Pekanbaru, Riau – Golkar advisory board member and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, was officially elected as the new Golkar Party chairman on Thursday morning after securing more than half of total votes at the party's national congress.

There were 538 people who had a right to cast a ballot, but two were considered invalid. Bakrie secured 296 votes, while his strongest rival, Surya Paloh, only managed 240. Fellow candidates Yuddy Chrisnandi and Tommy Suharto did not receive any votes.

"Aburizal Bakrie is declared [as the party's general chairman] by acclamation," Fadel Muhammad, the committee chairman, said.

However, the vote was not free from controversy. A witness alleged that someone used a camera pen when casting their vote.

"This has to be followed up, this must indicate that there was vote buying involved," the witness said. The congress, however, ignored the suggestion from the witness.