"I am not afraid of being fired from Golkar party."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Former General Chairman of Golkar Party, M. Jusuf Kalla, said he was ready to be expelled from his party if another political party wanted to nominate him as a presidential candidate.
"If another political party is willing to nominate me as a presidential candidate, I am not afraid of being fired from Golkar party," he said on the sidelines of a seminar titled "State Ownership of the Oil and Gas Blocks after the Expiry of Contract" at the parliamentary building here on Tuesday.
Other political parties do not need an approval from Golkar if they wish to nominate Kalla as their presidential candidate.
Kalla said he was "a little confused" with the Golkar party`s decision - taken during the party`s national leadership meeting on June 28-30 this year - which ruled that any cadre running for the presidential and vice presidential posts, under the banner of another party, would be expelled from the Golkar party.
At the national leadership meeting, Golkar officially nominated its general chairman Aburial Bakrie as its presidential candidate for the 2014 general elections.
Earlier, a politician of Gerindra Party said his party would nominate Probowo Subianto, its General Chairman, and Jusuf Kalla as the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2014 elections.
When asked, Kalla said he had an "informal talk" with Prabowo before arriving at his decision.
"I met Prabowo, but the talks on this issue were informal," he explained, adding that he was waiting for further developments in the situation.
(Uu/R024/E002/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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