Golkar machine gears up for regional elections

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After winning the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives in the 2004 legislative election, the Golkar Party is preparing its mammoth political machine to grab the lion's share of top regional administration posts.

Golkar leader Jusuf Kalla said on Saturday that the party headquarters had decided to set up a "national team" to support the campaigns for each of its candidates around the country to win their respective gubernatorial, regental or mayoral elections.

"The reputation of the party on a national basis cannot guarantee victory for each of our candidates. There is no connection whatsoever. A good reputation combined with good achievements for each candidate plays the most significant role in a direct election," said Kalla, who is also the country's Vice President.

Kalla discussed the party's strategy in his opening remarks during a consultation meeting between the party's central board (DPP) and regional boards (DPD) from across the country.

More than 160 regional administration leaders including governors, regents and mayors will soon end their terms. Regional direct elections are scheduled for June. It will be the first time in the nation's history that the people have been able to choose their local leaders.

Kalla said the national team would provide assistance on specific legislation, regulations and procedures involving regional campaigns, as well as helping to create a positive public image for the candidates.

The national team is set to appoint a consultancy firm to arrange simple-but-essential guidance for regional campaign teams, he added.

The same team will also assist the regional campaign teams to raise and manage campaign funds effectively as Golkar's central board would not completely finance each of the campaigns.

Kalla did not say how much money each candidate would have to provide for financing campaign activities, but he estimated that it would be equal to between Rp 1,000 and Rp 2,000 per voter. A regency may have some 500,000 voters, while several provinces have tens of millions of voters.

"We spent Rp 1,000 per voter for the presidential election. It's not much, compared to that of other candidates. We spent the money efficiently and effectively," said Kalla, a successful businessman-turned-politician.

Golkar, which was the political vehicle of former authoritarian president Soeharto, is determined to secure as many top regional positions as possible because "it is the party's right to have a role in the state apparatus in a bid to develop the nation", Kalla said.

Recalling his own experience during the 2004 presidential election, he explained to participants how he and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the election in a landslide, even though they were only supported by minor parties, because they focused on image-building efforts.

Kalla was the running mate of Susilo, whose small Democratic Party supported them. But he later won the Golkar leadership post at the party's congress in December.

He explained that his reputation could not be developed instantly; a positive public image had to be built over time with a well-organized campaign.

"That's the key thing about our new election system," Kalla asserted.

He added that before the election campaign he had rarely, if ever, wore a long-sleeved shirt with a checkered pattern, but that all changed after consultations with image professionals.

"If you wear a short-sleeved, plain shirt in media photos and on TV, you will be perceived as a hard worker and a sincere person. But, if you wear a shirt with checkered-pattern, people will consider you an easy-going person," he said.