Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla has rejected the idea of holding a party convention to select a candidate for the 2009 presidential election.
Kalla, who is currently Vice President, said he was against choosing a candidate through a convention process because it would not guarantee a candidate who represented the core interests of the Golkar Party, as was the case in 2004.
The party's 2004 convention resulted in the selection of former general Wiranto as the candidate for president and Salahuddin "Gus Solah" Wahid for vice president.
"Gus Solah is not from Golkar Party," Kalla said. "So, if the (convention) results did not represent the interests of Golkar, why should we continue (with the mechanism)," Kalla told detik.com.
He said further the selection mechanism for Golkar's presidential candidacy through a convention was not recognized in the party's statutes. The statutes, he said, regulated Golkar presidential candidates could only be determined through the party's national leadership meeting.
"So we will not be like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). In our system, we have to choose the best person who can get the best results."
Even though some people considered the convention a good process, Kalla said he was concerned about the background of the people who attended such meetings, including actors and comedians. "That doesn't show the greatness of a party," he said.
Deputy Chairman of Golkar Party and House speaker Agung Laksono said he shared Kalla's view. He said the party would likely select a presidential candidate through a national leadership meeting.
"I have talked to the (Golkar) chairman and other members and we have decided that there will be no convention like we did in 2004," Agung Laksono told detik.com Wednesday. He said the party would not name its candidate as quickly as PDI-P.
"The appointment of a candidate from the Golkar Party who will run in the presidential election will not be done at this moment in time – maybe a few months prior to the election," Agung said.
Asked whether he was interested in running in the 2009 election, Agung said, "I'm not interested in talking about that".
Previously, Yuddhy Chrisnandi, a Golkar legislator in the House, said there were eight people who would likely try for the presidential candidacy including Kalla, House Speaker Agung Laksono, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Golkar chief patron Surya Paloh, former Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, National Resilience Institute Governor Muladi and Constitutional Court President Jimly Asshiddiqie.