Indonesia ATL: The Presidency of Try Sutrisno (1997-)

[GSD310]

3rd March 2003:
The 2003 MPR General Session’s third day got underway and there were a lot of lobbying around the place. The PNI designated a special delegation headed by Laksamana Sukardi to go around to the other delegations to gather support for the Proposed Amendment to the MPR Resolution Regarding Procedures for Nominating and Electing the President and Vice President. The initial reactions was favorable with both the Regional Delegates and the Group Delegates responding positively.

The ABRI Delegation “noted” the PNI’s proposed amendment but said that it will move in concert with with the PKPI. The PPP on the other hand seemed divided with some delegates being more receptive of the proposed amendment than the others.

The meeting with the PKPI did not go well. PKPI MPR Delegate Bobby Suhardiman changed the focus of the meeting to whether or not the PKPI’s “acceptance, with reservations” of the President’s Accountability Address would translate to a vote. This change of topic was not received well by the PNI Delegation which treated it as an insult and said that “The Try Regime” was not all that enlightened when compared to the “Soeharto Regime”. The meeting ended without a result.

---
In a television interview, PKPB MPR Delegate Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that while it is true that the Indonesian system of government is not a parliamentary system, a rejection of the President’s Accountability Address would show that a majority in the MPR does not approve of the President.

On the question of the PNI’s Proposed Amendment to the MPR Resolution Regarding Procedures for Nominating and Electing the President and Vice President, Yusril demurred. Saying that the matter is on the verge of being discussed.

---
At the MPR Building, the PKPB’s offices were swarmed by journalists and cameras as Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri, accompanied by the Secretary of the PNI Sutjipto, arrived for a working lunch with Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto, who was accompanied by Secretary of the PKPB ZA Maulani.

“The proposed amendment the PNI is putting forward to the MPR General Session is an important one and I have decided to make the case for this personally to Mbak Tutut”, explained Megawati to the press.

Though both women were cordial with each other, the meeting ran into a stalemate. Once Megawati made the case for the PNI’s proposed amendment, Tutut replied that she was willing to throw the PKPB’s support behind the amendment if the PNI would vote to reject the President’s Accountability Address the next day. Almost immediately Megawati said that she could not agree to the offer. Tutut and Megawati remained cordial but knew that their meeting was finished.

---
The PKPI MPR Delegation’s Co-Secretaries Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Siswono Yudohusodo met with Chairman of the PPP’s MPR Delegation Zarkasih Nur and Secretary of the PPP’s MPR Delegation Yusuf Rizal Tjokroaminoto. The PKPI members in the meeting asked the PPP members if their vote could be relied on whether for the Accountability Address or, for that matter, the presidential vote.

Zarkasih said that the PPP can deliver most but not all of its votes for the President’s cause with Hamzah Haz supporters and Muhammadiyah members in the PPP still holding out. He said he needed more time to maximize the votes the PPP can mobilize. Sarwono replied that the problem was that the vote on the Accountability Address is scheduled for tomorrow morning and that the President was “increasingly upset” with Hamzah.

---
Speaking on a television interview, Megawati expressed her disappointment that both the PKPI and the PKPB had not “Reacted positively” to the proposed amendment that had been offered. She realizes that both the PKPI and the PKPB has an interest in making sure that their respective presidential candidates are elected in the easiest manner but that this was very disappointing.

Though both the PKPI and the PKPB were quick to make their rebuttals, Megawati looked sympathetic in the news coverage of the MPR General Session that afternoon.

---
As the third day of the MPR Session wrapped up and the delegates began returning to their respective hotels to have their respective Islamic New Year banquets, the Group Delegates commandeered a room in the MPR Building and stayed behind to have a meeting.

---
Chairman of the MPR Matori Abdul Djalil returned to Mandarin Oriental where the PPP’s MPR Delegation was staying.

It was evening when Matori put on his Chairman of the PPP hat and retreated into a room in the hotel’s business center. He was joined by Day-to-Day Chairman of the PPP Hamzah Haz, Zarkasih Nur, and Yusuf Rizal Tjokroaminoto. Not long after that Zarkasih and Yusuf left, having conveyed the results of their meeting that day with Sarwono and Siswono along with the comment that the President was “increasingly upset” with Hamzah.

Then loud angry voices emanated from the room and it was clear that Matori and Hamzah were having an argument. By and large the argument was inaudible but two sentences were said loud enough that it was audible for the PPP members trying to eavesdrop; “WHY ARE WE STILL HAVING THIS CONVERSATION? WE ALREADY AGREED TO SUPPORT HIS RE-ELECTION!” which sounded like something Matori would say and “HE NEEDS OUR VOTES, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND AND WE NEED TO START ACTING LIKE IT!” which sounded like what Hamzah would say.

---
In a press conference held at the MPR Building, Chairman of the Group Delegates Nurcholish Madjid expressed his disappointment at the day’s developments where both the PKPB and the PKPI “have tended to reject” the PNI’s proposed amendment. Nurcholish said that given that the vote on this matter will be held tomorrow, it was the Group Delegates’ hope that the political parties, but most notably the PKPB and the PKPI, can state their stance on the issue. In the event that there is not enough votes to past the amendment due to lack of support from the political parties, the Group Delegates will vote with the PNI on its amendment.

When asked about whether the Group Delegates will also take part in the vote on the President’s Accountability Address, Nurcholish answered in the negative. He said that the Group Delegates have agreed that the vote on the Accountability Address is a partisan matter whereas the PNI’s proposed amendment seeks to “strengthen the existing political system”.

---
“Are these guys serious?” asked President Try Sutrisno as he watched the television “They want to make a virtue out of sitting out on the important votes but intervening whenever they feel like it? And by the way, they want to claim to being non-partisan, it doesn’t get anymore partisan than a proposed amendment put forward the Partai Nasional Indonesia.”

“They’re supposed to be the non-partisans, the neutrals, the non-aligned”, said State Secretary Edi Sudrajat “Whatever they want to call themselves, they’re already doing things that are giving the PNI a lift. Let’s not provoke them and give them anymore reason to favor the PNI.”

4th March 2003:
In the morning, prior to the MPR Delegates’ departure to the MPR Building, the Chairman of the PKPI MPR Delegation Harsudiono Hartas and Edi Sudrajat arrived at the Shangrila Hotel where the Regional Delegates were staying. There they met with the Chairman of the Regional Delegates Ryaas Rasyid and Secretary of the Regional Delegates Manuel Kaisiepo.

“The Regional Delegates will vote unanimously in favor of the President’s Accountability Address”, said Ryaas “What the President has done for the regions in terms of giving it autonomy over the past 5 years is a significant step forward and even those inclined to vote towards Tutut among our delegates will show their support for the Accountability Address as a signal that they don’t want to see these policies reversed if Tutut were to win.”

“We’ll take whatever vote that comes our way for whatever reason”, replied Harsudiono.

“Oh don’t thank us just yet”, replied Ryaas “Our condition for this unanimous vote is simple: we want the PKPI, the PPP, and ABRI to support the PNI’s proposed amendment.”

---
The television screen shows Harsudiono and Edi walking out of Shangrila and getting into a car to head to the Presidential Palace to consult the President.

Tutut watched all this with an amused look on her face while ZA Maulani and Prabowo laughed at what they were seeing on the screen, the one laughing the loudest being Vice Chairman of the MPR Hartono.

“I feel sorry for them”, said Hartono “You shouldn’t make them run around like that.”

“I guess we’ve already had enough fun”, replied Tutut “But it’s not like we haven’t achieved anything worthwhile.”

Tutut pointed to a pile of newspapers. Among the various MPR-related headlines on the front page there were invariably headlines about “Matori vs. Hamzah”, “Matori and Hamzah Allegedly Arguing Behind Closed Doors”, “Who’s Right: Matori Questioning Hamzah’s Commitment To Supporting President Try, Hamzah Telling Matori That President Try Shouldn’t Take The PPP For Granted” and “Tutut Push For Accountability Address Inevitably Exposes PPP Divisions”.

---

“So the Regional Delegates will vote with us on the Accountability Address but they want us to support the PNI’s proposed amendment?” asked the President when he met with Harsudiono and Edi not long thereafter.

“That’s right, Mr. President”, said Harsudiono “That’s already more than enough to secure acceptance of the Accountability Address.”

The President was silent.

“Something wrong, Mr. President?” asked Harsudiono.

“It’s just this PNI amendment to the rules about electing the president and vice president…it might not be obvious yet what it is but there’ll be something in it that will benefit the Chairwoman of the PNI”, said the President.

“That goes without saying, Mr. President”, replied Edi “On the other hand, we don’t want the vote on the Accountability Address to fail. Whichever way this proposal benefits Megawati, we’ll have to take it as it comes. We need you on the starting line line if you’re to have any chance at being re-elected.”

“All right then, we’ll take what the Regional Delegates has offered”, said the President.

---
The entire 1000 delegates of the MPR gathered once again for a plenary session. The PPP delegates looked sheepish as they arrived to the MPR Building to faced awkward questions from the press about whether Matori and Hamzah had been involved in a loud argument the previous night. Hamzah laughed it off while Matori said that his focus was on guiding the MPR through the two votes ahead.

The first item on the agenda, Matori declared, will be the vote on the Accountability Address. Before he could get very far however, Chairman of the PKPB’s MPR Delegation Prabowo Subianto interrupted proceedings.

“Mr. Chairman”, Prabowo said “We in the PKPB wish to withdraw our statement some 48 hours ago that the vote on the President’s Accountability Address will constitute either a vote of confidence or a vote of no confidence on the current government…”

There was applause from the PKPB delegates while the PKPI delegates did not know how to react.

“In fact, Mr. Chairman, we would like the question of the President’s Accountability Address be resolved through consensus; that this honorable assembly unanimously accepts the President’s Accountability Address.”

Matori went around the delegations and gave them time to speak in response to what was proposed. Bambang Wiyogo from the Group Delegates said that Group Delegates will join if the MPR reaches consensus on this while Prince Paku Alam IX from the Regional Delegates also expressed the Regional Delegates’ agreement. The PNI’s Laksamana Sukardi repeated the line that the PNI’s acceptance of the President’s Accountability Address is an acceptance with reservations.

For the PKPI, Sofyan Lubis strongly expressed approval while the PPP’s Bachtiar Chamsyah and ABRI’s Agustadi Sasongko joined the PPP and ABRI’s respective sentiments with that of the PKPI.

“What the hell’s their game?” asked Edi to Harsudiono as they glanced in the direction of Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto “Why make a big deal about Try’s speech being accepted or not being a vote of confidence and then they just back off like that?”

Tutut saw Edi and Harsudiono staring at her and gave a friendly nod and smile in the two’s direction. Edi and Harsudiono responded by continuing to glare. Tutut then turned away from Edi to the PPP delegates, to where Hamzah Haz was looking glumly at Matori presiding over proceedings. Harsudiono followed Tutut’s gaze to the PPP delegates and suddenly realized what was happening.

“Their game is to push us into counting votes before we’re ready”, Harsudiono replied “And in the process expose that all is not well with the PPP. Where Golkar broke into two, the PPP became united and that was due to Matori and Hamzah’s hard work. But now here we are, just a few days away before the Presidential Elections, with the PPP unable to hide its internal division.”

