Golkar's leader Akbar Tanjung promised to battle Indonesia's endemic corruption and revive the economy as members of the party founded by former dictator Suharto met to choose a presidential candidate after its apparent parliamentary election win.
Tanjung, who was himself convicted and then cleared of graft, admitted that Golkar has been tainted by its association with Suharto's "New Order" regime.
But corruption under President Megawati Sukarnoputri's rule was even worse, he told more than 1,000 delegates from the party celebrating its apparent April 5 election victory.
"I will work to create a new atmosphere that is clean from any KKN [acronym for corruption, collusion and nepotism]," pledged Tanjung, who is competing against four others for the nomination.
"When we talk about corruption, people always refer to Golkar or to the government of the New Order. But is corruption now wider than before? It is more widespread." With 91.4 million votes counted from the legislative polls, Golkar seemed certain to emerge as the largest parliamentary party.
It had 21.11 percent compared with 19.49 for the current largest party, Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). PDI-P won 34 percent of the vote in 1999, a year after Suharto stepped down. The slump in support is a blow to Megawati's hopes of keeping her job in the country's first direct presidential poll on July 5.
Tanjung, 58, said he "underwent trials, challenges and even humiliation" as Golkar leader, in reference to his conviction and three-year jail sentence in 2002 for misappropriating four million dollars in emergency food aid in 1999.
He remained free pending appeals and continued as Golkar leader and parliament speaker. An appeal court upheld the sentence but the supreme court in February overturned his conviction.
Opinion polls show Tanjung will face a tough fight for the presidency, even if he secures the nomination in a vote by 545 regional and national party officials later Tuesday.
Popular former general and ex-security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is far ahead of Megawati as preferred president. Yudhoyono's appointment of former welfare minister Jusuf Kalla as his vice-presidential running-mate further boosted his hopes.
Tanjung is only the fourth choice for the presidency in some polls, but two of his challengers for Golkar's nomination also have image problems.
Former armed forces chief Wiranto has been indicted by East Timor prosecutors for crimes against humanity during the territory's bloody breakaway from Indonesia in 1999.
Soldiers under the command of then-general Prabowo Subianto, a son-in-law of Suharto, were implicated in the torture and disappearance of dissidents in the last years of Suharto's rule.
The other contenders are tycoon Aburizal Bakrie and media magnate Surya Paloh.
Tanjung told delegates his priority would be economic recovery. Indonesia had the lowest growth among its immediate neighbours, the highest unemployment and the highest number of poor, he said.
He promised to improve education and health services and make Indonesia respected by other nations.
Delegates clad in Golkar's bright yellow colours opened the convention – the first of its kind in Indonesia – with a rousing party hymn and a pledge to safeguard the "unity and cohesion" of the world's largest archipelago.
With some polls showing that former military men are popular with voters, Tanjung on Monday said the current military chief General Endriartono Sutarto was a potential running-mate.
Analysts said such a combination, even if it is formed, would face a tough fight against the Yudhoyono-Kalla combination.