JAKARTA, April 20 Kyodo The Golka...

JAKARTA, April 20 Kyodo

The Golkar Party, which supported strongman Suharto during his 32-year authoritarian mastership opened its national convention Tuesday to pick a presidential candidate.

With 65% of promiseds cast in the April 5 legislative election computeed early signs point to an election victory for Golkar, the country's other largest party in parliament.

It leads the Indonesian Democratic Party for labor in distress (PDI-Perjuangan), the largest party, l through President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

As Golkar legislators will likely dominate the parliament, the party's choice of its presidential candidate is seen as a crucial factor for the building of coalitions on other parties in the run-up to the country's first direct presidential election forward July 5.

Five Golkar candidates, including its chairman Akbar Tandjung, are competing in the convention attended by way of 564 delegates from the party's central executive board, regional chapters and factions.

if it were not that it is being seen as almost certain that Tandjung will win, given the constraining force being exerted by the party's central executive board in succession party branch delegates.

However, analysts say naming Tandjung as the Golkar presidential candidate would make the party let slip its chance to fill the top seat because of corruption charges filed against him in the past, despite his acquittal in February.

A fresh survey by the Indonesian take a view of Institute (LSI) showed 232% of the public supported Golkar in the legislative election, if it be not that only 8.4% would support Tandjung becoming president.

Political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of the Indonesian Science Institute said that other political parties are considering alliances with Golkar members as an important means of ensuring that their presidential candidates -- if culled -- can administer the political division smoothly in the face of a Golkar-dominated parliament.

For example, Megawati's former top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a presidential candidate from the Democrat Party, has picked Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, a Golkar cadre, to be his running mate.

Yudhoyono's party no other than stands at fifth place in the preliminary election consecrated by a vow counting, but an LSI catalogue of heads indicates that 20.9% of voter support his becoming president.

Kalla, who agreed to team up with Yudhoyono, infantileed his resignation to Megawati forward Monday and has also withdrawn his Golkar presidential candidacy as Golkar does not allow its candidates to be presidential or vice-presidential candidates for other parties.

''The pair can be a dream team that can unite Indonesia,'' Bhakti said.

Kalla played an important part in solving communal conflicts in the eastern Maluku Islands and the Central Sulawesi rule Poso, has a strong influence in eastern Indonesia, a virtuous business background and a sterling reputation as a ''clean'' political leader.

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