“And Hamzah being someone they are positively predisposed to in the PPP”, said Edi.

Edi was interrupted by Matori reading out the question.

“The question put to the assembly is whether or not the assembly accepts President’s Accountability Address which was delivered at the MPR’s Opening Session”, stated Matori “All those in favor?”

“SETUJUUU….!!!” replied the MPR Delegates.

“I declare the President’s Accountability Address to be unanimously accepted by the MPR”, said Matori as he banged the gavel and the MPR gave its applause.

---
A short recess followed during which time Harsudiono, accompanied by Zarkasih Nur and Chairman of the ABRI Delegation Djamari Chaniago, took the opportunity to go up to the Chairman and Vice Chairmen’s table to talk about something.

Watching all this from her seat, Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri tensed up. But her husband Taufiq Kiemas pointed to Vice Chairman of the MPR Alex Litaay who represented the PNI and was listening in to the conversation. Alex Litaay looked up at Megawati and Taufiq and winked.

When the short recess was over, Matori reopened the session and said that the next item on the agenda will be the Proposed Amendment to the MPR Resolution Regarding Procedures for Nominating and Electing the President and Vice President.

“This proposed amendment originated with the PNI and over the last few days, both the Regional Delegates and Group Delegates have expressed their support for it. Now the PKPI, the PPP, and the ABRI Delegations have also stated their support the PNI’s proposed amendment”, declared Matori “That leaves the PKPB Delegation. What will its stance be on this matter?”

All eyes now turned Tutut and she in turn looked to Prabowo and nodded for him to stand up.

“Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the PKPB, I would like announce our party’s support for the PNI’s proposed amendment to the resolution about nominating and electing the president and vice president and for this amendment to be agreed to by consensus”, announced Prabowo.

“So be it”, said Matori “Now that all the delegations have declared their support, the question I am now putting on the assembly is this: does it agree with the PNI’s Proposed Amendment to the MPR Resolution Regarding Procedures for Nominating and Electing the President and Vice President? All those in favor?”

“SETUJUUUU!!!” replied the MPR Delegates.

“I declare the proposed amendment to be unanimously accepted”, declared Matori as he banged the gavel.

Tutut joined the MPR in applauding the acceptance of the amendment but she was talking to Prabowo who was sitting beside her.

“There is something in this that will be advantageous to Mbak Mega”, said Tutut “It was her party that suggested it.”

“We’ll uncover how this will benefit her as we go along, Mbakyu”, replied Prabowo “For the moment, let’s just accept two things: first, that you were always going to have two opponents: President Try and Megawati and second, until the time comes to vote for your election to the presidency, we should not reveal how many votes we have.”

The PNI delegates celebrated the acceptance of their proposed amendment. Megawati looked emotional as her husband Taufiq Kiemas hugged her.

“Now the way is open for you”, Taufiq said to his wife “Now the way is open.”

By lunchtime the day’s agenda had been completed, including the signing of the First MPR Resolution of 2003 Regarding the President’s Accountability Address and the Second MPR Resolution of 2003 Regarding the Second Amendment to the Second MPR Resolution of 1971 Regarding the Processes for Nominating and Electing the President and Vice President. The expectation would be that the two agendas would require a vote but this had not happened.

With all the day’s business done, Matori went on to the closing remarks.

“Honorable Delegates, I will now declare this session closed”, he said “We will meet again on the 7th March . The agenda for that session will be the Presidential Election. Please make sure that your candidates are ready and that everything is in order.”

---
When the session broke up, the press went after Hamzah. He laughed off questions about whether he and Matori had an argument but confirmed that he had had a healthy exchange of opinions before he disappeared into the PPP Bus.

---
As the MPR Delegates departed the MPR Building or are waiting for their bus to arrive or fill up or depart, Treasurer of the PKPB Akbar Tandjung made his way to the PKPB’s office in the DPR/MPR Building. Aside from the cleaning service, Akbar found Tutut and Prabowo waiting for him. Tutut continued to be wary of what the MPR had agreed to by approving the PNI’s proposed amendment but was energized by the sight of the PPP’s internal divisions.

“I thought that they had put aside whatever differences they had so that they could keep the PPP together while Golkar split into two”, said Prabowo.

“It turns out there’s still cracks in the PPP, and by definition in President Try’s coalition. We have to take advantage of that”, said Tutut “I want you, Bang Akbar, to approach Hamzah Haz and bring him and his supporters over to us.”

“Very well, Madam Chairwoman”, replied Akbar.

Akbar got the sense that Tutut and Prabowo wanted to linger a little longer and wanting to get on with his job, he said his farewells. But as he turned around to open the door, the door opened and there was Governor of Lemhanas Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono looking shocked to see him there. Akbar turned to Tutut and Prabowo and they looked at Akbar as though he should not have seen Yudhoyono arrive.

“Bang Akbar, you know Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhyono, right?” asked Prabowo trying to act cool about it “Governor of Lemhanas though like everybody else it seems, an MPR Delegate for these few days.”

Akbar did not stick around for long, he noticed that Yudhoyono did not seem comfortable seeing him there.

---
At a meeting room in Hotel Indonesia, a small meeting was held attended by Harsudiono Hartas, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Siswono Yudohusodo. Basofi Sudirman attended the meeting in both his capacities as Vice Chairman of the MPR and Chairman of the PKPI. Leader of the PKPI in the DPR Sofyan Lubis and Secretary of the PKPI Joyokusumo were there as well.

There were two folders on the table and Harsudiono lifted both. The first folder contained administrative documents for the President’s nomination and the second contained administrative documents for Vice President JB Sumarlin’s nomination. Harsudiono said that everything was in order administratively, now the question is how will the PKPI move ahead in the next few days.

“The PKPI has 215 votes”, Harsudiono said “ABRI has 113 votes…the PPP has 110. 438 votes.”

“Theoretically 438 votes…” Sarwono said “We don’t know how much the PPP can commit at this stage.”

“How is Matori handling this?” asked Siswono to Basofi.

“He’s stressed out that he might not deliver all of the PPP to the President though he’s trying to keep above the fray as best as possible as Chairman of the MPR”, replied Basofi “I feel sorry for the guy but I’ve got to keep the party line because we know what Hamzah Haz is after in exchange for his unconditional support for the President.”

“It’s just that the danger here with the PPP being exposed as divided in an MPR General Session…the PKPB’s probably has someone assigned to get Hamzah to bring his supporters over to Tutut”, said Sarwono.

“We’d best better get moving and get more votes for the President, then”, said Harsudiono.

---
The chapter is a reference to how the PPP stayed united instead of breaking into two like Golkar ITTL

Matori and Hamzah has a bitter relationship that began in OTL and continued ITTL. At the 1994 PPP National Congress, Matori nominated for the chairmanship, thought he could count on Hamzah’s support but Hamzah did not support him. https://pcinu-mesir.tripod.com/ilmiah/pusaka/ispustaka/buku12/bab01_00.htm

ITTL, Matori and Hamzah contested the chairmanship at the 1999 PPP Congress and made peace with each other to keep the PPP united. But there continues to be tension between the two.

I made Matori into a Try ally ITTL because in OTL he was on the record as calling for Soeharto not to nominate for re-election in 1998 and allow Try to nominate as president https://www.google.co.id/books/edit...ori+try+sutrisno&pg=PA143&printsec=frontcover

 

[Snowflake]

This is The Game of President Throne.

 

[focus9912]

That was fast....but kinda expected...

Then loud angry voices emanated from the room and it was clear that Matori and Hamzah were having an argument. By and large the argument was inaudible but two sentences were said loud enough that it was audible for the PPP members trying to eavesdrop; “KENAPA KITA MASIH CAKAP PERKARA INI..KITA SUDAH SETUJU UNTUK SOKONG TRY!” which sounded like something Matori would say and "DIA PERLU UNDI KITA, BUKAN SEBALIKNYA DAN KITA HARUS TINDAK SEPERTI ITU!” which sounded like what Hamzah would say.

Well it's look like the PPP is cracking...which is fine right....

“This proposed amendment originated with the PNI and over the last few days, both the Regional Delegates and Group Delegates have expressed their support for it. Now the PKPI, the PPP, and the ABRI Delegations have also stated their support the PNI’s proposed amendment”, declared Matori “That leaves the PKPB Delegation. What will its stance be on this matter?”

All eyes now turned Tutut and she in turn looked to Prabowo and nodded for him to stand up.

“Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the PKPB, I would like announce our party’s support for the PNI’s proposed amendment to the resolution about nominating and electing the president and vice president and for this amendment to be agreed to by consensus”, announced Prabowo.

“So be it”, said Matori “Now that all the delegations have declared their support, the question I am now putting on the assembly is this: does it agree with the PNI’s Proposed Amendment to the MPR Resolution Regarding Procedures for Nominating and Electing the President and Vice President? All those in favor?”

“SETUJUUUU!!!” replied the MPR Delegates.

“I declare the proposed amendment to be unanimously accepted”, declared Matori as he banged the gavel.

...right.. how to find 501 votes (out of possibly only 900) that is the 1 trillion Rupiah question... and Tutut is once again seems to be in the lead...

Akbar got the sense that Tutut and Prabowo wanted to linger a little longer and wanting to get on with his job, he said his farewells. But as he turned around to open the door, the door opened and there was Governor of Lemhanas Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono looking shocked to see him there. Akbar turned to Tutut and Prabowo and they looked at Akbar as though he should not have seen Yudhoyono arrive.

“Bang Akbar, you know Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhyono, right?” asked Prabowo trying to act cool about it “Governor of Lemhanas though like everybody else it seems, an MPR Delegate for these few days.”

Akbar did not stick around for long, he noticed that Yudhoyono did not seem comfortable seeing him there.

...

Spoiler: ...

until the time comes to vote for your election to the presidency, we should not reveal how many votes we have.”

And the race to 501 continues....

Spoiler: A very satirical tangent that relates to circumstance that are currently outside the MPR building....

Other than that, your keen eyes will do you well during these MPR General Session chapters. @focus9912

I do hope that the names the persons stated in the general assembly update are just a shout out of the current slate of personalities....and not the list of the only survivors of the inevitable MPR cluster....
or ...looking at the notes...something much worse.

 

[GSD310]

This is The Game of President Throne.

I don’t disagree. There’s something very fast-moving and frantic when it comes to MPR Session politicking. Who gets to be president, something that in other systems gets decided over a period of months with a nominating, campaigning, electing and then a transitioning period is in this system decided over a period of days and sometimes even less.

This fast and frantic nature is not unheard of in OTL especially when it got to the crunchtime. During the 1999 MPR General Session, President Habibie got his Accountability Address rejected on 19th October at 11 PM. He then spent the entire night haggling with his coalition over who should be their presidential candidate now that he would no longer nominate. At the same time, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri were shoring up their support.

