GOLKAR SHOULD REMAIN CRITICAL: OBSERVER

Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Oct, 8 (ANTARA) - Golkar should remain critical of government policies that are not pro-people if it wants to cultivate the people's trust, an observer said.

"We hope that Golkar cadres in the House of Representatives (DPR) will remain critical of government polices that are not pro-people," Dr Syaifuddin Bantasyam of Syiah Kuala University (Unsyiah), said here on Thursday.

Golkar is expected to support President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government after its congress in Pekanbaru elected Aburizal Bakrie as its chairman for the next five years early Thursday.

This means the government will no longer have to deal with an opposition in the parliament, a role that was previously played by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).

Syaifuddin, who is also a lecturer on law at Unsyiah, said he was not too concerned if there was no opposition because in Indonesia no political party had so far been able to serve as a real opposition.

"What does make me feel concerned is that there may no longer be any party willing or courageous enough to criticize government policies that do not serve the people's interest ," he said.

He said adopting that opposition to or pro-government position was not an important thing because to control the government did not necessarily be carried out by an opposition party.

The lecturer said that voices of opposition were aired by former Golkar chairman Jusuf Kalla who was no longer in the power.

It seems that some were affected by the voices while Kalla in 2004 was with the government. "That is politics, which should not always walk straight ahead," he added.

Golkar's Advisory Board member Aburizal Bakrie was elected chairman of the political party for the 2009-2014 period at the party's congress here early on Thursday.

Bakrie won 296 votes while his strongest rival Surya Paloh who grabbed 240 votes. Two other candidates Tommy Soeharto and Yuddy Chrinandi did not win a single vote.***