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Golkar race: Airlangga gains upper hand over Bambang
Jokowi has denied making any intervention in the race, saying that it was an internal Golkar matter.
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Golkar party chairman Airlangga Hartarto (left) submits documents to Golkar election committee chairman Maman Abdurrahman (right) on Monday, Dec. 2. The incumbent chairman is seeking reelection during the party's national congress, which will be held in Jakarta from Dec 3 to 6. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
W
ith the two leading candidates for the Golkar Party's top posts primed to duke it out at the party's national congress on Tuesday, incumbent Airlangga Hartarto seems to have gained the upper hand over his main challenger Bambang Soesatyo.
Airlangga, who is also the coordinating economic minister in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s second-term Cabinet, has claimed to have secured 90 percent support, equal to around 514 of the 559 votes in the congress. For the past few days, he has been visiting various regions to gather support, with candidates required to obtain written statements of support from 30 percent of the party's regency and provincial-level branches.
He also held a meeting with Regional Representative Council (DPD) leaders and several senior party figures on Monday evening including Aburizal Bakrie, Agung Laksono, Akbar Tandjung, former vice president Jusuf Kalla as well as fellow minister in Jokowi’s cabinet Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, which observers say is another sign that an Airlangga win is all-but-assured.
"In the past there have been two keys to becoming Golkar chairman: money and the blessing of the palace," Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin told The Jakarta Post on Monday. "Both Airlangga and Bambang are very rich, so I think the support of the government will be the deciding factor."
Airlangga loyalist and party secretary-general Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus claimed Monday’s meeting was simply to inform senior officials that the incumbent had secured the majority of the vote.
"We need to inform the senior members. After that, we hope they will give us, the voters, some directions.
However, Lodewijk denied that Airlangga’s meeting with Luhut was a sign that Jokowi supported Airlangga. "Luhut came as a senior [Golkar politician] who supports Airlangga, not as a minister," he said.
