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head of the 2018 concurrent regional elections slated to take place in June, at a time when most political parties are strengthening their internal relations in order to claim victories, the Hanura party is marred by a rift that has seen its chairman kicked from the structure by party executives.

A number of Hanura politicians launched a motion of no-confidence against its chairman, businessman-turned-politician Oesman Sapta Odang, and announced his dismissal at a meeting held at a hotel in South Jakarta on Monday.

The splinter faction, led by secretary-general Sarifuddin Sudding, had gathered signatures from the executives of at least 27 of Hanura’s provincial branches for the motion.

“Many party members want to fix the party, therefore in our plenary meeting we decided to dismiss Oesman as chairman,” Hanura deputy chairman Nurdin Tampubolon said.

The group also appointed party deputy chairman Daryatmo, a retired military official, as acting chairman.

The camp mostly consists of Hanura politicians and executives who have served in the party since long before Oesman.

The Regional Representatives Council (DPD) speaker had only been a member of the party for a month before taking the helm in December 2016 to replace founder and former chairman Wiranto, who was appointed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to be chief security minister in his cabinet in the same year.

The dismissal decision was made as party officials found that Oesman had several times violated the party’s internal regulations, which was deemed to injure the party’s image, deputy secretary general Dadang Rusdiana said.

One of the violations was allegedly related to recommendation letters for candidates endorsed in the regional elections. The party had issued double recommendation letters, allegedly on Oesman’s orders, to different candidates in several regions, linked to political dowries estimated to be worth billions of rupiah.

“[He] received the dowry from a candidate, but then he changed the letter to endorse another candidate, but he did not return the dowry. That’s a disgrace to our party,” Dadang said.

Another deputy secretary-general Wishnu Dewanto also lambasted the embattled chairman for acting arbitrarily in the party, including dismissing six members of the party’s provincial executive boards without solid reasons.

“We received many complaints [from members] that Oesman was arrogant and did not communicate well with members and senior politicians. The members receive no payment from the party, so he should, at least, appreciate them,” Wishnu said.

However, Oesman brushed off his dismissal and the allegations thrown at him. He also denied he had asked for political dowries from candidates running in the elections.

“There is no reason to dismiss me,” he said.

He also scoffed at the splinter faction who issued the motion of no-confidence against him.

“I don’t care what those small people do. [I] will take action against those who want to ruin the party,” he added.

Oesman also held a separate meeting on Monday, in which he and his loyalists gathered to talk about the preparation for the 2019 legislative and presidential elections.

The camp consists of Hanura members and executives who are Oesman’s fellow councilors in the DPD, including I Gede Pasek Suardika and Benny Ramdhani.

Soon after Oesman was inaugurated as Hanura chairman in late 2016, more than 50 councilors joined the party and sat in strategic positions.

Wiranto, currently serving as chairman of the party’s advisory board, tried to play down the dispute saying that rifts were part of political party dynamics.

He urged all party members to solve the problems by referring to its internal regulations.

“We can seek solutions within the party by following the internal regulations,” Wiranto said, claiming that he had tried to remain neutral amid the disputes.