I

n an unprecedented move, the House of Representatives is set to hold a plenary meeting to resolve a conflict over Golkar'€™s representation at the House, where two factions are locked in a battle for control.

According to the 2014 Law on Legislative Institutions (MD3), like all parties, Golkar must be represented by official party committee members in the House.

House leaders have refused to recognize a new crop of Golkar lawmakers onto commissions and other internal bodies, despite the urging of new Golkar faction head Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.

After gaining recognition from the Law and Human Rights Ministry last week, new party chairman Agung Laksono ordered Agus to oust loyalists of former chairman Aburizal Bakrie and recognize their replacements on commissions and other internal bodies.

House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon said Tuesday the ongoing internal conflict in Golkar was an extraordinary development that could not be managed by existing protocol.

'€œIrregularities surrounding the government'€™s recognition of [Agung'€™s leadership in] Golkar makes it as a public matter instead of an internal affair. Thus, it involves the House as an institution that monitors the government,'€ said Fadli, a politician from the Gerindra Party, a member of the opposition bloc at the House.

Fadli and fellow House leaders agreed Tuesday to bring the matter up for further discussion during a steering committee (Bamus) meeting scheduled for Thursday, during which each of the 10 political factions are expected to declare their official stance on the matter.

The decision comes on the heels of a fresh report by the Aburizal camp allegedly containing new proof of government misconduct in deciding to approve Agung'€™s leadership.

The plenary meeting will take place after the vote, and will mark the first time the House has forcibly intervened in an internal party conflict.

Agung has faced an uphill battle to seize party control from Aburizal, as the former chairman is still supported by the opposition bloc.

He opted not to replace House Speaker Setya Novanto, but did decide to replace a significant number of lawmakers from the party faction, including Ade Komarudin and Bambang Soesatyo, who served respectively as chairman and secretary under Aburizal'€™s chairmanship.

Setya has since expressed his intention to leave the opposition, in which Golkar, under Aburizal, has been a major supporter.

Article 82 of the MD3 law stipulates that '€œa House faction is formed by a political party that has met the parliamentary threshold in a legislative election'€.

An internal regulation at the House excludes party factions from its list of internal bodies, making questions over the legitimacy of a party'€™s leadership a purely internal affair, not one for House deliberation.

Articles 20 and 21 of the regulation detail the procedures governing the establishment of a party faction, and none of the stipulations requires recognition from the House.

Another deputy speaker at the House, Taufik Kurniawan of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said House leaders had no authority to decide on the legitimacy of a party chairmanship or a party'€™s representatives.

'€œA faction is not a House internal body. It is the representation of a party. We have no right to rule on its legitimacy,'€ he said after House leadership meeting that was also attended by Fadli.

PAN, a member of the opposition bloc after the general elections held last year, has slowly softened its oppositional tone.

New PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan said though the party would remain in the opposition, it would support government programs that aligned with its beliefs.