JK OPTIMISTIC HE WILL WIN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Jayapura, Papua, June 22 (ANTARA) - Presidential candidate M Jusuf Kalla said he was optimistic he will win the upcoming presidential race on account of the wide support he was receiving from various elements of the public.

"This (wide support) is, God willing, the beginning of victory," Kalla said here on Monday.

Kalla said his ticket with Wiranto, dubbed the "archipelagic pair", had the support of various elements of the public in all provinces of the country. "The support is coming in waves," he said.

"I have noticed that the people who support my ticket sincerely want to help us win the race," he said.

Speaking at a campaign rally here, Kalla said he was making a bid for the presidency not in his own interest but in order to work to enable the nation to have a better future.

He called on his supporters and sympathizers to win the people's hearts for the presidential polls scheduled for July 8, 2009.

Kalla said the people could not be forced to vote for a certain candidate, including through cheating as had happened in the legislative elections in April 2009.

The chairman of the Golkar Party said there were three criteria a candidate should meet to deserve the nation's top job, namely he should know the problems facing the nation, have the ability to formulate appropriate solutions to the problems,
and be fast in taking decisions with all the risks involved.

Not all candidates in the current presidential race met these criteria and had the needed character, he said. "Therefore, let the people vote for the best of the three existing presidential candidates. And, I think, the people already know which pair is the best," he said.

"A good leader is one who sides with the people, can take decisions promptly and accepts responsibility for what he has done," he said.