Jakarta – The Golkar Party officially joined the United Development Party (PPP) on Sunday in endorsing incumbent Governor Fauzi Bowo and his running mate, Nachrowi Ramli, in the gubernatorial runoff on Sept. 20.
The secretary-general of Golkar's Jakarta branch, Muhammad MH, said that the decision was made during the party's regional leaders meeting held on Saturday. He said that the party agreed to endorse the incumbent governor based on Fauzi's experience in governing the city for the last four years.
"We need a leader who has been tested and proven. This election is not a test," Muhammad said, claiming that Golkar's support would be worth an additional 10 percent of the vote to Fauzi on Sept. 20. Golkar's candidate in the first round of voting on July 11, Alex Noerdin, secured 4 percent of vote.
The announcement came after Golkar national chairman Aburizal "Ical" Bakrie said that the party would not endorse a candidate in the runoff and would instead give its support to "the people," as reported by kompas.com last week.
Hajriyanto Tohari, a member of Golkar's central executive board, said that the national party's decision to remain impartial in the runoff following Alex's defeat was in line with Jakarta's "rational" and "independent" voters.
Muhammad, however, said that Ical had given the party's local branch the go ahead to choose make an endorsement. "He [Ical] also agreed with our decision to support Fauzi," Muhammad said.
The PPP was the first party that lost on July 11 to back a candidate in the runoff, endorsing Fauzi on Thursday. PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali said experience shaped the party's decision.
In the election on July 11, Fauzi and Nachrowi were backed by the Democratic Party, the largest faction on the City Council, which holds 32 out of the 94 seats.
Fauzi's rivals in the runoff, Surakarta Mayor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and former East Belitung regent Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama are supported by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has 11 council seats, and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), which has six seats.
Jokowi met with leaders of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) on Sunday. The PKS, which holds 18 council seats, has remained undecided on its runoff endorsement.
"We were just talking about the first round election. We haven't discussed the [...] runoff in detail," PKS chairman Lutfi Hasan Ishaaq said on meeting Jokowi. "We'll support the person who is ready to accommodate the agenda of our losing candidate, Hidayat Nur Wahid."
Meanwhile, political analyst from think tank Charta Politika, Yunarto Wijaya, doubted that Fauzi's endorsements by Golkar and the PPP were based on their members' aspirations.
Yunarto said there were two scenarios behind the endorsements: It was an agreement forged party elites initiated by Fauzi or the Democratic Party to shore up their collective and individual prospects in the 2014 presidential election or it was what he called "political horse trading".
However, the endorsements would likely not have a big influence in the second round, as party affiliations have played a minimal role in this election, he said.
"They [voters] are affiliated with particular parties because they like their cultures or visions. But they vote for candidates who they like. They are not voting for the candidates' parties," he said.
These endorsements might backfire, he said, as Jokowi might benefit from being an underdog. "His image as the ganged-up and battered candidate as well as a non-elitist one may get stronger," he said. (han)