Golkar leaders agree to allow regions to decide won candidates<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Golkar Party leaders acknowledged on Friday the ongoing series of
\nconventions to select its presidential candidate had failed to
\nconvey the aspirations of grassroot supporters.<\/p>\n
They, however, had reached a consensus to make amends for the
\nfailure by allowing regental branches to vote for their own
\npreferences during the national convention, slated for between
\nFebruary and April next year.<\/p>\n
"We have agreed to allow the regional chapters to choose their
\npreferences in the convention," Golkar deputy chairman Fahmi said
\nahead of the party leadership meeting.<\/p>\n
The meeting will be followed by a preconvention on Monday and
\nTuesday, when Golkar leaders in the central board and chapters
\nwill select five candidates to contest in the national
\nconvention.<\/p>\n
Fahmi said the consensus was reached among members of the
\nconvention committee during a meeting on Thursday.<\/p>\n
According to him, several party leaders proposed to repeat the
\nselection process in Central Java because it did not reflect the
\naspirations of party cadres in the grass roots.<\/p>\n
The Central Java provincial chapter excluded Akbar from the
\nlist of its presidential candidates, despite the fact that 30 out
\nof 35 branches in regencies and municipalities voted for the
\nGolkar chairman.<\/p>\n
The provincial chapter, instead, nominated former chief of the
\nArmy Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo
\nSubianto, businessman Aburizal Bakrie, media mogul Surya Paloh,
\nformer military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto and Coordinating
\nMinister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla.<\/p>\n
Fahmi said that for the sake of consistency, a number of
\nGolkar leaders had asked provincial chapters to heed the
\naspirations of branches.<\/p>\n
However, after realizing that businessman Aburizal Bakrie and
\nmedia baron Surya Paloh would gain overwhelming support from
\nprovincial chapters if consistency was mandatory, the Golkar
\nleaders changed their minds.<\/p>\n
"They knew that if we insisted on consistency, either Aburizal
\nBakrie or Surya Paloh would win the convention," Fahmi said.<\/p>\n
The latest result of the series of provincial convention shows
\nthat Aburizal and Surya have support in 28 and 27 provinces
\nrespectively. Wiranto and Akbar ranked third and fourth with
\nsupport from 25 and 23 provinces each. Kalla and Yogyakarta
\nGovernor Hamengkubuwono X also qualified for next week's
\npreconvention.<\/p>\n
In the preconvention on Monday and Tuesday, the seven
\ncandidates will be vying for 534 votes -- 18 votes from Golkar's
\nexecutive board, 10 votes from Golkar-affiliated organizations,
\n90 votes from 30 provincial chapters with each chapter allocated
\nthree votes and 416 votes from regental branches.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, convention deputy secretary Rully Chairul Azwar
\nsaid there were some changes in the agenda of the preconvention
\nproposed by regional chapters and the party executive board.<\/p>\n
Some of them said the preconvention would not necessarily
\nshort-list the seven candidates into five. There were also
\ndemands from party leaders to allow all seven candidates to
\ncompete in the national convention next year.<\/p>\n
Convention chairman Slamet Effendi Yusuf said the suggestions
\nwould be discussed in the leadership meeting on Saturday and
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, political analyst Mohammad Qodari of the Indonesian
\nSurvey Institute (LSI) said he suspected the repeated changes in
\nthe rules of the game of the Golkar convention were made solely
\nfor the benefit of Akbar.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/golkar-leaders-agree-to-allow-regions-to-decide-won-candidates-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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