Senior Golkar Party officials are divided over the notion of pairing Aburizal Bakrie, the party chairman, with former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati for the 2014 presidential election.
Fadel Muhammad, a Golkar deputy chairman, said on Friday that an earlier proposal by another deputy, Priyo Budi Santoso, that Sri Mulyani would make an ideal vice presidential candidate would not suit the party's platform.
"Sri Mulyani is clever and smart but she represents a different political stream, different from Golkar's," he said.
"So it's unlikely that she will be recruited [as Aburizal's running mate]." Fadel explained that he understood why Sri Mulyani's name was mentioned as a candidate, pointing out that as a non-Javanese candidate, Aburizal would need a Javanese native on his ticket to appeal to the country's biggest voting bloc.
However, Fadel said he was afraid that Sri Mulyani's orientation might not fit Golkar's mainstream of political agenda.
Earlier this week, Priyo, who is also a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said that Aburizal could choose Sri Mulyani as his running mate in 2014. He called the former finance minister, now a World Bank managing director, an "honest and credible" figure who understood the problems that Indonesia faced.
Priyo's statement came after the Independent People's Union Party (SRI), which planned to nominate Sri Mulyani as its candidate in the presidential election, failed to qualify for the legislative election.
Idrus Marham, the Golkar secretary general, agreed with Priyo, saying that Sri Mulyani would be on the list of potential vice preseidential picks next year.
"Golkar will consider several possible candidates," he said. He added that this particular issue would be discussed internally by the party's leadership.
The proposition of foisting Sri Mulyani onto Aburizal is not likely to go down well with loyalists of the chairman, who is widely believed to have engineered her abrupt exit from the cabinet in 2010 amid moves by Golkar legislators to pursue an inquiry into the controversial Bank Century bailout that she oversaw in 2008.
In a report published by the Financial Times shortly after her departure, Sri Mulyani said her efforts to reform the economic system had been "hijacked by a number of actors in the business and political sectors."
She said the reason for her resignation was the barrage of political attacks she had to face and that "a political marriage had occurred" that would not uphold the needs of the public, and which she could not "afford to be a part of."
Fadjroel Rachman of the Anti-Corruption Civil Society Coalition said at the time that Sri Mulyani was referring to the alliance between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Aburizal.
Fadjroel added that Aburizal needed Yudhoyono to clear his companies of tax-related legal disputes. In turn, Yudhoyono needed Aburizal to reel in Golkar's political pressure over the Bank Century saga.
However, analysts contend that in politics there are no eternal friends or foes, only eternal interests, and and that is what is now happening.
They argue that political foes across the spectrum are now moving closer to each other – not for a fight but to team up to contest the 2014 presidential election. That include the possibility of an Aburizal-Sri Mulyani ticket.
However, Golkar has reportedly written down the names of two other potential candidates – Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud M.D. and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo – for possible selection next year.
Golkar remains confident about its chairman's popularity and electability despite opinion polls that have never put Aburizal on top of the list.
Most opinion polls have Prabowo Subianto, a retired Army general and co-founder of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), as leading the pack, while others favor former President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Another favorite is Jusuf Kalla, the former Golkar chairman. Aburizal typically comes behind these others.
In recent months, younger generation leaders have called for "new faces" to contest the presidential election because they have gotten tired of seeing the same old candidates running over and over again.
Metrotvnews.com conducted an opinion poll to see who were the favorite alternative candidates from the younger generation. Golkar's Priyo came out on top. Other popular names on the list were Anies Baswedan, the rector of Paramadina University; businessman Sandiaga Uno; Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Abraham Samad; and Puan Maharani, Megawati's daughter and the House chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Other alternative candidates polling well because of their experience, credibility and good track records are Irman Gusman, the speaker of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), and Chairul Tanjung, chairman of the National Economic Commission (KEN).
Irman is currently accompanying President Yudhoyono on state visits to Britain and Laos. His close personal ties with Yudhoyono mean he could be endorsed by the ruling Democratic Party as its candidate when the party holds its caucus next year.
All these possibilities will represent a big challenge for Aburizal, therefore Golkar needs to multiply its efforts to win over voters, analysts say.
In a related development, Golkar issued a 10-point declaration on Friday to appeal to voters. This comes weeks after a report by Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam said the party had the largest number of corrupt regional executive leaders.
Among other points, the party reiterated its commitment to eradicating corruption down to its roots in the bureaucracy and in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.