T

he Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has suspended a decree issued by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly that recognized the Golkar chairmanship of Agung Laksono.

The PTUN granted on Wednesday a request to delay the decree'€™s implementation submitted by the party'€™s former chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, who is contesting the decision in court.

The trial will center on Aburizal'€™s charge that the decree issued by the Law and Human Rights Ministry recognizing Agung'€™s claim to the party chairmanship was made on a false interpretation of an ambiguous party-dispute tribunal verdict.

'€œThe plaintiff will be disadvantaged if the decree is still effective,'€ said presiding judge Teguh in the case'€™s first hearing.

The decree was suspended to allow the court to proceed with the case.

Following an embattled party succession that saw Aburizal'€™s chairmanship challenged by a splinter group led by Agung late last year, the two camps have been competing for government recognition.

Although the court did not recognize either camp as legitimate, the Aburizal camp has claimed the suspension means the party chairmanship has been temporarily returned to it.

The PTUN is expected to announce its final verdict in the next 90 days.

'€œThe ruling means the party'€™s leadership must be returned to the committee appointed in the 2009 national congress in Riau. This consequently overturns the party'€™s board [changes] from the central to the regional levels back to the
leadership of [Aburizal] and secretary-general Idrus Marham,'€ lawmaker Ade Komarrudin told
journalists.

Ade, who was appointed Golkar-faction leader at the House of Representatives during the Riau national meeting, said the PTUN ruling also cemented Aburizal'€™s control over the faction office at the House, another site of contestation between the two camps.

The Golkar faction has been bickering over control of the office, with Ade and his supporters squaring off against the group led by lawmaker Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who was appointed by Agung after the issuance of the ministerial decree.

The two groups confronted one another on Monday, with the Agus-camp attempting to take over the faction office. After a talk mediated by House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, both camps agreed to leave the current faction leader, Ade, in place until the PTUN issued its verdict.

'€œTherefore, we expect our friends from the Ancol-camp [Agung'€™s faction] to comply with the agreement struck in the mediation talk,'€ said Ade.

The rival camp, however, has said Agung'€™s leadership would last at least until a final court verdict in the dispute.

'€œWe just need to wait. The court'€™s ruling instructed us to wait,'€ Agus told the press in a separate briefing.

'€œWe will cooperate with our colleagues from the other camp. We won'€™t worsen the tension. The party'€™s leadership under Pak Agung is still legitimate.'€

The House chairmanship is expected to hold a Steering Committee (Bamus) meeting on Thursday to discuss the fate of the Golkar faction at in the legislature.

The House chairmanship previously declined to announce faction leaderships '€” an administrative procedure required to recognize the political parties '€” at a plenary meeting due to the sensitivity of the Golkar rift. Instead, there exists a plan to bring up the matter at a plenary meeting scheduled for Tuesday next week.

Following the PTUN'€™s ruling, however, the House may opt to recognize the faction under the current leadership of Ade until a final verdict is delivered.