Vice President Jusuf Kalla sent Friday a clearer signal of his preparedness to contest the presidential election that could put his party on a collision course with his boss Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Kalla's statement of readiness to compete with Yudhoyono in the July presidential election was a foregone conclusion as the two have so far gone through a love-hate relationship.

“Whatever [the position] will be, I’m ready as long as it’s the best for the nation. Have I ever been unready when I’m backed?” he told a press conference at his office when asked to respond to his nomination as presidential candidate by Golkar Party provincial chapters .

Kalla, who also chairs Golkar, said it was the right of party chapters to decide who they wanted as presidential candidate.

“The central board cannot decide on everything. That [his nomination] is the democratic right of the party chapters,” he said.

But he said Golkar would only announce its presidential hopeful in its national meeting after the April 9 legislative elections. The party will shortlist a number of candidates next month.

On Thursday, 33 heads of party provincial chapters asked Kalla during a meeting at his official residence to allow the party to nominate its own presidential candidate.

Golkar West Java leader Uu Rukmana said Kalla supported  this. The Golkar chairman said the party central board had no choice but to follow the unanimous decision.

Representatives of North Maluku chapter also supported this.

Golkar stipulates each branch at provincial, municipal and regency level, as well as members of the central board and affiliated organizations, may vote to nominate the party presidential candidate.

Executive director of the polling institute Indo Barometer Mohammad Qodari said rising calls for Golkar to pick its own candidate was a sign of “a widening rift between Yudhoyono and Kalla”.

He said many Golkar members were upset by Yudhoyono’s re-luctance to declare Kalla his run-ning mate during the Democratic Party national meeting earlier this month.

A close confidant of Kalla said President Yudhoyono had taken many key decisions without consulting his deputy Kalla, including the recent appointment of the new Pertamina president director,  done while Kalla was overseas.

Kalla’s stated readiness to take on Yudhoyono in the upcoming presidential election may widen the rift between them.

But Kalla said the pair should carry on well together until the end of their tenure in October because they had been “elected by the people,” and not by their respective parties.

Golkar senior figure Syamsul Mu'arif hailed Kalla's bid for the presidency, saying it would give party supporters a morale boost.

Young Golkar politician Yuddy Chrisnandi concurred, saying Kalla had proven his competence.

"If Golkar is given the opportunity to lead the country, the poverty rate will drop by between 5 and 10 percent a year," he said.

The United Development Party (PPP) welcomed Kalla's readiness to run for the presidency, saying voters would have a lot of choices.  

"The more the merrier. There will be many national figures in store to lead the country," PPP secretary general Irgan Chairul Mahfiz told Antara news agency.

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