Jakarta – After two weeks of the presidential campaign, Golkar leaders have urged party executives to show support for their candidate, retired general Wiranto and running mate Solahuddin Wahid.

"If Golkar wants to continue existing, given its humble victory in the legislative election, it must back Wiranto," said Mr Andi Matalata, a Golkar executive. "He's the only one who can boost the party's standing if he wins the presidential race."

Golkar edged past the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to take the largest share of the vote in the April legislative elections, and more than 30 per cent of the seats in the House of Representatives (DPR).

But sparsely attended campaigns have raised questions about whether the party leadership is living up to its pledge to go all out to have Mr Wiranto elected.

Mr Matalata and others say the "lack of strong coordination" among three divisions could hurt the campaign. The three divisions are the national team, Mr Wiranto's "Imperium Team", named after the South Jakarta building where it is based, and the team of the Nation Awakening Party (PKB), of which Mr Solahuddin is an executive. Mr Matalata said he and party leaders had warned of fragmentation because of a "lack of support of Mr Wiranto".

A source in Mr Wiranto's team said the former military chief was aware of Golkar's "half-hearted support" and had entrusted his own team to prepare all campaign activities. "So far, only Mr Wiranto's success team has worked hard to arrange campaigns, and Golkar has contributed hardly anything to cover the costs," he said.