Jakarta – Presidential candidates for the Golkar Party will be decided through a convention, party officials said Monday – just as they were for the last presidential election.
Details of the convention will be determined in a national leaders' meeting held after the 2009 general election for the legislative members, Syamsul Mu'arif said.
A national survey to screen the most favorable candidates among the public "will allow us to see who are the party's best candidates," Syamsul said.
Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla had previously rejected the idea of holding a party convention to select a candidate for the 2009 presidential election.
Kalla, currently vice president, said a convention would not guarantee a candidate who represented the core interests of Golkar Party.
He said the party's statutes did not recognize the convention process.
Ahead of the 2004 presidential election, Golkar was praised for introducing a new, more transparent practise for Indonesian political parties.
At the convention Gen (ret.) Wiranto won-over party leader Akbar Tandjung.
Syamsul announced the agenda for Golkar's national leadership meeting, to be held Thursday to Saturday this week in Jakarta.
The meeting would be closed with celebrations for the party's 53rd anniversary Sunday.
The meeting would discuss Golkar's view of the bills on political parties and the elections, rising gas prices, climate change, and the evaluation of the party's performance in the recent gubernatorial election.
Golkar candidates have lost a number of elections, the last in South Sulawesi.
Political observer Indra J. Piliang said the timing of the convention after the 2009 legislative election "could be their political way to protect Jusuf Kalla (the vice president) from the possibility of being rejected" as the party candidate for president.
Apart from 655 party members, some 5,000 guests are expected at the leadership meeting, including dignitaries from the region. The event is set to be held at the Jakarta Fairgrounds (PRJ) in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. (rff)