ABURIZAL TO REMAIN OUTSIDE GOVT IF ELECTED GOLKAR LEADER

Blitar, Indonesia, July 27 (ANTARA) - Golkar Party figure Aburizal Bakrie said, if was elected the party's leader at an upcoming national party meeting, he would prefer to remain outside the government.

"I will prefer not to be a cabinet member, but concentrate on party affairs," he told reporters here Monday when asked what role he was likely to assume after Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had formed his new cabinet.

He said the Golkar Party would not forbid its cadres to accept a post in Yudhoyono's new cabinet if they were chosen by the president based on their personal capabilities.

"We will not bar any of our members from taking part in the SBY-Boediono cabinet if they are recruited," he said.

Golkar whose presidential candidate, Jusuf Kalla, was defeated by Yudhoyono in the July 8 poll, would not refuse to be represented in the cabinet as a "pure" opposition party would, he said.

"When we criticize the government, we will do it in a constructive way. We will be a constructive opposition party," he said.

Although Golkar would not forbid any of its members to accept a post in the government, Bakrie said, he personally would support the SBY administration "from outside the cabinet."
"Thereby, Golkar will neither be too close nor too far from the government," he said.

The Golkar Party is expected to hold a national conference next October or well before Yudhoyono forms his cabinet for the
2009-2014 period. One of the main points on the Golkar conference's agenda is to elect a new party leader to succeed Jusuf Kalla.
Bakrie, who is currently coordinating minister for the people's welfare in the Yudhoyono administration, is reported to be one of the main contenders for the Golkar Party's top post.***