On the morning of 20th October, Habibie announced he would not run for re-election while Wahid and Megawati officially became presidential candidates. The MPR met mid-morning to vote and by afternoon, Wahid had won the vote and been elected president. By the evening, Wahid was inaugurated.

how to find 501 votes (out of possibly only 900

The ITTL MPR has 1000 delegates with the following composition:

-PKPB: 230 seats
-PKPI: 215 seats
-PPP: 110 seats
-PNI: 84 seats
-ABRI: 113 seats
-Regional Delegates: 135 seats
-Group Delegates: 113 seats

I do hope that the names the persons stated in the general assembly update are just a shout out of the current slate of personalities

This one’s a coincidence. I always had Prabowo in mind as the brains and strategist in Tutut’s camp. I never thought that his OTL self would be…but we’ll be getting into current politics. Ditto Yudhoyono, just never thought his OTL self would still be involved with things.

 

[Unknown]

Good updates...

BTW, have you seen The Last of Us tv series? The second episode's opening is set in Jakarta, and has Indonesian actors in the sequence. Here's the scene:

You know a virus is bad when the scientist recommends bombing the capital, not the general, IMO...

 

[GSD310]

Good updates...

BTW, have you seen The Last of Us tv series? The second episode's opening is set in Jakarta, and has Indonesian actors in the sequence. Here's the scene:

You know a virus is bad when the scientist recommends bombing the capital, not the general, IMO...

The lady scientist is in fact a top actress here in Indonesia. So much so that she's considered to be Indonesia's Meryl Streep.

Nope, I can't say that I have. But it's done a good job at making things look authentic.

 

[focus9912]

The ITTL MPR has 1000 delegates with the following composition:

-ABRI: 113 seats
-Regional Delegates: 135 seats
-Group Delegates: 113 seats

These seats are important....and the amount available could be lower depending on how much influence do the Nurcholish's petition had on these members...

Good updates...

BTW, have you seen The Last of Us tv series? The second episode's opening is set in Jakarta, and has Indonesian actors in the sequence. Here's the scene:

You know a virus is bad when the scientist recommends bombing the capital, not the general, IMO...

Nope, I can't say that I have. But it's done a good job at making things look authentic.

Yeah..heard it and forgot about it (not really a fan of those zombie games (or any other horror media) really)...I do concur with the authenticity though ...and considering the time setting (September 2003)...the video being posted now kinda appropriate tangent for the current discussion.

 

[MCPO-MagicalGeek]

I love that scene!

 

[Fialnir]

probably has someone assigned to get Hamzah to bring his supporters over to Tutut”

Would be so hillarious if Bang Akbar being sent to persuade Hamzah will be the last straw for the former cause how unbearable the latter is...

And ofc the implications of another group like masyumi and tarbiyah movement joining tutut's hypothetical government 😬

 

[GSD310]

5th March 2003:
Chairman of Muhammadiyah Amien Rais, who is spending the MPR General Session as an MPR Delegate, was interviewed this morning about how the MPR General Session has played out. Amien said that he had to give kudos to the Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto for exposing divisions in the PPP’s camp which could now be exploited upon. When asked what he thought about it given that there are Muhammadiyah members participating in the MPR Session as PPP Delegates, Amien repeated the claim he made in November that all components of the nation must become free agents at the MPR General Session.

Amien laughed when asked if his aim was still to take on President Soeharto and his family. He said that overcoming Soeharto and his family was still very much his aim but that being part of President Try Sutrisno’s government was not the only way to achieve that.

---
Chairman of the PKPI’s MPR Delegation Harsudiono Hartas, Co-Secretaries of the PKPI’s MPR Delegation Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Siswono Yudohusodo, Chairman of the PPP’s MPR delegation Zarkasih Nur, Secretary of the PPP’s MPR Delegation, and Hamzah Haz had a meeting in the morning. They held the meeting at Harsudiono’s room to avoid attracting attention.

The meeting was blunt. Harsudiono asked what was preventing Hamzah from committing to the President’s re-election, Hamzah countered that it was because the likely candidate the PKPI would like the PPP to support for the vice presidency was Vice President JB Sumarlin. Harsudiono countered that they were not discussing the vice presidency but the presidency and that the PPP, including Hamzah has committed to supporting the President’s re-election.

“But everything’s linked together”, said Hamzah “I wish good health and fortune to President Try but if something was to happen to him then Vice President Sumarlin would succeed him, right? I’m just wondering whether the nation is ready for that…and you can’t tell me there’s a 0% chance these things will not happen.”

Sarwono tried a different tack. Sumarlin was the vice presidential candidate that united everyone in the PKPI. If that was to change, it could cause internal division.

“I’m familiar with internal divisions in a political party, so I understand your position”, replied Hamzah “What if to avoid potential divisions, we do away with the idea that the vice president will be from the PKPI and have the vice president from the PPP instead?”

The meeting ended without a result and with all the participants looking outside the window at the camera crew gathering in front of Grand Hyatt.

---
At the Grand Hyatt where they were staying, all but one of the PKPB’s 230-strong MPR Delegation gathered at the ballroom. When it had been confirmed that all but one are in the room, a small delegation comprising of Chairman of the PKPB’s MPR Delegation Prabowo Subianto, Secretary of the PKPB’s MPR Delegation Subijakto Tjakrawerdaya, Secretary of the PKPB ZA Maulani and Treasurer of the PKPB Akbar Tandjung left the room.

There were cheers when the four men returned escorting Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto. Tutut waved and shook hands with those present before taking a seat in a chair close to a microphone.

A ceremony then followed and then Prabowo took the stage to make a speech. In firey fashion, Prabowo highlighted the achievements of the three decades under Soeharto and how the current government has “uneccessarily risked all that has been gained over the last three decades in the past five years”.

“Wanting to restore our beloved Republic to the correct path initiated and undertaken by President Soeharto, we at the Partai Karya Pembangunan Bangsa hereby and officially asks our Chairwoman, Madam Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana if she would be willing to be nominated for the office the President of the Republic of Indonesia?”

Tutut now stood up from her chair as the microphone was repositioned so she could speak into it.

“I hereby officially accept the PKPB’s nomination for the office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia.” Tutut said as the room went into pandemonium.

---
The Regional Delegates concluded a meeting at Shangri-La Hotel where they were staying and a press conference was held featuring Chairman of the Regional Delegates Ryaas Rasyid flanked by the members of the Regional Delegates.

Ryaas began by welcoming the MPR’s decision to adopt the PNI’s Proposed Amendment to the MPR Resolution Regarding Procedures for Nominating and Electing the President and Vice President. He said that this will make all presidential votes held by the MPR even more democratic and give a strong mandate for whoever is elected by president.

At the same time, the Regional Delegates expresses its regret that the vote on the President’s Accountability Address was no longer necessary. Ryaas said that it was the Regional Delegates’ wish to be able to show support for a term of government that had made great progress in the areas of regional autonomy and of the regions earning more revenue from the natural resources. Pre-empting questions, Ryaas said that such a show of support would only apply for the President’s Accountability Address and that the presidential elections was “another matter entirely”.

“The Regional Delegates just want to be able to register this vote to show that the regions approved of these policies and that, whatever the results of the MPR General Session and whoever will be the president after the MPR General Session, there will be no return, reversion or restoration of past policies regarding the relationship between the Central Government and the Regional Governments.”

---
At the MPR Building, the PKPB, represented by Prabowo and Subijakto Tjakrawerdaya, submitted all of the administrative documents related to Tutut’s nomination as president to the MPR. Prabowo faced questions from the press, including about the Regional Delegates’ statement.

In a tone that was perhaps too dismissive, Prabowo said that if the Regional Delegates had an issue with a particular matter, it should have brought it up. Now the there was nothing the Regional Delegates could do about it. Prabowo also reminded the Regional Delegates that being a unitary state, whatever policies the Central Government commits itself to, even a new Central Government, the provinces and the regencies and municipalities must follow suit.

---
The PKPI sniffed an opportunity. Speaking at a hastily organized press conference, Harsudiono Hartas expresses his empathy at the Regional Delegates’ sentiments. Harsudiono said that in his work as Minister of Home Affairs over the last 5 years, he would say that his most proudest work has been in regards to facilitating deconcentration, allowing the provinces to retain more of revenue from natural resources, and passing laws related to the Special Regions.

At the same time, Soeyono and Hayono Isman were dispatched by the PKPI to the Regional Delegates’ Hotel where they would spend the next few hours.

The first to emerge and front the press was Ryaas Rasyid. Ryaas said that he is announcing that he will remain impartial on the presidential elections. His announcement that morning was just to convey the aspirations of those in the Regional Delegates. At the same time, Ryaas said that there are members of the Regional Delegates about to throw their support behind one of the presidential candidates.

Then it was the turn of delegates from the Regional Delegates to appear in front of the press accompanied by Soeyono and Hayono Isman. These were Dahlan Iskan (East Java), Prince Paku Alam IX (Yogyakarta), Biem Benyamin (Jakarta), Nyoman Rudana (Bali), Lefran Sondakh (North Sulawesi), Irman Gusman (West Sumatra), and Frans Wospakrik (Irian Jaya). Dahlan acted as the spokesperson of the group, announcing that the 7 are declaring their support for President Try Sutrisno. The President sat with them.

Dahlan said, to everyone else’s laughter that he had been the President’s man in the Regional Delegates and that efforts has been underway since November to gather support from the Regional Delegates for the President’s re-election. It was only when the MPR Session got underway when all the Regional Delegates are gathered in Jakarta that “the real lobbying” can happen.

Frans Wospakrik, who is also concurrently Chairman of the Irian Jaya People’s Assembly, the advisory body established as part of Irian Jaya becoming a Special Region, said that the failure of the Regional Delegates to get the opportunity to vote in support of the President’s Accountability Address along with the fact that the “big fuss” about the Accountability Address turning out to be just a political stunt by the PKPB has helped to trigger this flow of support towards the President.

“The Regional Delegates want to be able to show our support for the President’s policies over the last 5 years for the simple reason that regardless of who emerges as president at the end of the MPR Session, we don’t want the policies related to Central Government-Regional Government relations to be reversed” said Dahlan “Since we couldn’t show our support for the policies over the last 5 years in the vote on the Accountability Address, there are those among the Regional Delegates who would like to do the next best thing and that is to support the re-election of Gen. (Ret.) Try Sutrisno as President of the Republic of Indonesia and Prof. Dr. JB Sumarlin as Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia.”

When asked how many of the Regional Delegates are going to vote for the President, Dahlan smiled and said that the lobbying for votes is ongoing but that given the support for the sentiments which he had outlined, he expected at least ¼ to 1/3 of the Regional Delegates.

---
In the aftermath of Dahlan’s announcement, the political buzz in Jakarta intensified.

The PPP used the news to try bringing its MPR delegates which are still not wholehearted. At the MPR Building overseeing the voting booths for the presidential vote being set up, Chairman of the MPR Matori Abdul Djalil spoke in his capacity as Chairman of the PPP. He said that all of the PPP’s MPR Delegates should “get with the program”. Otherwise, if the Regional Delegates’ Group of 7, as Dahlan’s group was becoming known as, manages to get enough votes from the Regional Delegates to deliver victory for the President, the PPP would be left behind.

