Surya Paloh a strong contender to lead Hanura

JAKARTA: Media mogul Surya Paloh, who lost out in a recent race for the Golkar Party chairmanship, has moved to the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) to try his luck in that party's leadership contest next month.

An official from Hanura's East Java branch, Iwan Sumartono, announced Tuesday that Surya was a strong contender to lead Hanura and replace party founder Wiranto.

"One of the strongest candidates is Surya. Wiranto would then be the party's chief advisor," Iwan told news portal tempointeraktif.com on Tuesday.

Iwan noted that the majority of Hanura's local branches still wanted Wiranto to lead the party.

"If Wiranto remained party chairman, Surya could become deputy chairman," he added.

Meanwhile, Dossy Iskandar, Hanura's East Java branch chairman, is seen by many as the favorite to win the party's secretary-general post. - JP