G

olkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie appeared confident on Tuesday while campaigning in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the home turf of former vice president Jusuf Kalla, a native of the city who has been touted as a potential vice presidential candidate.

Aburizal and his 50-strong entourage arrived on a Fokker F100 executive jet at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, where several local party leaders had been waiting for him.

Dozens of Golkar supporters wearing Golkar shirts and waving miniature party flags were dispatched to greet Aburizal. Outside the airport, hundreds of motorcyclists, joined by a dangdut singer who energized the crowd from atop of a truck, could be seen escorting Aburizal to the Tamalanrea field where he was set to speak.

Upon leaving the airport, Aburizal boarded an open-roof vehicle, from where he greeted his supporters on the way to the campaign area.

While driving along Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, Aburizal and his entourage witnessed overwhelming support for Kalla in Sulawesi'€™s biggest city.

Oversized banners showed local support for the former Golkar chairman, either as a presidential or vice presidential candidate.

A member of Aburizal'€™s entourage said the local party chapter had attempted to rid the streets of banners supporting Kalla before Aburizal'€™s arrival. '€œBut maybe they were too many or some might have been put up again.'€

Kalla is known as one of the most popular Golkar politicians, especially among voters in the eastern part of the country.

With public opinion polls constantly showing Aburizal'€™s low electability rating, a splinter faction within the Golkar Party made up of politicians from the eastern part of the country has stepped up its efforts to get Kalla nominated as vice president.

However, Golkar'€™s South Sulawesi chapter has also made efforts to give the impression that the party is united behind Aburizal. In some areas, banners can be found with images of Aburizal and Kalla with the statement '€œJK: I am still Golkar'€.

Head of the provincial chapter, who is also governor of South Sulawesi, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, acknowledged that Kalla still had a strong influence on the region.

'€œKalla is a statesman who belongs to everybody. I think it is normal that he is claimed by all parties. We have no problem with that,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

When asked about political candidates from other parties using images of Kalla on posters, Syahril said that Golkar would let them be.

'€œI think Golkar is still solid here in South Sulawesi,'€ he said, denying suggestions that Kalla'€™s links to other parties could undermine support for Golkar.

When Aburizal finally arrived at the Tamalanrea field, a little over 1,000 people could be seen flocking the campaign area where Aburizal was expected to deliver his speech.

Kalla did not join the rally. '€œHe has been scheduled to campaign for Golkar in other cities,'€ Syahril said.

South Sulawesi is known as a Golkar stronghold and Syahril said that the party was targeting to increase its votes garnered there from 18 percent in 2009 to 35 percent this year.