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Golkar candidates must pay $75,000 in chairperson race
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Close talks – Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie (right) talks with fellow Golkar veteran and Indonesia's third president BJ Habibie during the party's national leaders' meeting at the Jakarta Convention Center in January. The meeting was part of Golkar's efforts to consolidate and unite its members. (Antara/Widodo S.Jusuf)
T
he Golkar Party's central executive board (DPP) has outlined several rules ahead of the party’s extraordinary national congress (Munaslub), which will be held in Bali in May.
In a plenary meeting on Thursday, the board decided that each candidate for the position of party chairperson must pay a Rp 1 billion (US$75,000) donation when he or she registers for the chairmanship race.
The three-day congress is set to be held at Nusa Dua Convention Center in Bali from May 23 to May 25.
Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie said the congress funding would be covered jointly by all parties involved, including the party's DPP, party members and chairperson candidates.
"Every chairman candidate must pay Rp 1 billion," Aburizal said at the party’s headquarters in Slipi, West Jakarta, on Thursday.
The meeting rejected one element of a proposal put forward by the congress’ Steering Committee, namely regarding pocket money. Meanwhile, the meeting agreed on extending transportation fees for participants, but the amount received will differ depending on the regions they belong to.
During the plenary meeting, the Steering Committee initially suggested to the DPP that each chairperson candidate pay between Rp 5 billion to Rp 10 billion. The amount was calculated based on the committee’s estimation that there would be six to nine prospective chairperson candidates during the congress.
However, the suggestion was rejected and the meeting agreed that each candidate must pay Rp 1 billion. The donations will be used to cover various expenses related to each candidate’s nomination, such as venue rental, transportation, fees for congress participants and their accommodation. The donations will also cover public debates between the candidates, which will be aired live on a national TV channel.
Apart from the Rp 1 billion mandatory donation, all chairperson candidates are also required to give additional contributions in line with their financial capacity.
The Golkar DPP said it relied on donations provided by chairperson candidates for organizing the congress but also agreed to share some of the financial responsibilities.
Steering Committee secretary Agun Gunandjar said all chairperson candidates were allowed to discuss the sources of additional donations they needed to make to cover their candidacy.
"If they cannot find an agreement, we will ask the DPP as the organizer of the congress to cover the remaining funds," Agun said on Thursday.
Steering Committee chairman Nurdin Halid said Golkar would need approximately Rp 47 billion to organize the national congress. (ebf)
