Even Though Airlangga Hartarto Saw And Left Behind, The Golkar Party Will Be Fine

Airlangga Hartarto while accompanying Jokowi to inspect the Renewable Environment, Climate, Forestry and Energy (LIKE) 2 Festival area at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Friday (9/8/2024). (ANTARA/Hafidz Mubarak A/tom.)

JAKARTA There is no wind there is no rain, suddenly Airlangga Hartarto announced his resignation as General Chair of the Golkar Party. Airlangga's resignation clearly shocked the Indonesian political world.

The Minister of Industry for the 2016-2019 period has been delayed since Saturday (10/8/2024), but the video of his resignation has only spread a day later. A number of questions are in the minds of the public regarding the cause of Airlangga's resignation from the position he has been in since 2017.

The reason that Airlangga wants to maintain the integrity of the Golkar Party and ensure stability during the transition of government from President Joko Widodo to Elected President Prabowo Subianto is considered irrational.

Airlangga's resignation as chairman of the Golkar Party suddenly caused various speculations. Starting from internal pressure, the influence of the authorities, to his relationship with the corruption case of cooking oil or CPO.

The allegation of internal pressure that caused Airlangga's resignation was conveyed by a political observer from the University of Indonesia, Cecep Hidayat. According to him, this may have happened because Airlangga was elected as the chairman of Golkar, not from the party's root bearing the banyan tree, but because of the support from President Jokowi.

In addition, Airlangga is also considered more busy in the cabinet than greeting his cadres in the regions.

For this reason, President Jokowi was connected with the situation that occurred in the Golkar and Airlangga circles. Especially, the day before resigning, the two met at the Presidential Palace. Quoting Kompas, Airlangga arrived at the Presidential Palace complex at around 14:07, then left the place at around 15:49 WIB.

However, speculation about the reason for Airlangga's resignation did not stop there. Reported that more than seven Golkar Party officials on different occasions told the chronology behind Airlangga's resignation. In essence, before deciding to resign, Airlangga was said to have received a summons from the Attorney General's Office to be examined as a witness in the corruption case of the export license for crude palm oil or CPO and its derivative for the 2021-2022 period at the Ministry of Trade.

However, the AGO also denied the news about this summons. Even with the statement by the Deputy Head of the Golkar Party, Ahmad Doli Kurnia, who emphasized that Airlangga's resignation was not related to the corruption case of cooking oil being handled by the AGO.

According to Pangi Syarwi Chaniago, the emergence of various speculations is inevitable. According to Pangi, the many variables causing Airlangga Hartarto's resignation made the issue even wild and competent.

"This resignation could be due to internal pressure, it could also be due to external pressure due to power," Pangi said when contacted by VOI.

Pangi added that Airlangga seemed to be faced with a difficult choice so he had to'realize', in this case placing his position as chairman of the Golkar Party.

Regarding the reason that Airlangga said that this was done for the sake of the party's integrity so that it would remain well consolidated and maintain the stability of the government, according to Pangi, was an unreasonable reason.

"Previously, he also continued to work as a minister while serving as chairman of Golkar," he said.

Despite being hit by unpleasant rumors after Airlangga Hartarto's resignation, Pangi said Golkar would not fall into this situation. Especially if you reflect on previous experiences, that the party bearing the banyan symbol has also gone through quite a lot of difficult times.

Golkar ini bukan partai main-main, partai yang sudahtle. Golkar tidak berpusatkan hanya pada satu dua orang, tapi memiliki banyak figur, kata Pangi.

Golkar akan tetap kokoh, akan tetap kuat, rootnya terus ke tanah. Golkar ini sudah terbiasa dengan kondisi sulit, ia menambahkan.

The question of who will become Airlangga's successor is still a puzzle. Bahlil Lahadalia, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, Bambang Soesatyo, and Firman Soebagyo are said to be strong candidates to replace the position left by the 61-year-old man.

But at the same time, a poster of Gibran Rakabuming Raka appeared as Ketum Golkar. In the poster, it was written that Gibran Rakabuming Raka for Ketum Golkar 2024-2029 was declared the maker of the poster.

Golkar, said Pangi, is very intersecting with the will of power. However, at the same time there are twin suns, namely President Jokowi as current ruler and Prabowo Subianto as elected president.

"Can it or not (Gibran becomes Ketum Golkar). But what is certain is that there are standard rules that must be met, one of which is about the articles of association / household budget (AD / ART)," Pangi explained.

Even so, according to Pangi, it is possible that there will be political lobbying again to smooth someone out filling the seat left by Airlangga Hartarto.