Golkar Party officials have played down public speculation that party chairman Aburizal Bakrie has sealed a deal to run as vice president to Prabowo Subianto, the founder of the Great Indonesia Movement, although some have also expressed support for the potential coalition.
“As of today, Aburizal is still a presidential candidate, just as has been mandated during the national leaders meeting. Should there be any changes in position or in the person, it should also be decided at subsequent meetings,” Golkar spokesman Tantowi Yahya said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
“The [next] national leader’s meeting is planned for May 12 or 13 in Jakarta. We don’t know where it will take place.”
Support for Aburizal’s vice presidential bid has been growing within the party by both members and officials at the central executive board, Tantowi said, adding that it was a rational move considering there was a large gap of electability between the two political icons.
Aburizal himself has also on several occasions said that the vice presidential and presidential seats were merely instruments used in governance.
“What’s most important is how we can achieve our goals in improving the people’s welfare,” Tantowi said.
Among those in support of Aburizal was Golkar deputy chairman Fadel Muhammad, who agreed that his chairman should be set as Prabowo’s vice presidential candidate.
“I support this and have no problem if Aburizal were to become Prabowo’s vice president,” Fadel said in Jakarta on Monday. “Let’s just be realistic. Even though Golkar’s votes were high [in the legislative elections], Prabowo’s popularity and electability remains much higher than Aburizal’s. So it shouldn’t be a problem if Aburizal were to become Prabowo’s vice president.”
“For Golkar, what’s most important is to be in the ruling government. Golkar wants to build a better nation,” he added.
Golkar central executive board chairman Ade Komarudin also voiced a similar sentiment.
“I would accept it if Aburizal were to be nominated as vice president, for the sake of victory,” he said on Monday, as quoted by Merdeka.com.
“Once again, our principle is to be all out. In serving [the people], we need to play a positive role, be it as vice president or as president. What’s most important is to give it our all.”
Separately, Golkar Party secretary general Idrus Marham has confirmed that future communications between his party and Gerindra will be focused on strengthening each party’s positions ahead of the July 9 presidential elections.
Idrus declined to comment on reports that Aburizal had accepted Prabowo’s offer to become vice president.
“The chairman has conducted talks and more talks will also be held in the future. It is hoped that the desired results will take shape. What’s certain is that discussions in coalition and running mates will be discussed at the meeting,” Idrus said on Monday evening.
Yorys Raweyai, chairman of Golkar’s Youth Group (AMPG), said he would soon form a team to follow up the supposed agreement between Gerindra and Golkar, dedicated to analyzing the pair’s potential. “It still needs to be sharpened. We will take steps soon to discuss the partnership,” Yorys said.
Political analyst Arya Fernandes said if formed, Prabowo and Aburizal’s coalition would be a strategic team, as both politicians had extensive experience in state organizations and businesses.
“I think the meeting between Golkar and Gerindra will affect the movements of other secondary parties.
“For the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle and [their presidential candidate] Joko Widodo this meeting may come as a surprise, considering Joko’s declining electability as reflected in the Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting [SRMC] survey released last week,” he said.
In a survey published by SMRC on Sunday, Joko’s electability is shown to have fluctuated, falling to 39 percent in February from 51 percent in December, before going back up to 52 percent in March and declining to 47 percent after the April 9 legislative elections.
Prabowo, on the other hand, saw stable growth in electability, from 22 percent in December to 32 percent in April.
Despite the unstable electability, however, SMRC’s findings showed that if Indonesia were to hold its presidential elections today, Joko would be the winning party over Prabowo, regardless of with whom he is paired.
When hypothetically paired with former Indonesian vice president Jusuf Kalla, Joko is said to have polled at 52.4 percent, while Prabowo earned 32.4 percent. Paired with Dahlan Iskan, Joko’s haul stood at 52 percent, while Prabowo’s stood at 32.8 percent.
“Such simulations are sensitive because the political map can change at any time. But this data clearly shows that whoever Joko is paired with — he would win,” Polcomm Institute director Heri Budianto said. “However, it needs to be noted, especially for Prabowo, that even without being paired with anyone his electability remains high.”
Heri remains confident that if the presidential elections should see only three presidential candidates in July, Joko would win the elections within only one round.
For Paramadina University political analyst Herdi Sahrasad, despite having a strong political vehicle, Aburizal’s track record could play a big role in turning people away towards other candidates.
“Lapindo and Aburizal’s leaked trip to the Maldives don’t look good. Should Aburizal become Prabowo’s vice president there are several negative factors that would burden Prabowo in facing Joko,” Herdi said, as quoted by Inilah.com, referring to a leaked video that went viral in March that showed Aburizal going on a trip to the Maldives with a lawmaker and two actresses.
Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/golkar-plays-gerindra-coalition-deal/
