8th March 2003:
President Try Sutrisno convened a meeting at the Presidential Palace. It was attended by the 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 and the Secretary of the PPP’s MPR Delegation Yusuf Rizal Tjokroaminoto. The Regional Delegates’ were represented by Dahlan Iskan and Irman Gusman. Edi Sudrajat also sat in on the meeting.
The meeting was a surprisingly succinct. The President only said that what’s important now is to try and get as many of the Group Delegates’ delegate members to get off the fence and vote for him. Dahlan said that the Regional Delegates already committed to the President will help this process along.
“Make sure that the Regional Delegates committed to me will commit for another round”, the President told Dahlan “Win or lose, it will be the last time.”
The meeting broke up and Zarkasih, Yusuf Rizal, Dahlan, and Irman were the first to leave the Presidential Palace thinking that the meeting was over. Instead, the President and those present retreated again into the depths of the Presidential Palace for what in actuality was the real and more crurcial meeting. The importance of the meeting was further highlighted by the presence of Chairman of the PKPI Basofi Sudirman and Chairman of the PPP Matori Abdul Djlalil, both chairmen putting aside their respective roles as Vice Chairman of the MPR and Chairman of the MPR for the moment. The two chairmen were accompanied by Secretary of the PKPI Joyokusumo and Secretary of the PPP Bachtiar Chamsyah.
Sarwono was the speaker, explaining about the meeting he’s just had with Akbar Tandjung and its contents. The President, in response said that the information that has just been conveyed by Sarwono must remain confidential for as long as possible. He said that he wanted the final push to get the Group Delegates’ votes disguise the fact that Akbar was intending to switch his vote as well as maybe get some actual votes.
Basofi and Matori asked on behalf of the PKPI and the PPP whether Akbar and his supporters would get seats in the cabinet. Both seemed relieved when Sarwono said that Akbar’s request was for support for a future candidacy as chairman of the PKPB. Basofi said that he was worried that there would be “less seats for everyone after their hard work” if Akbar and his supporters joined the cabinet, but the President said he understood the matter and told him not to worry.
There was silence as everyone processed the discussion.
“Do we have enough votes to secure your re-election, Mr. President?” asked Matori.
“Whether I do or don’t”, the President replied “I don’t think I will settle with just getting by, simply because if it turns out I don’t have enough it’s bye-bye Try…”
Sarwono then went on, saying that it was important that no more votes are leaked. This segued into the next part of his presentation.
“The info from Akbar is that we are leaking votes from ABRI”, Sarwono reported “And by that I mean, we have ABRI delegates casting their votes in favor of the Chairwoman of the PKPB.”
Edi’s eyes blazed with anger and for a second Sarwono thought he was going to get told off for being a “smartass civilian”. But then Edi looked at Harsudiono who had attended the meeting with Akbar and heard about this and he could only look at the floor.
“Akbar said that a few days ago he bumped into Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as he walked into the PKPB’s offices to meet with Tutut and Prabowo”, Sarwono continued.
Edi opened his mouth to speak.
“Don’t try to explain it”, interrupted Harsudiono “I tried…I can’t think of any reason why he should be there.”
“Bambang…”, Edi muttered “But why?”
“Because I didn’t name him Army Chief of Staff twice”, the President replied with almost guilty expression on his face “Not everybody will just sit down and be content if I don’t name them to the position they want.”
“We’re of the opinion, Mr. President, that whatever votes we’re leaking from ABRI it can be regained”, Harsudiono said “They’re doing this because they think you’re not aware of it, if they could see that you’re aware of it…you are after all their constitutional Supreme Commander…”
“How many votes does Bambang commands?” asked the President.
“That’s what we need to determine, Mr. President”, replied Harsudiono.
The President thought it over.
“I’m going to need to meet the Commander of ABRI”, the President said to Edi “Please summon him.”
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At Grand Hyatt Hotel, Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ginandjar Kartasasmita fronted the press together after their meeting. The two said that they continue to find common ground with each other. Tutut said that Ginandjar was “easily” the best official in the current government while Ginandjar said that he has “fond memories” of working President Soeharto.
Chairman of the PKPB’s MPR Delegation Prabowo Subianto watched all this accompanied by Secretary of the PKPB ZA Maulani, Akbar Tandjung, and the PPP’s Hamzah Haz.
