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Golkar eyes big prize in 2019 poll

Slimming down: Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto (right), accompanied by secretary-general Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus, announces the party’s new board members in Jakarta on Monday

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, January 23, 2018

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Golkar eyes big prize in 2019 poll

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span class="inline inline-center">Slimming down: Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto (right), accompanied by secretary-general Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus, announces the party’s new board members in Jakarta on Monday. The new board has seen a reduction in number from 305 to 251.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

After months-long internal strife, the Golkar Party’s new leadership has taken steps to consolidate power within the party and set a target of attaining greater electoral gains in the 2019 general elections.

On Monday, newly elected party chairman Airlangga Hartarto, who took office last month after replacing Setya Novanto, unveiled a new line-up for the party’s central board that included a retired army general who once headed the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus).

Airlangga assigned Lt. Gen. (ret) Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus the position of secretary-general, the party’s second-most important position. The 60-year-old Lodewijk served as commander of Kopassus in 2009 before being reassigned to command the military in North Sumatra.

He filled the position previously held by current Social Affairs Minister Idrus Marham who continues to hold a strategic portofolio in the party, serving as the party’s coordinator of party executive and legislative relations, a position that according to Airlangga “would not interfere with his ministerial duties.”

Lodewijk’s appointment appears to be a breach of the party’s protocol that states a Golkar politician can take up a position in the central board only after he or she served as party member within the last five years.

He joined Golkar in 2015, after spending 34 years in the Indonesian Military (TNI). In 2016, he was appointed as the party’s coordinator for strategic review and human resources.

Lodewijk is reported to be close to Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, a Golkar senior politician who has close ties to Jokowi.

Airlangga was quick to rebuff the suggestion that Luhut had anything to do with Lodewijk’s appointment. “There was no pressure. I have considered him [Lodewijk] for the position since the beginning.”

Lodewijk, meanwhile, said no one raised any objections regarding his appointment and that Luhut was not involved in the decision-making process within Golkar.

“I don’t know if he [Luhut] was involved in the decision making. But Luhut is my senior. And [in this party] I will do my best,” he added.

Airlangga has also decided to streamline the party’s central board by reducing the number of executives from 305 to 251. Women make up 75 percent of the new line-up.

The new party chairman has also made efforts to accomodate the interests of everyone in the party, including those loyal to Setya. Among these Setya loyalists is Robert Joppy Kardinal, who gets to keep his position as the party’s treasurer.

Another one of Setya’s loyalists, Aziz Syamsuddin, was promoted and now serves as the party’s coordinator for the economy, after being sacked from his position as the party’s head of decentralization and regional autonomy division last year.

Ahmad Doli Kurnia, who was fired last year for his criticism of Setya’s “dirty” politics, was also reappointed and given the position as deputy coordinator for a campaign team handling the whole Sumatra region.

“Everyone has been accommodated. Nothing is left. In choosing them, I was considering their track records and works within the party,” Airlangga said.

After unveiling the new line-up, Airlangga spoke about greater target for the 2019 general election. He said Golkar could get between 16 and 18 percent of the national vote, higher than the 14.75 percent in the 2014 election.

He expected the party’s decision to declare support for Jokowi in his 2019 reelection bid could improve the party’s standing in the eyes of voters and that it could give it a bump in the polls.

With a new central board structure, Golkar is expected to register with the Law and Human Rights Ministry before it can be given the go-ahead to take part in the 2019 elections.

“A new decree from the ministry will allow the General Election Commission [KPU] to conduct a verification process at the the central board level,” KPU commissioner Hasyim Asy’ari said.

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