Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Similar to former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, Golkar Party Chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie has a strategic role to play as kingmaker in the 2014 presidential race, according to People's Consultative Assembly Chairman Taufik Kiemas.
Taufik said he respected Bakrie's rights to run for president but he should bear in mind numerous factors, including his age, which could hamper him from winning the race while the party had younger and more talented cadre to be nominated.
"Ical and his predecessor Jusuf Kalla are both too old for the presidential job in 2014. What will they look for with the No. 1 position as they have gotten many, including ministerial posts, in the government?" he said here on Monday.
Bakrie was born in 1946, while Kalla in 1942, making them 68 and 72 years old, respectively, in 2014. Winning increasing support from the party's provincial chapters last week, Bakrie said he would hold a special party congress ahead of schedule this June aimed at officially nominating himself as the party's presidential candidate in 2014. Kalla has already announced his readiness to be nominated by the party to contend the presidential race.
According to Bakrie, he should play his role as one of the party's best cadres in a role that will give him a special position and respect in the future if his party wins the race.
"Like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar has many young and talented cadres who are marketable and have potential to develop the country in the future," Taufik said, citing as examples Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso and Golkar Secretary General Idrus Marham, his own daughter Puan Maharani and PDI-P lawmaker Gandjar Pranowo.
Separately, University of Indonesia political analyst Iberamsyah warned Bakrie of considering his personal capacity, saying that if he went ahead he would face stronger rivals from other parties expected to nominate young and talented hopefuls.
"Ical takes no consideration of his personal capacity and capability. He has received his nomination only for his personal obsessions and ambitions," he said, adding his nomination would likely meet opposition from certain party elites and their supporters in regional branches and at the grass roots level.