Ferry Irwanto, Febriamy Hutapea & Heru Andriyanto – Jusuf Kalla's poor performance in the presidential election has prompted several leaders of his Golkar Party to call on him to step down as party chairman.
All six election quick counts show Kalla and his running mate Wiranto, from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), trailing well behind the other candidates with only 12 percent of the vote.
Senior Golkar member Marzuki Darusman described the result as "the worst in Golkar's history," and urged Kalla to resign before the party's convention, which is scheduled for October.
"We predicted the results long before the election because Golkar never prepared its own candidate," Marzuki said.
"We entered the election knowing that we didn't have a candidate because, in the beginning, JK positioned himself as the running mate of SBY," he said, referring to Kalla and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono by their initials.
"The party must now speed up the leadership succession without waiting for the five-yearly national convention scheduled for October. The convention must be held in the next one or two months."
Former Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, who is regarded as an opponent of Kalla, also called for an early convention so that the party could better prepare for the 2014 polls.
"Kalla's mistake was that he refused to consolidate the party in his first year leading Golkar. He said at the time everything could be arranged six months ahead of the election," said Akbar, who openly challenged Kalla's presidential bid by gathering party leaders at the district level to question Golkar's poor showing in April's legislative elections.
"We need to hear the accountability report from the party leader so representatives from regional chapters can evaluate whether or not his leadership is good, and the sooner the better," he said.
Akbar, who lost the chairmanship to Kalla at the 2004 convention, suggested that Golkar return to a coalition with Yudhoyono's Democratic Party on the basis of mutual respect, saying the party had experienced individuals who could make a positive contribution to the partnership.
Yuddy Chrisnandi, who was a spokesman for Kalla during the presidential race, said his camp preferred to wait until October to hold the national convention.
"I'm confident the national convention will follow the schedule; there will be no extraordinary convention," he said. "I believe party leaders will put the interests of the party ahead of their personal interests."
Meanwhile, political analyst Maswadi Rauf said on Thursday there was a considerable chance that Golkar could resume its role as one of Yudhoyono's biggest political supporters if Kalla were to step down.
Maswadi said he believed that Golkar would prefer to share power rather than serve in opposition. "That is why, before looking for a replacement for Kalla, Golkar should first determine whether to support or oppose the new government," he said.
If Golkar chooses to support the next government, Maswadi suggested the party replace Kalla after the new president's inauguration in October because it would only cause conflict if it pushed to appoint someone earlier.