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s the General Elections Commission (KPU) has revised regional election regulations to accommodate parties with dual leadership, camps within the Golkar Party have agreed to jointly nominate their candidates.

A senior politician from Agung Laksono'€™s camp, Yorrys Raweyai, confirmed the joint selection team within the party.

'€œThe two camps have come up with mostly the same candidates. Only 10 percent of the total need to be surveyed [because they are different] and we plan to finalize the list on July 23,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Aburizal Bakrie'€™s camp spokesman Tantowi Yahya said that he welcomed the regulation changes.

'€œThere was a very positive turning point when all the parties'€™ leaders and secretaries-general met at Vice President Jusuf Kalla'€™s house [before Idul Fitri] and agreed that each faction in the conflicted parties, especially in Golkar, could nominate candidates for the local elections,'€ said Tantowi.

He went on to say that should the names of the nominees be different, the joint selection team would hire public survey bodies to select the candidates that were most popular in the eyes of the public.

'€œIf there are differences, the two camps have agreed to choose the [candidates] with the highest electability based on survey results. Hence there is no subjectivity in the selection method,'€ the politician said.

While the two factions agreed to cooperate in order to join the 269 regional elections, infighting over the party'€™s legal leader is continuing.

Tantowi said that the Aburizal camp'€™s lawyer, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, had appealed a Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruling that validated Agung Laksono as Golkar chairman.

Following political pressure to accommodate Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP), which are currently undergoing leadership disputes, the election committee revised regulations regarding candidate endorsement.

'€œIf the camps [in one political party] propose two different candidates, the KPU will reject them and they cannot participate in the election,'€ KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay told the Post.

Furthermore, according to the new KPU regulation, they cannot withdraw a registered candidate even if the court issues a legally binding ruling on one leader during the election process.

PPP camp leader Muhammad '€œRomy'€ Romahurmuziy, who has been supported by the government, denied that his faction had made a joint selection team with rival camp head Djan Faridz.

'€œI have not and will never talk about it [nominating potential regional heads together with Djan'€™s camp],'€ he told the Post.

Romy insisted that his faction would still submit candidate names under his endorsement because the PTUN recognized him as the party'€™s official leader in a recent ruling.

Djan'€™s camp has appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court.

Djan earlier claimed that the two PPP camps had agreed to select candidates jointly. '€œ[The selection teams from each faction have not met yet but] Romy and [our] secretary-general have met to discuss about the candidacy. [The two] teams are set to meet up on July 21. We will discuss uniting our voices to get the same names,'€ Djan told reporters.

But he remained prepared to hear Romy'€™s rejection.

Djan said his faction could still ally with other parties in nominating potential regional heads.

'€œFor us, it'€™s easy. To join the elections, we will ally with parties in the Red-and-White Coalition,'€ he said.

The Red-and-White Coalition is an opposition caucus formed during the presidential election last year.

Djan'€™s PPP and Aburizal'€™s Golkar have become part of the coalition.

Romy redirected the party to support the government right before President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo selected his Cabinet ministers.

Agung later announced a split from Aburizal after a failed succession in which Aburizal was accused of using an '€œiron fist'€ to secure a second term leading the party.