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Airlangga fights back amid Golkar turmoil
The meetings with other electoral alliances might provide a sense of Golkar's direction ahead of the 2024 election and defeat challenges to Airlangga Hartarto's chairmanship of the party, an analyst says.
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Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto waves from inside his car after attending a limited cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on July 10, 2023. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
Embattled Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto is scrambling to stymie a mounting challenge against his leadership, as he seeks to steer the party into next year’s presidential election.
Discontent has grown within Golkar over its “unclear” direction ahead of the election. Airlangga has been eyeing a chance to run in the presidential race, but recent opinion polls show that his popularity remains persistently low.
Reflecting on the situation, Airlangga has opened the possibility of backing the presidential bid of Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, who is among the top-three most popular presumptive candidates in various polls.
Airlangga suggested the potential support when he hosted senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Puan Maharani and her entourage on Thursday at his private residence in South Jakarta. Airlangga and Puan, who is the daughter of PDI-P matron Megawati Soekarnoputri, discussed potential cooperation in the upcoming presidential race.
Golkar had previously hinted at a reluctance to work together with the ruling party in April. But in a choreographed show of cordiality, Airlangga handed Puan a bouquet of yellow and red roses, the respective colors of the two parties, during Thursday’s visit. Both politicians said the parties had found and would continue to find common ground on various issues.
At the end of the meeting, Airlangga and Puan said the parties would form a joint technical team to hash out details of any potential alliance. They also suggested stitching a political bloc together for the upcoming presidential race.
"We still need to discuss many things,” Airlangga said. “But earlier, we agreed to build common ground on technical matters.”
