Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Golkar looks likely to nominate a presidential candidate from within the party, after most regional members vowed to have a candidate of their own.

With Vice President and party chairman Jusuf Kalla giving his blessing to the move, many party officials are convinced Kalla's partnership with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may soon be over.

Leaders of the Golkar Party's provincial branches gathered Thursday at Kalla's residence, saying they had reached an agreement to press the party to pick its own candidate for the presidency.

Kalla invited 33 heads of the party's branches to his official residence, a day after the party's national meeting, to grant his approval of the branches' proposal, Kalla's inner circle said.

Senior Golkar member and close Kalla aide Firman Subagyo said the provincial branch leaders had met with Kalla to voice their demands that Golkar have its own presidential candidate.

"This is positive input, but not yet a binding decision," Firman told The Jakarta Post. "The final say will be made during the party's meeting after the legislative election."

Uu Rukmana, Golkar West Java chairman, said Kalla had supported the call for the party to name its own presidential candidate.

"He has agreed. He said 'It's your right.' And because all the provincial branches agree unanimously, the party's central board has no choice but to follow," he said. He added that after Kalla expressed his agreement, representatives from the North Maluku branch said they would nominate Kalla.

Golkar's regulations state that each branch at the provincial, municipal and regency level, as well as members of the central board and affiliated organizations, may vote to decide to nominate the party's presidential candidate.

If all regional branches support the proposal, then they are assured of winning the party vote. Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono agreed that regional branch unity indicated the party would nominate its own candidate, threatening to end the Yudhoyono-Kalla partnership.

"Actually, we've already begun selecting our own presidential candidates. We hope to get all candidate lists from the branches by March at the latest," he said.

Golkar advisory board chairman Surya Paloh has also asked the party to nominate its own candidate.

Mohammad Qodari, executive director of pollster Indo Barometer, said rising calls for the party to pick its own candidate showed there was dissatisfaction with the incumbent team of Yudhoyono and Kalla. "It's a strong sign that the rift between Yudhoyono and Kalla could widen," he said.

He added many Golkar members were upset with Yudhoyono's continued reluctance to officially declare Kalla his running mate, during the Democratic Party's national meeting earlier this month.

"That anger was stoked further after a Democratic Party executive 'insulted' Golkar by saying it would only get 2.5 percent of votes in the legislative elections," Qodari said.