This is the first of a series on Golkar’s strategy in the coalition and for winning the 2014 general elections.
Heavy hitters: Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie (right), patron board chairman Akbar Tandjung (center) and his deputy, Theo L. Sambuaga talk at the close of Golkar’s recent leadership meeting. The powwow was the first since Bakrie, popularly known as Ical, was elected party chief after Golkar’s national congress in Pekanbaru, Riau, in October 2009. Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf At the Golkar Party’s recent national leadership meeting, party chairman Aburizal “Ical” Bakrie was endorsed by 30 provincial leaders as Golkar’s candidate in the 2014 presidential elections.
The business tycoon and former coordinating public welfare minister declined the endorsement, saying that the party was in no rush to name a presidential candidate, given that the election was still far away.
But despite his refusal, he did not reject the provincial leaders’ move.
Ical said Golkar would instead focus on its program under the slogan “Voice of the People” and go to villages to absorb the popular political aspirations.
According to a survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) in August and September, Golkar has an excellent chance to win the next general election in 2014, if the party can mend Ical’s image.
Political analysts saw the naming of Aburizal as a potential candidate as part of a grand design to repair Ical’s badly-tarnished image and nominate him as the party’s presidential candidate.
Paramadina University political analyst Burhanuddin Muchtadi said that Golkar was testing the waters and exploring public reaction in a long process to manipulate public opinion and prepare for Ical’s presidential candidacy.
“The next presidential race is still far away, of course, but from this moment on the party is in a race against time to create a good image for Ical so that his candidacy will not meet strong opposition from the public or his political opponents,” he said.
He said the political support for Ical’s candidacy came from provincial functionaries who had been appointed by Ical to their current positions.
“Whoever the provincial functionaries are, they won’t take the political risk of being replaced. Even functionaries in the regencies and municipalities will show loyalty to the party boss when facing choices to maintain their political interests in the party and their current positions. Further, many party members are lining up to be candidates in the 2014 legislative elections.”
Golkar, according to Burhadunuddin, was well aware of Ical’s public perception problem and that Bakrie’s name was often mentioned in alleged tax evasion cases and the Lapindo mudflow tragedy, which allegedly involved his holding group and members of his family.
Ical and Lapindo Brantas Ltd., a unit of Bakrie Holding Group have been asked to take responsibility for the 2006 mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, that has buried many villages and displaced thousands of people.
Lapindo has yet to pay full compensation to mudflow victims.
The public has been also disappointed with law enforcement officials who have yet to investigate allegations of tax irregularities.
University of Indonesia political analyst Arbi Sanit said Ical would not yet declare his candidacy in an apparent effort to preserve his personal relationship with the President and other parties in the ruling coalition.
“Golkar is enjoying his presence in the coalition and Ical also has a similar feelings with the leadership in the party. This has helped him to protect his business, thanks to his good relations with the President. This is why Golkar doesn’t have the political courage to leave the coalition despite increasing demands from party members.”
Arbi said Ical has reaped political and economic advantages fromhis close personal friendship with Yudhoyono, although Ical could not silence increasing demands from factions for Golkar to exit from the coalition and the government.
To give better political education to the nation, he said, Golkar should not beat its own drum since Yudhoyono had won the election.
Golkar should join the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Gerindra and Hanura in “the opposition line” and closely supervise the executive and its policies under the checks-and-balances mechanism, he added.