On RCTI’s nightly news, the PKPI’s Siswono Yudohusodo and the PNI’s Fadjroel Rachman joined the broadcast to answer questions about this development. Siswono was cautiously optimistic saying that the exact number of Regional Delegates which would vote for the President is not yet known but given that it had a membership of 135, a ¼ to 1/3 of the delegation meant 30 to 45 votes; which would be a solid bloc of votes to have.

Fadjroel responded by going into a tirade about “human rights abuses” which had happened in the regions and which should not be forgotten. He pointed in particular to the military operations conducted in Aceh in the 1990s and to the Santa Cruz Incident in 1991 and the “intimate involvement” of the current President in said events. He appealed in particular to the Regional Delegates from Aceh and East Timor not to join in the move to re-elect the President. That got Siswono to jump into the President’s defense saying that the “old policies” in Aceh and East Timor no longer applies and has been changed. Fadjroel would not accept this argument and he and Siswono’s joint appearance turned into an argument with Fadjroel constantly saying “Never forget Aceh! Never forget Santa Cruz!”

Meanwhile, during the evening Tutut was seen hosting Regional Delegates Hasan Basri Durin (West Sumatra), Francisco Kalbuadi Lay (East Timor), Amelia Ahmad Yani (Central Java), and Zainuddin MZ (Jakarta). Speaking to the cameras, Tutut said that she is having a chat with friends from the Regional Delegates.

---
It was evening when President Try Sutrisno welcomed Minister of Foreign Affairs Ginandjar Kartasasmita to his office. Ginandjar brought with him an invitation from President of France Alain Juppe. France will be chairing the G-8 Summit this year and has invited Indonesia to attend. The President took the invitation and read it, wondering whether he should give a response now or leave it until after the MPR has elected a president to give a response.

He looked up and was about to say something when he saw Ginandjar watching the television screen showing Siswono and Fadjroel’s on-screen skirmish and Tutut’s photo-op with Regional Delegates who are friendly to her.

“Well, you sure have got them doing backflips, Mr. President”, Ginandjar remarked “They’re worried that you’re going to get all the votes you need already.”

The President looked at Ginandjar and remembered. Like all of his ministers, Ginandjar was also an MPR Delegate though Ginandjar was a part of the Group Delegates rather than the PKPI Delegation.

“What do you think of my chances?” asked the President.

“Well, what can I say, Mr. President”, replied Ginandjar “Being Minister of Foreign Affairs hasn’t left me much time to…”

“Please…don’t insult me with your spiel about not following domestic politics because you're too busy with foreign affairs”, the President interrupted.

Ginandjar chuckled.

“Let's face it, you're still not sure how many votes Dahlan Iskan's going to get you from the Regional Delegates”, Ginandjar replied “Meanwhile the PPP is leaking votes and there's two things causing it; Hamzah Haz is the first but I’m sure you know that already, the second source of lost votes will be from the PPP’s Muhammadiyah members…From what I've heard, Amien Rais has already given verbal instructions that they are not to vote for you.”

The President smiled at that last piece of news, he had expected that this was what his relationship with Amien Rais would come down to.

“You need a solid bloc of guaranteed votes and I can do that”, Ginandjar continued “I control some of the votes in the Regional Delegates and in the Group Delegates.”

“Just like last time, huh?” the President asked “You think you’ll be the one to carry me over the line.”

Ginandjar smiled a smile that said that this would be the case.

“But I suppose this will not be a free lunch” asked the President.

Ginandjar’s smile grew even wider.

“I have been your minister for nearly 4 years and both you and I as well as everyone can see that we have formed a strong partnership in foreign policy” began Ginandjar.

The President nodded his head in acknowledgment.

“Now, if we can form a strong partnership in foreign policy, what’s not to say that we can form a strong partnership across all the policy areas”, continued Ginandjar.

The President thought about what he had just heard and his eyes narrowed when he figured out what Ginandjar meant.

“You want the vice presidency”, the President said “You’ll support me, you’ll get me over the line, but you want to be vice president.”

There was now an expression of pure joy on Ginandjar’s face, the President meanwhile tried to keep a poker face.

“Well, that’s not such bad idea”, began the President “But the only way this could work would be if the Vice President has confirmed to me that he is not willing to run for a second term.”

“Of course, Mr. President”, replied Ginandjar “But that could be arranged, right?”

The President only replied with polite smile that made Ginandjar realized that he had no intention of arranging such a thing.

“I see”, said Ginandjar “You’re determined to retain Professor Sumarlin as vice president.”

The President continued to give Ginandjar a polite smile.

“Well, I respect your decision on that, Mr. President, I really do”, replied Ginandjar matter-of-factly before turning to matters not related to the MPR General Session.

Now it was the President’s turn to be surprised. He expected more resistance than that. He expected Ginandjar to say that he could be useful. He did not expect Ginandjar to roll over so easily...unless of course Ginandjar has his own reasons...

When Ginandjar left, the President told State Secretary Edi Sudrajat what had transpired.

“Yeah, this is what I’m waiting for”, Edi replied “One thing’s for sure, you will see Ginandjar’s true colors before this MPR Session is out.”

---
The Regional Delegates are MPR Delegates which represents a Province. There’s between 5-8 Regional Delegates per Province. All up there’s 135 Regional Delegates.

The reference to Aceh and Santa Cruz Incident are of course references to OTL where Try was Commander of ABRI.

In ITTL, Ginandjar directed the votes he controls to Try at the 1998 MPR General Session and helps Try get re-elected as president. Wonder if anyone has continued following this TL to remember that when it was originally posted?

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

Frans Wospakrik, who is also concurrently Chairman of the Irian Jaya People’s Assembly, the advisory body established as part of Irian Jaya becoming a Special Region

Well, didn't expect to have our own version of MRP already legalized.

Now it was the President’s turn to be surprised. He expected more resistance than that. He expected Ginandjar to say that he could be useful. He did not expect Ginandjar to roll over so easily...unless of course Ginandjar has his own reasons...

The voting for Vice Presidency would be a tough one this time around, eh?

 

[focus9912]

TLDR...

5th March 2003:
Chairman of Muhammadiyah Amien Rais, who is spending the MPR General Session as an MPR Delegate, was interviewed this morning about how the MPR General Session has played out. Amien said that he had to give kudos to the Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto for exposing divisions in the PPP’s camp which could now be exploited upon. When asked what he thought about it given that there are Muhammadiyah members participating in the MPR Session as PPP Delegates, Amien repeated the claim he made in November that all components of the nation must become free agents at the MPR General Session.

Amien laughed when asked if his aim was still to take on President Soeharto and his family. He said that overcoming Soeharto and his family was still very much his aim but that being part of President Try Sutrisno’s government was not the only way to achieve that.

Amien being Amien...nobody is surprised....

---
Chairman of the PKPI’s MPR Delegation Harsudiono Hartas, Co-Secretaries of the PKPI’s MPR Delegation Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Siswono Yudohusodo, Chairman of the PPP’s MPR delegation Zarkasih Nur, Secretary of the PPP’s MPR Delegation, and Hamzah Haz had a meeting in the morning. They held the meeting at Harsudiono’s room to avoid attracting attention.

The meeting was blunt. Harsudiono asked what was preventing Hamzah from committing to the President’s re-election, Hamzah countered that it was because the likely candidate the PKPI would like the PPP to support for the vice presidency was Vice President JB Sumarlin. Harsudiono countered that they were not discussing the vice presidency but the presidency and that the PPP, including Hamzah has committed to supporting the President’s re-election.

“But everything’s linked together”, said Hamzah “I wish good health and fortune to President Try but if something was to happen to him then Vice President Sumarlin would succeed him, right? I’m just wondering whether the nation is ready for that…and you can’t tell me there’s a 0% chance these things will not happen.”

Sarwono tried a different tack. Sumarlin was the vice presidential candidate that united everyone in the PKPI. If that was to change, it could cause internal division.

“I’m familiar with internal divisions in a political party, so I understand your position”, replied Hamzah “What if to avoid potential divisions, we do away with the idea that the vice president will be from the PKPI and have the vice president from the PPP instead?”

The meeting ended without a result and with all the participants looking outside the window at the camera crew gathering in front of Grand Hyatt.

The PPP internal divisions continues... (I do wonder if Mega would accidently gain the support of the Muhammadiyah members...)

In a tone that was perhaps too dismissive, Prabowo said that if the Regional Delegates had an issue with a particular matter, it should have brought it up. Now the there was nothing the Regional Delegates could do about it. Prabowo also reminded the Regional Delegates that being a unitary state, whatever policies the Central Government commits itself to, even a new Central Government, the provinces and the regencies and municipalities must follow suit.

Prabowo made an on brand gaffe...(as usual)

---
The PKPI sniffed an opportunity. Speaking at a hastily organized press conference, Harsudiono Hartas expresses his empathy at the Regional Delegates’ sentiments. Harsudiono said that in his work as Minister of Home Affairs over the last 5 years, he would say that his most proudest work has been in regards to facilitating deconcentration, allowing the provinces to retain more of revenue from natural resources, and passing laws related to the Special Regions.

At the same time, Soeyono and Hayono Isman were dispatched by the PKPI to the Regional Delegates’ Hotel where they would spend the next few hours.

The first to emerge and front the press was Ryaas Rasyid. Ryaas said that he is announcing that he will remain impartial on the presidential elections. His announcement that morning was just to convey the aspirations of those in the Regional Delegates. At the same time, Ryaas said that there are members of the Regional Delegates about to throw their support behind one of the presidential candidates.

Then it was the turn of delegates from the Regional Delegates to appear in front of the press accompanied by Soeyono and Hayono Isman. These were Dahlan Iskan (East Java), Prince Paku Alam IX (Yogyakarta), Biem Benyamin (Jakarta), Nyoman Rudana (Bali), Lefran Sondakh (North Sulawesi), Irman Gusman (West Sumatra), and Frans Wospakrik (Irian Jaya). Dahlan acted as the spokesperson of the group, announcing that the 7 are declaring their support for President Try Sutrisno. The President sat with them.

Dahlan said, to everyone else’s laughter that he had been the President’s man in the Regional Delegates and that efforts has been underway since November to gather support from the Regional Delegates for the President’s re-election. It was only when the MPR Session got underway when all the Regional Delegates are gathered in Jakarta that “the real lobbying” can happen.

Frans Wospakrik, who is also concurrently Chairman of the Irian Jaya People’s Assembly, the advisory body established as part of Irian Jaya becoming a Special Region, said that the failure of the Regional Delegates to get the opportunity to vote in support of the President’s Accountability Address along with the fact that the “big fuss” about the Accountability Address turning out to be just a political stunt by the PKPB has helped to trigger this flow of support towards the President.

“The Regional Delegates want to be able to show our support for the President’s policies over the last 5 years for the simple reason that regardless of who emerges as president at the end of the MPR Session, we don’t want the policies related to Central Government-Regional Government relations to be reversed” said Dahlan “Since we couldn’t show our support for the policies over the last 5 years in the vote on the Accountability Address, there are those among the Regional Delegates who would like to do the next best thing and that is to support the re-election of Gen. (Ret.) Try Sutrisno as President of the Republic of Indonesia and Prof. Dr. JB Sumarlin as Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia.”

