The youngest son of Indonesia's former president Suharto has declared that he is seeking to contest next year's election as a candidate for Papua province.
Tommy Suharto Photo: AFP
The Tempo news service reports that Tommy Suharto has registered as a legislative candidate with the General Elections Commission under his newly formed Berkarya Party banner.
The party's secretary general Priyo Budi Santoso said Papuans had responded enthusiastically to Tommy Suharto.
He said Papuans will identify with Mr Suharto due to their nostalgia for President Suharto's New Order regime.
It was under President Suharto's rule that Papua was controversially incorporated into the Indonesian republic in the late 1960s.
Three years ago Indonesia's Supreme Court ordered the Suharto family to repay hundreds of millions of dollars embezzled from a scholarship foundation.
In a separate case, Tommy Suharto has himself been convicted of corruption charges.
He was later sent to prison for ordering the murder of the Supreme Court judge who convicted him, and was later released after serving four years of his 15-year sentence.
