Golkar decides new role

Golkar decides new role

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Golkar Party held a coordination meeting Tuesday evening to
discuss its new political stance following the election of Vice
President Jusuf Kalla as its chairman.

Tuesday's meeting was presided over by vice chairman Agung
Laksono and attended by the party's chairpersons, Secretary-
General Sumarsono and some of his deputies.

"Golkar chairman Jusuf Kalla is expected to chair another
consolidation meeting at the party headquarters on Thursday,"
said Priyo Budi Santoso, a Golkar deputy secretary-general
Tuesday evening.

Kalla beat former Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung in a party
election Sunday morning to lead the country's largest political
organization for the next five years.

The election of Kalla effectively positioned Golkar as a
ruling party, despite the fact that it supported the reelection
of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in the election
runoff.

Priyo said the chairmanship handover from Akbar to Kalla would
automatically bring changes to the party's political agendas.

He was apparently referring to Kalla's statement in his first
speech as Golkar chairman that he would not sustain the so-called
Nationhood Coalition.

Aside from Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), members of the Nationhood Coalition also
include the Reform Star Party (PBR) and the Prosperous Peace
Party (PDS).

Following Megawati's crushing defeat in the Sept. 20 runoff,
the coalition had positioned itself as an opposition force in the
House of Representatives (DPR).

"There are always changes in politics. That is normal," Priyo
said.

Another Golkar leader, Burhanuddin Napitupulu, was upbeat that
all Golkar legislators would follow any decision of their new
party chairman.

He claimed that Golkar was a modern political party that its
members would follow any decision made after fierce arguments
among themselves.

Separately, Akbar suggested that Golkar keep its commitment to
building a check and balance mechanism through by maintaining its
membership in the Nationhood Coalition.

"There is no reason to dissolve the Nationhood Coalition as it
is designed to empower the legislature," he told a press briefing
here on Tuesday.

Also attending the briefing were Golkar legislators Ade
Komaruddin, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, M. Akil Mochtar and Musfihin
Dahlan.

Akbar said his accountability report, including the formation
of the Nationhood Coalition, had been accepted by participants in
the party congress in Bali.

Akbar used the press briefing to criticize the composition of
Golkar's executive board, including the creation of the position
of vice chairman.

"Principally I disagree with the position of vice chairman,
which is clearly set up simply to give somebody a position in the
party. I have been 40 years in Golkar and only now I see the
presence of a vice chairman's post," Akbar said.