JAKARTA : The Soft Shoo-In
Indonesians go to the polls today to elect a new Parliament, which will play an indirect role in choosing the next president.
Neither election is expected to be much of a surprise.
Only three parties are allowed to participate in the elections, and the government-backed party--the Joint Secretariat of Functional Groups, or Golkar--is expected to easily win an overwhelming majority.
That party is the only one with the ability to hand out jobs and other political largess.
Next year, the 500 Parliament members will join 500 appointed officials in choosing the next president. However, since President Suharto has indicated he wants to keep his job, the outcome is not much in doubt.
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