THE time was 11:50pm when Sharif Cicip Sutardjo reached for a cellular phone sitting in front of him. Speaking to Tempo at the Airlangga Apartments in South Jakarta last week, this Golkar Party chairman said that he was waiting for news from the party's secretary-general, Idrus Marham.

That day Idrus was asked to meet with Akbar Tandjung, to deliver an invitation to the national leadership meeting as well as to talk about the outline of the speech