Devi Asmarani, Makassar – Indonesia's most consummate politician, Mr Akbar Tandjung, was clearly in his element.
Standing before more than 10,000 yellow-clad party supporters in the town square of Takalar, a 1 1/2-hour drive from Makassar, the Golkar chairman showed a side normally obscured by his soft voice and composure.
With his wife Krisnina Maharani by his side, he addressed party supporters with a fiery pep talk, harping on the merits of voting for Golkar, showing no sign of weariness despite the constant travelling.
"Golkar has 30 years" experience in governing,' he shouted above the din of the cheering crowd. "This is an asset for the country – our political experience, since the 1971 election, is needed to build a government that is strong, effective and authoritative." The spectators lapped it up.
The cheering did not come from the rent-a-crowd enthusiasts who are lured to party rallies by lunch money, free T-shirts and dangdut (folk music) shows. Many were Golkar diehards who had travelled 50km or more to be there. Some in the crowd were second-generation supporters.
Said one of them, Mrs Mardiana: "We have stuck with Golkar since during the reforms movement the last time, because it has been around for a long time."
Such loyalty is leading many political pundits to keep tabs on the party's fortunes. Five years ago, a three-decade association to the Suharto's New Order regime was Golkar's biggest liability.
But these days, although party campaigners gloss over its links to the disgraced former president, the "time-tested" factor is, indeed, Golkar's biggest sell.
Surveys have shown that Golkar could emerge as this year's favourite by defeating the 1999 winner, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
With voters increasingly concerned about issues such as employment, health care and education, Golkar is promising economic and political stability – of the kind that Indonesians enjoyed in the country's heyday.
Without doubt some of the credit for the turnaround goes to Mr Akbar and his band of party workers, who are among the most seasoned politicians in the country.
His conviction for graft – before the Supreme Court exonerated him – had not dented his popularity. Mr Akbar had also survived several attempts by backstabbing party executives to unseat him, and moved swiftly to consolidate the party.
As part of its strategy to expand its grassroots support, Golkar has recruited hundreds of thousands of cadres over the years to revive the party with new and younger blood.
Its legislators have also been in the front line, playing crucial roles in constitutional amendments and debating electoral laws. Many a time, the party's presentation surpassed those of other established parties in terms of substance and delivery.
Golkar is also the first party in the country to apply a convention system, similar to that in the United States, to pick its presidential candidate for the election in July. Six contenders will fight for the chairmanship – with Mr Akbar a front runner – in the convention due to take place after the April 5 legislative election.
Irrespective of the outcome, this is sending out a crucial message that Golkar is a transformed party. That apart, the convention has also turned out to be an ingenious idea for pooling money and resources from the contenders – who are mostly party outsiders.
Golkar expects to win 30 per cent of the total votes cast this year, up from 22 per cent in 1999 when it finished second, after the PDI-P.
Like in the last polls, its biggest support bases are likely to come from islands outside of Java, like Sulawesi and Kalimantan, where it relied on the network of informal leaders and power infrastructure in the regions.