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Hopefuls rally to strip Aburizal's chairmanship
Although formal steps to expedite the Golkar Partyâs national congress in order to replace Aburizal Bakrie as party chairman have yet to be taken, several chairman hopefuls have begun wooing the partyâs regional leadership to support the move
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lthough formal steps to expedite the Golkar Party's national congress in order to replace Aburizal Bakrie as party chairman have yet to be taken, several chairman hopefuls have begun wooing the party's regional leadership to support the move.
Division within Golkar ' currently the country's second-biggest party based on its share of legislative seats ' has worsened in the wake of Prabowo Subianto's and Hatta Rajasa's failed presidential bid, which the party formally supported against the wishes of many influential party members.
Numerous party figures who endorsed winning rival ticket Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo-Jusuf Kalla, have called for a special congress this year to unseat Aburizal, despite the 2009 congress' recommendation to hold it in 2015.
Analysts said that a leadership succession within Golkar could take place prior to Jokowi's presidential inauguration in October in order to replace Aburizal and his supporters on the party's executive board with supporters of Golkar member and vice-president elect Kalla ' Aburizal's predecessor ' clearing the way for Golkar to join Jokowi's governing coalition.
Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono, who has been touted as one of the strongest candidates to replace Aburizal, acknowledged that discussions regarding a congress had already taken place withseveral Golkar regional executives.
Agung, the coordinating people's welfare minister, said that support had been building among members of Golkar's central executive board to hold an immediate national leadership meeting, or Rapimnas.
'The Rapimnas is crucial as a forum to evaluate the presidential election, just like the one we had immediately after the April 9 legislative election,' Agung said at the State Palace on Monday.
Lawmaker Poempida Hidayatulloh, Kalla's spokesman, said that the vice-president elect had scheduled a meeting with representatives of Golkar's 33 provincial branches.
'The aspirations of [each separate] region are very important in determining Golkar's future political position,' said Poempida, whose party membership was recently revoked by Aburizal for his refusal to support the Prabowo-Hatta ticket.
The chairman of Golkar's advisory council, Akbar Tandjung, claimed that the 2009 congress decision to hold the next congress in 2015 was binding.
'If you want a congress this year, you have to first annul the 2009 decision [to hold a congress in 2015]. And the forum with the power to annul a congress decision is also a congress; in this case, an extraordinary congress,' Akbar said.
'But holding an extraordinary congress requires recommendations from at least two-thirds of the 33 provincial branches,' he added.
In addition to Agung, Industry Minister MS Hidayat, who has close ties with Akbar, has also voiced his ambition to run for party chairman.
Other candidates include lawmakers Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita and Mahyudin, Bosowa Corporation CEO deputy secretary-general Erwin Aksa and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo, who is also Golkar party deputy chairman.
