Golkar Party chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie dismissed on Tuesday the possibility that the Lapindo mudflow could be a major hurdle in his electability in the 2014 presidential election.

"[The Sidoarjo mudflow] is not a burden for us," said Bakrie when asked whether the controversial disaster would be a political burden to his presidential bid or to the Golkar Party's electability.

"We have resolved 90 percent [of the Sidoarjo residents' compensation]. That is fact; if there is anyone who says otherwise then so be it," he added.

Bakrie is affiliated with oil and gas company PT Lapindo Brantas, a company accused of being responsible for the 2006 mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Bakrie said the company had paid victims compensation 20 times more than the real value of their assets. Bakrie went on to describe the Lapindo mudflow disaster as "no more than a business transaction".

Despite his assurance that Lapindo had paid 90 percent of the compensation to victims, the company has remained in the media spotlight throughout the year.

In May, hundreds of mudflow victims rallied on the fifth anniversary of the disaster and demanded unpaid compensation from Lapindo.

Mudflow victims from Mindi village, Sidoarjo, also staged a rally in July by blocking highways and dismantling railway tracks in Porong district, East Java, claiming that the government and Lapindo were ignoring their desperate plight. (sat)