At the 2009 Congress, held in Pekanbaru, Aburizal Bakrie was elected by chairman, winning 269 out of 583 votes, and beating Surya Paloh into second place.
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The state controlled the only television station in Indonesia (until 1989, with advent of RCTI), and elections were "exercises in controlled aggression.".
It is worth mentioning that the owner of the energy company, Aburizal Bakrie was the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare at the time of the disaster, and is currently the chairman of Golkar, one of the most influential political parties in Indonesia.
Golkar |
The party was established by former members of the Golkar Party who were dissatisfied with Golkar's abandonment of former president Suharto including former minister Hartono and Suharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.