TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Aburizal's presidential bid must go ahead: Golkar youth
One of the Golkar Partyâs wing organizations has urged party chairman Aburizal Bakrie to pursue with his presidential candidacy amid growing speculation that he has been mulling whether to âdowngradeâ his target and become a vice-presidential candidate
Change Size
O
ne of the Golkar Party's wing organizations has urged party chairmanAburizal Bakrie to pursue with his presidential candidacy amid growing speculationthat he has been mulling whether to 'downgrade' his target and become a vice-presidentialcandidate.
The Indonesian Reform Youth Force (AMPI), one of Golkar's several wing organizations, stated in a press conference on Friday that Aburizal should not succumb to the growing pressure to abandon his presidential bid.
'AMPI obeys Golkar's official decision to nominate Aburizal as a presidential candidate, even though we know that the party's central executive board failed to reach the target of 30 percent of the popular vote in the April 9 legislative election,' AMPI chairman Dave Laksono said.
The statement came only days after Aburizal and the Gerindra Party's presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, made headlines after having a meeting that resulted in an agreement of political cooperation between Golkar and Gerindra ahead of the July 9 presidential election.
Although the full details of the deal between the two party leaders are not yet known, speculation has grown that Aburizal may be considering abandoning his presidential bid in favor of a vice-presidential ticket, given his electability rating that, according to a number of surveys, was far lower than Prabowo's.
Dave insisted, however, that if the Golkar-Gerindra cooperation materialized, Aburizal should secure the presidential candidacy, given Golkar's greater achievement in the last legislative election. Golkar garnered around 15 percent of the popular vote, while Gerindra only secured 11 percent, according to quick counts.
Dave said that AMPI's support for Aburizal's presidential bid would not prevent the organization from criticizing Aburizal's leadership in the upcoming National Executive Meeting, which is slated for May 9, particularly regarding the chairman's failure to attain Golkar's legislative election target.
'We have spoken with Golkar members in the regions and we have heard similar concerns. Something went wrong in this party when it came to the legislative election,' he said.
AMPI, as well as Golkar's other wing organizations and some of its senior politicians, are said to have planned an early succession for Aburizal on the basis of the election failure.
Among those touted to be Aburizal's potential successors is Coordinating People's Welfare Minister Agung Laksono, who also happens to be Dave's father.
