Pros and Cons of Bahlil Replacing Airlangga Hartarto as General Chairman of Golkar, Idrus Marham Vs Agung Laksono

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The name of the Minister of Investment, Bahlil Lahadalia, is said to be the General Chairman or Chairman of the Golkar Party that will replace him Airlangga Hartarto who announced his resignation on Saturday, August 10 2024. Several politicians of the Golkar Party supported Bahlil as Chairman of the Golkar Party, while others said that the BPKM Leader did not meet the requirements.

Jesus Bahlil Efforts to move Airlangga from the chairman’s position have been on the radar for a long time. Last March, Koran Tempo reported that Bahlil would become the president of Golkar, along with talk about President Joko Widodo or Jokowi joining the banyan party. Sources within the Golkar Party and colleagues said that Bahlil would give Jokowi a high position if he became chairman.

Bahlil’s name also emerged as one of the strong candidates for Airlangga’s place after the announcement of his resignation. This was said by the Executive Director of Poltracking Indonesia, Hanta Yuda. In his analysis, he explained that the position of Golkar Party Chairman is often held by people who are also in strategic positions in the government. Bahlil has the criteria.

Bahlil is known to be close to Jokowi. Reporting from Tempo Magazine Sunday, March 3, 2024 edition, titled High Ambitions of a former Driver, both of them ended after Bahlil became the 26th General Chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi). At that time, Bahlil founded the National Young Entrepreneurs Volunteers (Repnas) in November 2018. This organization also supported the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin couple in the 2019 presidential election.

After being re-elected as president in the 2019 General Election, Jokowi brought Bahlil into the cabinet. First, in October 2019, the President appointed him as the CEO of BKPM. Subsequently, Bahlil was appointed Minister of Investment/CEO of BKPM in April 2021 after the establishment of the Ministry of Investment.

At the same time, the General Deputy Chairman of the Golkar Party, Ahmad Doli Kurnia, was reluctant to answer who would replace Airlangga after his resignation as General President. Instead of responding to Bahlil’s chances, Doli said his party was aiming to face the 2024 regional elections.

“Don’t let the resignation of Pak Airlangga disturb the concentration of Golkar Party facing the regional elections,” he said at the office of Golkar DPP, West Jakarta on Sunday, 11 August 2024.

On the other hand, Golkar will soon hold a full meeting to discuss the acting person who will replace the temporary post of General Chairman. Doli said that all Golkar deputy generals had the opportunity to become executors. “This is best done through deliberation and consensus,” he said.

Additionally: Support Bahlil to become General Chairman of Golkar