'€œI hereby declare my nomination for Golkar Party chairman as the party approaches its national meeting [Munas],'€ he said as quoted by kompas.com in a written statement on Sunday.

Hidayat, who is also Industry Minister, said he was motivated to run for Golkar chairman as he wanted to prepare the party ahead of the 2019 elections.

He said special preparations needed to be carried out for the 2019 elections because this was for the first time Indonesia'€™s legislative and presidential elections would be held all at once.

Hidayat said he wanted to transform Golkar into a party that was able to serve the public, fulfilling people'€™s ultimate aspirations instead of petty conveniences.

'€œGolkar'€™s electoral vision for the 2019 general elections is to strive to win the support of as many voters as possible to put it in the best possible position in the life of this nation,'€ said Hidayat.

Several officials, including the party'€™s central board member Hajriyanto Y.Thohari, the West Java branch central executive board chairman Irianto MS Syafiuddin and a number of leading youth members from West Java were reported to have attended the declaration ceremony.

Aburizal Bakrie'€™s hold on the Golkar Party chairmanship seems to be weakening. His replacement will be decided at the Munas, however the date of the national meeting has yet to be decided.

A number of Golkar figures, including senior youth members, say the Munas must be held on Oct.4 at the latest, in line with the party'€™s statutes but Aburizal'€™s supporters insist that they will hold the national meeting in April 2015 at the latest, as recommended at the Munas in 2009. (dyl/ebf)

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