Minister plays down presidential bid

Tue, 09/16/2008 10:19 AM  |  National

JAKARTA: Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah has played down the possibility of his contesting the presidential election next year, saying only ethnic Javanese candidates will stand a real chance of winning.

"With due respect to non-Javanese candidates, I predict the elected president will come from Java. Only in the next five years will non-Javanese have a real chance of winning the presidency," Bachtiar said Sunday.

He was responding to comments from leaders of the Hidayatullah Islamic organization, who questioned his candidact in the 2009 election, which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla may contest.

All four elected Indonesian presidents hailed from Java. The third president, B.J. Habibie, is a South Sulawesi native. As vice president, Habibie succeeded president Soeharto, who resigned in May 1998 following widespread demonstrations against him. -- JP

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