http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25111591-2703,00.html

SBY pulls ambitious deputy into line
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta correspondent | February 27, 2009 

Article from:  The Australian 

INDONESIAN leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has unexpectedly weighed into 
speculation over the presidency, warning his coalition partner Golkar party not 
to damage the current administration with talk of its succession.

The President had remained silent during the growing frenzy in recent days 
about whether his deputy and Golkar chairman, Jusuf Kalla, would challenge him 
for the top position. 

But Mr Yudhoyono, who has given almost no interviews during five years in 
office, broke his silence in an extended prime-time television appearance in 
which he warned Mr Kalla not to destabilise what remained of the pair's term. 

"I hope that even if in 2009 (Mr Kalla) and I are in opposing positions, if 
indeed he comes forward as a presidential candidate, that we can continue to 
operate together as president and vice-president as well as possible ... so the 
nation is best served," Mr Yudhoyono said. 

The admonition came after the Vice-President was summoned to Mr Yudhoyono's 
official residence for crisis talks on Sunday night. 

Indonesia goes to parliamentary elections in just over a month, and the first 
round of presidential polls follow in July. A wide open field means that 
election is expected to go to a run-off vote in October. 

Mr Kalla signalled a week ago he could challenge Mr Yudhoyono for the top job, 
saying he had "from the beginning always been ready for anything". 

The warning came after Golkar heavyweight Surya Paloh urged a party conference 
to be ready to nominate its own presidential candidate rather than settling for 
second position on a Yudhoyono ticket. 

By law, the current administration will not be dissolved until October 20, and 
the President said in his television interview: "We must preserve it and we 
must proceed as well as possible ... I have never and I may not position the 
Vice-President as my competitor." 

Parties must win 20 per cent of the 560 seats on offer in April's legislative 
polls in order to nominate their own presidential candidates for the July vote. 

However, parties that fall short can still form coalition tickets -- meaning 
that, with 38 parties registered, horse-trading for partners will be even more 
intense than it was at the last election in 2004. 

Mr Yudhoyono's Democratic Party has been talking up a better than 20 per cent 
showing in its own right, meaning it could abandon the union with Golkar on 
which he has relied. 

But Mr Paloh was direct at his party conference, warning that Golkar -- the 
political vehicle fashioned by former dictator Suharto to institutionalise what 
became a 32-year reign -- was "the party that is most prepared for 
repositioning. We are ready to govern this country". 

In the interview, Mr Yudhoyono also had a swipe at former president Megawati 
Sukarnoputri, under whom he served as defence minister, and who later described 
him as a traitor for quitting and then running against her in 2004. 

"That's a character assassination," he said, adding that she had refused to 
speak to him since the election. Ms Megawati is again expected to be a major 
threat in the polls this time around.

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