Political machine key to Golkar success in regional polls

Despite its strong association with the New Order regime of former president Soeharto, the Golkar Party managed to dominate not only the last legislative election, but also direct regional elections held in several regencies. The Jakarta Post's Slamet Susanto discussed this with Riswandha Imawan, a political analyst at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

Question: What has allowed Golkar Party to win the majority of votes in direct elections in several regions?

Answer: To make the answer short, it is because Golkar is the political party that is most prepared to face the unprecedented direct regional elections.

This is evident from Golkar's political machine, which has worked effectively since the legislative and presidential elections last year in terms of successfully building its image. Other political parties have been trapped in infighting over power and have not turned their attention to recruiting new members, so they are not ready for the regional elections.

What are the indications that other parties are not well prepared and have failed to develop their human resources?

The most obvious one would be the performances of their candidates, which generally have not been good, with the exception of a couple of quality candidates. The candidates are not qualified to serve as the people's representatives.

This proves that the parties are not ready to compete, as they only think about how to get a share of the power pie.

Do you think the incumbent local leaders from the Golkar Party have had something to do with the failure of other parties to prepare for regional elections?

The situation now is unpredictable. The fact is that severe malnutrition has become rife, and both the economy and security are getting worse. Will people vote for candidates whose track records are unclear? Theoretically, they won't. Instead, people will vote for familiar faces, or in this case those who are already in power.

Unless they have committed some unacceptable ethical or moral violation, the incumbents stand a great chance for reelection. In this situation, people would rather vote for candidates who are familiar rather than for total strangers.

Then why has Golkar done better in elections than, for example, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which also has lots of members running local administrations?

Both Golkar and the PDI-P are powerful in the regions. But Golkar is dominating the regional elections because, unlike the PDI-P, it has successfully projected a good image.

There are several regional leaders who compensate for the PDI- P's lack of a good image, such as Regent Rustriningsih in Kebumen and Regent Idham Samawi in Bantul.

An example of this was the reelection of Syaukani H.R. in Kutai Kartanegara regency in East Kalimantan, which was achieved through the mobilization of Golkar supporters.

What are the other signs that the Golkar political machinery is running smoothly?

In corruption cases, for instance. It is easy for people to link (former Golkar leader) Akbar Tandjung to corruption cases, but the mechanisms inside the party are able to suppress this.

This is also seen in the regions, where Golkar always manages to protect members allegedly involved in corruption cases. PDI-P cannot do the same thing.

Given all this, how many regency posts do you think Golkar will win in the regional elections?

I think the target set by Golkar leader (and Vice President) Jusuf Kalla to win 60 percent of the top posts in the regencies and provinces can be surpassed. It is already 60 percent and with all the factors I have mentioned, I am sure they will win over 60 percent of the posts up for grabs in the regional elections.

Which regions in particular will be Golkar strongholds?

The eastern areas of Indonesia are easy targets because Golkar already has traditional strongholds there. In Java, however, with more well-informed voters, the competition will be more wide open.

Parties like the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) will also dominate certain regions.

If Golkar dominates the elections for regents, mayors and governors, will the party cooperate with other parties? And what about the process of regional development?

Party consolidation and regional development are inseparable. Coalitions will be necessary to face the 2009 general election. Parties must also heed the demands of grassroots supporters, whether or not they like it.

I think Golkar supporters will fight it out to dominate the regional elections to prepare for the 2009 elections, where the party will be able to boast about its achievements in the regions.