DATE=10/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA - POLITICS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254615
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: One of the leaders of Indonesia's political
reform movement has been elected chairman of the new
National Assembly. As Patricia Nunan reports from
Jakarta, the election of Amien Rais is the latest in a
series of surprises in the build-up to Indonesia's
presidential election later this month.
TEXT: Legislators shouted "long live reform" after
Amien Rais was announced as the new chairman of
Indonesia's National Assembly. A devout Muslim and
leader of Indonesia's political reform movement, Mr.
Rais won 305 votes to defeat a rival Muslim candidate
who received just 279.
Mr. Rais is leader of the National Mandate Party -- or
PAN -- one of 44 new political parties to contest
Indonesia's parliamentary election held in June. PAN
won just 7 percent of the vote -- or 34 seats in the
700 member assembly. Mr. Rais says that proves he has
widespread support from outside the party.
The People's Consultative Assembly -- or M-P-R --
opened its special session Friday to lay the
groundwork ahead of the selection of a new Indonesian
president. The M-P-R is made up of the 500 member
Indonesian parliament, along with 38 members of the
Armed Forces and some political appointees. The MPR
will choose the new Indonesian president from among
the parties that won seats in the June parliamentary
election.
The party of opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri
dominated the June polls, with roughly 34 percent of
the vote. But analysts say Mr. Rais's victory as
Assembly chairman, over a candidate from Ms.
Megawati's party, suggests she lacks the necessary
support from within the Assembly to win the
presidency.
Indonesian president B-J Habibie is also running for
election. But the President has faced a series of
recent setbacks with a banking scandal, the violence
in East Timor, and a failure to bring Indonesia out of
its economic recession, making him extremely
unpopular. Additionally, President Habibie has never
been able to
completely shake his association with his one-time
mentor, the autocratic former President Suharto.
Some analysts say Muslim leader Abdurraham Wahid, of
the National Awakening Party, could serve as a popular
"compromise candidate" for the presidency.
The presidential election is scheduled to take place
on October 20th. It will be the first since former
President Suharto was forced to resign in May 1998
after 32 years in power.
The selection of a new Indonesian president will mark
another historic turning-point in Indonesian politics.
June's parliamentary election was the first time
opposition candidates were allowed to run for office.
Analysts say this session of the M-P-R and the
presidential election could herald a new era of
democratic reform for Indonesia.
NEB/PN/FC/PLM
04-Oct-1999 01:42 AM EDT (04-Oct-1999 0542 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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