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fter months of isolation, the Golkar Party headquarters in West Jakarta turned into a crowded and festive venue on Monday evening as thousands of Golkar supporters and locals swarmed the compound to attend a ceremony held to celebrate the end of the party'€™s prolonged leadership dispute.

Located only 500 meters away from Jl. S. Parman, one of the country'€™s busiest thoroughfares, the headquarters, since November last year, had become a subject of dispute between senior Golkar politicians Aburizal Bakrie and Agung Laksono after both of them claimed to be the legitimate chairman of the country'€™s second-largest political party.

In a show of force, Agung and his supporters, for example, had occupied the party'€™s headquarters in December, preventing Aburizal'€™s supporters from entering the compound. After fierce negotiations, both camps agreed to use the office complex for limited activities, including hosting a series of internal hearings to settle the leadership dispute.

The ambience of rivalry, however, faded away from the headquarters on Monday evening when Agung'€™s camp threw a syukuran, or thanksgiving ceremony, after Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly validated the leadership of Agung earlier in the day.

Unlike other days, the main entrance of the headquarters, for example, was left open, with visitors allowed to enter the 2-hectare office complex without being asked to show their IDs or report to security guards.

Inside the compound, visitors were also offered free food provided by dozens of food hawkers and entertained by a wayang kulit (shadow puppet) show performed by noted puppet master Ki Manteb Sudharsono from Monday evening to early on Tuesday.

It was also not a coincidence when Ki Manteb performed his show under the title Amarta Binangun, which narrated the struggle of the Pandawa knight brothers to build the Amarta kingdom after being cheated out of their legitimate ascension to the throne of the Astina kingdom by their cousins, the hundred Kurawas.

'€œThe [show] title was a special request from Golkar,'€ said Joko, one of Ki Manteb'€™s stage crew members.

Golkar politician Leo Nababan, the event'€™s lead organizer, said that both the ceremony and the wayang show symbolized Golkar'€™s revival after sailing a long-standing conflict.

'€œWe want to see Golkar return to the right path,'€ he said.

Apart from Agung, among Golkar leaders attending the ceremony were deputy chairmen Priyo Budi Santoso, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita and Yorrys Raweyai, and secretary-general Zainuddin Amali.

Before the wayang show kicked off, Agung, who also celebrated his 66th birthday on Wednesday, asked Ki Manteb to lead ruwatan, a Javanese ritual performed to provide spiritual protection to someone or a group of people.

'€œThis whole [dispute settlement] process was not as easy as turning the palm of a hand. There were many psychological hurdles,'€ Agung said in his opening speech.

Under Aburizal'€™s leadership, Golkar is the leader of the opposition Red-and-White Coalition.

Agung, meanwhile, has pledged to take Golkar over to the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition. He has also set up a new party committee lineup that comprises 394 individuals, making it the largest board in the history of Golkar.

The winning camp has also claimed to have taken measures to takeover leadership posts within the party'€™s branches nationwide, a move cited to consolidate Golkar'€™s preparations to win the regional elections in December.

Aburizal and his supporters, meanwhile, have refused to give up, saying that the camp was filing a lawsuit against Yasonna'€™s decree with the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN).