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recent agreement between two conflicting camps within the Golkar Party has yet to decide the temporary leadership that will take the party into local elections scheduled for December.

Agung Laksono and Aburizal Bakrie, rival chiefs who have been fighting for months for control of the country'€™s second-largest political party, signed a temporary truce on Saturday, yet both continue to insist on their right to the leadership.

The agreement, hailed by both sides as an initial step to save the party from downfall, sets out key deals that aim to engage both groups in collaborative efforts to pave the way for Golkar to contest the elections: participating in the elections; setting up a joint candidate-selection committee; jointly endorsing candidates that represent both groups; and ensuring that documents on candidates are signed by a party leadership recognized by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Top figures readily agreed on the importance of establishing a joint team to recruit candidates as well as prepare them to contest the 269 elections scheduled to take simultaneously on Dec. 9, but refused to discuss who would officially register Golkar'€™s election nominees to the KPU, ensuring that the '€œcore deal'€ would require further discussion.

'€œThe deadline to register [at the KPU] is not until July 28. It'€™s better to set that matter aside for now, as it might bring efforts back to square one,'€ said Yorrys Raweyai, a deputy chairman of the Agung camp.

Reiterating Yorrys'€™ remarks, Agung told the press on Sunday that the deal was only an '€œinitial peace sign'€ that did not decide the party'€™s future permanent leadership.

Agung, meanwhile, said talks were ongoing, but made a thinly veiled claim to be legitimate party chairman, turning down a suggestion to hold a joint congress to select a single party leader and referring to himself as the '€œlegitimate leader elected through a congress'€.

While upholding cooperation between the two factions ahead of the local elections, figures from both camps suggested that they would depend on the ongoing legal process to settle the leadership dispute.

'€œThe KPU is obliged to ask the government who is the legitimate party chairman ahead of the elections,'€ said Agung, suggesting a course of action for the commission should he and his rival, Aburizal, fail to achieve an agreement on the matter by the deadline.

A KPU regulation on local elections requires an official peace pact recognized by the law and human rights minister or a final and binding court ruling on a party undergoing leadership dispute in order to participate in local elections.

Parties suffering internal rifts, including Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP), may fail to submit a final court verdict by the registration period between July 26 and 28, as rival groups within such parties refuse to accept defeat and continue to challenge existing court rulings.

The KPU has repeatedly said that it will not interfere with reconciliation processes within divided parties, but warned that the institution would only acknowledge party leaders who had obtained official recognition from the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Bambang Soesatyo, a senior member of the Aburizal camp, called the unresolved matter of the party leadership a '€œtime bomb'€ that could explode any time.

'€œA time bomb is ticking because we haven'€™t settled the party divide approaching the elections, in addition to other fundamental issues such as policy on party coalitions in the elections,'€ said Bambang.

He added that a review of the current peace pact might be necessary should both of the competing factions maintain their '€œarrogant attitudes'€.