Jakarta (Dtc/Lampost) — The Star Reform Party (PBR)
is continuing to select presidential candidates who
are suitable for support at its convention. Although
up until now the party’s presidential candidate —
in line with the PBR’s convention — has been Rizal
Ramli, this has still left open the possibility of
them switching their support to the late President
Suharto’s former son-in-law Prabowo Subianto.

“Basically our party’s mission is almost the same as
Prabowo’s mission. It is likely that we would
support him providing that Prabowo is prepared to
enter into and is agreeable with the central
axis(1)”, said PBR general chairperson Bursah
Zarnubi in Jakarta on Tuesday December 15.

Zarnubi said that his party is ready to conduct
political communication with the Great Indonesia
Movement Party (Gerindra Party) built by Subianto.
This is because struggling for the wishes of the
common people in the agricultural and fisheries
sector represents a special draw card possessed by
Subianto(2). “I’m ready to conduct political
communication with Prabowo”, said Zarnubi.

The PBR’s readiness to support Subianto began when
the party’s founder, Zainuddin M.Z., declared his
support for the former commander of the army’s elite
Special Forces (Kopassus). Moreover the proselytizer
with a million religious followers became an issue
over rumors that had “jumped the fence” and joined
the Gerindra Party, which is backing Subianto as
their presidential candidate.

Later on however, the Gerindra party, through party
general secretary Ahmad Muzani, clarified the issue
and denied that Zainuddin had joined the party. At
the time he said, Zainuddin was not registered
either as a party member or as being on the party’s
management board.

Muzani did however admit that there was a closeness
between Zainuddin and Subianto and that Zainuddin
has claimed that he is ready to support Subianto as
a presidential candidate in the 2009 elections.

“Those were Pak Zainuddin’s words, if Mas [brother]
Prabowo becomes a presidential candidate, Zainuddin
will backup and support Mas Prabowo”, said Muzani.
Muzani explained that the closeness between
Zainuddin and Subianto was forged a long time ago.

The ties of friendship were formed when Subianto
still held the rank of lieutenant colonel. Then
during the Ramadan fasting month last September,
Zainuddin as the chairperson of the Betawi Families
Foundation together with Subianto visited slum areas
in Jakarta. nK-3

Notes:

1. On December 10 Muhammadiyah chairperson Din
Syamsuddin called for the formation of a new
strategic coalition of Islamic based political
parties to win the 2009 legislative and presidential
election, saying that the “central axis” is intended
to “maintain the political representation of Islam”
in Indonesia.

2. In addition to controlling the Energy Nusantara
Group with assets of around US$1 billion, Subianto
also heads a number of other social organisations
such as the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) and the Association of Indonesian Market Traders
(APPI), to which he has contributed large sums of
money and is counting on as a mass base of votes in
next year’s elections.