he Golkar Party has kicked off on Monday a national leadership meeting (rapimnas) at the Jakarta Convention Center in Central Jakarta where it is set to inaugurate its new chairman Airlangga Hartarto.
The rapimnas is part of an event preceding an extraordinary congress slated for Monday evening. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is set to open the Congress.
Golkar executive chief Nurdin Halid said Golkar’s regional branches were expected to gather at the congress to emphasize their commitment to support Jokowi’s bid for a second tenure in the 2019 presidential election.
Golkar was the first political party to endorse Jokowi’s reelection bid.
“We will announce our political stance on supporting Jokowi for the 2019 presidential election,” Nurdin told reporters.
Jokowi’s attendance at the meeting, Nurdin said, would boost the morale of all Golkar cadres, particularly after the party had experienced the setback of legal proceedings being brought against former chairman Setya Novanto related to the e-ID graft case.
During last week’s plenary meeting, the party appointed Airlangga, who serves as the Industry Minister in Jokowi's Cabinet, as the chairman to replace Setya.
The majority of cadres expect the inauguration to run smoothly without any “distractions” from certain factions within the party amid reports that Setya loyalists will oppose the decision and demand a chairmanship race.
“Anything could happen during the congress because we will ask for the opinions of [representatives] from the regional branches. We could discuss any matter relating to [political] dynamics during the congress,” Airlangga said. (dmr)
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