“If my sister-in-law emerges victorious, she chooses Ginandjar as vice president”, Prabowo muttered “But if she fails to get elected, we all have to support Ginandjar when he nominates for president.”
“I’d say that’s a win-win for Ginandjar”, Akbar said.
“I’d say so too,
Bang Akbar, but it’s the best deal we can get. We can’t get President Try to accept our offer and Ginandjar’s right, his supporters have been casting their votes for our Chairwoman so we need to return the favor”, Prabowo said “Right now though, for tomorrow, what we need is votes.”
Prabowo turned to Hamzah.
“We’ll scrounge around in the Group Delegates but it’ll be your party we’ll be counting on to get votes from”, Prabowo said.
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As cars began arriving in Jakarta’s shopping centers for Saturday Night, Commander of ABRI Wiranto was in the Presidential Palace facepalming in reaction to the information which he had received from the President. He was aghast, shocked and embarrassed all at the same time. Once he got over it, he pulled out his pen, grabbed a scrap piece of paper and begin writing furiously on it before he handed it over to the President.
“I don’t need your resignation right now”, the President said as he tore the paper into shreds.
“This happened under my watch, Mr. President”, Wiranto said in exasperation.
“You threw your lot in with me the night President Soeharto died and I’ll never forget that”, the President replied “You didn’t have anything to do with this but you’re right, it did happen under your command. What I need right now is for you to do something about this situation. I need to know how many ABRI votes he controls and I need those votes back with me.”
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At Kebagusan in Jakarta’s Southern Suburbs, Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri held a dinner party attended by all 84 of the PNI’s MPR Delegates at her private residence in a courtyard which had been converted into an open door dinner party room with round tables and buffet food. The special guests that night were 17 PPP delegates of Muhammadiyah affiliation led by former Vice Chairman of the DPR Ali Hardi Kiai Demak. From the Group Delegates, Amien Rais himself attended.
There were a lot of cheer in the event which, even though it was officially a private party, attracted a lot of media attention. In her keynote speech, Megawati said that they were on the eve of something that no expected would happen.
“The last few years have been about Try Sutrisno vs. Tutut Soeharto and yet tomorrow, if we stay the course, they will have taken each other out of the equation. They will have taken each other out and the forces of change will have its opportunity.
At this particular time, I would like to make special mention of
Mas Amien. He is one person outside of the PNI who has shown faith in our cause. It was he who saw that if the PNI was to have its opportunity at the presidency, then the two giants which has attracted our nation’s attention must be made to eliminate each other…”
The real purpose of the dinner party was not so much the public unveiling of Megawati and Amien’s collaboration as it was 102 known abstention votes distancing themselves physically from the lobbying and maneuvering for votes happening in the central of the city. The aim, from the perspective of Megawati and Amien, to make doubly sure that no one emerges as the winner the next day.
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In PPP folklore, the joke was that this was the night the PPP was "The P and P and P" because it was divided three ways. In addition to those who had attended Megawati’s dinner party, there were those who followed Hamzah Haz’s lead in supporting Tutut Soeharto and those remaining with Matori Abdul Djalil in supporting the President.
That evening, Matori’s PPP delegates reported that they were being approached by Hamzah’s PPP delegates asking them to meet and talk as fellow PPP members rather than as supporters of different presidential candidates. A few Matori PPP delegates took the bait and have ended up in meetings where they were being pressured by the Hamzah PPP delegates to vote for Tutut. The report quickly flowed back to Mandarin Oriental where the PPP delegation was staying.
The response of the Matori PPP was to send its delegates up to the hotel’s club lounge, keep them busy with FA Cup Football from England and food, and keep access restricted to “unwanted guests”.
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At Borobudur Hotel where the Group Delegates stayed, guests and staff would remember an inordinate amount of “important-looking” people, booking tables or VIP rooms at the hotels various rooms and cafes as well as sitting in lobbies to have discussions with each other that Saturday Night. The interesting thing was that these “important-looking” people would acknowledge other “important-looking” people but stay right away from them. That was how the MPR Delegates’ lobbying looked to the general populace.
At his room, Abdurrahman Wahid (Nahdlatul Ulama) hosted the Chairman of the Group Delegates Nurcholish Madjid (Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals). After having room service and amidst the near misses, Wahid tried his best to lobby Nurcholish.
