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Dems chief faces fresh leadership challenge
The petition, if granted, could jeopardize the candidacy of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, the presidential nominee of the Coalition for Change and Unity, the 2024 electoral alliance to which the Democratic Party belongs.
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Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono gives a motivational speech to Democratic Party cadres in West Kalimantan in this photo file taken in 2019. (Antara/Jessica Helena Wuysang)
D
emocratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono is facing a renewed leadership challenge from Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, who has filed yet another legal petition seeking recognition of his claim to the top seat of the nation’s largest opposition party.
The petition, if granted, could jeopardize the candidacy of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, the presidential nominee of the Coalition for Change and Unity, the 2024 electoral alliance to which the Democratic Party belongs.
Moeldoko, who is not a member of the party, is seeking to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that rejected his earlier petition to annul the Law and Human Right Ministry’s refusal to ratify the results of a Democratic Party extraordinary congress that had elected him the party chairman, Agus said at a press conference on Monday.
Agus was referring to a congress organized by internal party opposition in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, in April 2021, during which Moeldoko proclaimed himself the party chair with the support of the breakaway members.
“A month ago, on March 3, 2023, to be precise, we received information that Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko and veterinarian Jhoni Allen Marbun carried out another attempt to take over the Democratic Party after the fake and illegal extraordinary congress that failed miserably in 2021," Agus said. "This time they filed a case review petition to be processed by the Supreme Court.”
Agus said the party was ready for another legal battle with Moeldoko, with former Constitutional Court chief justice Hamdan Zoelva serving as the legal representative of Agus’ side.
“[On Monday], our legal team officially submitted a counterargument, or a response to the petition. Rest assured that the Democratic Party is in the winning camp,” he said.
