Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Seeking a new role on the national political stage, the youngest son of the late former president Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, officially declared his bid for the post of Golkar Party chief on Tuesday.
It is also his first appearance in front of the Golkar Party, which helped his father rule the country for 32 years, after serving his jail sentence in 2006 over the murder of a Supreme Court judge.
Tommy, a greenhorn when it comes to politics, conveyed his key agenda in a rare press conference, saying that if he was elected Golkar chairman, he would promote a free education system to help perk up the country's knowledge capital.
Calling his program "Trikarya", Tommy also vowed to bring back the "glory days" of Golkar under the New Order era, and transform it into an independent and dynamic party after its three defeats in the 1999, 2004 and 2009 general elections.
Golkar has to be a political "vehicle" for the people to make their dreams come true in the years ahead, he said. "Golkar will not coalesce with the government," he told reporters, as quoted by Antara state news agency.
He said Golkar should promote a 12-year compulsory and free education system as well as improve the quality of public health services. "With a state budget of more than Rp 100 trillion, it is not difficult to create a free education system."
A number of regional chapter leaders including Taufik Gunawan from Sumedang and Ali Salampessy from Maluku Tengah attended the press conference.
Tommy held a series of meeting with regional chapter leaders including a few from West Java provinces on Monday.
Tommy will be facing a tough competition when running against Golkar chief patrons Surya Paloh and Aburizal Bakrie, top legislator Ferry Mursyidan Baldan and young executive Yuddy Chrisnandi for the post, which is to be contested during the party's national congress on Oct. 4-7 in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru.
Yuddy officially declared his bid on Monday after his offer to support Tommy's sister, Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana, fell on deaf ears.
Aburizal, who is also the coordinating minister for the people's welfare, met with dozens of Golkar provincial chapter heads in Grand Mahakam Hotel in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The East Kalimantan provincial chapter leader, Mahyudin, admitted that 24 provincial chapter heads had promised to support Aburizal in the national congress.
Aburizal, who promised to donate Rp 1 trillion into a trust fund if elected, claimed he had secured the support of over 400 regional branches of the party.
Surya, owner of the Media Indonesia group, previously said he had won the support of 11 provincial chapters and more than 310 regency and municipal branches. He added that he wanted Golkar to be an opposition party in the coming five years, and vowed to have all party leaders actively involved in revitalizing Golkar so that it would perform well in the 2014 general elections.
Mustahid Astari, member of the patron board of SOKSI, an association affiliated with Golkar, said the party was in dire need of a strong leader with ideals as opposed to a leader seeking a coalition with the election-winning party.