The strain is showing on Golkar chief

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung is losing sleep. Literally.

He said that he would be lucky to get three or four hours of shut-eye in a day filled with meeting after meeting.

The weary-looking politician told The Sunday Times during a recent interview in the wee hours of the morning just after a hushed gathering at President B.J. Habibie’s house that “the pressure was mounting”.

“I have grown a lot older in the last year,” he said. “Just look at my face and you see the eye bags.”

But life does not altogether revolve around bagging the presidency or the No 2 post for the ruling party.

Family is still most important to him. He normally cuts down on activities on Sunday to make time for his wife and three children. “They are my best friends,” he said.