TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Tensions rise within Golkar as Kalla defends 'rebels'
Jusuf Kalla, the running mate of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) presidential candidate Joko âJokowiâ Widodo, has attacked Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie for his decision to fire party members who refused to toe the party line and support the presidential bid of Prabowo Subianto
Change Size
J
usuf Kalla, the running mate of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) presidential candidate Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, has attacked Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie for his decision to fire party members who refused to toe the party line and support the presidential bid of Prabowo Subianto.
The vice-presidential candidate, who was Golkar chairman from 2004 to 2009, also challenged Aburizal to strip him of his party membership as, he claimed, the sacked politicians were only following his orders.
'They are just listening to their conscience, supporting me, their former leader, who is now a vice-presidential candidate. Isn't that more logical than supporting a Gerindra Party leader [Prabowo] and chairman [Hatta Rajasa] of PAN [the National Mandate Party]?' Kalla said on the sidelines of his campaign tour, in a statement made available on Friday.
'Go ahead, fire them and fire me too. We will exact revenge next month,' he said, referring to a possible victory in the July 9 presidential poll.
Speculation was also rife that should the Jokowi-Kalla ticket win the election, Aburizal would be ousted from his chairmanship.
The Golkar central board has fired politicians for publicly supporting the Jokowi-Kalla ticket. 'And there will be more,' warned Golkar secretary general Idrus Marham.
The three Golkar politicians ' Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, Nusron Wahid and Poempida Hidayatullah ' have also been stripped of their posts in key commissions in the House of Representatives.
Golkar's central board has also dismissed West Sulawesi Governor Adnan Saleh from his position as the leader of the party's West Sulawesi provincial chapter for a similar reason.
'They were reprimanded but remained oblivious to the party's formal decision [to endorse Prabowo-Hatta],' Idrus said, adding that another politician, Kalla loyalist Indra J. Piliang, would also soon be shown the door.
The dismissal could also annul Nusron and Agus's reelection as House members. But the General Elections Commission (KPU) said it would wait for the formal letters from Golkar before taking them off the list of elected lawmakers.
Lawyer and human rights activists Todung Mulya Lubis, who represents Poempida, Agus and Nusron, said that he had filed a lawsuit against Golkar's central board for 'deciding on dismissals that violated mechanisms stipulated in the party's statute'.
Agus said he would challenged his dismissal in court. 'We are ready challenging the decision through the party's internal mechanism. If it fails, we will proceed and file a lawsuit to the PTUN [State Administrative Court],' he said.
Nusron said the decision to fire them had been prompted by the Prabowo-Hatta camp's nerves in the face of the Jokowi-Kalla ticket's 'rising electability'.
Other Golkar members have also declined the order to support the Prabowo-Hatta ticket. Among them are former speaker of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Ginandjar Kartasasmita; who is also Agus' father; former Industry minister Fahmi Idris, and former Trade minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.
Aburizal decided to join the Prabowo-Hatta camp after failing to strike a deal with Megawati Soekarnoputri, chair of the PDI-P, the leading party of the Jokowi-Kalla coalition.
Another coalition with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party also failed to materialize. At the eleventh hour, Aburizal decided to drop his presidential bid and instead joined Prabowo's ticket.
