D

espite a decree from the law and human rights minister upholding the legality of Muhammad '€œRomy'€ Romahurmuziy'€™s leadership of the United Development Party (PPP), the embattled chairman of the party, Suryadharma Ali, pressed ahead with plans to hold his own version of a muktamar (national congress) in Jakarta, starting on Thursday.

The congress, which is scheduled to wrap up this weekend, will elect a new chairman and members of the party'€™s central executive board.

In an apparent show of solidarity, leaders of the Red-and-White Coalition, including Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, attended the first day of the congress.

In his opening speech, Surya-dharma claimed that he also sent invitations to parties in the rival Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)-led coalition.

'€œAs a matter of fact, I also invited members of the Great Indonesia Coalition, but only those from the Red-and-White Coalition attended,'€ Suryadharma told the congress, which is being held at the Sahid Jaya Hotel in Central Jakarta.

Other figures who attended the congress'€™ first day included National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa, PAN co-founder Amien Rais, PAN executive Zulkifli Hasan, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Anis Matta and the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Fahri Hamzah.

The PPP has been rocked by infighting since Suryadharma threw the party'€™s official support behind Prabowo'€™s presidential bid back in July.

A rival group that challenged Sur-yadharma'€™s decision got a much-needed boost when the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Suryadharma a graft suspect in May.

After a tense stand-off, the rival camp held a congress in Surabaya on Oct. 15, which ended with the election of Romy as the new party chairman.

Romy was elected with support from more than two-thirds of the party'€™s regional members.

Earlier this week, newly-inaugurated Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly issued a ministerial decree recognizing the changes in the structure of the PPP'€™s central board with Romy as the new party chief.

The decree was promptly met with harsh criticism from Suryadharma'€™s camp, as well as from members of the Red-and-White Coalition.

'€œThe issuance of the decree is a violation of the law on political parties, as well as of a letter from the ministry'€™s directorate general,'€ Suryadharma said.

He said the law stipulated that a conflict within a party had to be settled first before the ministry could issue a decree to officiate on a party'€™s new chairmanship.

Suryadharma also questioned Yasonna'€™s credibility, saying that it was a reckless decision to issue a decree within his first days as a minister.

'€œHis action is a form of intervention that blurs the boundary between his political interests and official role. Therefore, I call on President Jokowi to annul the decree immediately,'€ Suryadharma said.

Members of the Red-and-White Coalition also jumped to Suryadharma'€™s defense.

Prabowo said that his coalition was convinced that the ongoing congress held by the Suryadharma camp was the legitimate one.

'€œWe are a country based on law, so we are sure that the current congress in Jakarta is legitimately in line with the party'€™s regulations and the law,'€ Prabowo told reporters. Prabowo said he suspected that Yasonna could have made a mistake in issuing the decree. '€œWe also urged the government to fix the error. Maybe they made an error because [they'€™re] new.'€

Constitutional law expert Refly Harun, meanwhile, said it was the current congress that was illegal.

'€œIf there is any decision made by Suryadharma'€™s version of the party, then it is illegal because the one registered with the ministry is Romy'€™s,'€ he said on Thursday.