More than 3,000 Golkar members from 34 branches across the country took part in the congress on the resort island of Bali. The meeting of Indonesia’s second-biggest party in the House of Representatives was opened by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Eight men contested the election for Golkar’s top post with House Speaker Ade Komarudin and former House speaker Setya Novanto being the frontrunners among hopefuls Aziz Syamsuddin, Mahyudin, former lawmakers Airlangga Hartarto, Indra Bambang Utoyo and Priyo Budi Santoso as well as South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo. The election ended with controversial senior politician and lawmaker Setya Novanto garnering the most votes at the party’s national congress in the early hours of Tuesday, handing him the leader's post for the veteran party.
Setya started his political career in the lower rungs of the party, which was closely tied to the late dictator Soeharto. Setya climbed his way to the top until he was appointed Golkar treasurer.
The lawmaker, who sided with Aburizal in a leadership battle, was appointed House speaker for 2014 to 2019. He later came in the spotlight after a recording went public of a conversation between him, businessman Riza Chalid and former US-based mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin.
In the conversation, reportedly regarding a backroom deal with the company, Riza and Setya were suspected to have misused Jokowi’s name. The scandal rocked the House and its ethics council declared Setya guilty of misconduct, leading to his resignation from the speaker position in 2015. He was then appointed to lead the Golkar faction at the House.
In the Golkar national congress, businessman Setya was recorded to be the richest candidate, with Rp 114.77 billion and U$49,150 in assets. [dmr]