When asked how many of the Regional Delegates are going to vote for the President, Dahlan smiled and said that the lobbying for votes is ongoing but that given the support for the sentiments which he had outlined, he expected at least ¼ to 1/3 of the Regional Delegates.

And somehow persuaded some of the Regional Delegates to vote for Try..

On RCTI’s nightly news, the PKPI’s Siswono Yudohusodo and the PNI’s Fadjroel Rachman joined the broadcast to answer questions about this development. Siswono was cautiously optimistic saying that the exact number of Regional Delegates which would vote for the President is not yet known but given that it had a membership of 135, a ¼ to 1/3 of the delegation meant 30 to 45 votes; which would be a solid bloc of votes to have.

Fadjroel responded by going into a tirade about “human rights abuses” which had happened in the regions and which should not be forgotten. He pointed in particular to the military operations conducted in Aceh in the 1990s and to the Santa Cruz Incident in 1991 and the “intimate involvement” of the current President in said events. He appealed in particular to the Regional Delegates from Aceh and East Timor not to join in the move to re-elect the President. That got Siswono to jump into the President’s defense saying that the “old policies” in Aceh and East Timor no longer applies and has been changed. Fadjroel would not accept this argument and he and Siswono’s joint appearance turned into an argument with Fadjroel constantly saying “Never forget Aceh! Never forget Santa Cruz!”

...to the annoyance of PKPI members...

Meanwhile, during the evening Tutut was seen hosting Regional Delegates Hasan Basri Durin (West Sumatra), Francisco Kalbuadi Lay (East Timor), Amelia Ahmad Yani (Central Java), and Zainuddin MZ (Jakarta). Speaking to the cameras, Tutut said that she is having a chat with friends from the Regional Delegates.

---
It was evening when President Try Sutrisno welcomed Minister of Foreign Affairs Ginandjar Kartasasmita to his office. Ginandjar brought with him an invitation from President of France Alain Juppe. France will be chairing the G-8 Summit this year and has invited Indonesia to attend. The President took the invitation and read it, wondering whether he should give a response now or leave it until after the MPR has elected a president to give a response.

He looked up and was about to say something when he saw Ginandjar watching the television screen showing Siswono and Fadjroel’s on-screen skirmish and Tutut’s photo-op with Regional Delegates who are friendly to her.

“Well, you sure have got them doing backflips, Mr. President”, Ginandjar remarked “They’re worried that you’re going to get all the votes you need already.”

The President looked at Ginandjar and remembered. Like all of his ministers, Ginandjar was also an MPR Delegate though Ginandjar was a part of the Group Delegates rather than the PKPI Delegation.

“What do you think of my chances?” asked the President.

“Well, what can I say, Mr. President”, replied Ginandjar “Being Minister of Foreign Affairs hasn’t left me much time to…”

“Please…don’t insult me with your spiel about not following domestic politics because you're too busy with foreign affairs”, the President interrupted.

Ginandjar chuckled.

“Let's face it, you're still not sure how many votes Dahlan Iskan's going to get you from the Regional Delegates”, Ginandjar replied “Meanwhile the PPP is leaking votes and there's two things causing it; Hamzah Haz is the first but I’m sure you know that already, the second source of lost votes will be from the PPP’s Muhammadiyah members…From what I've heard, Amien Rais has already given verbal instructions that they are not to vote for you.”

The President smiled at that last piece of news, he had expected that this was what his relationship with Amien Rais would come down to.

“You need a solid bloc of guaranteed votes and I can do that”, Ginandjar continued “I control some of the votes in the Regional Delegates and in the Group Delegates.”

“Just like last time, huh?” the President asked “You think you’ll be the one to carry me over the line.”

Ginandjar smiled a smile that said that this would be the case.

“But I suppose this will not be a free lunch” asked the President.

Ginandjar’s smile grew even wider.

“I have been your minister for nearly 4 years and both you and I as well as everyone can see that we have formed a strong partnership in foreign policy” began Ginandjar.

The President nodded his head in acknowledgment.

“Now, if we can form a strong partnership in foreign policy, what’s not to say that we can form a strong partnership across all the policy areas”, continued Ginandjar.

The President thought about what he had just heard and his eyes narrowed when he figured out what Ginandjar meant.

“You want the vice presidency”, the President said “You’ll support me, you’ll get me over the line, but you want to be vice president.”

There was now an expression of pure joy on Ginandjar’s face, the President meanwhile tried to keep a poker face.

“Well, that’s not such bad idea”, began the President “But the only way this could work would be if the Vice President has confirmed to me that he is not willing to run for a second term.”

“Of course, Mr. President”, replied Ginandjar “But that could be arranged, right?”

The President only replied with polite smile that made Ginandjar realized that he had no intention of arranging such a thing.

“I see”, said Ginandjar “You’re determined to retain Professor Sumarlin as vice president.”

The President continued to give Ginandjar a polite smile.

“Well, I respect your decision on that, Mr. President, I really do”, replied Ginandjar matter-of-factly before turning to matters not related to the MPR General Session.

Now it was the President’s turn to be surprised. He expected more resistance than that. He expected Ginandjar to say that he could be useful. He did not expect Ginandjar to roll over so easily...unless of course Ginandjar has his own reasons...

When Ginandjar left, the President told State Secretary Edi Sudrajat what had transpired.

“Yeah, this is what I’m waiting for”, Edi replied “One thing’s for sure, you will see Ginandjar’s true colors before this MPR Session is out.”

and Ginandjar is really...really want to be the VP....(and let's be honest, he doesn't care who will he serving....)

---
The Regional Delegates are MPR Delegates which represents a Province. There’s between 5-8 Regional Delegates per Province. All up there’s 135 Regional Delegates.

The reference to Aceh and Santa Cruz Incident are of course references to OTL where Try was Commander of ABRI.

In ITTL, Ginandjar directed the votes he controls to Try at the 1998 MPR General Session and helps Try get re-elected as president. Wonder if anyone has continued following this TL to remember that when it was originally posted?

whether the curse of Vice President having only serving one term continues ITTL remains to be seen.....
5 years is a long time....but Ginandjar luster to be seen as in control is probably surpassing Tutut....

 

[GSD310]

6th March 2003:
The Presidential Palace played host to a joint delegation comprising of MPR Delegates from the PKPI, the PPP, and the Regional Delegates. The PKPI delegation were represented by Chairman Harsudiono Hartas, Co-Secretaries Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Siswono Yudohusodo, Marzuki Darusman, Wismoyo Arismunandar, Soeyono, Meutia Hatta, Hamengkubuwono X, and Sofyan Lubis.

The PPP delegation were represented by Chairman Zarkasih Nur, Secretary Yusuf Rizal Tjokroaminoto, Rusnain Yahya, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, and Bachtiar Chamsyah.

Meanwhile, the Regional Delegates were represented by the Group of 7 who had declared their support the previous night; Dahlan Iskan (East Java), Prince Paku Alam IX (Yogyakarta), Biem Benyamin (Jakarta), Nyoman Rudana (Bali), Lefran Sondakh (North Sulawesi), Irman Gusman (West Sumatra), and Frans Wospakrik (Irian Jaya).

President Try Sutrisno sat solemnly in his chair as Harsudiono stood up and gave a quick overview of what has been achieved in the last 5 years before going on to the purpose of the joint delegation’s visit.

“It is based on the realization that the achievements of the present term of government across all areas can be further built upon and that continuing on the present course requires continuity that we at the Partai Karya Pembangunan Indonesia, Partai Persatuan Pembangunan, and elements of the Regional Delegates hereby officially asks you, Gen. (Ret.) Try Sutrisno, the President of the Republic of Indonesia currently holding office, for your willingness to be nominated for another term as President of the Republic of Indonesia?”

The President stood up to give his answer.

“I am willing to be nominated and I accept your nomination”, the President replied.

The televised event ended with the President and his guests shaking hands and disappearing behind closed doors. The untelevised event, however, was no less interesting with the President assembling a war council with his guests.

After thanking the Group of 7 for joining his rank of supporters, the President said that the focus now should be getting as many votes from the Regional Delegates as possible. To this end, the President said the PKPI should give its assistance and that PKPI Delegates who are DPR members and governors should lobby uncommitted Regional Delegates.

The President then turned to the PPP Delegation.

“If I thought the PKPI could do things by itself, I would not have entered into a coalition with you and Hamzah Haz is right, I do need your votes”, said the President “But I don’t know how else I can show you that I’m committed to this coalition. Your chairman is now the Chairman of the DPR/MPR, I already gave you an extra seat in the cabinet reshuffle last year when I didn’t have to, is it now not the PPP’s turn to show its commitment to this coalition? Especially when the Coalition Agreement states that the PPP will be committed to my continuing leadership over this nation.”

Zarkasih said that the PPP will be having a final delegation meeting that night and that his words will be conveyed to the PPP delegation.

The President then asked all those present whether they are aware of Amien Rais verbally saying that Muhammadiyah members in the MPR should not cast their vote for him. Irman Gusman, a Muhammadiyah member, confirmed that this was the case. Somewhat sheepishly, Bachtiar Chamsyah also confirmed that this was happening in the PPP saying that PPP’s Muhammadiyah members are also aware of Amien’s instruction and that they are a potential second source of lost votes from the PPP. Harsudiono ended the discussion on the matter by saying that Hajriyanto Thohari, the PKPI delegate of Muhammadiyah background, is already on the case.

The final issue which the President and the three delegations discussed was the vice presidency. Harsudiono brought it up saying that whilst the president and vice president are elected separately in the MPR Session, perhaps the President might indicate his preference for the office of vice president so that there is “unity of purpose” among the President’s supporters about who will be the candidate for the vice president. There was some joking around that the Regional Delegates jumped the gun when Dahlan Iskan mentioned who will be vice president but all then looked to the President for an answer to the question.

“I’ll only mention and explicitly mention the name in the event of my re-election”, the President said “But for the moment, I’ll only mention the criteria for my preferred choice as vice president: he is an incumbent, he has proven experience in various government positions and finally he is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise in economics.”

“Can we announce this criteria to the public, Mr. President?” asked Harsudiono.

“Go right ahead”, replied the President.

---
At the same time that the President was receiving his guests, Tutut Soeharto was seen paying a visit to the Chairman of the Group Delegates Nurcholish Madjid at Hotel Borobudur. The two met for an hour and then invited the cameras in for a joint press conference though the attention was overwhelmingly on Tutut.

Tutut said that she came to talk to an admired statesman and says that the Group Delegates’ planned stance of abstention in the Presidential Election as part of the process of Pancasila Democracy agreeing that some must remain impartial given that there are organizations and groups that must work together with the government and the president regardless of who the MPR elects.

“Is this meeting about making sure the Group Delegates stayed above the fray now that a part of the Regional Delegates has committed to voting for President Try?” asked a foreign journalist.

“Well, it’s about acknowledging what the Group Delegates has committed itself to”, Tutut replied sharply in an annoyed tone before allowing Nurcholish to speak.

