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mid the power struggle between two factions within the Golkar Party, one group led by former deputy chairman Agung Laksono has pledged support for President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s political caucus.

In a national congress held during the weekend in Ancol, Jakarta, Agung said that he wanted to lead Golkar out of the opposition Red-and-White Coalition.

'€œWe oppose the return of regional-head elections through DPRDs [regional representatives councils]. Golkar is better outside [the Red-and-White Coalition],'€ said Agung, who is also running for the party chairmanship in the congress.

For the first time in the party'€™s 50-year history, Golkar, the government'€™s political arm during the Soeharto era, has split into two factions, which have conducted their quarrel in public.

Aburizal Bakrie was reelected party chairman for the second time in a national congress in Bali, a congress firmly controlled by his camp.

In the congress, Aburizal reaffirmed the party'€™s political direction; in opposition with the Red-and-White Coalition, and also ordered the rejection of direct elections for regional heads, breaking the party'€™s agreement with the Democratic Party, which has sought to reinstate direct elections.

After a decade of implementation, the direct-election mechanism was revoked during a controversial deliberation of the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law at the House of Representatives in October.

Then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tried to reinstate the mechanism by issuing two government regulations in lieu of law (Perppu), which await the House'€™s approval to become effective.

As a significant faction in the House and the leader of the Red-and-White Coalition, Golkar'€™s support would be paramount in passing the Perppu.

In the Jakarta congress, Agung was seen as the strongest contender for the chairmanship position.

A few hours before the congress officially began the party chairmanship election on Sunday evening, Golkar politician Lamhot Sinaga, a member of Agung'€™s campaign team, was busy contacting Golkar regional executives by phone.

'€œI'€™m trying to help them meet with Pak Agung personally before the leadership vote since they want to ask a lot of things, including about the future of their political careers should he win the election,'€ Lamhot told The Jakarta Post.

The three-day congress, at which the organizers claim to have gathered representatives from 384 out of 560 Golkar chapters and branches, was held only two days after the party'€™s national congress in Bali that sealed Aburizal'€™s reelection.

Although three politicians '€” Agung, former House of Representatives deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso and lawmaker Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita '€” had announced their intention to run in the leadership vote at the current congress, none of them were seen aggressively seeking support from the congress delegates.

Most voters admitted that they were still undecided prior to the leadership vote, which began with the presentation of the candidates'€™ mission statements.

'€œI'€™ve never talked directly to any of the three candidates. But personally, I would vote for a candidate who shared the commitment to visit the party'€™s grass root supporters,'€ Rasmali, who represents Golkar'€™s Rokan Hilir branch in Riau, said.

Head of Golkar'€™s Purworejo branch in Central Java, Kelik Sumrahadi, meanwhile, said that he had no personal preference.

'€œAll three candidates are my friends. I have no problem with whoever wins the leadership vote,'€ he said.

At the time of publication the election process was still ongoing.