T

he internal rift within the Golkar Party is dragging on, with the camp of Aburizal Bakrie filing a lawsuit at the West Jakarta District Court to challenge the ruling of the Golkar dispute tribunal that has favored the rival camp led by Agung Laksono.

Earlier this week the party'€™s dispute tribunal upheld the leadership of Agung Laksono, a former coordinating minister for people'€™s welfare, with two out of the four members of the tribunal recognizing Agung'€™s chairmanship, while the two other members of the tribunal declined to issue a recommendation.

Dissatisfied with the hung decision, Aburizal'€™s camp has defied the pledge that both camps would accept whatever was decided by the tribunal.

Representing Aburizal'€™s side, Idrus Marham, the camp'€™s secretary-general, told reporters his side had withdrawn its petition with the Supreme Court for a cassation of an earlier verdict issued by the West Jakarta District Court on the dispute, which had recommended the factions resolve their dispute internally, before officially filing a fresh lawsuit with the court.

Idrus emphasized that the fresh suit was aimed at encouraging the West Jakarta District Court to look into the core of the dispute before a legal process could kick off.

'€œAll the party'€™s executives, as well as members throughout the country, expect the bickering to immediately come to an end,'€ Idrus said.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for Aburizal'€™s camp, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, said that the suit, similarly to an earlier lawsuit, called on the court to legitimize the leadership of Aburizal, which was sealed during a national congress held in Bali in September last year.

Emphasizing that the internal conflict within Golkar would continue for sometime, in spite of the tribunal'€™s ruling, Yusril thus called on Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly to refrain from using his authority to intervene in the matter.

'€œI hope the law and human rights minister will carefully handle his job so that he does not make any mistakes,'€ Yusril said.

The Aburizal camp made the move only one day after representatives from Agung'€™s camp came to Yasonna'€™s office, with all the necessary documents, to register Agung'€™s leadership of Golkar.

Yasonna, who was criticized for intervening in a similar power struggle within the United Development Party (PPP), has yet to comment on the matter.

Separately, Golkar lawmaker Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, who is a member of the Agung camp slammed Aburizal'€™s move to challenge the party'€™s tribunal decision, a move he referred as a threat to the unity of the party.

'€œIt will prolong the problem. The condition of the party will only get worse because they are hungry for power,'€ Agun said.

Agun said further that he deeply regretted Aburizal'€™s lawsuit as the two camps could in fact join hands in preparing the party'€™s programs for the future, particularly approaching the simultaneous regional elections.

'€œWe would have ended the conflict by now if we really cared about the party,'€ he said.