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Soeharto family eyeing political comeback
The family of former strongman Soeharto has inserted itself into the deepening rift between the two competing factions within the Golkar Party
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he family of former strongman Soeharto has inserted itself into the deepening rift between the two competing factions within the Golkar Party.
The family, known as the Cendana family after the street where Soeharto had his private home, is once more in the spotlight after Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra lambasted Yorrys Raweyai, a member of the Agung Laksono's camp, for his alleged role in orchestrating 'violent' efforts to occupy the party's faction office at the House of Representatives building.
From his Twitter account @HutomoMP_9, Tommy, commenting on the ongoing rift within Golkar, had harsh words for Yorrys.
'I strongly condemn Yorrys' action. I always considered you a friend, but it turns out that you're actually a loser,' Tommy said.
Tommy further warned Yorrys, as well as an unidentified third party, that he was ready to take any measures necessary to save the party, including violence.
'I too have a violent side if you want to play violence, so it's better not to mess around,' Tommy said.
Tommy's sister, Golkar lawmaker Siti 'Titiek' Hediati Hariyadi, later confirmed that the account was Tommy's, and said that her brother had his reasons for being angry over recent events within the party.
Titiek, who is also a member of central board of Aburizal Bakrie's faction, further asserted that regional party supporters had expressed support for Tommy taking over the party's leadership.
'There is an urgent need for the Soeharto family to return and save the party,' Titiek said.
Titiek, who was once married to Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, said that Tommy was needed to bring an end to the infighting and start a reconciliation process.
'Holding a national meeting [to select a new party chairman] is the best solution, rather than waiting until 2016,' she said.
An internal party tribunal earlier called for the two camps to reconcile until next year, when the party is expected to hold a congress to elect a new chairman.
The call, however, fell on deaf ears, with the Aburizal camp filing a lawsuit challenging Agung's leadership, which was declared during a congress in Ancol, Jakarta, a few months after Aburizal was reelected chairman during a congress in Bali in September.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly eventually endorsed the leadership of Agung, who vowed to shift Golkar's support for the opposition Red-and-White Coalition to the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition.
Many in Golkar, however, have responded negatively to calls for a new Soeharto-family leadership of the party.
Senior Golkar politician Akbar Tanjung said the discussion was 'irrelevant'.
Although Akbar did not explicitly reject the plan, he called for the party to continue with its reform, which has been ongoing since the end of Soeharto's New Order regime in the late 1990s.
'Reform has brought fundamental change. It's not relevant to discuss the Soeharto dynasty,' he said on the sidelines of a meeting at the House.
