From Papua to Leadership: Bahlil Questions How He Could Lead Golkar If the Party Were Not Mature

Golkar Party Chairman Bahlil Lahadalia stated that if Golkar were not a mature party, he could not possibly lead it. Bahlil also took pride in Golkar as a party that always teaches about pluralism. “It is a place for friends to champion aspirations without regard to ethnicity or religion, one of which is the Golkar Party. And the Golkar Party is a mature party. I am from Papua. I came from Papua to migrate to Jakarta. If the Golkar Party were not mature in politics, how could I be given the space to lead this party?” Bahlil said at the National Easter event at Tennis Indoor Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday night (24/4/2026). Because, he said, Golkar is open to anyone, from any background. “That’s why in the party’s organisational apparatus, there are Christians, there are Muslims, there is the Chairman of Commission XII, Bambang Patijaya, what is his religion? There is a Buddhist,” he explained. “The Golkar Party was born in October 1964. Before the Golkar Party existed, it was called Sekber, the Joint Secretariat. There were 97 organisations that gave birth to Sekber, and one of the organisations that gave birth to Sekber from those 97 organisations was the Indonesian Christian Intelligence Youth,” Bahlil explained. “In Golkar, we never discriminate where you are from, what ethnicity, what religion. Because Golkar was born to be present in order to provide real works, like love that transcends differences,” he added.