Indonesia's largest political party picked a retired general indicted for human rights abuses in East Timor as its presidential candidate yesterday, drawing condemnation from critics who called him a war criminal.
The Golkar Party of ex-dictator Suharto selected General Wiranto -- who rose through the ranks of the army to become military chief in the final days of the strongman's 32-year rule -- to run in Indonesia's first direct presidential elections in July.
Wiranto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, has been indicted by UN-backed prosecutors in East Timor of failing to stop his soldiers and their proxy militias from killing nearly 1,500 people in East Timor in 1999.
Although the indictment has damaged Wiranto's image in the eyes of some voters, he has tapped into an apparent nostalgia for the Suharto era when the economy was prosperous and the country relatively secure. Before being named military chief in 1997, Wiranto served as Suharto's personal adjutant for several years.
"Wiranto is the enemy of humanity. If he is elected president, then it is a total failure of democracy in Indonesia," said Jose Luis Oliveira, head of East Timor's leading rights group Yayasan Hak.
Public opinion surveys show that in the race for the top job, Wiranto trails far behind front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Nonetheless, Wiranto will likely capitalize on Golkar's political machinery and extensive reach -- it emerged as the largest party in parliamentary elections earlier this month -- and could improve his ratings.
His overnight election as the nominee at Golkar's convention in Jakarta came as a surprise because he beat out the party's chairman, Akbar Tandjung, who had been expected to win.
Many in the party see the charismatic Wiranto as more electable than Tandjung, a party stalwart who has battled numerous corruption charges.
Wiranto's indictment has not had much impact inside Indonesia and is rarely mentioned by the local media. But his nomination caused immediate concern abroad.
"We are dismayed at the Golkar Party's nomination of General Wiranto for president of Indonesia," said the New York-based East Timor Action Network. "Wiranto must stand trial not stand for office."
Neighboring Australia, whose peacekeeping efforts in Timor after the 1999 violence led to strained ties with Indonesia, declined to comment directly on Wiranto's victory.
"If we start attacking General Wiranto now it might turn out to be a bit of an election winner for him," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio. He did not elaborate.
East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri also declined to comment, saying that doing so could affect ties between the two countries.
"The relationship between East Timor and Indonesia is more important than my commenting on Indonesian presidential candidates," he said in Dili, East Timor's capital.
The Indonesian government has refused to extradite hundreds of indicted soldiers, officers and government officials to stand trial in East Timor over the 1999 violence that accompanied the territories' vote for independence in a UN-sponsored referendum.
"Wiranto is responsible ... for the gravest violations of human rights in East Timor and Indonesia," the rights group said in a statement.
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