Edy Budiyarso – The success team of Golkar Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid is controlled from the Imperium Tower in Kuningan, South Jakarta. As if it were an army base or veteran's hospital, staff and visitors to the luxurious office include a surprising scattering of retired generals. Wiranto, the former TNI commander, has indeed made former and close military colleagues a key component of his bid for the presidency.
Former soldiers who have become the driving force behind Wiranto include Gen. (ret) Fachrul Razi, deputy chairman of the success team. In third order of importance, Maj. Gen. (ret) Affandi serves as the team's secretary and former Pattimura Military Region Commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Suaidi Marasabessy, is Wiranto's Coordinator of Planning, Conception, and Evaluation.
"Experience from past positions plus friendships are very important in building a network," Suaidi said.
Maj. Gen. (ret) Tulus Sihombing appears in the Wiranto team's lineup of organizers as Director of Information, Joint Organizations, and Head of the Anti-Rumors Section. Maj. Gen. Sonny Soemarsono, another two-star general, is Deputy Head of Institutional Relations and among those coordinating the various regions is Maj. Gen. (ret) Soentoro, plus former Jakarta Regional Police chief, Nurfaizi, for Central Java. The Aceh area is being commanded by Commodore (ret) Afwan Madani and Maj. Gen. (ret) Nasution.
Similar to the Wiranto camp – and also a competitor from with a military background-Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or SBY, and partner Jusuf Kalla have also pulled eight generals into their success team fold. Former defense minister Gen. (ret) Edy Sudrajat has shown up at Yudhoyono's headquarters, bringing with him his Indonesian Justice & Unity Party. Present, too, is the commander of the armed forces during the era of President Abdurrahman Wahid, Adm. (ret) Widodo A.S.
Apart from being backed by these two full generals, another, Maj. Gen. (ret) Evert Erenst Mangindaan, former commander Trikora Military Region VII and North Sulawesi governor also sits on Yudhoyono's advisory board.
Yudhoyono's senior in socio-political matters, Maj. Gen. Ma'aruf, has also signed up for duty.
Other associates on the team include Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsoedin, former commander of Iskandar Muda Military Region, Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf, and Chairman of the Election Victory Body, Air Force Brig. Gen. (ret) Suratto Siswodihardjo.
Civilian presidential candidates themselves have shown no reluctance to dip into the military to build their success teams. The pairing of Hamzah Haz and Agum Gumelar counts on the third largest number of former military officers and those involved include the United Development Party's Secretary-General Lt. Gen. Yunus Yosfiah, while former head of the TNI Information Center Brig. Gen. (ret) Abdul Wahab Mokodongan is deputy chairman of the campaign team.
PDI-P, championing Megawati Sukarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi for the nation's highest office, has brought in Maj. Gen. (ret) Theo Syafei, the former Udayana Military Region commander. As clarified by Mega-Hasyim success team secretary, Heri Akhmadi, however, Theo's involvement is limited because of his position as party chairman and chairman of the election victory team. "There's only one of him, no one else," the former Bandung Institute of Technology Student Board chairman said.
Amien Rais, once the locomotive driving the country's reformation, has also turned to a former military man, Maj. Gen. (ret) Suwarno Adiwijoyo, a former assistant for politics to TNI's Chief of Social and Political Affairs and previously chairman of the National Mandate Party's Central Leadership Board.
Based solely on their resumes, the men wearing stars in each team's lineup generally claim rich backgrounds in socio-political and territorial affairs-but it is existing networks built among a great number of people in numerous areas that truly attract the candidates' attention. Can they, though, guarantee an actual boost in votes for the presidential hopefuls? CSIS military observer, J. Kristiadi, says there is no apparent correlation between former officers and actual vote counts.
Nevertheless, he cautions, the building tradition of recruiting politicians from among the military indicates the inadequacy of politicians from the civilian pool. "Imagine it! an ex-army man who has just joined the party immediately serving as its secretary-general," Kristiadi said. "Long-serving party cadres have had to queue up for ages to get that."
Kristiadi says the perceived weakness of Indonesia's civilian leadership comes after tepid efforts by those leaders to democratize within the parties.
"This is the result of [civilians] being 'bonsai-ed' throughout the New Order regime," he said. Perhaps, in the country's young days of democracy, only former military men are strong enough to serve as guiding hands-or fists.