Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla remains upbeat his party will win next year's general elections despite recent losses for party candidates in a number of gubernatorial elections.
Kalla, who is also the country's Vice President, pointed out Golkar has enjoyed much success in regional elections over the past three years.
"Golkar's gubernatorial hopefuls won in seven of 21 elections in the past three years," he said after Friday prayers. "Golkar also recorded a 41 percent victory rate in 320 regency and municipal elections."
Ongoing vote counts for the West Java and North Sumatra gubernatorial elections show Golkar's candidates trailing in last place.
In West Java, Golkar and the Democratic Party nominated incumbent Governor Danny Setiawan and his running mate, former West Java military commander Maj. Gen. Iwan Sulandjana.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)'s Ahmad Heryawan and actor-cum-lawmaker Dede Yusuf of the National Mandate Party (PAN) look set to win that election.
PKS candidate Syamsul Arifin also leads the North Sumatra vote count. Golkar's Ali Umri and Maratua Simanjuntak are last among the five pairs of candidates.
Kalla dismissed these poor results, saying regional elections are different from the national elections that will take place on April 5, 2009. "In regional elections, voters put a priority on the candidates, instead of the party, before casting their ballots," he said.
He said voters would consider the party nominating the candidates for the legislative and presidential elections. "Therefore, I'm still upbeat (about the upcoming elections)," he said.
Golkar won 21.6 percent of the vote in the 2004 general election.
Kalla also dismissed the idea that the public wanted change by voting for younger candidates.
"It's definitely not true. Just look at the North Sumatra elections. The winners are not new figures. They are the former regent and from the older generation," he said.
"There are too many factors, including the success of campaigns and the figure of the candidates. While for the incumbents, voters will see the achievements during their leadership."
Kalla said many Golkar members were also backed by other parties in regional elections. "The North Sumatra governor candidate Syamsul Arifin is a Golkar cadre but he was nominated by other parties," he said. Syamsul is a former chairman of Golkar's local advisory board.
Kalla said decisions on nominating governor candidates were now in the hands of the party's provincial board members.
"We promote democracy in choosing governor candidates. Golkar's central board only has 40 percent of the vote to determine the candidates. Sixty percent is at the provincial level.
"While for the regent candidates, the central board has only 30 percent, while 70 of the vote belongs to respective local boards," he said.
Kalla also dismissed calls from party members for an extraordinary meeting to respond to Golkar's recent losses in regional elections.