TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Golkar Party’s Central Executive Board chief Yoris Raweyai claimed the majority of Golkar members had demanded the party evaluate the candidacy of its chief, national pundit Aburizal “Ical” Bakrie, as president in the wake of his dwindling electability.
“This discourse has been growing stronger. That’s why we will hold an evaluation after the legislative elections,” said Yoris on Monday.
He said the Golkar Party had been planning to convene a national leadership meeting, which had intially been planned to evaluate the legislative elections and discuss the potential candidate for vice president on the party’s ticket. The agenda of this meeting, however, had been altered to evaluate Ical’s nomination instead—particularly if the results of the elections were below the party’s expectations.
According to Yoris, there had been anomalies in the Golkar Party ever since the party decided to nominate Ical as its presidential contender. He said the party nominated Ical a couple of years ago in a bid to secure ample time to increase his electability. Ical’s electability in March 7, however, was only 9.3 percent.
In contrast, he added, the party’s electability had continued to soar. “Ical’s electability tends to be static and dropping. Of course we don’t want to lose again after losing in the last two elections,” he said.
FRANSISCO ROSARIANS
