Golkar opts for a majority vote system to spur party cadres. Not everyone agrees with the decision.

GOLKAR Party General Chairperson Jusuf Kalla knows exactly how to organize his time. Instead of holding long meetings at the Golkar offices in Slipi, West Jakarta, for matters relating to Golkar and the 2009 elections, he prefers to meet behind his official residence in the Central Jakarta area of Menteng.

The house used for this is owned by former Forestry Minister Hasjrul Harahap. It is here in this rented building that decisions related to the party affairs are taken; the most recent being on a majority vote or open poll mechanism to select its legislative candidates in the upcoming general elections.

In the past, candidates could be guaranteed a seat in the House of Representatives providing that they were ranked high on the legislative candidate list. Now however, the voters will determine whether they win or lose. Those that gain the majority of votes will get into Senayan—as the parliament is known. “A ‘free fight’ so that the party machine is in full motion,” said Firman Soebagyo, Deputy Executive Coordinator of the Golkar Party Election Victory Board, on Wednesday last week.

The decision was approved by a Golkar Central Leadership Board plenary meeting on Monday two weeks ago. The half-hour meeting annulled a decision taken at a meeting a week earlier, to continue to use the numerical order system as regulated under Law No. 10/2008 on General Elections. “At the first plenary many applauded [the decisions],” said Firman. “But at the second plenary there were even more.”

A Tempo source related how the decision was actually challenged by a number of central board members, but only a handful had the courage to raise any objections. “Most just quietly grumbled about it later,” said the source. Their gripe was that under the new system, contributions made to managing the party would no longer be taken into account.

Up until now, low numbers or numbers ranked at the top of legislative candidate lists have always been the privilege of executive board members and their families. These peci (a traditional black velvet cap worn by Muslim men) numbers—a term frequently used for these top-ranked numbers—were often the subject of intensive wheeling and dealing.

The abolition of this system of “family tradition” effectively does away with five years of privileges that have, up until now, been enjoyed by senior party officials: a virtual guarantee of becoming an assembly member, with a wage in the tens of millions of rupiah, recess bonuses of Rp120 million and allowances to pay for cars, rent and electricity.

It is because of this that those who “opposed” the decision only grumbled about it quietly among themselves. “This isn’t right,” said a member of the banyan tree faction—as Golkar is known—when speaking with Tempo. They are hoping that a national leadership meeting next October can be challenged to overturn the decision. “A national leadership meeting has more authority than a central leadership board plenary meeting,” said the source.

The person who is considered to be the ringleader behind the approval of the proportional or open poll systems is Golkar Party Advisory Board Chair Surya Paloh. A Tempo source related how in early August, following a meeting of Team Seven chaired by Jusuf Kalla to discuss legislative candidate members, at around 10am Paloh emerged.

Team Seven is composed of Golkar Deputy Chairperson Agung Laksono, party General Secretary Sumarsono and two of his representatives, Iskandar Manji and Rully Chairul Azwar, along with Golkar faction leaders Syamsul Muarif and Andi Mattalata plus a regional coordinator.

During a discussion in the visitors’ room, Surya Paloh said that there has been a declining trend in the party’s performance: Golkar has lost in a number of elections of regional heads and several recent surveys indicate that Golkar’s share of the vote will plummet to 12 percent in the 2009 elections. This is of course well below the target set by Golkar, which is seeking to garner some 30 percent of the vote next year. “How is it possible that, when I became the advisory board chair, Golkar’s vote in fact collapsed,” said the source quoting from Paloh’s remarks.

The other reason for using an open proportional system is that many central board members and relatives had been fighting over the top rankings that would guarantee them a seat in parliament. As a consequence, the legislative candidate list has been revised repeatedly.

Still perched on Golkar’s list of legislative candidates for example, are the names of several senior party officials and their families. Take the case of Agung Gumiwang Kartasasmita and Agus Gurlaya Kartasasmita in the West Java 1 and 2 electoral districts. Both are brothers of DPD Speaker Ginandjar Kartasasmita.

