Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri has accepted a nomination by her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to run for the presidential election in 2009.
"On the basis of the party's recommendation, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful)... in my capacity as chairwoman of PDI-P, (I) am ready to be nominated by PDI-P as a presidential candidate in 2009," she said at a closing ceremony of the party's national meeting on Monday.
Her acceptance was lauded by more than 16,000 party executives from all over the country singing the Maju Tak Gentar patriotic march.
Megawati made the decision after party executives from across the board joined a day-long coordination meeting to show their unanimous determination to support her for presidency. In addition, a meeting attended by around 1,500 party executives from provinces and regional branches on the weekend recommended Megawati run for presidency.
Taufik Kiemas, who gave a kiss to Megawati following her acceptance, said his wife accepted the nomination after being convinced by the district executives. District executives and their constituents would become the backbone of the party's political machine for the presidential election, he said. "We won't let the 2004 failure reoccur."
He called on the party to work harder to win local elections in the coming two years and to strengthen the party's solidity for the legislative and presidential elections.
Chairman of the PDI-P faction at the House of Representatives Tjahjo Kumolo said he was proud of Megawati's acceptance. He said he agreed the district executives would need to work hard to prepare a political machine that could win the election.
"With the presence of district functionaries, the party is expected to get at least 20 percent in the 2009 legislature election," Tjahjo said. "This will ensure the party has a ticket to nominate its own presidential candidate."
Cornelius Lay, a political observer from the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said Megawati's nomination was a good sign for the nationalist group.
"This is a good start for Megawati to come back to power, but Megawati's success will depend on the party's performance in the legislative election," he said.
"If PDI-P gains a major victory, it could nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates from within the party. But if it maintains the 2004 performance it will likely have to form a coalition with other parties to field their candidates."
Cornelius said if this occurred, Megawati would likely be nominated as a vice presidential candidate.
Megawati was president from 2001 to 2004. She was defeated by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla in the second round of the 2004 presidential elections.
A number of state officials and senior politicians attended the Monday meeting to share their views with participants. The dignitaries included the Constitutional Court President Jimly Asshiddiqie, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan, Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah and Golkar Party chief patron Surya Paloh.
Bagir Manan said he shared the party's concern over the country's deteriorating sovereignty and the government's poor performance. Surya Paloh said he wanted to stress all nationalists parties should cooperate to uphold sovereignty, Pancasila state ideology and the 1945 Constitution.