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Aburizal's rivals stage own congress with Kalla's support
Making the move: Former Golkar Party deputy chairman Agung Laksono (left), who leads the so-called âPresidium of the Golkar Partyâs Saviorsâ, attends the opening of the partyâs national meeting at a convention center in Ancol, North Jakarta, on Saturday (JP/AWO) Only two days after securing his reelection as Golkar Party chairman, Aburizal Bakrie now faces fresh challenges to his leadership after a breakaway faction in the party kicked off on Saturday a rival congress to establish its own version of the party leadership
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Making the move: Former Golkar Party deputy chairman Agung Laksono (left), who leads the so-called 'Presidium of the Golkar Party's Saviors', attends the opening of the party's national meeting at a convention center in Ancol, North Jakarta, on Saturday (JP/AWO)
Only two days after securing his reelection as Golkar Party chairman,
Aburizal Bakrie now faces fresh challenges to his leadership after a
breakaway faction in the party kicked off on Saturday a rival congress
to establish its own version of the party leadership.
Taking
place at a convention center in Ancol in North Jakarta, the three-day
congress has been organized by senior Golkar politicians, including
former Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono, former executive Yorrys
Raweyai, former House of Representatives deputy speaker Priyo Budi
Santoso and former lawmaker Ibnu Munzir, who have all recently
criticized many of Aburizal's missteps including his failure to secure
victory in this year's legislative election.
Yorrys, the
congress' lead organizer, claimed that representatives from 384 out of
560 Golkar chapters and branches joined the congress, allowing the
meeting to meet the quorum as stipulated by the party's internal rules.
He
also said the congress would schedule, among other items, the
evaluation of Golkar's performance in the past five years and the
election of a new party chairman.
'However, unlike the other
congress, this congress will allow [Golkar] chairmanship candidates to
transparently share their vision and mission in front of congress
participants,' Yorrys said, referring to Golkar's recent congress in
Bali, which unanimously supported Aburizal's reelection despite wide
criticism of his dismal performance.
Golkar, now the
country's second-largest political party, currently remains outside the
government coalition ' the first time in its 50-year history it has not
been in government, after Aburizal directed the party to support the
unsuccessful presidential bid of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo
Subianto.
Following the defeat, Golkar joined the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, with Aburizal being appointed as coalition leader.
Expectations
were high that a leadership change in Golkar would allow the party to
join the ruling coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P).
A few days before the Bali congress, Agung,
Priyo and several senior Golkar politicians established the 'Presidium
of the Golkar Party's Saviors'.
Both camps have since maintained the legality of their respective leaderships.
As
of Saturday evening, Priyo, Agung and lawmaker Agus Gumiwang
Kartasasmita had announced their intention to contest the Golkar
leadership vote in the current congress.
Priyo also claimed the congress had received an endorsement from Vice President, and former Golkar chairman, Jusuf Kalla.
'Three
days ago I, Pak Agung and Pak Agus met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla
to discuss many issues [related to the party]. He gave us his support to
hold this congress,' he said.
The opposition camp initially
planned to hold its own version of a national congress in January but
decided to bring it forward after deciding that Golkar's position had
been undermined by Aburizal's reelection, Yorrys added.
The
sudden changes also affected the congress preparations. Some congress
participants, for example, said they had to wait several hours until the
registration desk opened. The opening of the congress was also delayed
from 2 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. due to the late arrival of delegates.
Participants explained why they endorsed the congress.
West
Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan, who was dismissed earlier this year by
Aburizal for supporting Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's presidential bid, for
example, said his attendance at the congress was his way of taking
responsibility for his political decision.
Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham, however, said the current congress would not affect Aburizal's leadership.
'We don't consider that such a congress even exists,' he said.
