February 8, 2004 2:05am
Associated Press WorldStream

BONTANG, Indonesia_As he flew over the coal mines and shrimp farms that dot Indonesia's part of Borneo island, a smiling Gen. Wiranto couldn't contain himself.

"Did you see how they touched me," he said. "It was as if I was Michael Jackson and they were my fans."

Wiranto, a contender for the Indonesian presidency despite his indictment for rights abuses in East Timor, had come from a campaign rally in this gritty industrial town 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) northeast of Jakarta, where supporters jostled to touch him and chanted "Long live Wiranto."

"This response makes me want to lead," said Wiranto, the former general who served as military chief until he was fired over charges of human rights abuses in 2000.

Four years later, this is no longer an electoral issue. Instead, supporters see the 56-year-old as a patriot, whose military background, boyish good looks and folksy demeanor make him an ideal candidate to challenge President Megawati Sukarnoputri in the July 5 election.

Wiranto's candidacy is partly a reflection of the disenchantment with democratic reforms since the ouster of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998, and a sense that associates of the former strongman, including his old Golkar Party, are better equipped to bring stability and prosperity to Indonesia.

Polls have shown voters increasingly associate Indonesia's five-year-old democracy with the country's economic woes and chronic insecurity. They are nostalgic for candidates who can emulate Suharto, whose 32-year reign was marked by economic prosperity but also massive corruption and brutality.

"I know what Suharto and Wiranto can do. They are tough," said Yani Susilowani, a 48-year-housewife from Bontang. "What evidence do we have that Megawati has done anything? Everything that Suharto built is now in ruins. People are suffering."

Wiranto's candidacy alarms democracy advocates who have been seeking to reduce both Golkar's and the military's influence in politics _ a difficult task given the fact that scores of retired military officers are running for legislative seats and Golkar is poised to win a majority in parliament during April 5 legislative balloting, analysts said.

"The institutions of democracy have been hijacked by the old forces that operated under Suharto," said Asmara Nababan, a rights activists who has done extensive research on Indonesian democracy. "It's disappointing but it's a result of the divisions among the reformists who promoted change. We still have elites in control just as we did during Suharto."

Wiranto is among the top contenders for the Golkar nomination. He could be the front-runner if the party's leader, parliamentary speaker Akbar Tandjung, loses his appeal against a corruption conviction. A ruling is expected this month.

But polls show Wiranto is trailing Megawati and a survey by the International Republican Institute described him as "the most divisive of
all candidates." The polls show the president with about 15 percent support and a slew of other candidates, including Wiranto, at between three percent and eight percent.

"You shouldn't exaggerate Wiranto's success," said William Liddle, an Indonesian expert from Ohio State University. "Golkar presidential nominations politics ... are mainly about money politics. Wiranto's popularity hasn't been tested."

A son of a poor teacher in Central Java, Wiranto joined the army and rose through the ranks over three decades to become a key aide to Suharto.

When pro-democracy protesters forced Suharto from office, Wiranto was credited by current U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and others with restraining his troops and being a vocal supporter of the democratic transition.

But soon thereafter, Wiranto was linked to human rights abuses in East Timor, where Indonesian troops killed 1,500 Timorese in 1999 following a pro-independence referendum.

As a result, Wiranto was fired by then-President Abdurrahman Wahid, and last year was indicted by U.N. prosecutors in East Timor.

Wiranto dismisses the charges as part of a wider conspiracy to undermine his candidacy. He says he tried to stop the violence in 1999.

"These allegations are crazy," Wiranto said. "Bigger political interests are bringing this up to destroy my character."

Still, rights groups and Timorese leaders have openly criticized the prospect of a Wiranto presidency.

"Gen. Wiranto has not had the honesty and courage to accept responsibility," said Nobel Peace Price laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, now East Timor's foreign minister. "Indonesia would have to live with the embarrassment of having a president who would have difficulty (traveling to) other countries."

Such comments, however, have done little to dent Wiranto's self-confidence. He wrote a book titled "Witness in the Storm" to defend his record, hired two American advisers and has made the rounds at embassies in Jakarta. He hasn't, however, met with officials from the United States, which has put Wiranto on a lookout list of those whose visa applications must be vetted in Washington before being granted.

Among his campaign promises is to end an all-out military offensive in the western province of Aceh, where rebels are fighting for independence.

Wiranto has also hit the campaign road, spending the past six months traveling across the vast archipelagic nation, chatting up party loyalists, posing for photos and singing songs from his album "For You, My Indonesia."