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Pekanbaru, Riau. Though Golkar yellow dominates the landscape in Pekanbaru, there is an unmistakable undercurrent of black running through Riau’s provincial capital, the scene of the party’s national leadership meeting.

Though not officially opened until late Monday night by the outgoing party chairman and vice president, Jusuf Kalla, intrigue had begun to build earlier in the day as the four hopefuls started their campaigns in earnest to fill the politically powerful top position of the former ruling party.

If the chairmanship was to be determined on the number of banners and posters fluttering in the Riau breeze, then Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and media mogul Surya Paloh could be considered frontrunners, with Yuddy Chrisnandi and Hutomo Mandala Putra, familiarly known as Tommy Suharto, trailing in the distance.

However, it is the favored son of former dictator Suharto who has made the initial power play, promising each party district head Rp 50 billion ($5.2 million) to be used as capital to implement local development programs.

Saurip Kadi, Tommy’s campaign team chairman, said the money was for development projects, not for personnel needs, and those who accepted the money would have to vote for Tommy.

All 538 voters, comprising one voter from Golkar’s central executive board, 33 provincial branch chairmen, 494 district branch heads and 10 Golkar wing organizations, are scheduled to cast their ballots on Wednesday night.

Saurip said that as a result of his proposal, Tommy had secured 307 letters from branch chairmen in which they stated they were willing to support his bid to lead the party to the 2014 legislative and presidential elections.

Senior Golkar figure Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, who was earlier tipped as a candidate for the chairmanship but has withdrawn, said he regretted the tactics used by Tommy to gain favor at a time when the party’s voter support was on the wane.

He said the party needed to instead rebuild ahead of 2014, which would not be achieved by promising money to attract votes.

Although Paloh was able to gather 405 district branch chairmen and 17 provincial branch chairmen in Bali over the weekend, he acknowledged he could not be guaranteed of their support in Wednesday’s vote.

“There’s nothing certain in life. Many things can happen from Bali to Pekanbaru and from Pekanbaru to the voting booth,” Paloh said. “But I remind all members to be consistent.”

Commenting on the practice of money politics, often resorted to during elections, Paloh said he just wanted the competition to be fair and consistent.

In other developments, hundreds of Paloh’s campaign posters were torn down by unknown individuals, prompting the media magnate to speak out against what he said was a black campaign against him. But Paloh said he would not be provoked.

He also said he hoped there would be no outside interference in the leadership meeting, a clear warning to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is believed to have aligned himself with Bakrie on the expectation that he would bring Golkar back into the fold of the ruling coalition government.

“I think there is no benefit for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to intervene in Golkar’s congress,” Paloh added.

Saurip said Tommy was unfazed by Yudhoyono’s alleged support for Bakrie.

“I’ve know him [Yudhoyono] for quite a long time,” Saurip said. “I know him as a smart and careful person in considering a move, so I don’t think that he will choose someone who can be a burden for the government.”