Aburizal shows off power

JAKARTA. Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie made a show of strength after securing his party’s nomination for the 2014 presidential election.

In a well-choreographed ceremony at the Sentul International Convention Center in Bogor, West Java, the Golkar Party leadership meeting officially endorsed Aburizal as the only candidate from the party to contest the 2014 presidential election.

The endorsement was made after the party’s central board issued a warning against former vice president Jusuf Kalla, an active Golkar member and its former chairman, that it could expel him from the party if he sought a presidential nomination from another political party, a move that could deal a blow to Aburizal’s electability in the poll.

Kalla was not seen at the venue throughout the national leadership meeting.

The announcement was also staged to impress upon Golkar Party members that Aburizal was in control of the party, especially given the presence of former party chairman Akbar Tandjung, who until days before Sunday’s announcement had challenged Aburizal’s nomination.

Also present at the ceremony was embattled Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, which sent a mixed message on the stance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s party toward Aburizal’s candidacy.

Soon after securing the nomination, Aburizal delivered an hour-long speech that confidently outlined his program if he was elected president, called “Catur Sukses” (four points for success).

“I offer this concept, which has proven to be successful, called the ‘Development Trilogy’ and have added the idea of Indonesian nationalism,” Aburizal said, referring to the slogan of the New Order regime of former president Soeharto, which promoted the trio of steady economic growth, development equity and stability.

Aburizal set out that it was possible for the country to grow by 10 percent and that equitable development was possible only with the infusion of capital to small- and medium-scale enterprises, while stability could be achieved only through democracy.

On the issue of nationalism, Aburizal said that Indonesia could embrace the outside world only if it had confidence and dignity to do so.

Analysts, however, warned that the road to the country’s presidency would be a rocky one for Aburizal, who has long been dogged by the Lapindo mud flow disaster and a low approval rating among the electorate.

Political observer from Jakarta-based think tank Charta Politika Yunarto Wijaya said that the odds were stacked against Aburizal’s election in 2014.

Yunarto said that Aburizal’s reputation as a shrewd businessman would not help him during the election.

“People know Bakrie as a businessman and not a politician, with questionable political leadership qualities. On top of that, he received intensive media scrutiny over the handling of the Lapindo mud flow problem and rumors of several tax problems,” he said.

He also said that the fact that Aburizal was not Javanese would also count against his candidacy.

Aburizal hails from Lampung and comes from Malayan stock.

The Golkar chairman also had to face up to the fact that the party has never won a presidential election in the post-New Order period.

“Golkar has the tremendous task of winning the presidential election because candidates from Golkar have never won the presidential election in the reform era,” Yunarto said, adding that in 2014 Golkar also faced an uphill battle to win legislative elections after losing the top spot to the Democratic Party in 2009.

Yunarto also said that Golkar had to deal with consolidating factions in the party, which had splintered in the period leading up to Aburizal’s nomination.

“This early nomination is aimed at consolidating opinion within the party and I doubt that it can be completed in the next two years,” Yunarto said, adding that the party would also not be able to improve Aburizal’s standing among voters in the next two years.

University of Indonesia’s political analyst Fachry Ali said that the early nomination of Aburizal was aimed at raising the popularity of the Golkar chairman among the majority of Javanese voters, as his chances of securing votes from them was relatively low.

“I suspect that Golkar is trying to direct public opinion with this early nomination, as the biggest obstacle Aburizal is facing right now is how he has to win the hearts of the majority Javanese population,” Fachry told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. (The Jakarta Post)