GOLKAR LIKELY TO FACE TOUGHER TIMES

By Andi Abdussalam

 

     Jakarta, Oct 9 (ANTARA) - The Golkar Party is likely to face tougher times ahead as its popular support is unlikely to increase drastically after the party's chairmanship was won by Aburizal Bakrie who is expected to make the party a government supporter, observers say.

        "With the election of Aburizal Bakrie as Golkar chairman for the 2009-2014 period, Golkar is unlikely to undergo a fundamental change," Prof Dr AB Tangdililing of Pontianak's Tanjungpura University said.

        Under the leadership of Aburizal Bakrie, Golkar will likely maintain its present position in the government. Thus, popular support will not increase drastically despite personnel changes in the party's central executive board.

        "Maybe, Golkar voter support in the future will increase but only slightly. Or maybe it will be stagnant or even drop," Tandililing said.

        He said the fact that Aburizal Bakrie, popularly called 'Ical was personally a part (minister) of the government was one of the factors contributing to his victory in Golkar's chairmanship race on Thursday.

        "This is one of the assets for him to win the contest," Tangkililing said. The other factor is the support of certain Golkar's senior cadres such as Akbar Tanjung, Theo Sambuaga, Fadel Muhammad and Agung Laksono.

        However the observer reminded that Ical's camp should not sink in the victory euphoria. "This maybe a temporary victory while in the long run, it would virtually be the victory of the Democratic Party," he said referring to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party which won the recent legislative and presidential elections.

        The Democratic Party itself immediately welcomed the victory of Aburizal Bakrie as the new chairman of the Golkar Party on Thursday. Democrat Party associate chairman Anas Urbaningrum said with Aburizal's election, his party would feel "more comfortable" in its political cooperation with Golkar.

        "We believe it will be easier to develop communications and understanding (with Aburizal at Golkar's helm) regarding future development of the country. So far, the Democrat Party feels comfortable communicating with Golkar and Ical (Aburizal). We also believe Golkar will remain on friendly terms with the Democrat Party," Anas said.

        The chairman of human resources of the Democrat Party, Andi Mallarangeng, meanwhile said the Democrat Party hoped Golkar under the leadership of Aburizal would continue to be able to cooperate with the next government.

        "Aburizal has so far been in the cabinet with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and so they are already used to cooperation. Therefore, we hope the cooperation will continue," he said.

        However, Tandililing said that Ical was not the appropriate figure to lead Golkar at present. "If it is led by Surya Paloh, Golkar may undergo a different condition because he is not part of the government so that he will make different efforts to advance Golkar," he said.

        In Thursday's Golkar chairmanship race, Ical, who was a member of the Golkar Advisory Board, faced tough competition from Surya Paloh who was the party's chief patron. Ical won 296 of the votes while Paloh garnered 240 votes.

        Therefore, in order to advance Golkar in the future, Ical should embrace all senior cadres. "Aburizal Bakrie must embrace them so that Golkar will grow and shine in this country again," political observer Prof Dr Suwardi in Medan, North Sumatra, said.

        Aburizal Bakri should involve senior cadres if he wants to realize his ideas of making Golkar an independent party loved by its supporters.

        Besides, the new Golkar chairman should also embrace all components in the party to remove internal differences so that the party would remain solid. "Golkar is a big party and this should be reflected in the 2014 general elections," Suwardi said.

        In the meantime, Golkar Party Advisory Board member Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X expressed hope that Ical would be able to consolidate all the party's potentials.

        "I personally congratulate Ical on his election as chairman of the Golkar Party, but I hope he will be able to consolidate all the party's potentials, including cadres at regional and central levels," Sri Sultan.

        The Yogyakarta governor said whatever the decision made at the Golkar National Congress in Pekanbaru, Riau, should be respected and implemented. "I hope Ical will be able to implement what was decided at the congress and make a difference in the party," Sri Sultan said.

        He said Ical had no significant problem in his leadership and therefore he was expected to lead the party into a better direction.

        "There is no problem with Ical's leadership because he has a lot of experience in Golkar organizational affairs," Sri Sultan said.

        Meanwhile, political observer of the University of Indonesia Andrinof Chaniago said the victory of Aburizal Bakrie over his rival Surya Paloh will not create internal frictions within Golkar.

        "Golkar is a senior party and its politicians have mature mentality in the organization. That's why the possibility of the emergence of internal frictions is small," Chaniago said.

        He said that Golkar's cadres have mature mentality so that they were able to control excessive personal or group pressures in the internal political affairs.

        "Maybe there will be an awkward situation in the coming several days after the elections due to disappointment but this situation will improve soon," he said. ***1*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/18:30/a014)

        (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 09-10-2009 19:01:05