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Golkar kicks off chairmanship race as hopefuls declare interest
Having been embattled by dual leadership for over a year, the Golkar Party has kicked off its chairmanship race in the lead-up to its extraordinary congress
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aving been embattled by dual leadership for over a year, the Golkar Party has kicked off its chairmanship race in the lead-up to its extraordinary congress.
Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono, previously a leader of the two rival camps within the party, said that there would be three names put forward for chairmanship at the congress.
He said that currently there were 12 members that met the requirements for candidacy stipulated in the party's rules of association (AD/ART).
'They will go through precandidacy and candidacy selection,' Agung said on Monday.
Those who garnered the votes of more than 30 percent of party members, Agung said, would get a ticket for the race.
The eligible 12 include House of Representatives Speaker Ade Komarudin, party secretary-general Idrus Marham, House Commission III head Azis Syamsuddin, the party's House faction chairman Setya Novanto, lawmakers Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita and Airlangga Hartarto and party executives Mahyudin and Priyo Budi Santoso.
The 12 eligible members must now decide whether to declare their interest in becoming party chairman.
Idrus Marham was the first to declare his interest, saying it he was 'inspired' to fix the situation in the party by the ongoing dispute.
'God willing, I will take concrete action to make sure that Golkar gets better,' Idrus said as quoted by tribunnews.com.
Mahyudin has also declared that he would enter the race but said that he did not want be too aggressive in gaining support and that he was preparing ideas and concepts for developing the party.
Senior politician Roem Kono, a chairman of the Golkar Mutual Assistance Families Association (MKGR), also declared he would join, saying his decision was based on the demands of MKGR cadres.
For Ade, however, running for chairman may not be easy as fellow politicians have demanded that he step down as speaker if he wants to join the race.
Golkar politician Ridwan Bae said that the party's provincial executives from across the country had decided at a recent meeting in West Nusa Tenggara that Ade would be allowed to nominate as long as he was no longer House speaker.
'The requirement actually came from Ade himself. It was a promise he made to Aburizal,' said the member of the House's Ethics Council, adding that it all made sense because a party chairman should focus only on managing the party and put aside House business.
However, Ade denied the promise and claimed that Aburizal had given him a green light to join the race without stepping down from his position as speaker.
'That's not right. I have discussed it with Aburizal. I will always be ready for this competition and respect all decisions from seniors,' Ade said.
He also claimed that the party's AD/ART stipulated nothing about a prohibition on House speakers joining the race for party chairmanship.
Golkar politician and lawmaker Mukhamad Misbakhun confirmed that Aburizal had indeed let Ade join the competition.
'Of course [he can]. We talked about it last night by phone. All members who are interested are allowed to join the competition in a fair way,' Misbakhun said, citing a message sent by Aburizal to a group on the smartphone application WhatsApp.