“The thing is this,
Cak, *nose twitch* you’re punishing the President for the work that has been done over the last 5 years”, Wahid said “You’re punishing him by *nose twitch* sitting there and not giving him your vote despite what he has done and achieved *nose twitch*.”
“I maintain once again,
Gus, that whether or not someone is elected or not re-elected is a partisan matter”, Nurcholish said “The Group Delegates’ role is to balance that partisan tendency in the MPR by being non-partisan.”
“And yet, *nose twitch* the fact is you have, whether knowingly or not being partisan *nose twitch*”, Wahid said “It was the Group Delegates that was pushing *nose twitch* for the PNI’s proposal to amend the rules of presidential elections *nose twitch* to be adopted by the MPR, it was the Group Delegates that facilitated the game Mega is playing *nose twitch* where she wants to be president by waiting for the people in the ring to knock each other out.”
A goal was scored but Nurcholish did not react to it. He was thinking deeply about what Wahid was saying.
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With a football match playing in the background, representatives of the PKPI and the Regional Delegates counted and recounted the votes they had. Overseeing things, Harsudiono was amazed at what they had managed to do for they manage to squeeze out some more votes from the Group Delegates. The President’s decision not to disclose the votes Akbar was bringing over meant that they worked harder trying to lobby for votes.
Harsudiono looked at the projected vote count… the puzzle pieces were falling into place...
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At the end of each day of the MPR General Session, the ABRI Delegates attended a briefing session led by Chairman of the ABRI Delegation Djamari Chaniago and Secretary of the ABRI Delegation Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo. The briefing’s purpose was to bring all members of the ABRI Delegation up to speed with the latest developments. Once the briefing was completed, all of the officers returned to their rooms and that was the end of their day.
For the third day running, however, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would sneak out. Together with his close compatriots Air V.Mshl Djoko Suyanto and Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo, whose role in the ABRI Delegation had helped disguise what they have been doing, Yudhoyono headed out from the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel where ABRI’s MPR Delegation was staying. They rode on
ojeks which have become familiar with their routines and which have become familiar with their routes, Wahid Hasyim Street then turn to the Kebon Kacang area and then to the backdoor of the Grand Hyatt.
Yudhoyono was now familiar with the secret passageways, leading to the hotel’s business center and then an office which had been taken over by Prabowo and Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. The 5 discussed recent developments with Prabowo saying that he would need more ABRI votes to cross over and vote for Tutut. Yudhoyono said that in the first two rounds of voting, he has been able to find 35 votes to go and vote for Tutut, he said he can find “a few” for the third round but could not guarantee how many votes that he could gather. Prabowo told Yudhoyono to do “what you can” because he’s disappointed that Hamzah Haz had not been able to deliver the votes from the PPP.
Just then Yudhoyono’s mobile phone buzzed and he looked down at the SMS to read it. He looked up at Prabowo with a disturbed expression on his face.
“Everything okay?” asked Prabowo.
“Yes, it’s just that another ABRI Delegation Briefing Session is happening right now”, Yudhoyono said before turning to Agustadi “But that can’t be right.”
“We’ve had an ABRI Delegation Briefing Session today”, Agustadi replied “The one we attended before we came here.”
As quickly as possible Yudhoyono’s group of three returned to their hotel. They entered the lobby and it was empty and silent except for faint noises from the hotel’s bar where patrons watched the football match.
Yudhoyono recognized someone walking around in the hallway leading to the ballroom. It was Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso.
“What’s happening? There’s another briefing session?” asked Yudhoyono, demanding to know.
Djoko Santoso’s face was a combination of relief that he had not agreed to join Yudhoyono in his venture and concern at what could happen next.
“There is”, Djoko Santoso replied “We’re taking a break to wait for your arrival so that you can attend it to.”
“What’s this briefing about?” Yudhoyono asked.
Djoko Santoso looked at Yudhoyono.
“I don’t know how they did it, but they’ve found out about you and the votes you’re bringing over to the Chairwoman of the PKPB”, Djoko Santoso replied “And they’re here now, they’ve confiscated mobile phones so we can't communicate with the outside world.”
At this Agustadi and Djoko Suyanto swallowed nervously while Yudhoyono tried to maintain a stoic expression on his face.
“Who are ‘they’?” asked Yudhoyono.
