Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A series of defeats in regional elections and threats of disunity have led Golkar Party leadership to scrap its control of the distribution of legislative seats in next year's polls.

In spite of the election law which allows parties' central boards to appoint their loyalists to the legislative councils, Golkar has opted to determine its legislative members based on the votes each wins.

In previous elections, loyalists to party leaders commonly topped the list of legislative candidates and contested the election in the party's strongholds to ensure they would secure legislative seats.

Golkar leaders said the shift was a solution, albeit temporary, to rising tension among party factions over the appointment of legislative candidates for next year's election.

In a meeting at the party's headquarters in West Jakarta on Monday evening, Golkar leader and Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla approved the major change, senior politician Theo Sambuaga said. "We did have a long debate as a new idea must be challenged. But in the end, we all unanimously agreed it was the best way to overcome our challenges," said Theo, a Golkar deputy chairman.

Theo, who will not contest the election in 2009, said the shift would benefit the party as all candidates would work harder to win votes.

Golkar's lawmaker Harry Azhar Azis, who will seek re-election, said the shift had overcome problems long plaguing the party.

"We must change as we have conceded defeats in a series of gubernatorial elections. We hope the new policy will change the course of our trend. It is a mutually beneficial compromise for all sides," he said.

Golkar has recently lost gubernatorial elections in its traditional strongholds, including West Java, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.

The latest national surveys by Indo Barometer, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the Indonesian Institute placed Golkar behind the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the 2009 legislative election.

Golkar had faced an imminent split, with popular lawmakers like Yuddhi Chrisnandi threatening to quit after he was demoted from No. 1 to No. 3 on the party list for Cirebon electoral district. "We know that only two from Golkar will get the seat. Moving me to No. 3 meant dumping me," he said Sunday.

Several of Golkar's old guards like former chairman Akbar Tanjung publicly defended the House's legislation body chairman Ferry Mursyidan Baldan for re-election following rumors he would soon be shown the door.

The split within the party was apparent when Golkar deputy chairman Andi Mattalatta, who is also the justice and human rights minister, slammed Yuddhi's threat as an effort to increase popularity.

Theo openly disagreed with Andi, saying both Yuddhi and Ferry were "valuable assets of the party". "Both of them remain our legislative candidates. They have shown their good performance and proved they could lure voters in their own regions," he said.