Laurel Teo – Dark clouds held the threat of rain yesterday morning. But they were a false alarm, for not a drop fell upon the thousands at Golkar's last day of rallies in the capital city.

Standing on a stage overlooking masses clad in the party's signature canary yellow hue, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung bellowed: "Look at the crowd here! I have campaigned in 28 provinces so far and always, huge numbers have come for our rallies. What a difference this is compared to five years ago!"

With that triumphant declaration, he went on to deliver a fiery speech for the next 40 minutes, promising supporters a new Golkar that embodies the spirit of reform, and is ready to lead the country towards greater progess.

Back in the 1999 election, his party was despised as the political vehicle of disgraced former president Suharto. Spurned by voters, Golkar managed to garner only 22 per cent of the ballots, losing its three-decade reign to the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P).

But since then, the party leadership has worked hard to distance itself from the Suharto regime, yet retain its reputation as an organisation rich in human resources and experience in running a country.

And that was the main thrust of Mr Akbar's wide-ranging speech, which also criticised the failure of the current PDI-P-led government, listed Golkar's various goals and expressed the party's remorse at past mistakes.

Mr Akbar arrived at about 2pm at the Block S football field in South Jakarta, which was one of Golkar's five rally venues in Jakarta yesterday.

The fun had already begun about an hour before, with at least 10 different dangdut (folk music) singers entertaining the crowd with lusty renditions of traditional favourites and plenty of hip gyrations.

While there was the usual mob of rowdy young men, there was also an unusual crowd of women with small children in tow, in more numbers than seen at rallies of other parties such as the PDI-P. It made the event seem like a family outing, as the giggling housewives and mothers, many of whom were wearing cheery yellow headscarves, tried to swivel their hips to the infectious tunes.

But all attention was focused on Mr Akbar as he strode onto the stage. Remarking on the crowd size, he cried out: "What does this mean? This means that Golkar has returned. We now have the support and sympathy of the people!"

Battered by the sluggish economic recovery and security threats that have erupted over the past few years, many Indonesians now yearn for the steady growth and firm government of the past. It is a sentiment that Mr Akbar has milked to the fullest.

"We have 100 million impoverished people, 40 million unemployed. Our economy grew only 4 per cent, while that of our neighbours grew 6 to 7 per cent. This is not enough to absorb the 2.5 million Indonesians who enter the workforce every year," he said.

Indonesians have yet to benefit from the archipelago's rich natural resources, and the country needs a strong government, he said, urging supporters to give Golkar a strong mandate.

He pledged to increase the education budget and raise education and health standards so that Indonesians can compete with other nationalities and earn more money.

The crowd nodded to his every word and even gave him the thumbs up when he promised that Golkar would fight for a clean government. No one seemed to realise the irony of such a statement coming from a man who was recently relieved of corruption charges through a controversial court judgment.

"Who says we are anti-reform? We are now a new and improved Golkar. We have right all our past wrongs and our new motto is, 'United, we progress'!" he shouted.

It looks like the storm could be blowing over for Golkar this time.