Pros and Cons of Bahlil Replacing Airlangga Hartarto as Golkar Chair
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14 August 2024 16:15 WIB
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
