This has not been a good year for Indonesia's Golkar party.

The political vehicle of former leader Suharto won April's legislative elections but did so with a reduced share of the vote. It failed to get its presidential candidate past a July first round. And when its leadership chose to back incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri in a September run-off it prompted a mass defection of voters that contributed strongly to a landslide victory by her rival, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.