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Agung's camp seeks role as co-organizer of extraordinary congress
Party games: Vice President and senior Golkar Party member Jusuf Kalla (center) is flanked by Agung Laksono (left) and Aburizal Bakrie, leaders of rival camps in the party, in Jakarta in May, 2015
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span class="inline inline-center">Party games: Vice President and senior Golkar Party member Jusuf Kalla (center) is flanked by Agung Laksono (left) and Aburizal Bakrie, leaders of rival camps in the party, in Jakarta in May, 2015. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
The Golkar Party's splinter faction led by Agung Laksono has expressed its support for the holding of an extraordinary national congress, an initiative of party chairman Aburizak Bakrie's camp in an effort to end the year-long conflict within the party.
'From the beginning, we have believed that a national congress was the only solution,' said Agung faction secretary general Zainuddin Amali in Jakarta on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com.
The rivalry relates to which senior politician is Golkar's rightful leader. Aburizal was elected as chairman at the party's national congress in Bali in November, 2014, and Agung was elected at the Ancol national congress in December, 2015.
The extraordinary national congress was proposed by Aburizal's camp at the party's national leadership meeting in Jakarta, which was attended by senior party members, former president BJ Habibie, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and former Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tanjung.
Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo and Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly were also presented at the closing ceremony of the meeting from Jan. 23 to Jan. 26.
Previously, Kalla was appointed by the party's internal tribunal to chair a transitional team, whose task is to organize the national congress for the party that was once the political vehicle of former president Soeharto.
Amali, however, argued that any congress should be organized by the Golkar leadership established at the Riau national congress in 2009 at which Agung Laksono was elected as deputy chairman and Aburizal as the party's chairman.
Therefore, he added, the government needed to issue a degree to give a limited mandate to the Golkar leadership elected at the Riau congress to organize the planned national congress, Amali added.
'[Through the decree], the Riau leadership should be given the mandate to organize the congress no later than June, 2016 and must involve all parties,' he said, adding that Agung would support the plan with those conditions.
During the three-day national leadership meeting, party deputy chairman Yorrys Raweyai, who left Agung's camp and joined Aburizal's, said the national congress would be organized by the Golkar executive board and the schedule would be decided by Aburizal.
Amal said that Agung had rejected the meeting because he was still under the impression that it would only be organized by Aburizal's camp.
However, after there was a guarantee that the congress would be organized by both Aburizal and Agung's camps, Agung would accept the plan, Amali said. (bbn)(+)