“The Group Delegates consists of the representatives of business organizations, mass organizations, religious organizations, social organizations, of various walks of life. As agreed a few days ago, there’s an overwhelming majority in the Group Delegates that want to continue to remain nonpartisan and not take part in the presidential vote”, said Nurcholish “At the end of the day, however, I cannot stop the members of the Group Delegates from staying above the fray, from getting into the fray, voting for President Try or Mbak Tutut or Mbak Mega. At the end of the day we’re not a party with a fixed party line, each Group Delegate must decide for themselves what’s best for the group they are representing.”

---
At the MPR Building, Harsudiono Hartas, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, and Siswono Yudohusodo look happy with themselves having submitted the President’s nomination papers to the MPR. Harsudiono was asked whether the President has all the votes yet to be re-elected.

“We’re not taking anything for granted when it comes to getting the President re-elected”, replied Harsudiono.

----
At the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel where the ABRI Delegation was staying, the Chairman of ABRI Delegation Djamari Chaniago was asked by the press why ABRI did not join the PKPI-PPP-Regional Delegates Joint Delegation to officially request the President to accept their nomination. Djamari said that ABRI’s coalition with the PKPI and the PPP is only in the sense that the President is the constitutional Supreme Commander of ABRI and that thus, ABRI will be constitutionally obliged to support the President at the presidential elections.
---

Lunch brought the spotlight to the Vice Presidential Palace. Emerging outside of the said palace with Vice President JB Sumarlin between them were the Regional Delegates’ BJ Habibie (South Sulawesi) and Minister of Trade Anthony Salim; the latter’s ministerial status and his non-membership of the PKPI giving him a seat among the Group Delegates.

There were a lot of questions directed at Sumarlin about whether or not the vice presidential criteria outlined by the President referred to him. Sumarlin only repeated his favorite line that “my fate is tied to that of President Try’s”. Habibie and Anthony, on the other hand, were enthusiastically giving their endorsements to Sumarlin and pledging to get others in the Regional Delegates and Group Delegates to give their vote for the President and for Sumarlin.

The press had a field day with the photo-op, calling it the Berkeley Mafia making peace with Habibienomics and the Indonesian-Chinese business community.

---
It was late afternoon when Chairman of the MPR Matori Abdul Djalil emerged from the MPR Building accompanied by Vice Chairmen of the MPR Hartono, Basofi Sudirman, Nyoman Suwisma, Alex Litaay, Mario Carrascalao, and Edwin Soeryadjaya. Matori only said mischieveously that they were going on a field trip before disappearing into his car.

With police outriders opening the way in front of them, the cars bearing the chairman and the vice chairmen of the MPR made their way from the MPR Building at Senayan to the leafy Menteng with its mansions and pulled up at Cendana Street. There, they shook hands with Tutut and went into the house togther.

In the living room there was a table with chairs set up on one side and a chair set up on the other. Tutut sat on the single chair while Matori and the vice chairmen sat on the other. There was a microphone on the table and a script, cameras covered their every move.

Matori then began a short and simple ceremony, announcing to all that this was a verification ceremony. In quick succession, Matori confirmed whether Tutut accepted the PKPB’s nomination, whether in the event of election she would adhere to the PKPB’s Draft GBHN which would then be adopted by the GBHN, and according to what faith will she read her oath of office in the event of election.

Tutut looked stoic as she gave the necessary responses though there was a glint in her eye that suggested she “had been waiting for this moment for a long time”.

There was a photo-op, handshakes and then Matori and the vice chairmen were on their way. With police outriders once again opening the way in front of them, they arrived at the Presidential Palace where they were welcomed by the President.

In the more spacious interior of the Presidential Palace, the President sat on one side of the table with Matori and the vice chairmen in the other. Matori repeated the same questions as he did to Tutut. The President looked calm but determined as he gave his responses saying among others that he would like to be sworn in according to the Islamic faith if he was re-elected. People agreed that the President looked ready to defend all that he had done over the last 5 years.

---
While Matori did these things, the battle to gain votes raged on.

The PKPI and the Regional Delegates’ Group of 7 heeded the President’s advice to lobby the support of the Regional Delegates. The entirety of the East Java, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, and North Sulawesi Regional Delegations declared themselves for the President.

But the PKPB was bent on making it a fight. Secretary of the PKPB ZA Maulani was leveraging his South Kalimantan origin to bring over not only the Regional Delegates from South Kalimantan but from the other Kalimantan provinces over to Tutut’s camp.

There were pats on the back for Akbar Tandjung when he returned to Tutut’s camp and announced that Hamzah Haz was going to vote for Tutut and bring his supporters along with him. At the same time, Akbar found himself ignored on how to best get the Regional Delegates’ votes for Tutut. The Chairwoman herself, to not say anything of those around her, had resisted Akbar’s idea that Tutut committed herself to not reversing the President’s policies on the regional governments.

“What they’re worried about is that when you’re elected, their cut of natural resources revenues will decrease and they’ll get less autonomy. If you would only just make an assurance that this will not happen, this will neutralize the issue and slow the momentum of the Regional Delegates’ switch to the President”, pleaded Akbar.

To Akbar’s disgust, the PKPB chose to make an appeal on the basis of religion when the President’s criteria for vice president was seen to be pointing to Sumarlin. On this basis, the PKPB began to collect Regional Delegates votes from the more “devout” provinces.

Meanwhile, at the Group Delegates’ Hotel, there was a frenzy of activity. The late afternoon saw Abdurrahman Wahid (representing the Nahdlatul Ulama), Sofyan Wanandi (representing the Indonesian Businessmen’s Association), Saiful Sulun (representing retired military officers), Merdias Almatsier (representing the Indonesian Doctors Association), and Nasrudin Sumintapura (representing the Indonesian Economic Scholars Association) declare themselves for the re-election of both the President and the Vice President.

“Whether you want to look at things from a partisan or non-partisan perspective, the Government has had a successful 5 years *nose twitch*”, explained Wahid in his press conference “So I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t get another 5 years *nose twitch*”.

---

“Mr. Chairman, you’ve verified the candidacies of President Try and Mbak Tutut, what about the candidacy of Megawati Soekarnoputri?” asked one of the reporters to Matori at the press conference in the MPR Building when the latter returned there.

“Well for me to verify a candidacy, there has to be a candidacy in the first place and the candidacy of Mbak Mega is a matter for the PNI”, explained Matori “The only thing I can do is give assurances that until the MPR begins to presidential vote, the PNI can still submit Mbak Mega’s candidacy when they’re ready or when she’s ready, at which point I can verify it.”

Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri watched the press conference in her room. She looked at the folder containing all of the administrative documents required for her candidacy as president to be made official and breathed deeply.

---
Matori’s activities ended at the Mandarin Oriental where the PPP’s MPR Delegates were staying where, in his capacity as Chairman of the PPP, he chaired a meeting of the PPP’s MPR Delegates after Isha Prayer. Already missing at the beginning of the meeting was a portion of the PPP’s delegates who had a Muhammadiyah background.

The meeting had not gone on for 15 minutes when Hamzah Haz, followed by his supporters emerged from the meeting room where they were immediately without him. Hamzah only said that he had just handed in his resignation as Day-to-Day Chairman of the PPP saying that the only reason this position had been given to him was “tie his hands” and that as a result, he had not been free to pursue what he considers to be more important matters. When asked who he will vote for in the presidential elections, Hamzah only said that it was private matter.

Nearly another hour passed and this time Zarkasih Nur came out to face the press. Zarkasih first announced that he had been appointed the new Day-to-Day Chairman of the PPP both to replace Hamzah and to act on behalf of Matori as the latter will continue to be busy with his role as Chairman of the MPR. Zarkasih then read a second announcement urging all the PPP’s MPR delegates to honor the PPP’s pledge in the PKPI-PPP Coalition Agreement to ensure the President’s “continuing status as the leader of our nation”. The matter of the vice presidency, concluded Zarkasih, is a matter which the PPP has no concern or interest in and that the PPP will support “whoever” the President names as his preferred vice presidential candidate.

Trying to avoid the press and looking exhausted even as he continued to hide it with a smile, Matori told everyone to get some sleep. It will be an early start tomorrow at 7 AM so that the voting and vote-counting could be done by Friday Prayer.

“Do you suppose we will know who will be president by Friday Prayer tomorrow?” asked a journalist.

“Wallahu’alam”, replied Matori.

---
There was a large convenience store that bordered on becoming a supermarket at the Bunderan HI MRT Station. It was here that Sarwono Kusumaatmadja went the night before the MPR assembled to conduct the presidential election. He stood browsing the shelf as another person wearing a jacket and a cap arrived browsing the opposite shelf. The two stood facing different directions.

“Can’t miss your nose even with all the disguise”, Sarwono said “What I’m curious about is why you’ve contacted me and ask me to come here at this hour of night?”

“Because I like to think we were close enough that you’d still want to talk”, came the reply “And also because you’re high-ranking enough in your camp that you can deliver my message directly to President Try.”

“What message do you want me to bring to the President?” asked Sarwono.

“Hamzah Haz’ price for joining our side was the chairmanship of the BPK”, the person replied “All the talk about how he doesn’t want Sumarlin to be vice president again is just for show. Actually, he just wants a position that will give him the same stature as Matori. And given his extensive experience examining draft budgets as a DPR member, he felt that the chairmanship of the BPK would be suitable for him because he would be in charge of auditing government expenditure.”

“So?” asked Sarwono “What do you want the President to do with this information?”

“Match the offer before he publicly declares himself for the Chairwoman tomorrow morning and before the Chairwoman publicly acknowledges that the chairmanship of the BPK will be Hamzah’s if she wins”, the person again replied “You’ll find that he won’t be as anti-Sumarlin as his religious rhetoric makes him out to be. If he doesn’t switch back to you, at the very least, he will delay his public declaration of support and annoy the Chairwoman.”

Sarwono thought about it for a moment.

“One problem: we’re on different sides now”, replied Sarwono “How do I know that what you’re saying can be trusted?”

The person chuckled.

“If you don’t trust me now, that’s okay”, he said “But I think I will be deserving the benefit of the doubt when things play out exactly as I have told you if the President doesn’t match the Chairwoman’s offer for Hamzah Haz.”

Normally one to make wiseass quips, Sarwono was silent.

“Why are you doing this?” asked Sarwono.

The air conditioner in the convenience store wasn’t working properly and the person Sarwono was talking to was beginning to sweat profusely in his jacket and cap. Sarwono watched as the person took off his cap and begin to use it as a makeshift fan.

“Because quite frankly, I think I’ve chosen the wrong side”, replied Akbar Tandjung.

---
If any on the Indonesians on here have ever managed to catch the Soeharto-era MPR Session, the “ritual” of the nominating political parties asking if they can nominate and having the candidate accept and then having the candidate’s candidacy being verified by the Chairman of the MPR is straight out of that though with slide adjustments. For one thing, during Soeharto’s regime, this stuff only only happens to Soeharto because he was the only presidential candidate.