“The Commander of ABRI, the Army Chief of Staff, the Navy Chief of Staff, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and the Chief of Police but they’re MPR Delegates too so that’s not a biggie” Djoko Santoso replied “No, no the biggies are the Minister of Defense and Security, the State Secretary and the Chief of BAKIN, they’re here too.”
Yudhoyono steeled himself. When Edi Sudrajat was Army Chief of Staff (1988-1993) and Wismoyo Arismunandar was Deputy Army Chief of Staff (1992-1993), Yudhoyono had served on their staff as a speech writer. Imagining their disappointed looks, Yudhoyono prepared his counter-argument: that he had supported the President to the point where he had been one of the few trustworthy officers the President could rely on for support and that the President had taken him for granted, which was his way for saying that his career had stalled and that he had missed out on being Army Chief of Staff twice.
He walked to the ballroom where the ABRI MPR Delegation’s briefing sessions was held. Yudhoyono stood tall as he walked while Djoko Suyanto and Agustadi struggled to hide their worry. As the doors to the ballroom got closer, Yudhoyono was noticed by a person in a jacket accompanied by some young men standing just outside the door. This person was clearly not a civilian for his salute was very perfect and proper.
Now it was Yudhoyono’s turn to be worried…for this person was Commander of the Presidential Bodyguard Nono Sampono. The presence of the Commander of the Presidential Bodyguard could only mean one thing…
Nono escorted Yudhoyono, Djoko Suyanto, and Agustadi inside. In the corner of a room, a group of officers were standing and crowding around something.
“The Governor of Lemhanas”, Nono announced.
Now the officers turned in Yudhoyono’s direction. Wiranto stared daggers at him while Army Chief of Staff TB Hasanuddin remained impassive and looked like he was trying to study Yudhoyono’s expression. Minister of Defense and Security Wismoyo Arismunandar shook his head while Edi Sudrajat looked almost hurt.
“Let me see him”, came a voice in the middle of all the officers whereupon they parted the way and Yudhoyono came face to face with the President.
Unlike the other four, the President kept his feelings outside of his facial expression. Yudhoyono was mindful that the entire room was looking in their direction. He stood straight and saluted the President. The latter responded with a nod of his head as he walked up to Yudhoyono, looking as though he was about to say something.
It was at this time that Yudhoyono’s mobile phone rang.
“You should answer that”, the President said.
Yudhoyono pressed the green button and brought the mobile phone to his ear.
“Is everything all right?” asked a voice audible enough for the President to hear and identify as Prabowo’s.
The President looked at Yudhoyono with an amused expression. Yudhoyono continued to be aware that everyone in the room was looking in his direction.
“Sure, I’m fine”, Yudhoyono replied, knowing that there was no way out of the situation now.
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ITTL, Yudhoyono was passed over twice for the Army Chief of Staff’s position. In August 2000 when he lost out to Luhut and in January 2002 when he lost out to TB Hasanuddin.
SBY’s “arc” was something that happened organically (ie. I never planned it). I just thought to myself “Would this guy be unhappy at not being Army Chief of Staff twice?”. In OTL, SBY also missed out on being Army Chief of Staff because he was appointed Minister of Mining and Energy by Gus Dur. He is on the record as being very deeply disappointed about this appointment which required him to go into early retirement from the military as per Reformasi rules about military personnel taking on civilian population. So I took the stab by saying that he would probably do something.
https://www.democrazy.id/2021/10/Jarang-Terungkap-Begini-Detik-detik-SBY-Gagal-Jadi-KSAD.html and
https://nasional.sindonews.com/read...inggalkan-militer-di-puncak-karier-1680728686 for articles about OTL SBY's feeling on failing to become Army Chief of Staff.
ITTL, SBY has been the Governor of Lemhanas since January 2002.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Resilience_Institute
The officers mentioned accompanying SBY to the meeting with Prabowo and interacting with him as he returned to the hotel, except for the Commander of the Presidential Bodyguards, were officers that did well in OTL in SBY's government. Djoko Suyanto was Air Force Chief of Staff (2005-2006) then Commander of the TNI (2006-2007), Agustadi was Army Chief of Staff (2007-2009) and Djoko Santoso was Army Chief of Staff (2005-2007) then Commander of the TNI (2007-2010).
Despite what's happening ITTL, the OTL PKPI was part of Yudhoyono's Coalition with PKPI's Meutia Hatta as State Minister of Female Empowerment.
