APSN | Prabowo congratulates Bakrie at Bali congress

Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia

Prabowo congratulates Bakrie at Bali congress

Jakarta Globe - December 4, 2014

Golkar remain in opposition under Aburizal – Jakarta Post. December 4, 2014
The voice of the elite – Jakarta Post Editorial. December 4, 2014
Golkar's marked past isn't getting cleaner – Jakarta Globe. December 3, 2014
Golkar split, a proxy fight for leadership – Jakarta Globe. November 27, 2014
Bakrie sees Golkar election boost from New Order nostalgia – Globe Asia. March 3, 2014

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto, the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, made an appearance at the Golkar Party congress in Bali on Thursday, to congratulate chairman Aburizal Bakrie on his re-election.

Aburizal, who on Wednesday evening was declared to have obtained 100 percent of votes after all of his challengers dropped out of the running, used the national congress to underscore his intention of binding Indonesia's oldest party to the opposition Red-White coalition, or KMP, which was established by Prabowo.

"Looking ahead, our nation faces critical challenges," Prabowo said at the closing ceremony of the congress, stressing that a successful Golkar meant a successful KMP. "We're facing a crossroads – can we rise, compete, or merely become a market for other people's goods?"

Prabowo, a former general and Special Forces commander, lost this year's presidential election to Joko Widodo but his coalition is well-positioned to exert power.

Golkar is by far the biggest member of the five-party KMP, and on Tuesday evening Aburizal spoke out in support of one of the coalition's central policies: rejecting an emergency presidential decree (perppu) to restore direct elections for regional leaders, after the KMP-dominated House of Representatives earlier this year passed legislation abolishing direct elections and instead giving regional legislatures the authority to choose governors, district heads and mayors.

"As all of you have suggested, we can reject the perppu," Aburizal said in his speech before congress participants.

The perppu, issued in early October by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is only effective for three months, after which it must go before the House for approval.

The KMP controls at least 56 percent of seats at the House – and up to 63 percent if the fractious United Development Party, or PPP, possibly the only party in greater disarray than Golkar at the moment, is taken into account – making it likely that the perppu will be thrown out, and with it, direct local elections.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/prabowo-congratulates-bakrie-bali-congress/.