I hope the concept of Regional Delegates and Group Delegates are coming across well to the non-Indonesian reader (for the Indonesian readers, I hope you paid attention in PPKN hahahaha). I think the idea that the political parties and ABRI are represented in the MPR is something pretty straightforward to process but these two groupings are something different. It’s something that is explicitly mentioned in the old 1945 Constitution saying that the MPR consists of DPR members as well as delegates representing the regions and groups.

The Group Delegates are supposed to represent a Group or in Indonesia, a Golongan. Basically a Golongan is “a walk of life”. Businesses, unions, people in the arts, veterans, the press, youth groups, women’s association, religious groups, social organizations in Indonesia are grouped together is considered a “Group” and the Group Delegates are supposed to represent this grouping.

In OTL, when Sarwono was the Secretary of Golkar (1983-1988), Akbar was the Deputy Secretary.

All righty, the next chapter will have the Presidential Elections in it. Has Try gotten enough votes to be re-elected? Has Tutut gotten enough to be elected? How will Megawati do against her two rivals?

 

[TimTurner]

the race for 501 continues...

 

[Kosaki_MacTavish]

“Well for me to verify a candidacy, there has to be a candidacy in the first place and the candidacy of Mbak Mega is a matter for the PNI”, explained Matori “The only thing I can do is give assurances that until the MPR begins to presidential vote, the PNI can still submit Mbak Mega’s candidacy when they’re ready or when she’s ready, at which point I can verify it.”

Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri watched the press conference in her room. She looked at the folder containing all of the administrative documents required for her candidacy as president to be made official and breathed deeply.

Go for it, Mbak Mega!

Would like to think that Prananda is currently brainstorming for that one, considering OTL.

There were pats on the back for Akbar Tandjung when he returned to Tutut’s camp and announced that Hamzah Haz was going to vote for Tutut and bring his supporters along with him. At the same time, Akbar found himself ignored on how to best get the Regional Delegates’ votes for Tutut. The Chairwoman herself, to not say anything of those around her, had resisted Akbar’s idea that Tutut committed herself to not reversing the President’s policies on the regional governments.

Another minor victory, but a net loss.

To Akbar’s disgust, the PKPB chose to make an appeal on the basis of religion when the President’s criteria for vice president was seen to be pointing to Sumarlin. On this basis, the PKPB began to collect Regional Delegates votes from the more “devout” provinces.

Yep, definitely a loss. Guess this would finally make him snap?

He stood browsing the shelf as another person wearing a jacket and a cap arrived browsing the opposite shelf. The two stood facing different directions.

“Can’t miss your nose even with all the disguise”, Sarwono said

Instantly googling out out his face and darn, his nose is HUGE. I'm sure you already know that i would instantly know who is this mysterious person, hahahaha......

“Because quite frankly, I think I’ve chosen the wrong side”, replied Akbar Tandjung.

Oh. Thought that you would keep his identity a mystery.

All righty, the next chapter will have the Presidential Elections in it. Has Try gotten enough votes to be re-elected? Has Tutut gotten enough to be elected? How will Megawati do against her two rivals?

Well, well, finally the fated day. Still half-expecting that the Collision Course Event would entirely happened on one day, and the other half is on five days at most.

 

[focus9912]

6th March 2003:
The Presidential Palace played host to a joint delegation comprising of MPR Delegates from the PKPI, the PPP, and the Regional Delegates. The PKPI delegation were represented by Chairman Harsudiono Hartas, Co-Secretaries Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Siswono Yudohusodo, Marzuki Darusman, Wismoyo Arismunandar, Soeyono, Meutia Hatta, Hamengkubuwono X, and Sofyan Lubis.

The PPP delegation were represented by Chairman Zarkasih Nur, Secretary Yusuf Rizal Tjokroaminoto, Rusnain Yahya, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, and Bachtiar Chamsyah.

Meanwhile, the Regional Delegates were represented by the Group of 7 who had declared their support the previous night; Dahlan Iskan (East Java), Prince Paku Alam IX (Yogyakarta), Biem Benyamin (Jakarta), Nyoman Rudana (Bali), Lefran Sondakh (North Sulawesi), Irman Gusman (West Sumatra), and Frans Wospakrik (Irian Jaya).

President Try Sutrisno sat solemnly in his chair as Harsudiono stood up and gave a quick overview of what has been achieved in the last 5 years before going on to the purpose of the joint delegation’s visit.

“It is based on the realization that the achievements of the present term of government across all areas can be further built upon and that continuing on the present course requires continuity that we at the Partai Karya Pembangunan Indonesia, Partai Persatuan Pembangunan, and elements of the Regional Delegates hereby officially asks you, Gen. (Ret.) Try Sutrisno, the President of the Republic of Indonesia currently holding office, for your willingness to be nominated for another term as President of the Republic of Indonesia?”

The President stood up to give his answer.

“I am willing to be nominated and I accept your nomination”, the President replied.

The televised event ended with the President and his guests shaking hands and disappearing behind closed doors. The untelevised event, however, was no less interesting with the President assembling a war council with his guests.

After thanking the Group of 7 for joining his rank of supporters, the President said that the focus now should be getting as many votes from the Regional Delegates as possible. To this end, the President said the PKPI should give its assistance and that PKPI Delegates who are DPR members and governors should lobby uncommitted Regional Delegates.

The President then turned to the PPP Delegation.

“If I thought the PKPI could do things by itself, I would not have entered into a coalition with you and Hamzah Haz is right, I do need your votes”, said the President “But I don’t know how else I can show you that I’m committed to this coalition. Your chairman is now the Chairman of the DPR/MPR, I already gave you an extra seat in the cabinet reshuffle last year when I didn’t have to, is it now not the PPP’s turn to show its commitment to this coalition? Especially when the Coalition Agreement states that the PPP will be committed to my continuing leadership over this nation.”

Zarkasih said that the PPP will be having a final delegation meeting that night and that his words will be conveyed to the PPP delegation.

The President then asked all those present whether they are aware of Amien Rais verbally saying that Muhammadiyah members in the MPR should not cast their vote for him. Irman Gusman, a Muhammadiyah member, confirmed that this was the case. Somewhat sheepishly, Bachtiar Chamsyah also confirmed that this was happening in the PPP saying that PPP’s Muhammadiyah members are also aware of Amien’s instruction and that they are a potential second source of lost votes from the PPP. Harsudiono ended the discussion on the matter by saying that Hajriyanto Thohari, the PKPI delegate of Muhammadiyah background, is already on the case.

The final issue which the President and the three delegations discussed was the vice presidency. Harsudiono brought it up saying that whilst the president and vice president are elected separately in the MPR Session, perhaps the President might indicate his preference for the office of vice president so that there is “unity of purpose” among the President’s supporters about who will be the candidate for the vice president. There was some joking around that the Regional Delegates jumped the gun when Dahlan Iskan mentioned who will be vice president but all then looked to the President for an answer to the question.

“I’ll only mention and explicitly mention the name in the event of my re-election”, the President said “But for the moment, I’ll only mention the criteria for my preferred choice as vice president: he is an incumbent, he has proven experience in various government positions and finally he is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise in economics.”

“Can we announce this criteria to the public, Mr. President?” asked Harsudiono.

Well, hopefully the issue could be resolved...as of now I think Try got 380-400 votes...the path to 500 is feasible..but a bit hard...

“Go right ahead”, replied the President.

---
At the same time that the President was receiving his guests, Tutut Soeharto was seen paying a visit to the Chairman of the Group Delegates Nurcholish Madjid at Hotel Borobudur.

Wait Norcholish meeting Tutut..that is not a good sign...

The two met for an hour and then invited the cameras in for a joint press conference though the attention was overwhelmingly on Tutut.

...in a public meeting...

Tutut said that she came to talk to an admired statesman and says that the Group Delegates’ planned stance of abstention in the Presidential Election as part of the process of Pancasila Democracy agreeing that some must remain impartial given that there are organizations and groups that must work together with the government and the president regardless of who the MPR elects.

“Is this meeting about making sure the Group Delegates stayed above the fray now that a part of the Regional Delegates has committed to voting for President Try?” asked a foreign journalist.

“Well, it’s about acknowledging what the Group Delegates has committed itself to”, Tutut replied sharply in an annoyed tone before allowing Nurcholish to speak.

...well yeah...Tutut should have seen that question from far away...

“The Group Delegates consists of the representatives of business organizations, mass organizations, religious organizations, social organizations, of various walks of life. As agreed a few days ago, there’s an overwhelming majority in the Group Delegates that want to continue to remain nonpartisan and not take part in the presidential vote”, said Nurcholish “At the end of the day, however, I cannot stop the members of the Group Delegates from staying above the fray, from getting into the fray, voting for President Try or Mbak Tutut or Mbak Mega. At the end of the day we’re not a party with a fixed party line, each Group Delegate must decide for themselves what’s best for the group they are representing.”

Nurcholish meanwhile...seems to have keep his composure very well..

---
At the MPR Building, Harsudiono Hartas, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, and Siswono Yudohusodo look happy with themselves having submitted the President’s nomination papers to the MPR. Harsudiono was asked whether the President has all the votes yet to be re-elected.

“We’re not taking anything for granted when it comes to getting the President re-elected”, replied Harsudiono.

----
At the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel where the ABRI Delegation was staying, the Chairman of ABRI Delegation Djamari Chaniago was asked by the press why ABRI did not join the PKPI-PPP-Regional Delegates Joint Delegation to officially request the President to accept their nomination. Djamari said that ABRI’s coalition with the PKPI and the PPP is only in the sense that the President is the constitutional Supreme Commander of ABRI and that thus, ABRI will be constitutionally obliged to support the President at the presidential elections.
---

Lunch brought the spotlight to the Vice Presidential Palace. Emerging outside of the said palace with Vice President JB Sumarlin between them were the Regional Delegates’ BJ Habibie (South Sulawesi) and Minister of Trade Anthony Salim; the latter’s ministerial status and his non-membership of the PKPI giving him a seat among the Group Delegates.

There were a lot of questions directed at Sumarlin about whether or not the vice presidential criteria outlined by the President referred to him. Sumarlin only repeated his favorite line that “my fate is tied to that of President Try’s”. Habibie and Anthony, on the other hand, were enthusiastically giving their endorsements to Sumarlin and pledging to get others in the Regional Delegates and Group Delegates to give their vote for the President and for Sumarlin.

The press had a field day with the photo-op, calling it the Berkeley Mafia making peace with Habibienomics and the Indonesian-Chinese business community.

Well the business leaders seem to be voting for Try...so there's that

---
It was late afternoon when Chairman of the MPR Matori Abdul Djalil emerged from the MPR Building accompanied by Vice Chairmen of the MPR Hartono, Basofi Sudirman, Nyoman Suwisma, Alex Litaay, Mario Carrascalao, and Edwin Soeryadjaya. Matori only said mischieveously that they were going on a field trip before disappearing into his car.

With police outriders opening the way in front of them, the cars bearing the chairman and the vice chairmen of the MPR made their way from the MPR Building at Senayan to the leafy Menteng with its mansions and pulled up at Cendana Street. There, they shook hands with Tutut and went into the house togther.

In the living room there was a table with chairs set up on one side and a chair set up on the other. Tutut sat on the single chair while Matori and the vice chairmen sat on the other. There was a microphone on the table and a script, cameras covered their every move.