Party boards of directors are also grouped in first place. This includes, among others, party leaders such as Burhanuddin Napitupulu (North Sumatra 1), Enggartiasto Lukita (West Java and Firman Soebagyo (Central Java 3). In addition to this, there is Deputy General Secretary Priyo Budi Santoso (East Java 1) and Rully Chairul Azwar (Bengkulu). But that of course was before, and under an open poll system the list ranking no longer has any influence.

Rully Azwar confirmed that in general objections to the use of the majority votes system have come from central leadership board members. He claims not to have any problems with the decision. Rully believes he has enough roots in and is well-known by the people of Bengkulu. This is also the case for Firman, who often visits regional electorates. “I get down to the subdistrict level, remember,” he said.

According to Muladi, the coordinator for the Jakarta Special Province Electoral District, the issue of the vote division number (calculated by dividing the number of voters by the number of seats available) as a condition for obtaining a seat was also debated. The figure of 30 percent—as mandated by the General Elections Law—can be bargained down to just 10-15 percent.

In the end however, everyone agreed that this limit should be abolished. Meaning, the candidates that will obtain seats in parliament are those with the largest number of votes, so competition will be open. “Each candidate will have to try their best and not just sit idle because they have a high ranking number.”

According to Paloh, efforts to convince central board members were in fact relatively easy. “This is just a minor problem,” he said smiling. “What must be considered is how to convince the public to vote Golkar.” Paloh believes that competition in the 2009 elections will be very tight. The rise in the “white movement” vote (to abstain from voting or not mark the ballot paper) in a number of recent elections of regional heads indicates that, “The party machine isn’t working,” said Paloh.

On Monday two weeks ago, before the Golkar central leadership meeting was opened, a board member admitted that they were approached by a senior faction member. “Never mind, just accept the decision,” said the senior legislator. Jusuf Kalla chaired the meeting that began at 9am in a businesslike manner. “Is it agreed? Is it agreed?” said Kalla. Then, the gavel was banged signaling an end to the discussion. The numerical order system was toppled and replaced by a majority vote system.

The speed by which the decision was made was bound to attract criticism. “It was as if we had barely sat down and the meeting was already over,” was one such remark. But on this question, Paloh defends Kalla. “We had a lot to take care of. A long meeting would have been stupid,” he said roaring with laughter.

Only five people had an opportunity to question the decision. Actress Nurul Arifin, the number-one candidate for Purwakarta regency in West Java, raised concerns over the policy, which she referred to as being inconsistent. The thing is, in the deliberations over the electoral law it was Golkar that stubbornly opposed the proportional system.

But Kalla convinced Nurul that she would have a better chance with a majority vote system. In the 2004 elections, Nurul pocketed the largest number of votes but failed to get into parliament because her votes were allocated to a Golkar candidate in the top ranking. “Under this system, you will definitely get in,” said Kalla.

The other voice of dissent came from Anton Lesiangi, one of the departmental heads in Golkar. According to the source, Anton objected to changing the system because he would have to compete openly against other candidates in Lampung—a Muslim area where he is not yet well-known. Earlier, he had hoped to campaign by selling the party name and not as an individual. Because of this he asked to be transferred to Jakarta Special Province. He feels better prepared to compete in Jakarta, the city of his birth. “If it’s in Jakarta, I’m ready to be placed in any ranking.”

Putting aside these differences of opinion, there is a concern that top-ranking candidates could launch a challenge with the General Elections Commission if they don’t get in to Senayan as a result of the new system. Understand that regardless of any decision that Golkar has taken, the Election Law still uses a numerical order system.

Kalla, however, was not at a loss about how to deal with this. Each legislative candidate will submit a letter of resignation. Although the letters will be signed, the date will be left blank—and only filled in after the vote count has been completed next year. Meaning that if a candidate in the top ranking does not obtain enough votes, they cannot launch a challenge because they have tendered their resignation. In accordance with the Election Law, a candidate can fail to become a legislator if they resign or die. With regard to the validity of this, “It has already been discussed in legal terms by legal experts such as Minister of Justice & Human Rights Andi Mattalata,” said Firman Soebagyo.