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Reading a `Surya Paloh factor' in Golkar
The Jakarta Post's editorial on Feb
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The Jakarta Post's editorial on Feb. 23 depicts the dilemma of Jusuf Kalla in the Golkar Party today. Thirty-three provincial leaders from the Golkar Party visited his official residence demanding that he declare himself a presidential candidate for the party. For Kalla, a realistic politician, it seemed this fait accompli was unexpected.
Responding to this dilemma, the Post raised the question: "Will Vice President Jusuf Kalla remain the running mate of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or will JK challenge SBY in the July presidential election?" While I believe no one is able to give the exact answer, the roots of Kalla's dilemma must be found in the specific power relations that prevail in the Golkar Party.
Since its rebirth in the early years of the New Order era, Golkar had functioned as a breeding ground for the new Indonesian elite, in terms of both politics and economics, under the tight control of former president Soeharto. The basic question since the regime fell in May 1998 is whether Golkar has not lost its unifying factor.
Instead, how the elites it bred enjoyed their freedom from Soeharto's control, while at the same time possessing formidable political and economic resources they had accrued during the three decades of the New Order era. For, in a national situation where material well-being was scarce, these elites faced no difficulties in adjusting themselves to the new environment.
The post-Soeharto Golkar Party, therefore, was not only glutted with well-to-do and agile politicians, but also independent people answerable to no one.
As a result, this party served only as a loose conglomeration of notables, each with his or her own aspirations, desires and ambitions. Because each of them was endowed with material wealth, they were automatically able to finance their own political projects.
It can be understood then, if the chairman of Golkar acted merely as a primus enter pare (first among equals) - and thus had no thorough command over these notables. As a consequence, although it officially appeared as an organization, the structure of power relations within Golkar's elite circle was more horizontal than the vertical in nature.
It is in this context that Surya Paloh's position deserves special attention. Having carved a political career in the Golkar Party in his early years in Medan, Paloh impressed the powerful Jakarta military-based group by establishing the FKPPI, a communications forum for the children of retired army personnel in late 1970s. He then became a young entrepreneur, owning a catering company, Indocater. Early in the 1980s, he realized his deep and long-time dream of publishing a newspaper, Prioritas.
It was curious that, although listed as a member of Jakarta's elite inner circle and a close friend of Soeharto's sons, especially Bambang Trihatmodjo, Prioritas unhesitatingly criticized the New Order policies, which finally led to it being banned. But he refused to succumb by obtaining another a publication permit letter (SIUP) for Media Indonesia.
His newspapers ownership expanded ever larger to local papers in Aceh, Medan, Palembang, Padang, Lampung and Manado - although the Lampung Pos is the only one to survive.
When, between 1996 and 1997, he succeeded in establishing the first Indonesian news television channel, MetroTV, Surya Paloh's public influence arrived at an unassailable point. In this position, the fall of the New Order regime was a declaration of his freedom from the previous political patronage.
It was with this full-fledged independence he re-entered the Golkar Party in 2004 through its Bali congress. Being second to no one, Paloh exerted his personal influence within Golkar. With a notorious lack of an ideological base, this party stood on no solid foundations, running in accordance with the improvised ideas of its elite.
A seasoned political activist, Paloh wasted no time, injecting the party with a "morbid program", organizing mass rallies with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in Medan and Palembang, and publicly stating that both parties spoke the same language.
This flirting with the PDI-P is an open expression of Paloh's personal independence. For in playing political games, he is always in a position of nothing to lose.
More importantly, however, this maneuver marks his opposition to the Yudhoyono-Kalla pairing - who, in fact, are governing Indonesia based on the support of the Democrat and Golkar parties.
It remains to be seen how this story will end. But, last week's visit by 33 provincial leaders from Golkar, demanding Kalla declare himself a presidential candidate, shows, for the time being, the "victory" of Surya Paloh.
The writer is the Jakarta-based director of the Institute for the Study and Advancement of Business Ethics (LSPEV Indonesia).
