As the three-day candidate registration period opened on Tuesday, Golkar’s new chairman, Bahlil Lahadalia, announced its nomination of party member Airin Rachmi Diany for governor of Banten, as well as her running mate Adi Sumardi of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the KIM’s rival.

A joint Golkar-PDI-P nomination in Banten had been in the works under former Golkar chairman Airlangga Hartarto, before Bahlil scrapped the idea in favor of joining the party’s own allies in the KIM to back Gerindra Party politician Andra Soni and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Achmad Dimyati Natakusumah.

Only after the KIM’s rival the PDI-P nominated Airin on Monday did Bahlil reforge Golkar’s alliance with the PDI-P in Banten.

While Golkar, the PDI-P and Gerindra are the three largest parties in Banten, having won a similar number of seats in the local legislature, Airin’s family still has significant influence in the province.

Addressing the U-turn, Bahlil said Airin was “Golkar’s own child” and that “it would not be right for the party” to oppose her bid in the Banten election.

But he also said, “Relations within the KIM alliance are solid.”