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Golkar's future on edge as congress proposal hits wall
A proposal for a Munaslub (extraordinary national congress) to select a new chairman to lead the Golkar Party has been met with opposition from the two competing factions, with calls for all members to stick to the legal process
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proposal for a Munaslub (extraordinary national congress) to select a new chairman to lead the Golkar Party has been met with opposition from the two competing factions, with calls for all members to stick to the legal process.
The plan to set up a Munaslub was initiated by members of a joint reconciliation team tasked with paving the way for Golkar to secure the upcoming simultaneous local elections amid confusion over the party's chairmanship. The team members maintain that selecting neither Aburizal Bakrie nor Agung Laksono, who have been fighting over party control, was the best way to unite the fragmented party.
Team member Yorrys Raweyai, an executive with the Agung-led faction who has been an advocate of holding a national congress, has said that placing either of the two competing leaders in the party's top position will put Golkar at a disadvantage in the long run.
According to Yorrys, 'Golkar needs to promote a new fresh face if we want to survive.'
Supporters of the Munaslub are convinced that Golkar should hold the gathering before the local elections slated for Dec. 9 to ensure that the country's oldest political party was fully consolidated under the command of one agreed leader to win the elections.
However, the party's older members, particularly supporters of the two competing factions, oppose the plan, saying that sticking to the legal process is the best solution to end the months of battle.
Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa applauded the 'good intention' of a holding a Munaslub as a way to keep the party intact, particularly during the elections, yet said that waiting for a final and binding decision from the Supreme Court was the way to go.
'We've discussed this at the DPP [headquarters] and we all agreed to wait for the Supreme Court decision. Arranging a Munaslub sounds good but it's not urgent,' Agun, a member of the Agung faction, said on Monday.
His colleagues from the rival faction concur, emphasizing that 'it's too early to talk about a national meeting'.
'We don't need a Munaslub now. Just wait and see,' Fadel Muhammad, a supporter of the Aburizal-camp, said when asked about the matter.
Separately, fellow Aburizal camp supporter Tantowi Yahya agreed, saying that 'Whoever wins the legal battle later will be asked to present their opinion on the need to hold a national meeting'.
'Thus, it's best to wait for the Supreme Court ruling. Whoever wins the case will make the decision later,' Tantowi said.
The Supreme Court is expected to announce its ruling sometime between October and November.
The two competing groups fighting over the party's chairmanship filed separate appeals with the Supreme Court after losing the battle in different courts.
The North Jakarta District Court ruled in favor of Aburizal in July after the Jakarta State Administrative High Court (PTUN Jakarta) previously ruled that Agung Laksono was the legal chairman of the party.
Political analyst Yunarto Wijaya of the Jakarta-based Charta Politika encouraged Golkar to wait for the Supreme Court to make its final ruling on the matter because according to him, 'there will be an opportunity [to end the prolonged infighting] following a final and binding ruling [by the Supreme Court]'.
'It will be better though if the Supreme Court includes an arrangement of a munas [national meeting] in its ruling. The court's ruling will settle the matter de jure, while a munas will do it de facto,' Yunarto said.
