TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The name of Indonesia's Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia has been mentioned as a possible candidate to become Chair of the Golkar Party, replacing Airlangga Hartarto, who has resigned since last Saturday, August 10, 2024. Some Golkar Party politicians support Bahlil to become the Chair of Golkar Party, while others say the Head of BPKM is not qualified.

The issue of Bahlil trying to unseat Airlangga from the position of chairperson has long been detected. Last March, Tempo Newspaper reported that Bahlil would become Chair of Golkar along with the discourse of President Joko Widodo or Jokowi entering the banyan party. Golkar Party internal sources and colleagues said Bahlil would give Jokowi a high position if he became chairperson.

Bahlil's name also emerged as one of the strong candidates to replace Airlangga following his resignation. This was revealed by Poltracking Indonesia Executive Director Hanta Yuda. In his analysis, he explained that the position of Chairman of the Golkar Party is often held by figures who also occupy strategic positions in the government. The criteria are in Bahlil.

Bahlil is known to be close to Jokowi. Reporting from the Sunday, March 3, 2024 edition of I, entitled Ambisi Tinggi Mantan Sopir (High Ambitions of a Former Driver), the two were close after Bahlil became the 26th Chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi). At that time Bahlil formed the National Young Entrepreneurs Volunteer (Repnas) in November 2018. This organization supported the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin pair in the 2019 presidential election.

After being re-elected as president in the 2019 general election, Jokowi brought Bahlil into the cabinet. Initially, in October 2019, the President appointed him as Head of BKPM. After that, Bahlil was appointed Minister of Investment / Head of BKPM in April 2021 along with the formation of the Ministry of Investment.

Meanwhile, Golkar Party Deputy Chair Ahmad Doli Kurnia was reluctant to respond to who might replace Airlangga after stepping down as chairperson. Instead of responding to Bahlil's opportunities, Doli said his party was focused on facing the 2024 Pilkada (Regional Head Elections).

“Do not let Mr. Airlangga's resignation disrupt the Golkar Party's concentration on the Pilkada,” he said at the Golkar DPP Office, West Jakarta on Sunday, August 11, 2024.

On the other hand, Golkar will soon hold a plenary meeting to discuss the acting chairperson. Doli said that all Golkar deputy chairmen have the opportunity to become acting chairmen. “It should be done by consensus,” he said.

Next: Support for Bahlil as Golkar Chair

Meanwhile, Bahlil Lahadalia will certainly not be the acting chair of the Golkar Party. This is because Bahlil is not an administrator in the Golkar Party. This was conveyed by the Chair of the Golkar Party DPP Election Winning Board Idrus Marham in a dialogue on Kompas TV on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. “Bahlil cannot be the PLT (acting chair) because he is not a board member,” said Idrus.

Even though he could not become Acting Chair, according to Idrus, there were aspirations from below, both Level 1 and Level 2 DPD, almost agreed that Bahlil should become the chairperson. “The aspirations from below, from DPD I and DPD II, almost agreed that Bahlil should be the chair,” said Idrus.

The day before, on Monday, August 12, 2024, Idrus had also revealed that Bahlil was the strongest candidate to replace Airlangga. He said that Bahlil had a lot of support if he advanced to run as a candidate for chairperson. “Yes, if he come forward (to become chairperson), I think everyone will supports him. I think everyone from below will also support him,” Idrus Marham said by phone to the media crew.

Idrus considered Bahlil worthy of becoming chairperson because he departed from the grassroots. He compared it to a number of other Golkar figures who filled the core positions of the central board but did not depart from the lower levels of organization.

“Bahlil is qualified, his achievements are clear and he is a pure cadre. Bahlil is a cadre of oblique shoes, which means through a process of struggle,” he said.

Support for Bahlil was also conveyed by Golkar Party politician Andi Sinulingga. He said the Investment Minister would become the definitive Golkar Party Chair. The decision will be made at the Golkar National Conference, which is said to be accelerated from the schedule in December 2024. “The National Conference will be as soon as possible, Bahlil will be the chair,” Andi was quoted as saying by a number of media outlets, Sunday, August 11, 2024.

Next: Not All Support Bahlil as Golkar Chair

Chairperson of the Golkar Party's Board of Experts, Agung Laksono, does not seem to be happy with Bahlil becoming the Chair of Golkar. He emphasized that whoever will nominate as the definitive Chair of Golkar must be from among the management. This statement responded to the issue of Bahlil being prepared to be at the helm of the Golkar party.

“Yes, having been a board member who is ready in real terms, legally, having been a central, or regional board member, it can be accepted to become chairperson. Although it is not automatic, it is a requirement,” Agung said when confirmed by reporters on Monday.

He said Bahlil was not a Golkar Party administrator at the central or regional levels. Therefore, if Bahlil advances the candidacy for the Chair of Golkar, it has the potential to be canceled. “So we cannot accept candidates for chairperson who have never sat as administrators, whether central or regional administrators. It will be canceled in the selection,” Agung said.

Senior Golkar Party politician Jusuf Kalla, a.k.a. JK, also mentioned that the Chairperson of the Golkar Party must be a cadre, at least having been a five-year administrator at the central level, and 1 year at the lower level or province. The statement was made by the 10th and 12th Vice President of Indonesia in response to the issue that Airlangga would be replaced by Bahlil Lahadalia.

“Golkar cadres, among other things, must prove that they have been administrators for at least five years at the central level, and also for a minimum of one year at the lower level or province,” he said.

The figurehead of the Golkar Party for the 2004-2009 period also rejected the party's national conference (Munas) and leadership meeting (Rapim) being advanced to August to elect Arilangga's successor. JK emphasized that the party must obey its own rules from the national conference, which will be held in December.

“Golkar Chairperson's tradition is to be elected at the munas (National Conference), and the munas will still be in December,” he said in an interview with MetroTV regarding Airlangga's resignation.

JK suspected that there was external pressure on Airlangga that made him decide to resign, although he did not dismiss the possibility that Airlangga had his own personal reasons. The reason is that he considers Airlangga successful in leading Golkar in the last election, with the increase of Golkar's seats in the House of Representatives.

“The National Conference is in December, therefore, we must obey it, the party's muruah (self-respect) must be upheld, if there are external pressures causing the party to fold, then what is the purpose of Golkar having tens of millions of cadres then?," JK said.

HENDRIK KHOIRUL MUHID I AISYAH AMIRA WAKANG | DANIEL A FAJRI | HUSSEIN ABRI DONGORAN | FRANSISCA ROSANA

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