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n a speech that showed the increasing clout of the Golkar Party in the coalition government, party chairman Aburizal Bakrie said his party would support the Yudhoyono administration until 2014 and claimed that it was ready to compete in the upcoming election.

Aburizal delivered a speech before around 100,000 Golkar cadres that flocked the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium to celebrate the party’s 47th anniversary on Saturday. The event was attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and leaders of other political parties.

“Last year I said that the sky was still blue, but the rice paddies were growing yellow,” Aburizal said in his speech.

“This year, I assert that the rice paddies will keep on yellowing and will be ready for harvest.”

Blue is the color of the Democratic Party, while yellow is Golkar.

Golkar, the largest coalition partner of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, has repeatedly claimed its support for Yudhoyono, though it has many times gone against the coalition lines on crucial issues, including the Bank Century bailout scandal that could lead to the impeachment of the President.

He said Golkar was a “true friend” of the government but it did not mean that it wouldn’t be tough on it.

“I want to emphasize, once again, that Golkar Party is a true friend. We are friendly but assertive; critical but loyal; gentle and polite but can be tough and courageous when necessary.”

Aburizal, who has been touted as the party’s presidential candidate to replace Yudhoyono in 2014, claimed that Golkar was reaching out its friendship with everyone within and outside the government.

“Golkar is ready to stand in the forefront, leading the country firmly, fairly and truly to defend the people’s interests.”

Despite Golkar’s political maneuvering that has often jeopardized his administration, President Yudhoyono was appreciative of Golkar, acknowledging its “contribution to the country”.

In his speech at the event, Yudhoyono called on Golkar as a party that supported the government to continue building the country.

Golkar, which garnered 14.4 percent of votes in the 2009 legislative election, has set an ambitious target of gaining 25 percent of votes in the 2014 poll.

The party is confident the target could be reached as its popularity is rising in the past few months according to recent surveys.

The Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) found in its latest poll that Golkar is the strongest party in the country, with 18.2 percent of the 1,200 people saying they would vote for the party.

Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party only received 16.5 percent of support, according to the LSI’s survey, which found that the party’s popularity waned in the wake of a high-profile graft scandal involving former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, who also accused his former colleagues of graft.

During Golkar’s leadership meeting on Friday, Bakrie even boasted that with better consolidation and hard work, his party could gain up to 35 percent of votes — success that was only once achieved by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) following the downfall of the Soeharto regime.