Matori then began a short and simple ceremony, announcing to all that this was a verification ceremony. In quick succession, Matori confirmed whether Tutut accepted the PKPB’s nomination, whether in the event of election she would adhere to the PKPB’s Draft GBHN which would then be adopted by the GBHN, and according to what faith will she read her oath of office in the event of election.

Tutut looked stoic as she gave the necessary responses though there was a glint in her eye that suggested she “had been waiting for this moment for a long time”.

There was a photo-op, handshakes and then Matori and the vice chairmen were on their way. With police outriders once again opening the way in front of them, they arrived at the Presidential Palace where they were welcomed by the President.

In the more spacious interior of the Presidential Palace, the President sat on one side of the table with Matori and the vice chairmen in the other. Matori repeated the same questions as he did to Tutut. The President looked calm but determined as he gave his responses saying among others that he would like to be sworn in according to the Islamic faith if he was re-elected. People agreed that the President looked ready to defend all that he had done over the last 5 years.

---
While Matori did these things, the battle to gain votes raged on.

The PKPI and the Regional Delegates’ Group of 7 heeded the President’s advice to lobby the support of the Regional Delegates. The entirety of the East Java, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, and North Sulawesi Regional Delegations declared themselves for the President.

But the PKPB was bent on making it a fight. Secretary of the PKPB ZA Maulani was leveraging his South Kalimantan origin to bring over not only the Regional Delegates from South Kalimantan but from the other Kalimantan provinces over to Tutut’s camp.

Well Kalimantan delegates...*cough*...is voting for Tutut...*cough*...I wonder why...*cough*...

Where on Earth does this smog comes from...

There were pats on the back for Akbar Tandjung when he returned to Tutut’s camp and announced that Hamzah Haz was going to vote for Tutut and bring his supporters along with him. At the same time, Akbar found himself ignored on how to best get the Regional Delegates’ votes for Tutut. The Chairwoman herself, to not say anything of those around her, had resisted Akbar’s idea that Tutut committed herself to not reversing the President’s policies on the regional governments.

Spoiler: Akbar's mind

Tutut...please consider this relatively easy thing

“What they’re worried about is that when you’re elected, their cut of natural resources revenues will decrease and they’ll get less autonomy. If you would only just make an assurance that this will not happen, this will neutralize the issue and slow the momentum of the Regional Delegates’ switch to the President”, pleaded Akbar.

To Akbar’s disgust, the PKPB chose to make an appeal on the basis of religion when the President’s criteria for vice president was seen to be pointing to Sumarlin. On this basis, the PKPB began to collect Regional Delegates votes from the more “devout” provinces.

Spoiler: His mind probably

Tutut...you really don't know what you are playing...people all over the world are watching

Meanwhile, at the Group Delegates’ Hotel, there was a frenzy of activity. The late afternoon saw Abdurrahman Wahid (representing the Nahdlatul Ulama), Sofyan Wanandi (representing the Indonesian Businessmen’s Association), Saiful Sulun (representing retired military officers), Merdias Almatsier (representing the Indonesian Doctors Association), and Nasrudin Sumintapura (representing the Indonesian Economic Scholars Association) declare themselves for the re-election of both the President and the Vice President.

“Whether you want to look at things from a partisan or non-partisan perspective, the Government has had a successful 5 years *nose twitch*”, explained Wahid in his press conference “So I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t get another 5 years *nose twitch*”.

...ahh...I wonder what type of crazy who he label Try as....

---

“Mr. Chairman, you’ve verified the candidacies of President Try and Mbak Tutut, what about the candidacy of Megawati Soekarnoputri?” asked one of the reporters to Matori at the press conference in the MPR Building when the latter returned there.

“Well for me to verify a candidacy, there has to be a candidacy in the first place and the candidacy of Mbak Mega is a matter for the PNI”, explained Matori “The only thing I can do is give assurances that until the MPR begins to presidential vote, the PNI can still submit Mbak Mega’s candidacy when they’re ready or when she’s ready, at which point I can verify it.”

Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri watched the press conference in her room. She looked at the folder containing all of the administrative documents required for her candidacy as president to be made official and breathed deeply.

Mega is planning something...but what is it..

---
Matori’s activities ended at the Mandarin Oriental where the PPP’s MPR Delegates were staying where, in his capacity as Chairman of the PPP, he chaired a meeting of the PPP’s MPR Delegates after Isha Prayer. Already missing at the beginning of the meeting was a portion of the PPP’s delegates who had a Muhammadiyah background.

The meeting had not gone on for 15 minutes when Hamzah Haz, followed by his supporters emerged from the meeting room where they were immediately without him. Hamzah only said that he had just handed in his resignation as Day-to-Day Chairman of the PPP saying that the only reason this position had been given to him was “tie his hands” and that as a result, he had not been free to pursue what he considers to be more important matters. When asked who he will vote for in the presidential elections, Hamzah only said that it was private matter.

Hamzah...hmm

Nearly another hour passed and this time Zarkasih Nur came out to face the press. Zarkasih first announced that he had been appointed the new Day-to-Day Chairman of the PPP both to replace Hamzah and to act on behalf of Matori as the latter will continue to be busy with his role as Chairman of the MPR. Zarkasih then read a second announcement urging all the PPP’s MPR delegates to honor the PPP’s pledge in the PKPI-PPP Coalition Agreement to ensure the President’s “continuing status as the leader of our nation”. The matter of the vice presidency, concluded Zarkasih, is a matter which the PPP has no concern or interest in and that the PPP will support “whoever” the President names as his preferred vice presidential candidate.

Trying to avoid the press and looking exhausted even as he continued to hide it with a smile, Matori told everyone to get some sleep. It will be an early start tomorrow at 7 AM so that the voting and vote-counting could be done by Friday Prayer.

“Do you suppose we will know who will be president by Friday Prayer tomorrow?” asked a journalist.

“Wallahu’alam”, replied Matori.

---
There was a large convenience store that bordered on becoming a supermarket at the Bunderan HI MRT Station. It was here that Sarwono Kusumaatmadja went the night before the MPR assembled to conduct the presidential election. He stood browsing the shelf as another person wearing a jacket and a cap arrived browsing the opposite shelf. The two stood facing different directions.

“Can’t miss your nose even with all the disguise”, Sarwono said “What I’m curious about is why you’ve contacted me and ask me to come here at this hour of night?”

*chuckle*

“Because I like to think we were close enough that you’d still want to talk”, came the reply “And also because you’re high-ranking enough in your camp that you can deliver my message directly to President Try.”

“What message do you want me to bring to the President?” asked Sarwono.

“Hamzah Haz’ price for joining our side was the chairmanship of the BPK”, the person replied “All the talk about how he doesn’t want Sumarlin to be vice president again is just for show. Actually, he just wants a position that will give him the same stature as Matori. And given his extensive experience examining draft budgets as a DPR member, he felt that the chairmanship of the BPK would be suitable for him because he would be in charge of auditing government expenditure.”

“So?” asked Sarwono “What do you want the President to do with this information?”

“Match the offer before he publicly declares himself for the Chairwoman tomorrow morning and before the Chairwoman publicly acknowledges that the chairmanship of the BPK will be Hamzah’s if she wins”, the person again replied “You’ll find that he won’t be as anti-Sumarlin as his religious rhetoric makes him out to be. If he doesn’t switch back to you, at the very least, he will delay his public declaration of support and annoy the Chairwoman.”

Sarwono thought about it for a moment.

“One problem: we’re on different sides now”, replied Sarwono “How do I know that what you’re saying can be trusted?”

The person chuckled.

“If you don’t trust me now, that’s okay”, he said “But I think I will be deserving the benefit of the doubt when things play out exactly as I have told you if the President doesn’t match the Chairwoman’s offer for Hamzah Haz.”

Normally one to make wiseass quips, Sarwono was silent.

Yeah...it will be interesting whether he would agree to the suggestion, and what would Matori reaction to the relevation...(sidenote here...was BPK already frequently used as the short form instead of BEPEKA around the end of the Suharto era IOTL...?)

“Why are you doing this?” asked Sarwono.

The air conditioner in the convenience store wasn’t working properly and the person Sarwono was talking to was beginning to sweat profusely in his jacket and cap. Sarwono watched as the person took off his cap and begin to use it as a makeshift fan.

“Because quite frankly, I think I’ve chosen the wrong side”, replied Akbar Tandjung.

Yup...hopefully Tutut does not know about it...because if not...I see a party hopping time.

---
If any on the Indonesians on here have ever managed to catch the Soeharto-era MPR Session, the “ritual” of the nominating political parties asking if they can nominate and having the candidate accept and then having the candidate’s candidacy being verified by the Chairman of the MPR is straight out of that though with slide adjustments. For one thing, during Soeharto’s regime, this stuff only only happens to Soeharto because he was the only presidential candidate.

I hope the concept of Regional Delegates and Group Delegates are coming across well to the non-Indonesian reader (for the Indonesian readers, I hope you paid attention in PPKN hahahaha). I think the idea that the political parties and ABRI are represented in the MPR is something pretty straightforward to process but these two groupings are something different. It’s something that is explicitly mentioned in the old 1945 Constitution saying that the MPR consists of DPR members as well as delegates representing the regions and groups.

The Group Delegates are supposed to represent a Group or in Indonesia, a Golongan. Basically a Golongan is “a walk of life”. Businesses, unions, people in the arts, veterans, the press, youth groups, women’s association, religious groups, social organizations in Indonesia are grouped together is considered a “Group” and the Group Delegates are supposed to represent this grouping.

In OTL, when Sarwono was the Secretary of Golkar (1983-1988), Akbar was the Deputy Secretary.

Yup...it will be interesting to see the dynamics that will happen on Friday (storywise)
Let's end with...

Has Try gotten enough votes to be re-elected?

Err (with the development of this chapter, at least 450 seats...but Try Sutrisno would probably came up a bit short...approximately 467 (thanks Ginandjar) if you did not catch the drift...)

Has Tutut gotten enough to be elected?

No...(3Tutut 322 seats)

How will Megawati do against her two rivals?

Fine I guess...(168 seats, therefore leaves 43 that follows Nurcholish petition)

 

[wahyubison]

Man watching comment about Habibie...
He is not bad leader just facing result of Soeharto missmanagement
Timor Leste is not his fault because what he did truly best options on that time. Well majority Seroja Veteran Family angry with him but they begin understand how bad situations on his reign. We are truly weak domestically and externally after 1998 crisis

 

[Snowflake]

Man watching comment about Habibie...
He is not bad leader just facing result of Soeharto missmanagement
Timor Leste is not his fault because what he did truly best options on that time. Well majority Seroja Veteran Family angry with him but they begin undrestand how bad situations on his reign. We truly weak domestically and externally after 1998 crisis

Agree. I mean, he did lot of good thing in one year!

 

[wahyubison]

Agree. I mean, he did lot of good thing in one year!

Yup it's not fair sadly his allies thin and they're leaving him facing hungry wolves
Mega and Gusdur truly make blunder on this case

 

[Pio2013]

Akbar enters the ring