are only aiming for the vice-president's position, then what is the point of holding a convention to pick the best presidential candidate?" he was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.
Analysts said that although Golkar could win the legislative poll, Mr Akbar knows he has little chance in a head-on contest against Ms Megawati. She is seen as the "crowd's favourite" because of the corruption charges against him.
There is speculation that his plan to withdraw from the presidential fray is part of a deal with the Megawati camp for his acquittal by the Supreme Court.
He was sentenced to three years by a lower court for misappropriating 40 billion rupiah (S$8.02 million) in state funds for the poor which was used to bankroll Golkar's election campaign. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that he was only following orders from former president B.J. Habibie. The ruling angered many people who suspect that it was influenced by politics.
The chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation, the 40-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, warned that the decision could endanger the country. Mr Hasyim Muzadi told Tempo magazine: "Things like this are really incompatible with the people's sense of justice. This embryo [of discontent] can later snowball into something very dangerous. Legal dysfunction is the start of anarchy."