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Senior Golkar politicians seek extraordinary congress
Jakarta Post - July 21, 2014
Known as a political party that is never out of government, Golkar, which threw its weight behind Prabowo in the July 9 election, found itself in a new position after it emerged that presidential candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla were leading in the vote tally over the past week.
Although elites from Golkar's executive board firmly upheld a decision made by a Golkar congress in 2009, which gave Aburizal the party leadership until 2015, senior politicians as well as members in regional chapters have continued to endeavor to unseat Aburizal, in an apparent move to clear the way to join a potential Jokowi administration.
On Saturday night, Golkar advisory council chairman Akbar Tandjung, who led Golkar from 1998-2004, visited an office of Jokowi's campaign team on Jl. Jenggala, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.
Although he said the call was just a friendly visit to Jusuf Kalla, his long-time colleague in the Islamic Students Alumni Association (KAHMI), he told journalists that he supported an immediate extraordinary congress, saying that "such an extraordinary congress was needed to annul any decisions that were made in the previous congress."
Other Golkar politicians who disagreed with Aburizal's last minute decision to support Prabowo, took this as a signal to push for the congress.
"We're confident that Golkar, as an organization, will change its support after the KPU [General Elections Commission] announces the result officially on July 22," Golkar senior politician Zainal Bintang said on Sunday.
Zainal, the coordinator of Golkar's mass organization Tri Karya, added that the formal announcement of a Jokowi-Kalla victory would undoubtedly motivate party members throughout the country, particularly those in regional chapters, to fully support the move to unseat Aburizal.
He added that the opposition group had gained more confidence for the move, particularly following the presence of Akbar on the Jokowi camp's premises.
"His [Akbar's] presence there said a lot. We believe that Golkar members will trust our former chairman over someone from outside the party because Golkar members support each other," Zainal added.
"Aburizal must be aware that Golkar is not Bakrie group. Thus, we will continue to push for the congress to take place at least by September," he emphasized.
In a closed door meeting to discuss the matter last Friday, Golkar executive Yorrys Raweyai told kompas.com that most provincial chapters had favored holding an early congress this year and would congratulate Kalla immediately after the July 22 announcement.
The anti-Aburizal movement within Golkar expressed disappointment at Aburizal's poor leadership due to the party's poor performance in the legislative election last April, when Golkar only secured 91 seats at the House of Representatives, far below the 106 seats it picked up in the 2009 election.
The opposition group also said that senior politicians within the opposition group, such as Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a former minister during Soeharto's New Order regime, had warned an extraordinary congress should take place if Aburizal and other party elites rejected their demand.
Golkar deputy secretary-general Tantowi Yahya said Golkar would uphold its previous decision to sustain Aburizal's leadership until next year.
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