Indonesia's Golkar party expels Bambang's running mate, Jusuf Kalla

Producer: Bharati Jagdish
First broadcast: 8 September 04, Radio Singapore International

Indonesian vice-presidential candidate, Jusuf Kalla, has been reportedly kicked out of the country's largest party, Golkar, for running alongside Golkar rival, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Golkar party chairman, Akbar Tandjung said that Kalla, a businessman and one-time Golkar executive, no longer has a place in the party's ranks after he joined the Democrat Party's Yudhoyono in his bid to win a September 20th presidential vote.

Kalla withdrew from Golkar's campaign earlier this year to join Yudhoyono in a personal capacity and run as his vice-presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, Golkar has thrown its support behind incumbent president Megawati Sukarnoputri who is squaring off against Yudhoyono in the coming election.

However, party splinter groups have subsequently emerged to voice support for Yudhoyono instead and Tandjung had warned that members who show dissent will be stripped of their votes on the party's executive board.

But why has the party acted against Jusuf Kalla only now since they had known about his candidacy for some months now?

Bharati Jagdish (BJ) put this to Indonesia analyst, Dr Arief Budiman (AB) from the University of Melbourne.

AB: "The party just had a congress about a month ago and they decided that they would side with Megawati and back her for the election. So this was the time they could take a formal position to oppose Jusuf Kalla. The fact is that at the beginning, they were unsure about whether to back Megawati or to back Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in which case they would have to also back Jusuf Kalla since they are running mates. But since Akbar Tandjung made a deal with Megawati after she promised his party cabinet positions if she becomes president. Officially, Golkar, after the congress, instructed all their members to support Megawati and they decided to discipline the members who opposed this. Akbar threatened to dismiss them and Jusuf Kalla obviously falls in that category."

BJ: Now, some analysts have classified as "intimidation" - this action against Golkar members who do not support the party's decision to back Megawati. What's your perspective on this?

AB: "I think there are many differing opinions among the rank-and-file members of Golkar and there are many factions as is the case with most political parties. But especially, I think there is a conflict between Jusuf Kalla and Akbar Tandjung. Akbar has his own ambitions. In the beginning, he wanted to run for president, but then he got involved in the Bulog corruption case, so he was out, but I think he is trying to be a "king-maker". He was quite upset about having to make a deal with Megawati, because it may have been against his party ideology, but he made a deal only after she offered him cabinet positions and it seemed like Susilo may be a threat to her. It is really unfair to Jusuf Kalla, in a sense. He had not been involved in any transgressions. But Akbar Tandjung, now, has no choice, but to discipline those who are not toeing the party line in order to maintain the integrity of this party."

BJ: But obviously, Jusuf Kalla can't be the only one to be expelled from the party. I understand that there are other executives in the party who have said that they would rather support Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

AB: "That's right and there are two other important leaders of Golkar who are doing this. They are Fahmi Idris and Marzuki Darusman. Fahmi Idris was one of the leaders during the 1960s student demonstrations and Marzuki Darusman was an attorney-general during Abdurrahman Wahid's presidency. They are also supporting Yudhoyono and Akbar Tandjung has to expel them also to show that he is the most powerful person in Golkar."

BJ: How will Jusuf Kalla's political career be affected by this?

AB: "I don't think there'll be much of a negative impact on Jusuf Kalla because Jusuf Kalla is a rich person. He is a businessman and he has his own ardent followers in South Sulawesi. He's not depending on Golkar for votes. I would say that Golkar is fortunate to have him as a member. So now that he's expelled from Golkar, I don't think it will make any difference to his political career or his career as a businessman because business now has become more or less independent from government intervention. The case would have been different under Suharto's regime. I think that's why Jusuf Kalla dared to be different from Akbar Tandjung and Golkar in general and especially also because Jusuf Kalla has his own followers who support him because of his ethnicity. He is a Buginese and the Buginese have been known to be quite fanatic and very proud to have Jusuf Kalla as their leader. In that sense, even if there is some impact on his political career, it will be negligible."

BJ: But in terms of the chances of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - Jusuf Kalla pairing winning the presidential election, do you think if the political machinery has an effect on voter behaviour on September 20th, their chances would be greatly diminished because, right now, Jusuf Kalla is not even associated with Golkar anymore?

AB: "Yes, that's a good question. I think this is a matter of debate in Indonesia right now - whether or not the political machinery will have any impact on how people vote. Is the political machinery more important than popularity? As we know, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is more popular among the people, but he has only a small political machine - the Democrat Party - a very small party. Jusuf Kalla is more independent so he will bring his followers to support Susilo Bambang and in addition to that, the problem is that many people - the rank-and-file - are quite annoyed with Megawati's performance and look at Susilo as an alternative. It will be difficult for Golkar to discipline all these people at the grassroots. And political parties in Indonesia are not organized, professional organizations. They are based on loyalty to certain figures and therefore it will not be easy for Akbar to pulverize Jusuf Kalla's followers especially because their loyalty is based on charisma rather than party backing."