Akbar rambles on to silence rival

Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung had his own method for sidelining fellow party member Surya Paloh, who did not obey the party's ruling that among Golkar's six possible presidential candidates, only Akbar can campaign outside of Java.

Defying the ruling, Surya campaigned on the same stage with Akbar in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Thursday.

Akbar, a wily politician who just had a corruption conviction overturned by the Supreme Court, did not give Surya the opportunity to convince the public he deserves the presidential seat.

The House of Representatives speaker made a lengthy speech and then asked his wife Krisnina Maharani to approach the microphone and give a speech. After that Akbar sang two songs, inviting supporters to sing along with him.

According to Antara, Surya was left with only five minutes to deliver his message because election rules require all campaign stops to finish by 4 p.m.