T

he Golkar Party is in the final stages of '€œindirectly'€ endorsing its former chairman Jusuf Kalla as the running mate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle'€™s (PDI-P) presidential candidate, Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, in a tactic to continue pursuing a share of power amid concerns about the low electability of its presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie, party officials have confirmed.

The party'€™s strategy is to continue its plan to register Aburizal as its presidential candidate, while preparing to shift support to a Jokowi-Kalla ticket in the second round of the presidential race. The 2008 Presidential Election Law stipulates that if there is no presidential-vice presidential candidate pair with more than 50 percent of the vote, the two pairs with the most votes advance to the second election round.

If the strategy is successful, it would resemble the '€œtricky'€ political pathway Golkar took to enter the government in 2004. At that time, Golkar endorsed the Wiranto-Salahuddin Wahid ticket, which lost in the first round. After the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Kalla ticket won the presidency, Golkar immediately ran an internal succession to install Kalla as its new chairman, which then paved the way for it to become part of the administration and secure two Cabinet seats.

When asked about the scenario, Golkar deputy chairman Fadel Muhammad said on Friday, '€œindeed, that has been our ['€¦] thinking'€.

Last week, a noted businessman and Golkar executive who is close to Kalla indicated that the former vice president was '€œvery close'€ to being named Jokowi'€™s running mate.

Some Golkar members distributed text messages saying '€œto form a stable and quality government, '€˜red and yellow'€™ are ready to form a coalition. This is for the sake of a better Indonesia,'€ referring to the colors of the PDI-P and Golkar.

Some have speculated that the PDI-P might have been running out of options after its legislative election result was '€œonly'€ around 19 percent '€” albeit at top of the list, but far lower than its target of 27 percent.

'€œThe PDI-P may wish to secure Golkar'€™s support as soon as possible. As the party that came in second in the legislative election with around 15 percent of the vote, Golkar is now being approached by many parties,'€ said one source. '€œGolkar may be the PDI-P'€™s best option because it has psychological barriers with the Gerindra Party and the Democratic Party.'€

Golkar executive Rizal Mallarangeng, who is also one of Aburizal'€™s confidants, confirmed to The Jakarta Post that talks between the leaderships of Golkar and the PDI-P had intensified after the legislative election.

However, he insisted that the cooperation between the two parties should not mean that Aburizal drop his candidacy.

When asked about the possibility of Golkar shifting its support to Jokowi in the second round of the presidential race, he told the Post that, '€œevery possibility is being explored'€.

Another source said it would be difficult for Aburizal to drop his presidential bid '€œbecause the candidacy has already gone this far and a cancellation might disappoint his supporters'€.

The source added that Golkar had '€œplayed'€ Kalla like a '€œjoker in a deck of cards'€ because a joker '€œcan be accepted as any suit'€. As a seasoned Golkar politician and high-profile businessman, Kalla is known as a figure who is accepted in business communities and by many different political parties. Among them is the National Awakening Party (PKB), which was touting Kalla as one of its potential presidential candidates even before the legislative polls.

As a member of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia'€™s largest Islamic organization, Kalla would also be accepted among the country'€™s vast Muslim communities, according to analysts. '€œWhile releasing its '€˜joker'€™, Golkar is still jockeying its '€˜king'€™ even though it knows the '€˜king'€™ is not flexible or powerful enough to win,'€ the source added, likely referring to Aburizal.