Regional Golkar leaders back Airlangga amidst high-profile power struggle

• All Golkar Party’s provincial branches have declared their support for Airlangga Hartarto, strengthening his position amid a tumultuous moment in which some party members have suggested overthrowing him as party chairman ahead of next year’s presidential and legislative elections.
• Some Golkar members, including Luhut Pandjaitan and Bahlil Lahadalia, both of whom are members of Jokowi’s Cabinet, have expressed interest in replacing Airlangga and running for the party chairmanship.
• His position as Golkar chairman became even more precarious after he was questioned by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on the cooking oil corruption case last week.
• Airlangga has been eyeing a chance to run in the presidential election despite his persistently low electability rating in various opinion polls.
• In a closed-door meeting in Bali on Sunday, party leaders from all provincial branches rejected the initiative to hold an extraordinary party congress to replace Airlangga before his term ends in 2024.
• “We declared our 100% refusal to an extraordinary congress. We want to focus on working with Airlangga to win all political agendas for the 2024 general election,” acting chairman of Golkar’s Papua office Ahmad Doli Kurnia said
• Mardiono stated that his party has strong lines of communication with the PDIP, he said that the “PPP is optimistic, our communication is intense with Mrs Megawati, Mrs Puan and Mr Hasto.”

External Link : https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/08/01/golkar-provincial-chapters-throw-support-behind-airlangga-amid-turmoil.html