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Jokowi solidifies his position through Golkar leadership election
Soon after his re-election, Airlangga announced that he would create new positions within the party’s leadership structure to accommodate several senior party members, including Jusuf Kalla, Jokowi’s former vice president, and Luhut Pandjaitan, a senior Golkar politician and a key figure at the State Palace.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Golkar Party leader Airlangga Hartarto have tea together after a jog at Bogor Palace in West Java in this 2018 file photo. (Courtesy of/Presidential Palace)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is believed to have tightened his hold over the Golkar Party and consolidated his own political position following the re-election of party chairman Airlangga Hartarto during the party’s national congress in Jakarta on Thursday night.
Airlangga, the current coordinating minister of economic affairs, was re-elected chairman of the nation’s second-largest party by acclamation after his strongest contender, Bambang Soesatyo, bowed out of the race at the eleventh hour.
Jokowi wanted Airlangga to keep hold of the Golkar leadership, analysts say,
The senior minister is seen as more loyal to the President, who remains a political outsider despite being a card-carrying member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the nation’s largest party, with which he has had disagreements over several key political issues.
Soon after his re-election, Airlangga announced that he would create new positions within the party’s leadership structure to accommodate several senior party members, including Jusuf Kalla, Jokowi’s former vice president, and Luhut Pandjaitan, a senior Golkar politician and a key figure at the State Palace.
“We will offer them positions that they desire,” Airlangga said.
Luhut, who went against his party line by supporting Jokowi’s presidential bid in 2014, played a crucial role in paving the way for Airlangga to clinch Golkar’s leadership for the second time. The 72-year-old politico, who serves as coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister, helped convince Bambang to drop his bid in order to maintain “party solidity” during a meeting at Luhut’s office. Bambang announced his withdrawal from the race at the office on Tuesday.
