REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SANGATTA -- A chairman of the Central Executive Board of Golkar said the country's second largest party is "very much" ready to become an opposition party for the next five years.
H. Mahyudin, a chairman in charge of organizational and cadre development of the party said there is possibility of Golkar to take the position of opposition camp although a number of cadres wanted to remain part of the ruling coalition.
So far Golkar has always been part of the ruling coalition although it never won the presidency after the fall of dictatorial regime of Suharto.
Mahyudin said it is not Golkar but only individuals who are not ready to take the position of opposition.
Golkar wanted to make a history by not joining the ruling coalition, he said here on Sunday.
"We would be critical of the government, but even if we take the opposition stand we would support the policy of the government if it is good for the people," he said.
Earlier, he said despite strong rejection Aburizal Bakrie (ARB) has big opportunity to retain his position as the general chairman of Golkar after the next national congress.
ARB has been widely criticized after he failed to form a coalition to contest the presidential election despite being the second largest party in the country.
It was second in the lead after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in the last legislative election held in April this year.
ARB even joined a coalition under the minority Gerindra party of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, who lost to Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo in the July 9 presidential election.
In protest and expressing disappointment, a number of leading cadres and senior leaders of Golkar refused to follow ARB to support Prabowo.
They openly expressed support for Joko Widodo and called for other cadres to vote for the popular governor, whose running mate is Jusuf Kalla, who is a Golkar cadre and former general chairman of the party.
A number of Golkar leaders including founders such as Suhardiman had even proposed holding of party congress earlier to choose new general chairman to replace ARB.
The congress is earlier scheduled to be held only in 2015, but the call for holding the congress in October this year is gaining ground.
Mahyudin claimed support for ARB remained strong from the provinces although ARB had not said if he would contest the next election to keep the top position in the party.
He said he would contest the election if ARB decided to stay away, "but I believe he still is the right person to lead the party for the next five years."
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