he Golkar Party ethics council summoned on Monday senior party member Lawrence Siburian for proposing an extraordinary congress to remove Airlangga Hartarto from the party's top seat, questioning why he was making the issue public.
Ethics council chairman Mohammad Hatta said the party had its own mechanism to propose an extraordinary congress, rather than by making the idea public, which could create confusion among members.
“We advised [Lawrence] not to air party issues in public,” Hatta told reporters on Monday.
The ethics council has yet to decide whether or not to punish Lawrence, but said that if he continues pushing for the extraordinary congress, the council could throw him out of the party.
Lawrence is one of deputy chairs of the Central Organization for Indonesian Employees (SOKSI), one of the Golkar Party's oldest affiliate organizations, who, along with several other senior members, including Golkar advisory council member Ridwan Hisjam, called in a press conference on July 12 for an extraordinary congress to replace Airlangga. Lawrence at the time blasted Airlangga for the party’s “unclear direction” ahead of presidential and legislative elections next year, citing it as the cause of the party’s declining electability.
Read also: Senior Golkar members want Airlangga out if he fails to run in 2024
But Agung Laksono, the chairman of Golkar’s advisory council, said the council did not recommend an extraordinary congress at all, let alone a leadership change.
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