Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Senior local Golkar Party leaders issued a statement on Thursday backing chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie as the party's next presidential candidate – three years before the 2014 election. Observers said the move was made to preempt internal challenges.
During the second day of Golkar's national executive meeting in North Jakarta on Thursday, representatives of all 33 provincial chapters moved to the podium to read a declaration backing Ical as the party's candidate.
Ical responded diplomatically. "I do not reject the proposal. But we need to focus on increasing Golkar's popularity rating to at least 20 percent. When that time comes, it will be the best time to declare our candidate. Next year's national executive meeting will be the best moment for that."
A senior Golkar politician told The Jakarta Post that the declaration was signed by all 33 provincial representatives only minutes before it was read publicly.
Lalu Mara, a Golkar executive and Ical confidant, said only 17 provincial chapters had officially backed Ical as of Thursday afternoon.
Golkar politician Zainal Bintang said many party members from eastern Indonesia were "reluctant" to support Ical. "They are Jusuf Kalla loyalists and those who were disappointed with Ical's decision to approve the dismissal of Fadel Muhammad from his ministerial post," he said.
Kalla – a Golkar member, former presidential candidate and former vice president – has retained many supporters around his hometown of Makassar, South Sulawesi. Although he lost to incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2009, loyalists want the respected and outspoken figure to run again in 2014.
Yudhoyono's latest Cabinet reshuffle included the firing of Fadel as Maritime Affairs and Fishery Minister. Fadel, who has close ties to Golkar chief patron Akbar Tandjung, was rumored to have "abused" his Cabinet post to position himself as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate, according to a source who declined to be named.
Fadel is famous in northern Sulawesi and Maluku. The Ternate-born businessman won more than 82 percent of the vote in the Gorontalo gubernatorial election in 2006. Amid the reshuffle, Ical retained Golkar politician Agung Laksono as Coordinating People's Welfare Minister, despite concerns about his performance, and recommended that the President fire Fadel.
"Agung is now with us," said a Golkar executive who was also an Ical supporter. After escaping the chopping block, Agung has made repeated statements backing Ical in 2014.
Analysts said that pleasing Agung, who controls many influential Golkar figures and several Golkar-affiliated organizations, was of greater value to Ical than keeping Fadel in the Cabinet.
A Golkar lawmaker, meanwhile, confirmed that many Golkar members, particularly senior members, were uncomfortable backing Ical's bid.
"Ical has serious cases such as the mud flow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, and high-profile tax cases involving big companies that belong to his family," the lawmaker said, adding that those concerns might be exploited by rivals in 2014.
The lawmaker described senior Golkar members as "politically pragmatic". "They are too 'thirsty' for power even if it requires Golkar to support candidates from other political parties," the lawmaker said. A long-established political party, Golkar has worked to minimize internal dissent, which was previously dynamic.
When asked about uniting the party, Ical said, "my strategy is to 'humanize' humans. Transparency, openness, and being direct with the grassroots are part of the efforts."
The announcement of the provincial chapters' supports for Ical, as well as several surveys that have named Ical as a popular potential presidential candidate, might serve as Ical's "early warning" to all Golkar members that supporting any candidate other than him would be very difficult, Zainal said.