When the dust settles from the Golkar Party's national congress in Bali to pick a new leader, it will be the opposition Red-White coalition, or KMP, that emerges the real winner of the bruising saga that has riven Indonesia's oldest party.

And while Golkar stalwarts Agung Laksono and Priyo Budi Santoso failed in their bid to prevent the re-election of Aburizal Bakrie as chairman, the real loser will be the Awesome Indonesia coalition, or KIH, of President Joko Widodo – and by extension, perhaps the Indonesian public as a whole.

The KIH lost its proxy battle to wrest control from Aburizal of Golkar, Indonesia's best-managed party with a political machinery and network that covers virtually the entire country down to the village level.

Golkar is the soul of the opposition bloc because its members, among the most experienced and skillful of Indonesia's politicians, are the backbone and engine of any move the opposition initiates. Removing it from the KMP would, for Joko's camp, be akin to defanging a cobra; the opposition would have been rendered irrelevant and insignificant.

That would have allowed Joko greater freedom to realize his pro-people agenda for a better Indonesia. But the opportunity is now gone because the KIH failed to put up a serious fight, limiting itself to jabs over the airwaves, through Metro TV. With the opposition intact – and even stronger after the dismissal of the pro-Joko Golkar members – we can expect a rockier road ahead for Joko.

Democracy needs a system of checks and balances, which is where a credible opposition comes in. But Indonesia's democracy is far from mature, and we fear the KMP will aim only to sabotage Joko's programs. We can only hope they prioritize the people's interests over their lust for power.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-aburizals-golkar-win-jokowi-loser/