Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – As the political party campaigns for the legislative election draw to a close, Golkar Party presidential hopefuls seem to have set their sights against one another.
Two admonishments issued recently by the party's central executive board (DPP) are indicative of the heightened rivalry between the candidates.
The first was addressed to media mogul Surya Paloh for his persistent criticism of corruption. Though he never mentioned names, it was a vague reference to incumbent party leader Akbar Tandjung.
Akbar was acquitted last month in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.8 million) graft case after a two-year legal battle. He is now facing a new legal suit from his former aide, Kito Irkhami, who claimed that Akbar had promised to pay him Rp 1 billion in order to help Akbar escape prison in the above case.
Akbar and Paloh are two of the six Golkar presidential hopefuls. The other four are Gen. (ret) Wiranto, Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla and businessman Aburizal Bakrie.
The DPP argued that Paloh's campaign speeches could ruin the party's image and were counterproductive to the party's strategy for winning the election, because he charged that the party was filled with many corrupt officials.
Political parties are campaigning from March 11 to April 1 for the April 5 legislative election. The election will pave the way for the 24 political parties to field their nominations for the presidency, provided they win at least 3 percent of the total votes cast by 147 million voters.
Ignoring the party's warning, Paloh has continued his onslaught, saying that he is only targeting the corrupt officials, not the party, and that the party should do something about corruption.
Akbar threatened to drop Paloh from Golkar's national vote-getters team if he continued to repeat his campaign theme.
A political observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said the root of the rivalry was funding. "These political moves show that all candidates think that they should seize whatever opportunity in the campaigning period, on which they have spent a lot of money," said Ikrar Nusa Bakti.
Another DPP admonishment landed on Prabowo Subianto, a former Army general and son-in-law of former president Soeharto. The DPP claimed that Prabowo's commercial television spots exceeded the allowed air time and focused more on him than the party.
Political maneuvering inside Golkar was apparent when Akbar told a media conference prior to the campaigning period that all Golkar presidential aspirants, apart from himself, were allowed to campaign only in Java and Bali.
Ikrar said when the political fray subsided, Akbar would have the best chance of winning a nod from the convention due to the clout his position lent him and his powerful influence over party officials nationwide.
Golkar will hold a convention after the legislative election to determine its candidates for the presidency and vice presidency. Ikrar dismissed the chances of other candidates holding a showdown with Akbar in the convention, especially after his recent acquittal by the Supreme Court on corruption charges.
"It is useless for them to campaign because Akbar will eventually win the race. Wiranto and Prabowo seem to be using the convention as a testing ground while Aburizal is not too serious. Only Paloh seems earnest in the convention," he said.
He was suspicious that Golkar had merely used the candidates as cash cows for the party's campaign, while adding that a recent regulation issued by Akbar to prohibit candidates from joining other parties further enhanced Golkar's position.